I was reading an interview with Chuck Colson on the death of Fr. Richard Neuhaus, and I was struck by a few things Colson said. I have a deep respect for Colson, and I am sympathetic to the goals of ECT, but I was surprised at how much Colson – who has worked for years with Catholics and is always very respectful of the Catholic tradition – doesn’t “get” Catholicism. For example:

Do the Catholics in ECT right now take the same position on justification as Neuhaus and Dulles?

Oh yes. There are probably 12 to 13 other Catholic [leaders] who hold that position. And now of course the Pope holds it, so it almost doesn’t matter who else holds it, in the way the Catholic Church is structured.

Colson has two misconceptions in his analysis:

1) The idea that Neuhaus and “12 or 13 other Catholic leaders” (including the pope) have a different view of Justification than the standard Catholic belief. I’m sure if you quizzed at least the Pope and Neuhaus (before he died) they would explicitly support Trent and the common Catholic tradition on the question of justification. They just were striving to show where that tradition doesn’t conflict with the Reformation position. They were more interested in removing unnecessary baggage from the debate than to change the Catholic position.

2) Colson shows a misunderstanding of the Pope’s role in defining doctrine. The popes are servants of tradition, not its master. Pope Benedict could no more change the teaching on justification than he could change the teaching on the Trinity. Now, he might develop the doctrine in such a way that it is more understandable (and even acceptable) to Reformation concerns, but he can’t redefine it.

Colson also says,

Of course, if you compare it with Trent, there’s a profound change. But they would see it as the development of doctrine. And if it’s contrary to some church council — as this was, clearly — then nothing happens immediately.

I understand that as a non-Catholic Colson might believe this, but I’m still surprised that someone who has worked so intimately with Fr. Neuhaus and other Catholics would think there is such a “profound change” between their teachings and Trent.

Like I said, I have a deep respect for Colson, and I personally hope the work of ECT continues for a long time. And from this interview, it appears there is still a long way to go to get to a true understanding between Evangelicals and Catholics.

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