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    • Nottingham Statement

    Posted on

    Nottingham Statement

    NOTTINGHAM STATEMENT

    In April 1977 the Nottingham Congress for Evangelical Anglicans published the Nottingham Statement as a faithful expression of the mind of evangelical Anglicans. Chairman of the NEAC Executive Committee, John Stott.

    THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH M1: The present condition.

    (a) We recognize and welcome the changing situation and the movement for renewal in the Roman Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council and we want to respond to it.

    (b) Seeing ourselves and Roman Catholics as fellow Christians, we repent of atttitudes that have seemed to deny it.

    (c) We welcome the growing emphasis upon the Bible as normative for Christian faith and conduct.

    (d) We wish to be better informed concerning the Roman Church today and will support and encourage opportunities for dialogue between us at all levels.

    (e) We believe that agreement on fundamental doctrine must precede any formal act of union.

    (f) While still regarding the major issues of the Reformation as crucial, we welcome the progress made towards the doctrinal agreement such as is evidenced in the ARCIC (Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission) statements.

    M2: Where clarification is needed

    With the diversity of statements emanating from Roman Catholic circles, we find it perplexing to know their present doctrinal position. We feel the need for some official denials of past claims along with official statements of current agreement. At the samne time, we should welcome an indication from Roman Catholics of clarifications they desire from us. For our part, we need further elucidation in the following areas:

    (a) Does the Roman Catholic Church place itself under the Old and New Testaments as the final authority under Christ?

    (b) What is the relationship of tradition and the teaching authority of the church to Holy Scripture?

    (c) What authority today have the statements of such Councils as those of Trent and Vatican I?

    (d) Are men justified through faith, with their good works a fruit of justification and not a source of merit|? (e) How is the Eucharist related to Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross? (f) What standing have the Marian dogma of the Immaculate Conception and the Bodily Assumption? (g) What authority would be vested in any contemporary universal

    primacy?

    M3: Action to be taken

    In restating our attitude to the Roman Catholic church, we want simultaneously to affirm our close doctrinal and spiritual ties with nonAnglican evangelicals, which we are most anxious not to jeopardise. To this end, we need to clarify the Anglican stand on comprehensiveness.

    (a) We shall all work towards full communion between our churches. We believe that the visible unity of all professing Christians should be our goal.

    (b) We ask Roman Catholics to try to understand our difficulties as we seek to understand theirs.

    (c) We wish ARCIC to amplify their doctrinal statements in those areas where we have asked for further clarification.

    (d) We shall encourage every kind of co-operation that may bring this goal of full communion nearer; some would welcome intercommunion as a step in this direction.

    (e) Realizing the urgency of the situation, we shall make time to get to know and learn from one another, especially by prayer and studying the Bible together.

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