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The Impossible Dream:
Evangelicalism's Quest for Union with Rome

Ian H. Murray's introspective book, Evangelicalism Divided: A Record of Crucial Change in the Years 1950-2000 confirms the agenda of Rome when he writes,

In the past thirty years numerous Catholic-Protestant groups, official and unofficial [such as our AG credentialed Professor], have sought a resolution of theological differences. The only real 'success' has occurred where supposedly Protestant negotiators have given way to Roman Catholic teaching.. The Pope underlined the same lesson in his encyclical letter Ute Unum Sint in 1995 when he warned all Roman Catholics engaged in ecumenical dialogue to 'stand by the teaching of the Church'. What Rome has said she can never unsay [this statement is indescribably huge!]. This had been spelled out so many times, apart from ecumenical dialogue, that one can only suppose that some evangelicals never read or took seriously such books as Cardinal Bea's The Unity of Christians. The infallibility of the Roman Church and her head, the successor of Peter; the inherent efficacy of the sacraments; the final authority of her teaching (both Scripture and later revelation) 'by virtue of the very special help of the Holy Spirit'-- all this was clearly set out by Bea, head of the Secretariat for the Promotion of Christian Unity. 'The evangelical side rejects all these tenets', he noted in his book of 1963 [the same year our General Council passed the original resolution defining AG relations to the Ecumenical movement]. If, then, all the committees of the past thirty years have got nowhere in obtaining any doctrinal change, it is not unworthy to suppose that an inability on the part of ECT (Evangelicals and Catholics Together) supporters to make effective doctrinal progress was perfectly predictable.
Source: Evangelicalism Divided: A Record of Crucial Change in the Years 1950-2000, by Ian H. Murray. Pages 245 - 246. The Banner of Truth Trust, 2000. 3 Murrayfield Road, Edinburgh EH 12 6EL, UK; P.O. Box 621, Carlisle, Pennsylvania 17013, USA.

The ECT document mentioned at the close of the previous paragraph was crafted and signed by many notable Evangelical and Catholic personalities back in 1994. Amongst the list of luminaries who signed it, one name that stood out to me in particular was that of Rev. Jesse Miranda, Executive Presbyter of the General Council of the Assemblies of God. Here are some quotes from the ECT document that reveal its questionable nature.
"This statement [i.e., ECT] cannot speak responsibly for our communities [meaning that it is already considered UNOFFICIAL by any OFFICIAL credentialing body or denomination]... We affirm together that we are justified by grace through faith because of Jesus Christ. Living faith is active in love that is nothing less than the love of Christ.. All who accept Christ as Lord and Savior are brothers and sisters in Christ. Evangelicals and Catholics are brothers and sisters in Christ [as defined by the Catholic Catechism or the Scriptures?]...Three observations are in order in connection with proselytizing. First, as much as we might believe one community is more fully in accord with the Gospel than another, we as Evangelicals and Catholics affirm that opportunity and means for growth in Christian discipleship are available in our several communities. Second, the decision of the committed Christian with respect to his communal allegiance and participation must be assiduously respected. Third, in view of the large number of non-Christians in the world and the enormous challenge of our common evangelistic task, it is neither theologically legitimate nor a prudent use of resources for one Christian community to proselytize among active adherents of another Christian community [This is again blurring the lines drawn 500 years ago. Lines that have clearly shown the true nature of the RCC, and demonstrated its distinctive place outside of the Evangelical Gospel] (Killing the Gospel Softly: An Analysis of ECT. Rob Zins. www.angelfire.com)"
As such a high level and respected figure, why would Brother Miranda set his pen to such a shaky document, especially in light of the prohibitive language of the AG's Constitution and Bylaws that, at the time of ECT's signing, were still eleven years from being amended? Perhaps he too was laboring under a special dispensation from the national office as a strictly "unofficial" representative of the fellowship, or even as an "autonomous" agent beyond anyone's influence or control.



The Charismatic Renewal:
How Can This be Wrong When it Feels so Right?

One of the most significant events to appear on the ecumenical horizon this century is what we have come to know as the Charismatic Renewal, a manifestation of spiritual activity which hit two major Catholic Universities beginning in January of 1967. In her testimonial book, As by a New Pentecost (Franciscan University Press, Franciscan University of Steubenville, Steubenville, OH 1992), author Patti Gallagher-Mansfield records some startling insights that should give any student of Protestant Pentecostal Orthodoxy cause to stop and reflect. She states in the opening section (p. 8) that at the beginning of the 20th Century,

