Roman Catholic Conundrum

See Al Mohler's comments regarding the Roman Catholic's recent declaration regarding the nature of the church. Their statement, though not surprising and quite consistent with their historical beliefs, is profound because they have again proclaimed that we protestants are, in their view, not part of the church. This further illustrates that the differences between us are very deep and very real.

Mohler writes,

"The Roman Catholic Church does not deny that Christ is working redemptively through Protestant and evangelical churches, but it does deny that these churches which deny the authority of the papacy are true churches in the most important sense. The true church, in other words, is that church identified through the recognition of the papacy. Those churches that deny or fail to recognize the papacy are 'ecclesial Communities,' not churches 'in the proper sense.'

I appreciate the document's clarity on this issue. It all comes down to this -- the claim of the Roman Catholic Church to the primacy of the Bishop of Rome and the Pope as the universal monarch of the church is the defining issue. Roman Catholics and Evangelicals should together recognize the importance of that claim. We should together realize and admit that this is an issue worthy of division. The Roman Catholic Church is willing to go so far as to assert that any church that denies the papacy is no true church. Evangelicals should be equally candid in asserting that any church defined by the claims of the papacy is no true church. This is not a theological game for children, it is the honest recognition of the importance of the question."