ECT: A Reformation Critique of Ecumenical Unity and Justification

Evangelicals and Catholics Together" (ECT) document from 1994, a landmark effort to foster unity and common Christian witness between two major Christian communities. It argues that while ECT aimed for cooperation against secularism, its ambiguous theological language, particularly regarding salvation, obscured fundamental differences, leading to a "false unity." The critique primarily focuses on soteriology, highlighting the irreconcilable divide between the Roman Catholic doctrine of justification as an infused process of inherent righteousness and the Reformation's understanding of justification by grace alone through faith alone, based on the imputed (credited) righteousness of Christ. The text explains that this doctrinal divergence, particularly the omission of "alone" and the concept of imputation in ECT, sparked significant backlash from conservative Protestants who viewed it as a compromise of the "Five Solas" and the very clarity of the Gospel message.