These differences-whose extent and significance are seen in a new perspective today thanks to the ecumenical dialogue-were reflected in the mutual condemnations and anathemas.įor centuries, the positions of Lutherans and Catholics on this point were considered, by both sides, to be incompatible. Furthermore, the Council insists on the interior transformation which grace works in man, so that justification does not consist simply in the remission of sins, without the sanctification and renewal of the interior man.
This free cooperation is not an autonomous act of the human person, but is already the fruit of the grace at work in him it is possible only insofar as grace precedes, moves and impels us. It insists also, however, on man's free acceptance of the justification which God offers him. The Council strongly emphasizes that it is impossible for human beings to save themselves by their own strength without the grace that God gives us in Christ. On the other hand, Luther also speaks of the justified person as a new creature and of the good works that are the fruit of justification.įor its part, the Council of Trent begins its decree on justification by alluding to the erroneous teaching on this subject that was circulating in those times.
Concretely, this doctrine means that only Christ can save man, corrupted in his depths by sin, by bestowing on him that justice which is proper to Christ himself, without man being able to contribute to this work of salvation. For Luther, the Pauline message of justification by faith alone was the articulus stantis et cadentis Ecclesiae, the point by which the Church continues or fails in her faith. This event was undoubtedly of great importance on the path toward the unity of Christians, since, as is well-known, the question of justification was one of the issues most discussed at the time of the Protestant Reformation. On 31 October 1999, the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification was signed in Augsburg, Germany, by the Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation. THE JOINT DECLARATION BETWEEN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE LUTHERAN WORLD FEDERATION ON THE DOCTRINE OF JUSTIFICATION