THE NOTTINGHAM STATEMENT
The Nottingham Statement was published by the National Evangelical Anglican Congress (NEAC), meeting in Nottingham, England in April 1977. In order to fully understand it, we will need some background, especially concerning the two foremost evangelicals within the Anglican Communion, James I. Packer and John R.W. Stott.
This was the second conference of the NEAC, the first being in Keele ten years earlier. Concerning the position of evangelicals in the Church of England, which is a predominantly Anglo-Catholic fellowship, the chairman of NEAC, John Stott, had written the following before the congress.
"It is a tragic thing, however, that Evangelicals have a very poor image in the Church as a whole. We have acquired a reputation for narrow partisanship and obstructionism. We have to acknowledge this, and for the most part we have no one but ourselves to blame. We need to repent and change." (Copied from Evangelicalism Divided by Iain Murray, page 42).
(The honor of giving the opening address of the congress was given to liberal Anglo-Catholic A.M. Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury.)
Mr. Murray continues on page 43, "The Congress went on to set up a good statement of evangelical doctrine but coupled with it was a confirmation of the ground rule for all ecumenical dialog, namely, that as long as anyone confessed Jesus Christ as God and Saviour there must be an acceptance of their Christian standing."
Although some of his earlier writings had seemed to be more uncomprisingly evangelical, Packer and others had decided that of their differences both with liberals and Anglo-Catholics, the former were more serious. Packer admitted that his allies in the battle were chiefly the Anglo-Catholic party. This became the first step of ecumenical compromise.
While Keele had set the stage for ecumenical compromise with Anglo-Catholics, the theory that all baptized people were Christians led the way to further compromise at Nottingham.
This can be seen as foundational in Packer’s thinking that would cause him, in March 1994, to sign and then continue to hotly defend ECT, Evangelicals and Catholics Together. The Christian Mission for the Third Millennium.
THE NOTTINGHAM STATEMENT
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
The present condition.
(a) We recognize and welcome the changing situation and the movement for renewal in the Roman Catholic Church since the
Second Vatican Council and we want to respond to it.(b) Seeing ourselves and Roman Catholics as fellow Christians, we repent of attitudes that have seemed to deny it.
(c) We welcome the growing emphasis upon the
Bible as normative for Christian faith and conduct.(d) We wish to be better informed concerning the Roman Church today and will support and encourage opportunities for dialogue between us at all levels.
(e) We believe that agreement on fundamental doctrine must precede any formal act of union.
(f) While still regarding the major issues of the Reformation as crucial, we welcome the progress made towards the doctrinal agreement such as is evidenced in the ARCIC (Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission) statements.
Action to be taken
In restating our attitude to the Roman Catholic church, we want simultaneously to affirm our close doctrinal and spiritual ties with non-Anglican evangelicals, which we are most anxious not to jeopardise. To this end, we need to clarify the Anglican stand on comprehensiveness.
(a) We shall all work towards full communion between our churches. We believe that the visible unity of all professing Christians should be our goal.
(b) We ask Roman Catholics to try to understand our difficulties as we seek to understand theirs.
(c) We wish ARCIC to amplify their doctrinal statements in those areas where we have asked for further clarification.
(d) We shall encourage every kind of co-operation that may bring this goal of full communion nearer; some would welcome intercommunion as a step in this direction.
(e) Realizing the urgency of the situation, we shall make time to get to know and learn from one another, especially by prayer and studying the Bible together.
