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In recent decades, evangelicals and Catholics have come together to face seemingly intractable social problems. Then, in 1994, 20 evangelical and Catholic leaders from North America, including public intellectuals Charles Colson and Richard John Neuhaus, organized an informal discussion group, Evangelicals and Catholics Together (ECT). The group issued a joint declaration, "The Christian Mission in the Third Millennium," which discussed issues such as abortion that evangelicals and Catholics could jointly address.

Is The Reformation Over?: An Evangelical Assessment of Contemporary Roman Catholicism by Mark Noll and Carolyn Nystrom Baker 272 pp., $24.99

ECT's endorsers also affirmed certain common tenets of the Christian faith, including (without defining it) justification by faith. Prominent evangelical theologians such as R. C. Sproul complained that Colson had been duped. The Southern Baptist Convention pressured another signatory, Richard Land, to erase his signature. He did.

Theologian J. I. Packer's participation in ECT was most perplexing to some critics. Although a handful of Reformed leaders accused him of high treason, Packer did not back down. He reiterated his belief that "good evangelical Protestants and good Roman Catholics" are Christians. And he argued that the world needs an alliance of devoted believers.

Wheaton College historian Mark Noll and writer Carolyn Nystrom share Packer's spirit of ecumenical charity. The headline-grabbing title of Is the Reformation Over? boldly implies an answer. But the book's subtitle, An Evangelical Assessment of Contemporary Roman Catholicism, suggests its true value. ECT's detractors get little space, but readers will learn much about modern efforts to improve evangelical-Catholic relations. However, they may benefit most from Noll and Nystrom's irenic (and reluctantly critical) exploration of what still divides us.

The authors believe the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) was a key turning point. They identify four crucial developments. The council (1) referred to some non-Catholics as "brothers," (2) encouraged lay Catholic piety, (3) emphasized Christ's unique role as mediator, and (4) accepted limited blame for inciting the Reformation.

Noll and Nystrom also provide ample descriptions of official Protestant dealings with the Catholic church. Most notably, they detail "The Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification," signed by the Lutheran World Federation and Catholic representatives in 1999. They say a key Reformation debate cooled with the declaration's hallmark line: "Our new life is solely due to the forgiving and renewing mercy that God imparts as a gift and we receive in faith and never can merit in any way." Critics, however, pointed out that the document papered over significant differences associated with justification, including purgatory, penance, and indulgences.

The justification dialogue also shows the limitation of Noll and Nystrom's main question. How do we know when the Reformation is over? On the one hand, the authors write, "If it is true, as once was repeated frequently by Protestants conscious of their anchorage in Martin Luther or John Calvin that … justification is the article on which the church stands or falls, then the Reformation is over."

But the Reformation also produced a severe disagreement over the nature of the church. Protestants cannot fathom why the Catholic Catechism approvingly quotes Joan of Arc saying, "About Jesus Christ and the church, I simply know they're just one thing, and we shouldn't complicate the matter." Noll and Nystrom say, "In sum, the central difference that continues to separate evangelicals and Catholics is not Scripture, justification by faith, the pope, Mary, the sacraments, or clerical celibacy—though the central difference is reflected in differences on these matters—but the nature of the church."

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December 2005, Vol. 49, No. 12