Digging Out the Embedded Church - The Maranatha Community

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„When a man dies in the grace of God, then God freely forgives him all his sins and demands no expiatory penalties: Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, is our only atonement and satisfaction.‟ 33 It would be true to observe that in general Eastern Orthodoxy has not tried to proselytise in the way that both the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant churches have tried to win the Orthodox to their brands of Christianity. For this both groups need to repent of any unchristian conduct towards the Orthodox, while in no way retracting their particular views and emphases. 34 Yet, to be realistic, Orthodoxy looks askance at both the Roman Church and the Protestant churches, seeing them all as defective. A very interesting Orthodox writer who critiques both camps is Alexis Stepanovich Khomiakov (1804-1860). Under the influence of William Palmer of Magdalen College, Oxford (not the Palmer of the Tractarians), he wrote a seminal work, The Church is One (1844-45). He saw the Orthodox Church as „an organic society of which Christ was the Head and the Holy Spirit the Soul and whose essence was “freedom in the spirit at one with itself.”‟ 35 He saw Protestants as having freedom but no unity and Roman Catholics as having unity but no freedom. He levelled a devastating attack on Papal Infallibility – it is a sort of eighth Sacrament in Khomiakov‟s eyes, in that it suggests the person can be separated from holiness and still be the Church‟s Teacher. On the other hand, Protestantism replaced the Church with the „I‟ of each individual having the right to interpret and teach. For Khomiakov, holiness of life is the basis of the Church‟s real unity. Dealing with Khomiakov‟s teaching, Serge Bolshakoff writes, „Unity must be promoted first by saintliness,‟ and „If Eastern and Western Christians lead a godly life, they will find the way to unite.‟ 36 Khomiakov denounced „formal unions‟. Both Eastern and Western parts of the Christian Church must repent of their sins and wrong attitudes to the other. „The reunion of Christendom may be achieved only through the mutual love of Eastern and Western Christians.‟ Therein lies hope. As never before, East and West are talking to each other and learning from each other. This is part of the new thing that is happening in our day. We cannot repent of our sins if 33 Ware, Timothy, The Orthodox Church, Penguin Books, 1967, p 259. 34 See Lawrence, John, Hard facts of Unity, a Layman Looks at the Ecumenical Movement, SCM Press, 1961, Ch 8. 35 Bolshakoff, Serge, The Doctrine of the Church in the works of Khomiakov and Moehler, SPCK, 1946, p 302. 36 Bolshakoff, Serge, The Doctrine of the Church in the works of Khomiakov and Moehler, SPCK, 1946, p 302. Page 35
we do not talk to each other. Our task is to find ways of increasing our contacts and our understanding of each other. One of the ways this is being attempted is through the work of the Fellowship of St Alban and St Sergius. The Fellowship was founded in 1928 by members of Eastern Orthodox and Western churches (the latter mainly but not entirely from the Anglo-Catholic element in the Anglican Church). Before the Communist Revolution of 1917 in Russia there had been little contact between Eastern and Western Churches. In the 18 th Century Anglican „non-jurors‟ (who had sworn loyalty to James II and would not swear loyalty to the incoming and, as they saw it, usurping Protestant William of Orange) had engaged in talks with the Orthodox concerning union, but nothing concrete came of them. During the 1917 Communist Revolution, Orthodox believers fled the new atheistic regime, and, as religious refugees, found homes in the West, particularly in France and in the UK. One of the young Russian refugees was Nicholas Zernov, who, with the Student Christian Movement, organised conferences in 1927 and 1928 in the town of St Albans to bring Eastern and Western Christian students together. At these conferences in St Albans, a gesture towards union was made by having communion services in the same chapel though at different times. This does not seem like a great step forward in unity, yet Orthodoxy at that time still regarded contact with „heretics‟ and „schismatics‟ as forbidden. As Roman Catholics would have nothing to do with the Fellowship officially, it was left to Anglicans and Orthodox in the main to foster the vision of unity through the Fellowship. Since its founding, the Fellowship has encouraged debate, discussion and joint study by the Eastern and Western Churches. Its Journal is called Sobornost, a Russian word which can be translated „togetherness‟, „cooperation‟ or even „unity in diversity‟. The Fellowship has done much to foster understanding between Eastern and Western Churches, and currently has both an Orthodox and an Anglican President. It stands for traditional Nicene Christianity and against women in church leadership and the practice of homosexual life styles. Page 36
Page 1 and 2: Digging Out the Embedded Church Dis
Page 3 and 4: The Maranatha Community comprises t
Page 5 and 6: Introduction CONTENTS Chapter 1 Chr
Page 7 and 8: ead, nicely browned on top. He plac
Page 9 and 10: HOW DO WE DIG OUT THE EMBEDDED CHUR
Page 11 and 12: That the Church should express this
Page 13 and 14: For Alfeyev, „Faith is a gift, th
Page 15 and 16: „heresies„ of the Early Church
Page 17 and 18: Traditionally, the Church has made
Page 19 and 20: CHAPTER 1 CHRISTIAN UNITY IN THE EA
Page 21 and 22: A certain Docetic teacher, often id
