The following quotes are given for your consideration:

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When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state to enforce their decrees and to sustain their institutions, then Protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy, and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result. Great Controversy 445

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The following statement is the product of consultation, beginning in September 1992, between Evangelical Protestant and Roman Catholic Christians. Appended to the text is a list of participants in the consultation and of others who have given their support to this declaration.

Introduction

We are Evangelical Protestants and Roman Catholics who have been led through prayer, study, and discussion to common convictions about Christian faith and mission. This statement cannot speak officially for our communities. It does intend to speak responsibly from our communities and to our communities. In this statement we address what we have discovered both about our unity and about our differences. We are aware that our experience reflects the distinctive circumstances and opportunities of Evangelicals and Catholics living together in North America. At the same time, we believe that what we have discovered and resolved is pertinent to the relationship between Evangelicals and Catholics in other parts of the world. We therefore commend this statement to their prayerful consideration.

As the Second Millennium draws to a close, the Christian mission in world history faces a moment of daunting opportunity and responsibility. If in the merciful and mysterious ways of God the Second Coming is delayed, we enter upon a Third Millennium that could be, in the words of John Paul II, "a springtime of world missions." (Redemptoris Missio) As Christ is one, so the Christian mission is one. That one mission can be and should be advanced in diverse ways. Legitimate diversity, however, should not be confused with existing divisions between Christians that obscure the one Christ and hinder the one mission. There is a necessary connection between the visible unity of Christians and the mission of the one Christ. We together pray for the fulfillment of the prayer of Our Lord: "May they all be one; as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, so also may they be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me." (John 17) We together, Evangelicals and Catholics, confess our sins against the unity that Christ intends for all his disciples.

The one Christ and one mission includes many other Christians, notably the Eastern Orthodox and those Protestants not commonly identified as Evangelical. All Christians are encompassed in the prayer, "May they all be one." Our present statement attends to the specific problems and opportunities in the relationship between Roman Catholics and Evangelical Protestants. As we near the Third Millennium, there are approximately 1.7 billion Christians in the world. About a billion of these are Catholics and more than 300 million are Evangelical Protestants.

The century now drawing to a close has been the greatest century of missionary expansion in Christian history. We pray and we believe that this expansion has prepared the way for yet greater missionary endeavor in the first century of the Third Millennium. The two communities in world Christianity that are most evangelistically assertive and most rapidly growing are Evangelicals and Catholics. In many parts of the world, the relationship between these communities is marked more by conflict than by cooperation, more by animosity than by love, more by suspicion than by trust, more by propaganda and ignorance than by respect for the truth. This is alarmingly the case in Latin America, increasingly the case in Eastern Europe, and too often the case in our own country. Without ignoring conflicts between and within other Christian communities, we address ourselves to the relationship between Evangelicals and Catholics, who constitute the growing edge of missionary expansion at present and, most likely, in the century ahead. In doing so, we hope that what we have discovered and resolved may be of help in other situations of conflict, such as that among Orthodox, Evangelicals, and Catholics in Eastern Europe. While we are gratefully aware of ongoing efforts to address tensions among these communities, the shameful reality is that, in many places around the world, the scandal of conflict between Christians obscures the scandal of the cross, thus crippling the one mission of the one Christ.

As in times past, so also today and in the future, the Christian mission, which is directed to the entire human community, must be advanced against formidable opposition. In some cultures, that mission encounters resurgent spiritualities and religions that are explicitly hostile to the claims of the Christ. Islam, which in many instances denies the freedom to witness to the Gospel, must be of increasing concern to those who care about religious freedom and the Christian mission. Mutually respectful conversation between Muslims and Christians should be encouraged in the hope that more of the world will, in the oft-repeated words of John Paul II, "open the door to Christ." At the same time, in our so-called developed societies, a widespread secularization increasingly descends into a moral, intellectual, and spiritual nihilism that denies not only the One who is the Truth but the very idea of truth itself.

We enter the twenty-first century without illusions. With Paul and the Christians of the first century, we know that "we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6) As Evangelicals and Catholics, we dare not by needless and loveless conflict between ourselves give aid and comfort to the enemies of the cause of Christ. The love of Christ compels us and we are therefore resolved to avoid such conflict between our communities and, where such conflict exists, to do what we can to reduce and eliminate it. Beyond that, we are called and we are therefore resolved to explore patterns of working and witnessing together in order to advance the one mission of Christ. Our common resolve is not based merely on a desire for harmony. We reject any appearance of harmony that is purchased at the price of truth. Our common resolve is made imperative by obedience to the truth of God revealed in the Word of God, the Holy Scriptures, and by trust in the promise of the Holy Spirit's guidance until Our Lord returns in glory to judge the living and the dead. The mission that we embrace together is the necessary consequence of the faith that we affirm together.

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All emphasis is mine
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Even so come, Lord Jesus
Linda

[This message has been edited by Linda Sutton (edited August 09, 2000).]

