Christian Unity (the book) - The Maranatha Community

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William Seward, Whitefield’s travelling companion, met one or two RomanCatholics whom he found exhibited marks of God’s grace. He wrote that whenhe visited a Roman Catholic family near his home in Worcestershire he felt heought to tell them that the Pope and his cardinals were in as safe a state asChurch of England bishops and clergy. All that mattered was true worship ofGod in the Spirit. He visited a Roman Catholic relative who, he felt, knew moreof the true Gospel than many people in the Church of England. 73In a short Letter to a Roman Catholic published in 1749, John Wesley offeredthe hand of Christian fellowship freely. He made it clear that he was not tryingto convert his readers to Protestantism. He wrote:‘My dear friend, consider, I am not persuading you to leave or change yourreligion, but to follow after that fear and love of God without which allreligion is vain.’and also,‘If God still loveth us, we ought also to love one another. We ought,without this endless jangling about opinions, to provoke one another tolove and good works. Let the points whereon we differ stand aside: hereare enough wherein we agree, enough to be the ground of every Christiantemper and of every Christian action. O brethren, let us not still fall out bythe way. I hope to see you in heaven. And if I practise the religion abovedescribed, you dare not say I shall go to hell.’ 74All the great Evangelical Revival leaders spoke against bigotry, and at theFoundry Society, the Wesleys’ centre in London, laymen and clergy who, sadly,were soon to become bitterly divided spent almost heavenly times of unitedpraise and worship together during the first five years of the Revival. After anear-Pentecostal meeting on New Year’s Day 1739, in the Fetter Lane Societyoff Fleet Street, Whitefield wrote in his journal four days later:‘January 5, 1739. Held a conference at Islington, concerning several thingsof very great importance, with seven true ministers of Jesus Christ,despised methodists, whom God has brought together from the East and73Manuscript Journal of William Seward, 16 Aug 1740, Bangor B Ms 34.74Ed Hurley, Michael, SJ, Letter to a Roman Catholic, published in 1749, GeoffreyChapman, 1968, pp 53-54.Page 111
the West, the North and the South. What we were in doubt about, afterprayer, we determined by lot, and everything else was carried on withgreat love, meekness and devotion. We continued in fasting and prayer tillthree o’clock, and then parted with a full conviction that God was going todo great things among us.’ 75Why evangelical believers who had so much in common during the early daysof the Revival came to be at odds with each other is hinted at very strongly inEfion Evans’ biography of Daniel Rowland. He shows how the Revival broughtDissenters and Church people together on the basis of a shared experience ofthe new birth; a love for the Bible as the only source of knowledge about God;a keenness for evangelism, especially among their fellow church orcongregation members; and their orthodox faith and commitment to living agodly life.On 1-2 October 1740 a conference was convened at the village of Defynnognear Brecon, when Dissenters and Churchmen came together. Howel Harris ofTrefeca, an Anglican layman whose dramatic conversion in 1735 had led him toa life of preaching in Wales and England, was the leader of what could becalled the Church methodists. Daniel Rowland was present, a minister of theestablished Church who like Harris took his message of salvation by faith inChrist beyond his parish boundaries, and, like Harris, saw a great number ofpeople respond to his message, often with deep emotion. Dissenting ministerswere also present from Baptist and Congregational meetings.The aim of the conference was to bring into being united societies of‘awakened’ believers. Rowland was concerned, as a Church minister, not to beseen to approve of Dissent and separation (which was less of a problem forHarris), and the conference came to nothing.Evans suggests several reasons for its failure. One was Harris’s overbearingmanner, a personality issue. Another reason was the differences of churchorder. Were the Dissenters going to have to abandon their separateness andIndependent church principles? What about the divisive issue of the place of75George Whitefield’s Journals, Banner of Truth Trust, 1960, p 196. For John Wesley’saccount of those days see Curnock, Nehemiah, ed, The Journal of John Wesley, AM,Standard Edition, Charles Kelly, London, pp 121-122. Fetter Lane Society: founded on 1 May1738 in a meeting room off Fleet Street, London, as a Church of England Religious Societyfor the promotion of holiness and faith. It was supported by Moravians who were living inLondon and the Wesleys themselves were members.Page 112
Page 11 and 12:
Can Christian Unity be expressed ac
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‘In the Trinity the three are one
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Protestants, equally, have to be ab
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When John Wesley said that Christia
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(Geneva) Agreed Statement was issue
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While organised Christian endeavour
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Christian Unity consist?’ We shal
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CHAPTER 1CHRISTIAN UNITY IN THE EAR
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Almost all the heresies in the Earl
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interpreted as being against the la
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was raised by the Novatian schism.
