Actually, the
Roman Catholic Church just recently changed their stance on the whole thing... well, partially. Let me pull out my copy of
The Pilot, America's Oldest
Catholic Newspaper...
Ah, yes, here it is... November 5, 1999 issue. Front page headline:
Catholic-Lutheran agreement hailed as milestone
"A key dispute duing the Protestant Reformation was whether believers were justified and saved through grace alone or whether salvation required a combination of grace and good works.
"The Catholic-Lutheran agreement states that justification comes through faith alone, but that good works are an essential sign of true faith."
For some reason, I find this article very funny. Perhaps it's because there's a picture of the president of the "World Lutheran Federation" and the president of the "Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity" signing some documents, and it looks very much the signing of the Middle East peace treaties. Then there are some quotes from the article:
"Wherever Lutherans and Roman Catholics live together, let the world know that they are not enemies, but sisters and brothers."
"If on the day of judgment I have nothing else to present to the Lord when we asks me, 'Did you do anything good during your life?' I can say I signed the joint declaration."
I think that if I'm outside the gates of heaven, and the only thing good I can say about myself is that I signed a piece of paper, I'm in deep, deep trouble.