Big Question:
Are we (SDA's) considered evangelicals? This came under question this past Sabbath as someone noticed that our bulletin claims evangelical on the cover.
If so, why?
If not, why not?
Here's an excerpt from a letter I recieved a couple of days ago.
Thanks, Steve
If you check it in the dictionary it
sounds pretty legitimate, but I have other material which indicates
"evangelicals" generally believe the law has been nailed to the cross for
one thing. I was disappointed to see it on the cover of your bulletin.
Apparently it is trying to portray that it means 'Protestant' but there
is more to it than that. The little booklet "Letters to the Churches"
by M. L. Andreasen refers to evangelicals having talks with Adventist
leadership in the 50's which raises questions abou their beliefs. You
possibly could get this booklet by contacting the following: XXXXXXXXXXX One
quote from the booklet states "The religious journal, 'Christianity
Today,' states in the March 3, 1958 issue, that the 'Adventists today are
contending vigorously that they are truly evangelical. They appear to
want to be so regarded.' Mentioning the book, 'Questions on Doctrine,'
it says that this 'is the Adventist answer to the question whether it
ought to be thought of as a sect or a fellow evangelical denomination.' It
states further that 'the book' is published in an effort to convince
the religious world that we 'are' evangelical and one of them. ...Had
their plan succeeded, we might now be a member of some evangelical
association and not a distinctive SDA church any more,'... This is more
than apostasy. This is giving up Adventism. ...It is denying God's
leading in the past. It is the fulfillment of what the Spirit of
Prophecy said years ago: 'The enemy of souls has sought to bring in the
supposition that a great reformation was to take place among SDA's, and
that this reformation would consist in 'giving up the doctrines' which
stand as pillars of our faith, and engaging in a process of
reorganization. Were this reformation to take place, what would result? The
principles of truth that God in His wisdom has given to the remnant
church would be discarded. 'Our religion would be changed. The
fundamental principles that have sustained the work for the last fifty
years would be accounted and error. A new organization would be
established. Books of a new order would be written. A system of
intellectual philosophy would be introduced...Nothing would be allowed to
stand in the way of the new movement." Series B, No. 2, pp. 54,55. Also
read p. 16, 9, 11, 14, 15, 50, 55 and 58.

[Our forum rules only permit advertising of known appropriate web sites. Ministries come under that same category. Since we have no knowledge of the group whose address was listed in the letter you copied, I have replaced it with Xs it. Linda Sutton]

[This message has been edited by Linda Sutton (edited August 19, 2000).]

Hi Rinks

I would be interested in hearing more details of what was on the front cover of the bulletin being referred to in your above post.

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"The joy of the Lord will be your strength." (Neh.8:10).

Your brother in Christ

David T. Battler

Sorry for the delay in responding Dave.
On the cover it says "Christian - Protestant - Evangelical". I didn't post to gripe, only to find out what the word represented when used in our denomination. On another forum I've see a division on this issue. It boils down to context I guess. It could be that another good word has been replaced by a different meaning. This has happened in my lifetime too, as when I was young, gay meant happy. Not anymore.
Brother Steve

Berkeley Seminary to Add More Judaic, Islamic, Buddhist Studies
February 22, 2001

The new president of the Graduate Theological Union has proposed increasing Jewish Studies programs as well as expanding Buddhist and Hindu studies at the institution.

Back in 1962, when GTU was founded, the idea of Protestant and Catholic seminaries working together was thought to be a daring ecumenical experiment, according to Don Lattin, religion writer for the San Francisco Chronicle.

Today, says new president James Donahue, this network of
seminaries and religious institutes must make an equally innovative move - broadening its focus. "To be ecumenical today is to be broadly interreligious and interfaith," he said.

According to an advance text of his inaugural speech, his plan calls for appointment this year of two new faculty schools to the GTU's Center for Jewish Studies. Buddhist and Hindu studies also will be expanded through an affiliated group devoted to Asian and Pacific Rim religion.

Donahue also hopes to increase dialogue with the conservative evangelical institutions, such as Golden Gate
(Southern) Baptist Theological Seminary in Marin county, which is not part of the GTU. However, he admits that it may be much easier for the GTU crowd to work with Zen Buddhists than Southern Baptists.

Donahue also said it is important for the GTU to explore the ethical implications of a culture where an increasing number of people say they are "into spirituality, but not organized religion.

Pope Urges Cardinals to Join 'Pressing Mission' for Christian Unity

VATICAN CITY (RNS)

Pope John Paul II deplored the divisions between Christians Thursday (Feb. 22) and called on the 44 new cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church to help him in his "pressing mission" to achieve Christian unity.

"I would like today, along with you, to pray to the Lord in a special way so that the new millennium into which we have entered shall soon see the overcoming of this situation and the recovery of full communion," the pope told the cardinals. "I ask you to help me and to cooperate in every way in this pressing mission."

John Paul spoke at a Mass in St. Peter's Square in which he completed the ceremonies for the creation of cardinals by placing on each man's right hand a gold ring marked with a cross. The ring is considered "the sign of dignity, pastoral care and the most solid communion with the See of Peter."

The ceremonies followed Wednesday's Consistory called by the pope to formally name the new cardinals and give each a red ridged hat that symbolizes a cardinal's willingness to sacrifice to the point of spilling his own blood for the church. . . .

The 80-year-old John Paul, who has served as pontiff for more than 22 years, acknowledged that papal primacy is a major obstacle to unity, and he reiterated his willingness to study the question in dialogue with Orthodox, Anglican and Protestant churches.

"As bishop of Rome I am fully aware," the pope said, "that Christ ardently desires the full and visible communion of all those communities in which by virtue of God's faithfulness his spirit dwells."

But, he said, "How can we not remember that the ministry of Peter, the visible source of unity, constitutes a difficulty for the other churches and ecclesial communities? At the same time, however, how can we not return to the historic date of the first millennium when the primacy of the bishop of Rome was exercised without meeting resistance in the churches of either the West or the East?"

Papal primacy has been at issue since the schism that divided the churches of the East and the West in the 11th century and the establishment of the Anglican church and the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century.

-- Peggy Polk

[This message has been edited by Linda Sutton (edited February 25, 2001).]