A History of Christian Doctrine #3 - Online Christian Library

Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy
ences that had long separated these two movements in
the past grew relatively unimportant.
Vatican II’s characterization of Protestants as “separated
brethren” opened the door for ecumenical dialogue
with various denominations. As we have seen, Catholic
theologians now generally agree that the doctrine of justification
by faith, which caused the Protestant
Reformation in the 1500s, is no longer a problem.
The Roman Catholic Church and the Church of
England have made much progress in ecumenical dialogue.
The Church of England has always been diverse
theologically, with a strong Anglo-Catholic element. The
biggest issue separating the two churches is papal
supremacy. (King Henry VIII broke away from Rome and
formed the Church of England in 1534 for this very reason.)
In 1982, however, the Anglicans made a major concession,
agreeing that the pope should be the supreme
bishop in any future united church. “Both sides agree that
there is no doctrinal barrier to reunification, and that
even the most difficult problem—the office of the Pope—
need not stand in the way.” One of the Anglican negotiators,
Cambridge professor Henry Chadwick, stated, “We
have agreed that the papacy should be the focus of
Eucharistic communion of all the churches.” 266
In 1987 the Second Anglican–Roman Catholic International
Commission said it had reached agreement “on
the essential aspects of the doctrine of salvation and on
the church’s role within it.” According to Kortright Davis,
a member of the Anglican delegation, the agreement
makes clear that “salvation is from beginning to end
God’s activity. . . . The notion of [human] merit has been
transformed so that it is no longer merit that is at issue,
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