"Sister Elena felt inspired to write to Pope Leo XIII urging him to renew the Church through a return to the Holy Spirit.... [Blessed Elena further stated] Oh, if ever the 'Come Holy Spirit' which, since the Cenacle and after, the Church has not ceased repeating, could become as popular as the 'Hail Mary' (p.7)"! Mansfield further records, "Pope Leo XIII invoked the Holy Spirit on January 1, 1901 -- the first day of the first year in the Twentieth Century. He sang the hymn 'Venti Creator Spiritus' (Come Creator Spirit) in the name of the whole Church. On the same day, an event took place in Topeka, Kansas, that marked the beginning of a great revival in the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit destined to sweep throughout this country and around the world. Rev. Charles Fox Parham and his students dedicated themselves to prayer and the study of God's word concerning the Baptism in the Holy Spirit.... This event is generally accepted as the beginning of Pentecostalism. In 1906, a continued outpouring of the Holy Spirit occurred in Los Angeles, and is commonly referred to as the Azusa Street Revival."
So, official Catholic Charismatic History according to Mrs. Gallagher-Mansfield, that the great Pentecostal Revival of the 20th Century arrived because Pope Leo XIII invoked the Holy Spirit on behalf of the entire church (over which he is the supposed head). We owe everything we have experienced since Topeka to the proclamation of the Bishop of Rome. I wonder if the Professor, reputed to be "the greatest expert on the Azusa Revival" by our national leaders, will share this insight at the centennial celebration this summer in Los Angeles? Allow me to share some additional quotes that I believe are very significant.
"Friday night [of the Duquesne weekend in 1967] in the chapel, our other faculty advisor held up a statue of Our Lady which depicted her with her hands lifted up in prayer. He described Mary as a woman of faith and prayer.... I believe it was significant to have our attention drawn to Mary at the beginning of our retreat... In God's plan, it was necessary for Mary to be 'with us' in an explicit way as we experienced a sovereign move of the Holy Spirit that Weekend. The Fathers of the Church call Mary 'the Spouse of the Holy Spirit.' How can she fail to be present when the Holy Spirit is at work?" [Ibid. p.35]
These statements are foundational to understanding of those involved in the renewal. I am not saying that the Holy Spirit was totally absent from all Charismatic Renewal services that have ever taken place, or that it is impossible that souls could be saved or changed by them. My own journey in Pentecost began at a Kathryn Kuhlman service at Notre Dame University in the 1970s. My point is: What is the theological foundation of the movement? Tongues and other phenomena cannot be the only standard for defining true doctrine and fellowship. If that were the case we should also start endorsing the so-called apparitions of Mary around the world simply because they are periodically accompanied with miraculous "signs". Even Benny Hinn stated on an interview with Larry King that God's desire to heal takes many forms, including Fatima, Lourdes, etc. Brother Benny, you can't be serious! We must never forget what the Apostle Paul said to the Church in II Thessalonians 2:9-11 about the appearance of "lying signs and wonders" that would characterize the end times, deceiving multitudes who did not have a love and passion for the truth! Please allow me share one more set of quotes from As by a New Pentecost that reflect the Ecumenical perspective held by the Roman Catholic Authorities that were involved in 1967, and still are.

"Of the four of us who attended this first meeting [prior to the "big" weekend of Jan. '67, emphasis mine], for a number of reasons only Patrick Bourgeois, a fellow instructor in the theology department, and I were able to make it to the next meeting. We returned to find the prayer and discussion centered this time upon the Epistle to the Romans. The only way I can express the way we felt about the discussion was that it was not all clouded up by Reformation issues [Ibid. p. 17 - 18]. Another man writes, "I would relate the Baptism of the Spirit to Confirmation as follows. Our Sacrament of Confirmation is identical to the New Testament Baptism of the Spirit.... If a confirmed Catholic is later transformed in a context such as we have experienced, this is simply a revival of the grace of the sacrament... in an ecumenical perspective, this could be the Spirit's way of leading us into unity with one another. All of the people we have met in the group are active in their own churches; we have found no sectarian spirit, no repudiation of the larger institutional church.... I find myself becoming more and more committed to the Catholic Church.... It is well to remember that to many Pentecostals and Evangelicals, we represent at best a dead institutionalism, and at worst the Anti-Christ. Unless they know and respect real Catholics, they will not direct fringe Catholics back to their own Church. Formed Catholics, I think, will find their Catholicism enhanced by contacts with these groups; but they will also serve their Church by creating a climate of understanding and love, and by retrieving the strays [Ibid. p. 21 - 22].
Do you see how the material from Murray's book as well as the other sources demonstrate the incremental strategy of the Vatican to re-assimilate all peoples back into the bosom of the "Mother Church"?

Upon returning to the church in which I grew up in as its Senior Pastor after some sixteen years of absence, I received a rude awakening when I tried to contact the Charismatic Student Fellowship at Notre Dame. For two years I called and left enthusiastic messages, hoping to build bridges and to see what was happening on campus after the "glory days" of the 1970s. I came to understand that the Charismatic hold-outs (now middle-aged) were meeting in a small structure off campus, and I was explicitly warned not to call the campus anymore because the President, along with priests on the faculty, had frozen them out of the official life of the University. You see, many of these precious souls found Christ through the Evangelical Gospel, and received an insatiable hunger for the Scriptures after receiving their Baptism in the Spirit. This is what Mrs. Gallagher-Mansfield referred to when she spoke of the "strays" that were finding their way out of the Roman system. Do you see that I truly believe that the Spirit, in His great love, is willing to baptize our dear Roman Catholic friends as well and anyone? I do! But when these new saints begin to devote themselves to the Word of God more than the traditions of the Magisterium of Rome, they each have their own "Reformation experience" and quickly find themselves at odds with the powers that be. The charismatic renewal has now become a faint memory on Notre Dame's campus, and the remnant is tolerated more than encouraged. True Pentecost will always lead people to the True Gospel. But if we follow the counsel of Cardinals Kaspar and Bea, we will lay down the Scriptures, pick up the guitars and start singing until we all feel better. Tongues are not an adequate measure of Biblical truth in the vital points of salvation. Too many Catholic Charismatics continue to seek deeper relationship with Mary as the Mother of God, the Mother of the Church and the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, venerating occultic and unscriptural apparitions of her instead of the Scriptures.


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