Christian Unity (the book) - The Maranatha Community

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A completely new age in inter-church relations began when this Councilpublished its Decree on Ecumenism, 153 on 21 November 1964. Here the beliefwas expressed that a new thing was happening in the Church: ‘There increasesfrom day to day a movement, fostered by the grace of the Holy Spirit, for therestoration of unity among all Christians.’This movement was seen to belong to those who ‘invoke the Triune God andconfess Jesus as Lord and Saviour.’ The document regards as ‘separatedbrethren’ all who have been properly baptised (that is, in the name of theTrinity) and who believe in Christ. But it is clear that such fellow Christiansbelong to denominations which have, during the course of history, separatedthemselves from the main body, that is, the (Roman) Catholic Church.Many Protestants, and probably most Eastern Orthodox believers, see thingsdifferently; the Roman Church is the separatist body itself! This is a differenceof view which is not easily going to be removed if organisational andinstitutional unity is the aim.However, the unity that I wish to commend is a practical and grass rootsunity which is not dependent on structures. The differences can beaccommodated by the willing acceptance that the removal ofdenominational distinctives is not required for Christian unity. Our unity canbe expressed in the form of witnessing, working on projects and worshippingtogether.The new attitude to believers outside the Catholic Church seen in Vatican IIwas part of the aggiornamento of the Church, and as such was welcomed bymany Protestants. In general we can say that this remarkable Council changednothing and changed everything at the same time!It changed nothing in respect of doctrines and dogmas. Views which manyProtestants have traditionally considered stumbling blocks to intercommunionand even fellowship, such as the invalidity of Anglican Orders, the place ofMary in Catholic devotion (which was, if anything, heightened by the Council),the doctrines of transubstantiation and the Sacrifice of the Mass, belief inpurgatory and the practices of praying to and for the dead and granting153Ed Flannery, Austin, OP, Vatican Collection Vol 1, Vatican Council II, The Conciliar andPost-Conciliar Documents, New Revised Edition 1992, (ninth printing) DominicanPublications, pp 452ff.Page 163
indulgences, were all confirmed strongly by the Council. Above all, the Popecame out of the Council with just as strong a teaching authority as before, eventhough the collegiality of bishops was embraced as a principle relevant tomodern days.Yet at ‘grass roots’ level much has changed as a result of the Council. Beforethe Council, many local priests regarded contacts with Protestants asundesirable. I remember talking to two young Catholic priests in 1967 aboutmy beliefs as an Evangelical. One responded enthusiastically and wanted anexchange of views in the spirit of Vatican II, quoting some of Luther’s viewswith approval, while the other was very reserved and obviously embarrassedby his companion’s openness.Today there are many examples of Protestants and Roman Catholics prayingand serving together in social action and witness, and cooperating to formpressure groups on a variety of moral issues.The openness to Bible reading fostered by Vatican II is another clear changewhich draws Protestants and Catholics together. And the rise of theCharismatic Renewal in the 1970s created movements like the MaranathaCommunity in which Catholics feel free to share regularly at a deep level withother Christians of many denominations.Surprising things happen. Perhaps the most surprising for many staunchProtestants is the way in which esteemed Protestant Evangelical teachers arenow willing to say, despite their differences with Roman Catholicism, that theyare able to come together in worship and witness with Catholics.Surprising things are happening from the Catholic side, too. The intransigenceand dogmatism of Pope Pius XI (1922-1935), who taught that unity forProtestants and Orthodox meant coming back to submission to Rome, seemsbizarre to many Catholics today.Pius Xl forbade Roman Catholics to take part in conferences with non-Catholics. His treatment of the Benedictine Dom Lambert Beauduin, exilinghim from his Amay monastery in Belgium, would be seen as reprehensible bymany Catholics today.Dom Lambert Beauduin had a desire for liturgical renewal in the CatholicChurch, with an emphasis on the Biblical foundations of liturgy. He also had anPage 164
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
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CHAPTER 4THE SECOND GREAT SPLIT: WE
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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
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denominational allegiances: confess
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aptism and substituting for it bapt
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Vincent de Lérins’ threefold bas
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Charles de Guise, Cardinal of Lorra
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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:‘
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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,
Page 117 and 118: the West, the North and the South.
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: In 1970 a similar scheme to that of
Page 171 and 172: 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
Page 179 and 180: 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
Page 205 and 206: s) Missions and CampaignsMissions a
Page 207 and 208: My Protestant friends say to me tha
Page 209 and 210: Most Christians, in all three tradi
Page 211 and 212: 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
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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
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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
Page 249 and 250:
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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