Page 23 and 24: Novatianism When the persecutions o
Page 25 and 26: The fortunes of the Arian party in
Page 27 and 28: An attempt was made in 482 AD (29 y
Page 29 and 30: was development in the interpretati
Page 31 and 32: CYPRIAN AND AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO The
Page 33 and 34: position would see baptism as not t
Page 35 and 36: The Eastern Church‟s relationship
Page 37 and 38: insisted from the second Lateran Co
Page 39: There is so much that Orthodoxy sha
Page 43 and 44: The question of heresy does not com
Page 45 and 46: They were missionary-minded and the
Page 47 and 48: Lollard ideas lingered in English r
Page 49 and 50: CHAPTER 4 THE SECOND GREAT SPLIT: W
Page 51 and 52: unity‟s sake in subsequent centur
Page 53 and 54: Erasmus wrote he asserts, through o
Page 55 and 56: attle-cry, is perhaps the most famo
Page 57 and 58: Regulations for the good ordering o
Page 59 and 60: Eucharist was not just a commemorat
Page 61 and 62: CHAPTER 5 QUOTATIONS ON THE THEME O
Page 63 and 64: How rare then it is to meet a man w
Page 65 and 66: are often much bigger divisions bet
Page 67 and 68: St Germanus of Constantinople - 8 t
Page 69 and 70: manner. He declared that men could
Page 71 and 72: S L Greenslade - 20 th Century: „
Page 73 and 74: CHAPTER 6 HOPES FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY
Page 75 and 76: imminent return of Christ (Komensky
Page 77 and 78: a concern that merchant adventurers
Page 79 and 80: also anti-Socinian. Calixtus himsel
Page 81 and 82: The Eastern Churches were not rent
Page 83 and 84: everyone - from outward forms to in
Page 85 and 86: Women were not usually members of t
Page 87 and 88: work in America, shows him, though
Page 89 and 90: The aim of the conference was to br
Page 91 and 92:
From 1768 Harris‟s home at Talgar
Page 93 and 94:
twice more to congregations of Whit
Page 95 and 96:
denominations was not their distinc
Page 97 and 98:
It was from the overseas Protestant
Page 99 and 100:
THE OXFORD TRACTARIAN MOVEMENT Anot
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the Church of England‟s doctrinal
Page 103 and 104:
„We pray that… all who desire t
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thereof, in prayer, in the remembra
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honours the Lord and his Word; the
Page 109 and 110:
apostolic church enjoyed, and that
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episcopate were too radical for mos
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Denominations began to form their o
Page 115 and 116:
In this Shanghai Conference‟s Rep
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With so much talk of unity and coop
Page 119 and 120:
„The liturgical movement in weste
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• Sharing a corporate life of wit
Page 123 and 124:
• Our acknowledgement of the Apos
Page 125 and 126:
(h) The Evangelical Church in Germa
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It changed nothing in respect of do
Page 129 and 130:
Some Evangelical Protestants want t
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• It is in continuity with the
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But things have changed. Richard Ma
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evangelism - (and) state what the r
Page 137 and 138:
Repentance and faith are at the hea
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outcome of being justified. Agreeme
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Virgin‟s salutary influence on me
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h) Confession The sacrament of pena
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demanding way would be sin. The que
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If the opportunity for the Church t
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Ministers, priests and laypeople in
Page 151 and 152:
West Kirby, near to my home, the Si
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n) Shared Study Courses There is a
Page 155 and 156:
Even some Protestant churches today
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Vincent de Lérins spoke of a „pr
Page 159 and 160:
It is not likely, in the foreseeabl
Page 161 and 162:
Christ and are trying their best to
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upon the name of our Lord Jesus Chr
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Perhaps this dying process is now b
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economic factors giving rise to suc
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deeper ecumenism, one that does not
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APPENDIX 1 THE NICENO-CONSTANTINOPO
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APPENDIX 2 FOUR BIBLICAL TEXTS ON T
Page 175 and 176:
The „apostles and elders‟ of th
Page 177 and 178:
„The purpose of the Reformation C
Page 179 and 180:
What all three traditions have in c
Page 181 and 182:
Cromwellian period, in a treatise o
Page 183 and 184:
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BOOKS AND DOCUMENTS
Page 185 and 186:
Cullman, Oscar, The Earliest Christ
Page 187 and 188:
McCarthy, Tim, The Catholic Traditi
Page 189 and 190:
Letter concerning the civil princip
Page 191 and 192:
Coptic Orthodox Church, 10 Council
Page 193 and 194:
Parousia, 24, 68, 93 Paul VI, 10, 1
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Digging Out the Embedded Church - The Maranatha Community

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