Evangelicals and Catholics Together More Than Ever

This month marks the 20th anniversary of “Evangelicals and Catholics Together: The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium” (ECT), a “manifesto” that was a major step toward the formation of the end-time, one-world “church.” It proposed a plan of action for Catholics and evangelicals to search out common ground in an effort to rectify former division and move toward a “fuller realization of our unity in the body of Christ.” ECT was headed up by Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship, and Richard Neuhaus, a Roman Catholic convert from Lutheranism. Proclaiming, “We together, Evangelicals and Catholics, confess our sins against the unity that Christ intends for all his disciples,” ECT was signed by such well-known “evangelicals” as Pat Robertson, J.I. Packer, and Bill Bright. A report on the 20th anniversary of ECT observed, “Two decades after the launch of Evangelicals and Catholics Together, relations between the two groups appear stronger than ever. ... In a 2009 Pew Research Center survey, 49 percent of white evangelicals said they view Catholicism as ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ similar to their own religion. ... In a February survey, Pew found that 56 percent of white evangelicals had a favorable view of Pope Francis” (“Evangelicals and Catholics Together Marks 20 Years,” ChristianHeadlines.com, May 9, 2014). Major elements that are creating the one-world “church” include joint social action, such as the pro-life movement, contemporary worship music, contemplative prayer, and the “judge not” and “in essentials unity” heresies.

(Friday Church News Notes, May 23, 2014, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

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