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In my last post, I began a series exploring the relationship of evangelicals and Roman Catholics. Today, I will begin to briefly examine areas of agreement between these two groups.

Christianity has an exceedingly rich tradition, both spiritually and intellectually. Much of this tradition, that which is prior to the reformation, is shared by evangelicals and Catholics. To discard the honored theologians of Catholicism would be to discard much of the richness of the Christian faith. Protestants, as well as Catholics, deeply value the writings of Augustine, Anselm, and Aquinas. So, one area of immediate agreement involves the shared esteem of certain great Christian thinkers, philosophers, and theologians. There are also a number of doctrinal questions upon which evangelicals and Catholics may claim considerable agreement. Among these are views on revelation, God, humanity, Jesus Christ, salvation, the Church, ethics, and eschatology. I will examine each of these in turn, today looking at shared views concerning revelation and God. It is important, however, to note that although there is much agreement in each of these areas, this is not to imply that there is complete agreement or that there are no substantial differences.

Regarding revelation, both Catholics and evangelicals embrace one Bible divided into two testaments. The three major creeds - the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed - are also accepted by both groups. The first four councils of the Church - First Nicea, First Contantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon – are also accepted by the majority of evangelicals as well as Catholics. All cults and heresies can be seen to depart theologically from the doctrine which was developed over the first five centuries of Christianity. Evangelicals and Catholics hold to the centrality of God’s revelation as given in the scriptures. Although Catholics include the apocryphal books in the Old Testament, they are in agreement with evangelicals on the other 66 books of the Bible.

Both also hold that God has chosen to reveal himself to man on two levels, one of general revelation and another of special revelation. For Catholics, as well as evangelicals, natural law forms much of the moral foundation from which we address social and moral issues. Both embrace natural theology, but recognize that special revelation is necessary due to the deficiency of human reason as a result of the fall. There is also agreement on the infallibility and inerrancy of Scripture. Although there are certainly differences in the way the doctrine is fleshed out, Catholics have no problem, at least in some sense, accepting sola Scriptura.

Catholics and evangelicals also hold to the same basic view of God. The formulations of the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed are agreed upon by all. The doctrine that there is but one God who exists in three persons who is the creator of all is a fundamental area of agreement. The New Catholic Encyclopedia’s definition of God would present no difficulties to evangelicals:

The Supreme Being, Pure Act, First Cause of all, provident conserver and governor of the universe; the Absolute – infinite, eternal, immutable, intelligent, omniscient, all-powerful, and free; the Creator, to whom creatures owe homage, respect, and obedience; the Sovereign Good, diffusive of all goodness, toward which everything tends as to its ultimate final cause; the supernatural source of revelation; the Godhead composed of three Divine Persons in one divine nature – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Both the Catholic and evangelical understanding of God comes from both general and special revelation. There is also agreement on the classical attributes of God, divided into those which are communicable and those which are incommunicable. Evangelicals and Catholics stand together on this fundamental doctrinal area of the view of God.