Evangelical Oxford Movement?

Rod Bennett, author of The Four Witnesses: The Early Church In Her Own Words, ponders a fascinating and elusive question:

Is there an Evangelical Oxford Movement underway? I'd be thrilled to think so. Just consider some of the signs I've collected over the last few weeks...

"We Need a Pope" says Evangelical scholar...

"Reopen Sola Fide Debate" says Christianity Today...

"Evangelicals Should Make the Sign of the Cross" says Calvinist commentator...

Evangelical blogger: "The Debt We Owe to Catholics"...

Chicago Tribune: "Evangelicals Learning to Pray the Daily Office"

Am I saying that Evangelicals will all become Catholic soon? Not a bit of it. After all, not even all the Tractarians converted--not even a majority. Edward Pusey, the actual leader of the Movement, remained Protestant all his life and seems, in fact, to have planted his feet even more firmly after the departure of Newman. Some of the Tractarians, on the other hand, actually slipped off into liberalism, then to out-and-out infidelity. But at least they had seen the facts, wrestled with the historic Church as she really is. And Evangelicalism, likewise, will become a better, more honest version of itself for having come to terms with these things.

There are numerous forms and shades of Evangelicalism, of course, so capturing the trajectory of those who might be described as—or describe themselves as—Evangelicals is nigh impossible. But, as triumphalistic as it might sound to many Evangelicals, there are really only two directions to go: toward or away from the Catholic Church. This was the sympathetic and respectful argument presented by former Lutheran pastor, Fr. Louis Bouyer, in several works, notably The Spirit and Forms of Protestantism and The Word, Church and Sacraments in Protestantism and Catholicism (an excellent summary of Bouyer's thought can be found in this essay by Mark Brumley.) Some of the current movement toward the Catholic Church is, logically, taking place in careful reassessments of the historical and theological issues that separate Catholics and Evangelicals. Some of it can be seen in seemingly small matters, such as some Evangelicals using the Stations of the Cross, icons, more obviously liturgical forms of worship, and so forth.

For more about Catholic-Evangelical relations, see my recent two-part interview with Dr. Brad Harper, professor at Multnomah Bible college who earned his PhD at a well-known Jesuit university: Part One and Part Two.

Comments

[Fr. Larry]

It strikes me there is no "movement" here, i.e., no organized group of people moving in the same direction. You've listed a number of indications, however, that the Spirit may be urging people to revisit their prejudices against the Church.