August 29, 1998 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - In July, Roman Catholic Michael Timmis was named chairman of Prison Fellowship, which was founded by Chuck Colson. Colson remains on the Prison Fellowship board as Chairman Emeritus (Moody Monthly, August 1998).

Timmis is also on the Promise Keepers board of directors.

Colson is completely dedicated to ecumenism. He has worked diligently to break down the walls of Biblical separation between Bible-believing Christians and denominations which promote liberal theology and false gospels. His wife is a Roman Catholic, and he is a signer of Evangelicals and Catholics Together I and II which call for closer working relations between Protestants and Catholics.

Colson wrote the foreword to Catholic Keith Fournier's book Evangelical Catholics, published in 1990. Consider an excerpt from Colson's foreword:

"...at root, those who are called of God, whether Catholic or Protestant, are part of the same Body. What they share is a belief in the basics: the virgin birth, the deity of Christ, His bodily resurrection, His imminent return, and the authority of His infallible Word. They also share the same mission: presenting Christ as Savior and Lord to a needy world. Those who hold to these truths and act on this commission are evangelical Christians. … It's high time that all of us who are Christians come together regardless of the difference of our confessions and our traditions and make common cause to bring Christian values to bear in our society. When the barbarians are scaling the walls, there is no time for petty quarreling in the camp. ... We have much to forgive, much to relearn. But Evangelical Catholics can help us do both so we can band together against the rising tides of secularism which threaten to engulf us" (Colson, foreword to Evangelical Catholics).

My friends, the only way to label a Catholic an evangelical is to change the historical definition of both terms. A look at the Vatican II declarations and the New Catholic Catechism leaves no doubt of this. Secularism cannot be defeated with a disobedient alliance between true and false Christianity.

In his book The Body, Colson called on evangelicals to "join forces with Catholics and charismatics in the common cause to combat cultural relativism." He said, "The body of Christ, in all its diversity, is created with Baptist feet, charismatic hands, and Catholic ears--all with their eyes on Jesus." Colson praised the Catholic chain of command, and included he Catholic Church as part of the body of Christ. The book was endorsed by Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Carl F. Henry, and Catholic priest Richard John Neuhaus. Roman Catholic Cardinal John O'Connor endorsed Colson's book in a Christianity Today advertisement (Christianity Today, July 19, 1993).