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Evangelical Catholics
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223 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1990
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September 12, 2024
A CHARISMATIC CATHOLIC CALLS FOR A COMMON USE OF THE TERM "EVANGELICAL"
Keith Fournier is "an attorney who serves as General Counsel and Dean of Evangelism at Franciscan University of Steubenville... He is the host of the national television series 'The Domestic Church' seen on [EWTN]"; he has also written/cowritten 'A House United?: Evangelicals and Catholics Together: A Winning Alliance for the 21st Century,' 'The Prayer of Mary: Living the Surrendered Life,' etc.
He explains in the first chapter of this 1990 book, "This is a book about commonalities and differences, unity and divisiveness, true ecumenism and false ecumenism. This book is a call, even a plea, for all Christians to pound their weapons into ploughs and to use them to tenderly plant and fertilize the seeds of the gospel throughout the world and to nurture their growth in the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit. We can---and must---do this together. This book is an apologetic for this agenda and a plea to embrace it... My defense begins with the personal because that is where Christ begins." (Pg. 12-13)
He explains, "So in the truest sense of the word, I am an evangelical Christian. And since I am also Catholic, I am an evangelical Catholic Christian---without contradiction in terms, logic, theology, or history. Evangelical is an adjective, not a noun." (Pg. 21) He adds, "Furthermore, my identity as a Catholic Christian is necessarily evangelical. I am 'evangelical' because I am on fire to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ... the word evangelical must not be reserved for one small segment of Christians. Rather, it should be the proud adjectival description of all Christian people." (Pg. 49) Still later, he adds, "Since 1973 I have been involved in ... the Catholic Charismatic Renewal or the Catholic Pentecostal Movement." (Pg. 146) He says, "I am deeply indebted to the evangelical and pentecostal Protestant traditions... [that] touched the lives of Catholic students at Duquesne University in the 1960s and finally reached me." (Pg. 164)
About the Protestant interpretation of "depravity" and our fallen nature, he observes, "Roman Catholics... take issue with this picture of mankind. They believe that it overemphasizes some portions of Scripture while neglecting the clear thrust of other passages. In contrast, they appeal to the full teaching of Scripture, seeking to allow it to set fuller parameters for a Christian understanding of man's fallen nature." (Pg. 97)
He says, "I believe the Bible is the Book of the church, not that the church is the church of the Book. That understanding, rather than lessening my love for the sacred Scriptures, deepens it and gives it clarity, consistency, and dynamism." (Pg. 17) He admits, "As a Catholic Christian, I believe the Eucharist is the sacrament of unity. And because the church is divided, I embrace my church's position that I cannot participate in the Eucharist with Christians of other traditions. We are not one... it should grieve our hearts that we cannot go to a common table... But we cannot pretend there aren't differences in our understandings of the Eucharist, or the Lord's Supper. There are differences, and they are real and important." (Pg. 161)
This book will be of considerable interest to anyone studying Catholic/Protestant dialogue.
Keith Fournier is "an attorney who serves as General Counsel and Dean of Evangelism at Franciscan University of Steubenville... He is the host of the national television series 'The Domestic Church' seen on [EWTN]"; he has also written/cowritten 'A House United?: Evangelicals and Catholics Together: A Winning Alliance for the 21st Century,' 'The Prayer of Mary: Living the Surrendered Life,' etc.
He explains in the first chapter of this 1990 book, "This is a book about commonalities and differences, unity and divisiveness, true ecumenism and false ecumenism. This book is a call, even a plea, for all Christians to pound their weapons into ploughs and to use them to tenderly plant and fertilize the seeds of the gospel throughout the world and to nurture their growth in the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit. We can---and must---do this together. This book is an apologetic for this agenda and a plea to embrace it... My defense begins with the personal because that is where Christ begins." (Pg. 12-13)
He explains, "So in the truest sense of the word, I am an evangelical Christian. And since I am also Catholic, I am an evangelical Catholic Christian---without contradiction in terms, logic, theology, or history. Evangelical is an adjective, not a noun." (Pg. 21) He adds, "Furthermore, my identity as a Catholic Christian is necessarily evangelical. I am 'evangelical' because I am on fire to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ... the word evangelical must not be reserved for one small segment of Christians. Rather, it should be the proud adjectival description of all Christian people." (Pg. 49) Still later, he adds, "Since 1973 I have been involved in ... the Catholic Charismatic Renewal or the Catholic Pentecostal Movement." (Pg. 146) He says, "I am deeply indebted to the evangelical and pentecostal Protestant traditions... [that] touched the lives of Catholic students at Duquesne University in the 1960s and finally reached me." (Pg. 164)
About the Protestant interpretation of "depravity" and our fallen nature, he observes, "Roman Catholics... take issue with this picture of mankind. They believe that it overemphasizes some portions of Scripture while neglecting the clear thrust of other passages. In contrast, they appeal to the full teaching of Scripture, seeking to allow it to set fuller parameters for a Christian understanding of man's fallen nature." (Pg. 97)
He says, "I believe the Bible is the Book of the church, not that the church is the church of the Book. That understanding, rather than lessening my love for the sacred Scriptures, deepens it and gives it clarity, consistency, and dynamism." (Pg. 17) He admits, "As a Catholic Christian, I believe the Eucharist is the sacrament of unity. And because the church is divided, I embrace my church's position that I cannot participate in the Eucharist with Christians of other traditions. We are not one... it should grieve our hearts that we cannot go to a common table... But we cannot pretend there aren't differences in our understandings of the Eucharist, or the Lord's Supper. There are differences, and they are real and important." (Pg. 161)
This book will be of considerable interest to anyone studying Catholic/Protestant dialogue.
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June 8, 2025Jun 2025. The book Jimmy Akin was reading when "everything changed for [him] theologically" (Jimmy Akin Podcast #36).
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews