Christian Unity (the book) - The Maranatha Community

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differences is probably a long way off, he sees hope in a return to what heholds was the initial inspiration of the movement – ‘spiritual ecumenism’.He explains what he means by this term:‘…listening and opening ourselves to the demands of the Spirit who alsospeaks through different forms of piety; it means a readiness to rethinkand convert, but also to bear the otherness of the other, which requirestolerance, patience, respect and, not least, goodwill and love which doesnot boast but rejoices in the truth.’ 7 (1 Corinthians 13.4-6)For Kaspar, spiritual ecumenism is primarily a ‘biblical spirituality’ which‘safeguards the uniqueness and universality of the salvific significance of JesusChrist.’ Kaspar sees dialogue not just as listening to one another but alsolearning from one another. He writes,‘Ecumenical dialogue absolutely does not mean abandoning one’s ownidentity in favour of an ecumenical “hotchpotch”. Ecumenical dialoguedoes not aim at spiritual impoverishment but at mutual spiritualenrichment.’He cites examples of this: as Catholics have learned from Protestants in recentyears to value Holy Scripture more fully, so Protestants have learned richerways of worship from the Catholic celebrations of the liturgy.No one section of the Church, if the practice of united action and worship is tobe achieved, can dominate over the others. Humility towards and tolerance ofeach other have not been characteristics of Christian denominations in most ofthe Church’s 2,000-year history.In any real fellowship of traditions the Catholic and Orthodox churches willhave to accept Christians from other traditions as fellow believers, eventhough they may be viewed in Catholic/Orthodox terms as not actual membersof the one true Church or of the ‘truest’ of the churches. This viewpoint hasalready been taken on board, officially at least, by the Roman Catholic Churchin its attempt to make the spirit of Vatican II a reality.7Kaspar, Walter, That They May All Be One – the Call to Unity Today, Burns and Oates,2004, p 160.Page 9
Protestants, equally, have to be able to accept Catholic and Orthodoxbelievers as fellow Christians, even though they believe they have to rejectmany of their peculiar tenets of faith and habits of worship.Some thinkers in Orthodox churches are re-assessing their relations with non-Orthodox churches, though with none of the inspiration for change that theRoman Catholic Church received in the pronouncements of Vatican II.To consider all Protestants as Christians simply because they are Protestants orall Catholic/Orthodox members as Christians simply because they belong tothose traditions would be foolish. Each tradition has a large body of nominalChristians adhering to it and each tradition is aware that ‘conversions’ arenecessary if real allegiance of heart to Christ and his teachings is to beexperienced.‘Gathered’ as distinct from national or ‘multitudinous’ churches may well haveto come to terms with widening their description of what a true Christian is.For some believers a real Christian is one whose Christian life is based on aspecific experience of conversion, a ‘born-again’ experience; for others it is anexperience of justification by faith which is required; for others a charismaticexperience, an insistence that outward manifestations of the Holy Spirit arethe only true signs of a real Christian faith.What is needed is an investigation into what is the scriptural norm for defininga Christian, what is essential for a person to be called a Christian. Personaltemperaments and upbringing play a greater part than perhaps we realise indetermining our view of what is a real Christian faith.In The Mystery of Faith, 8 Orthodox Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev describes some ofthe ways people have come to faith, some with sudden conversions, andothers only after long struggles with doubt and perplexities. Often a childraised in a Christian home will not have a dramatic experience of conversion.‘But,’ he writes, ‘here, too, faith received from our families must be thoughtthrough and suffered by each individual: it has to become part of our ownexperience.’ He adds: ‘What we do know is that nobody is born a believer.’For Alfeyev, ‘Faith is a gift, though often it is given through the efforts of theperson who has sought it.’ This experience of conversion to a living faith in God8Alfeyev, Bishop Hilarion, The Mystery of Faith, Darton Longman and Todd, 2002, p 6.Page 10
Page 11 and 12: Can Christian Unity be expressed ac
Page 13: ‘In the Trinity the three are one
Page 17 and 18: When John Wesley said that Christia
Page 19 and 20: (Geneva) Agreed Statement was issue
Page 21 and 22: While organised Christian endeavour
Page 23 and 24: Christian Unity consist?’ We shal
Page 25 and 26: CHAPTER 1CHRISTIAN UNITY IN THE EAR
Page 27 and 28: Almost all the heresies in the Earl
Page 29 and 30: interpreted as being against the la
Page 31 and 32: was raised by the Novatian schism.
Page 33 and 34: ArianismArianism was the most impor
Page 35 and 36: the Person of Christ. This was the
Page 37 and 38: Nicaea (325 AD), which asserted, ag
Page 39 and 40: He wrote:‘The ancient doctrines o
Page 41 and 42: agreement into the terms and ethics
Page 43 and 44: authority of the local bishop; Cypr
Page 45 and 46: Protestants. He was born in Tagaste
Page 47 and 48: guide the affairs of men: the Papac
Page 49 and 50: The distinction between laity and c
Page 51 and 52: ule. Christians were allowed to be
Page 53 and 54: fallen corruption and mortality but
Page 55 and 56: During the 1917 Communist Revolutio
Page 57 and 58: his repentance and restoration. The
Page 59 and 60: just before death, they might recei
Page 61 and 62: In both the East and the West heres
Page 63 and 64: 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
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and the sacraments. He was tried by
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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
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Charles de Guise, Cardinal of Lorra
Page 81 and 82:
CHAPTER 5QUOTATIONS ON THE THEME OF
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Dr Charles Malik - 20 th Century:
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Nicholas Zernov - 20 th Century:‘
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The restoration of the universal Ch
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Timothy Ware - 20 th Century:‘It
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Basilea Schlink - 20 th Century:‘
Page 93 and 94:
Cardinal Basil Hume - 20 th Century
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Keith A Fournier - 20 th Century:
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concept of a contract between a rul
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harmoniously ordered society of pea
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interesting to note that the disput
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• In the Eucharist, Komensky main
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The Conference opened with much pom
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a growing unity among Christians at
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We cannot leave the 17 th Century w
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CHAPTER 7CHRISTIAN UNITY AND THE EV
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In Dr Woodward’s account of the r
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for Whitefield’s work in America,
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the West, the North and the South.
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‘John Wesley, displeased at not b
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formally, though it may have helped
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In view of all this, Charles Wesley
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Some of the refugees were persuaded
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Isaac Watts (1647-1748), the pionee
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CHAPTER 8VISIONS OF CHRISTIAN UNITY
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hymns and Eastern orthodox spiritua
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eplied with a series of Eirenicons
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positively wrote on grace and love
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hand that pours out sorrow’ and t
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He died in England in 1853 an ‘ec
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assembly, without much hesitation r
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‘Loving all whom Christ loves bec
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says, the Broad Church was ‘a moo
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far greater part for the laity in t
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ehind some of the criticism of the
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came together with the clear purpos
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In subsequent missionary conference
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university formed by a federation o
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credo-baptists to accept the provis
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Horton Davies 137 points out in his
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However, since New Delhi, the WCC s
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(b) The Church of Christ in China (
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the Scriptures as the supreme autho
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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
Page 175 and 176:
Even within the Reformed Protestant
Page 177 and 178:
the publisher’s foreword to Gee
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and so I have some golden opportuni
Page 181 and 182:
CHAPTER 10 THESE BRIDGES CAN’T BE
Page 183 and 184:
‘Only he - only Christ - was able
Page 185 and 186:
c) Justification by Faith and Works
Page 187 and 188:
However, in the Credo of the People
Page 189 and 190:
f) Purgatory‘Purgatory’ is a na
Page 191 and 192:
The Catechism of the Catholic Churc
Page 193 and 194:
who love and trust the Lord Jesus C
Page 195 and 196:
However, there is a growing awarene
Page 197 and 198:
encouraged to receive a blessing al
Page 199 and 200:
c) Traduction Œcumenique de la Bib
Page 201 and 202:
witness. There is one such Sisterho
Page 203 and 204:
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
Page 209 and 210:
Most Christians, in all three tradi
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of God may be complete, equipped fo
Page 213 and 214:
CHAPTER 12NOW WHAT?This book began
Page 215 and 216:
c) For some Protestants ecumenism m
Page 217 and 218:
The church at Corinth was full of C
Page 219 and 220:
) It has become clear that, realist
Page 221 and 222:
Christians who believe a Catholic d
Page 223 and 224:
There are three confessions that ha
Page 225 and 226:
‘The solution to the ecumenical i
Page 227 and 228:
k) Christ has left us an example -
Page 229 and 230:
day’, the Niceno-Constantinopolit
Page 231 and 232:
APPENDIX 2FOUR BIBLICAL TEXTS ON TH
Page 233 and 234:
of the common good, and when one’
Page 235 and 236:
eaten, as idols did not exist anywa
Page 237 and 238:
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
Page 247 and 248:
Hopko, Thomas, All the Fullness of
Page 249 and 250:
Rupp, E G and Drewery, Benjamin, Ma
Page 251 and 252:
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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