JDDJ: Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification

Read the WCRC’s Association with the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ):

Background

In 1999, after many years of dialogue, the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification (JDDJ) was signed by the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation, stating that the churches now share “a common understanding of our justification by God’s grace through faith in Christ.” They acknowledged that the condemnations relating to the doctrine of justification set forth by the Council of Trent and the Lutheran confessions do not apply to the Catholic and Lutheran teachings on justification set forth in the declaration.

The JDDJ established this “common understanding” by the method of a differentiated consensus. This method allows the expression of both differences and consensuses by placing the remaining differences within a still more far-reaching shared conviction. The JDDJ presents the different theological traditions but looks at them from the viewpoint of a common understanding as differences in emphasis and not in substance.

The Process of Association
The JDDJ praises this consensus on the understanding of justification by God’s grace as an important step on the way to Christian unity. For this reason the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran World Federation invited other churches and ecumenical bodies to associate with the Joint Declaration.

In 2006, the World Methodist Council and its member churches affirmed their fundamental doctrinal agreement with the teaching expressed in the document and associated with the Joint Declaration. In 2016 the Anglican Consultative Council “welcomed and affirmed the substance of the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification.”

WCRC Response
The Uniting General Council, meeting in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA, in 2010, recommended: “To have a consultation within WCRC to consider the possibility of associating with the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification.”

After additional discussion, at its meeting in Havana, Cuba, in May 2016, the Executive Committee recommended to joyfully accept the invitation to associate with the JDDJ. In keeping with the Reformed principle, “ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda secundum verbum dei” (“the church reformed, always reforming according to the Word of God”), the Executive Committee embraced the new ecumenical reality this shared agreement promises. At the same time the Committee resolved that the Statement of Association should emphasize the connection between justification and justice as a Reformed contribution to future ecumenical dialogue on the understanding of justification.

Through several rounds of drafting, sharing, and reworking, a small group of theologians, in consultation with the membership of the Communion, crafted a statement of association, which was signed in Wittenberg during the 2017 General Council.

Resources