Digging Out the Embedded Church - The Maranatha Community

unity held in this book urges Christians to be loyal to their denominations but to constantly
look beyond the borders of their denomination to enter an extra-denominational fellowship.
This will seem a precarious basis of unity for those who hold that churchmanship entails
submission to the authority of one Church.
A most hopeful sign of the growing unity between Catholics and Protestants can be found in
Vatican Dei Verbum („Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation‟). The Roman Church
now urges the frequent reading of the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, and
especially the Gospels, for all its people, not just for the clergy and the religious. It also
commends cooperation with „separated brethren‟ in Biblical scholarship.
This is a long way from the Church‟s attitude in the fairly recent past when cooperation with
non-Catholics in matters of theology and Biblical studies was opposed and there was little
encouragement for ordinary church members to read the Scriptures daily for themselves. So it
is remarkable how both Catholics and Protestants today can freely meet together to study the
Bible and encourage one another in its truths.
Dei Verbum, however, is clear that the Tradition of the Church complements Scripture, and it
argues strongly that through the apostolic succession, God has placed in its bishops the means
of authenticating the Tradition. Most Protestants (and many Orthodox believers) would feel
that some aspects of the Catholic tradition have added to the content of Scripture rather than
having merely interpreted it.
Where „facts‟ are put forward, as in the case of the Immaculate Conception and the Bodily
Assumption of Mary, questions are raised as to where the authority for these claims to truth
lies. Dei Verbum states:
„The Christian economy – since it is the new and definitive covenant, will never pass
away and no new revelation is to be expected before the glorious manifestation of our
Lord, Jesus Christ.‟
Many Protestants would consider these dogmas as „new public revelation‟ as far as the texts
of Scripture are concerned. These could be an obstacle to Christian unity, but they need to be
seen in the context of the vast areas where there are agreed interpretations of Scripture.
Despite the above doctrinal differences between Catholics and Protestants, collaboration in
witness and service is still possible. J I Packer, a Protestant theologian, has written:
„Though Protestant and Catholic church systems stand opposed and official beliefs
diverge on many aspects of the doctrine of salvation, those who love and trust the
Lord Jesus Christ on both sides of the Reformation divide know that they are in a real
sense united in him and are joint heirs of glory not only with him but with each other.
Jesus‟ high-priestly prayer for the unity of his disciples as a visible reality in their life
on earth (see John 17.20-23) therefore weighs heavily on their minds. This prayer
clearly entails the thought that God‟s one international family should seek to look and
sound like one family by speaking and acting as such, and that means aiming at
togetherness wherever togetherness can be achieved. The alternative is to grieve the
Lord. So where there is fellowship in personal faith, fellowship in service should
fellow, and the cherishing of isolationism as the more comfortable and less
Page 139