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ArianismArianism was the most impor
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the Person of Christ. This was the
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Nicaea (325 AD), which asserted, ag
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He wrote:‘The ancient doctrines o
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agreement into the terms and ethics
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authority of the local bishop; Cypr
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Protestants. He was born in Tagaste
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guide the affairs of men: the Papac
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The distinction between laity and c
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ule. Christians were allowed to be
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fallen corruption and mortality but
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During the 1917 Communist Revolutio
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his repentance and restoration. The
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just before death, they might recei
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In both the East and the West heres
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The Waldensians were so named after
Page 65 and 66: CHAPTER 4THE SECOND GREAT SPLIT: WE
Page 67 and 68: Far more serious criticisms of the
Page 69 and 70: and the sacraments. He was tried by
Page 71 and 72: and his discovering that the Script
Page 73 and 74: denominational allegiances: confess
Page 75 and 76: aptism and substituting for it bapt
Page 77 and 78: Vincent de Lérins’ threefold bas
Page 79 and 80: Charles de Guise, Cardinal of Lorra
Page 81 and 82: CHAPTER 5QUOTATIONS ON THE THEME OF
Page 83 and 84: Dr Charles Malik - 20 th Century:
Page 85 and 86: Nicholas Zernov - 20 th Century:‘
Page 87 and 88: The restoration of the universal Ch
Page 89 and 90: Timothy Ware - 20 th Century:‘It
Page 91 and 92: Basilea Schlink - 20 th Century:‘
Page 93 and 94: Cardinal Basil Hume - 20 th Century
Page 95 and 96: Keith A Fournier - 20 th Century:
Page 97 and 98: concept of a contract between a rul
Page 99 and 100: harmoniously ordered society of pea
Page 101 and 102: interesting to note that the disput
Page 103 and 104: • In the Eucharist, Komensky main
Page 105 and 106: The Conference opened with much pom
Page 107 and 108: a growing unity among Christians at
Page 109 and 110: We cannot leave the 17 th Century w
Page 111 and 112: CHAPTER 7CHRISTIAN UNITY AND THE EV
Page 113 and 114: In Dr Woodward’s account of the r
Page 115: for Whitefield’s work in America,
Page 119 and 120: ‘John Wesley, displeased at not b
Page 121 and 122: formally, though it may have helped
Page 123 and 124: In view of all this, Charles Wesley
Page 125 and 126: Some of the refugees were persuaded
Page 127 and 128: Isaac Watts (1647-1748), the pionee
Page 129 and 130: CHAPTER 8VISIONS OF CHRISTIAN UNITY
Page 131 and 132: hymns and Eastern orthodox spiritua
Page 133 and 134: eplied with a series of Eirenicons
Page 135 and 136: positively wrote on grace and love
Page 137 and 138: hand that pours out sorrow’ and t
Page 139 and 140: He died in England in 1853 an ‘ec
Page 141 and 142: assembly, without much hesitation r
Page 143 and 144: ‘Loving all whom Christ loves bec
Page 145 and 146: says, the Broad Church was ‘a moo
Page 147 and 148: far greater part for the laity in t
Page 149 and 150: ehind some of the criticism of the
Page 151 and 152: came together with the clear purpos
Page 153 and 154: In subsequent missionary conference
Page 155 and 156: university formed by a federation o
Page 157 and 158: credo-baptists to accept the provis
Page 159 and 160: Horton Davies 137 points out in his
Page 161 and 162: However, since New Delhi, the WCC s
Page 163 and 164: (b) The Church of Christ in China (
Page 165 and 166: the Scriptures as the supreme autho
Page 167 and 168:
In 1970 a similar scheme to that of
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indulgences, were all confirmed str
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however, at a lower level, manifest
Page 173 and 174:
In her study of the Evolution of th
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Even within the Reformed Protestant
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the publisher’s foreword to Gee
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and so I have some golden opportuni
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CHAPTER 10 THESE BRIDGES CAN’T BE
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‘Only he - only Christ - was able
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c) Justification by Faith and Works
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However, in the Credo of the People
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f) Purgatory‘Purgatory’ is a na
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The Catechism of the Catholic Churc
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who love and trust the Lord Jesus C
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However, there is a growing awarene
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encouraged to receive a blessing al
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c) Traduction Œcumenique de la Bib
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witness. There is one such Sisterho
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Practically all para-church groups
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s) Missions and CampaignsMissions a
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My Protestant friends say to me tha
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Most Christians, in all three tradi
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of God may be complete, equipped fo
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CHAPTER 12NOW WHAT?This book began
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c) For some Protestants ecumenism m
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The church at Corinth was full of C
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) It has become clear that, realist
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Christians who believe a Catholic d
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There are three confessions that ha
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‘The solution to the ecumenical i
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k) Christ has left us an example -
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day’, the Niceno-Constantinopolit
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APPENDIX 2FOUR BIBLICAL TEXTS ON TH
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of the common good, and when one’
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eaten, as idols did not exist anywa
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14. That to continue in any known s
Page 239 and 240:
What all three traditions have in c
Page 241 and 242:
Calvin held that the Gospel of Jesu
Page 243 and 244:
Relations between Protestantism, Ca
Page 245 and 246:
Brandreth, Henry, R T, The Oecumeni
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Hopko, Thomas, All the Fullness of
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Rupp, E G and Drewery, Benjamin, Ma
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INDEXAAct of Uniformity, 114aggiorn
Page 253 and 254:
Frame, John M, 91, 187Francis of As
Page 255 and 256:
Richardson, Paul, 239Roman Catholic
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