Evangelical Theological Perspectives on post-Vatican II Roman Catholicism

Religions and Discourse #19

by Leonardo De Chirico

The Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) has forced Evangelical theology to rethink its own perception and analysis of Roman Catholicism. Many Evangelical theologians have attempted to grapple with the new Roman Catholic outlook and the ecumenical challenges it brings. After describing the theological contours of Evangelicalism, the book critically surveys the works on Roman Catholicism by Gerrit Berkouwer, Cornelius Van Til, David Wells, Donald Bloesch, Herbert Carson, John Stott, and two on-going international dialogues between Evangelicals and Catholics. The Evangelical appraisal of Roman Catholicism has in general suffered from a lack of systemic awareness in dealing with it. The prevailing approach has been marked by an interpretative atomism, and the last two chapters propose the formulation of an Evangelical systemic analysis. First, by supporting the feasibility of the category of system as applied to Roman Catholicism, thus developing the basic theological hermeneutics proposed by Abraham Kuyper. Second, by indicating in the Roman Catholic articulations of the relationship between nature and grace and in the ecclesiological self-understanding of the Roman Church the two main theological foci of the system.

337 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Leonardo De Chirico is the pastor of Breccia di Roma, a church that he helped plant in Rome in 2009. He served as Vice Chairman of the Italian Evangelical Alliance from 2003-2021 and now serves as chairman for the theological commission of the IEA.

Previously, Leonardo planted and pastored an evangelical church in Ferrara, Italy, from 1997 to 2009. He earned degrees in History (University of Bologna), Theology (ETCW, Bridgend, Wales) and Bioethics (University of Padova).

His PhD is from King's College (London); it was published as Evangelical Theological Perspectives on Post-Vatican II Roman Catholicism.

In 2015, he published A Christian Pocket Guide to Papacy and A Christian Pocket Guide to Mary: Mother of God? through Christian Focus.

He is a lecturer of Historical Theology at Istituto di Formazione Evangelica e Documentazione in Padova, Italy.

Additionally, Leonardo is the Director of the Reformanda Initiative, which aims to equip evangelical leaders to better understand and engage with Roman Catholicism, and the leader of the Rome Scholars & Leaders Network (RSLN).