Christian Unity (the book) - The Maranatha Community

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Kingdom. On the contrary, Christ rewards each man according to whether hisworks are done with faith or without faith in Himself.’ A further note, from theeditor of the paper, reminded us that when Jesus was asked, ‘What shall wedo, that we may work the works of God?’, he answered, ‘This is the work ofGod, that you believe him whom he sent.’ It concluded by showing that truefaith in Christ produces ‘works of faith’ in action and attitudes.But while Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox are so near on such afundamental matter of faith, there are growing differences in matters ofecclesiology.Since Vatican II an issue has arisen which seems to have put to an end anyrealistic hopes of union between the Anglican Church and both Rome and theOrthodox Churches. This is the ordination of women priests and bishops.In June 2006 Cardinal Walter Kaspar gave warning to the House of Bishopsthat the consecration of women bishops in the Church of England (a step thatseems inevitable) would end ecumenical dialogue with the Church of Rome. Inthis he was echoing the position of the Orthodox Church as expressed byArchbishop Hilarion of Vienna at the 9 th Assembly of the WCC at Porto Alegre.If anything, the Orthodox position on the question is more inflexible than theRoman. For Archbishop Hilarion, ‘A revelation from above is needed forOrthodox Churches to start ordaining women.’The idea of Anglicans and Orthodox sharing the Eucharist together, as oncehoped for, is, according to the Archbishop, now ‘completely impossible.’ 155 Hemaintains that the Anglicans’ moral stance (no doubt referring to thehomosexual-practice debate) has made dialogue even more difficult. All thisreinforces my view, that the path to Christian Unity is not along officialchannels, but must proceed by working out a ‘spiritual ecumenism‘, bymeeting fellow Christians on an unofficial level on the basis of a shared love forJesus as Lord and Saviour, an acknowledgement of the authority of theScriptures and the joint confession of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed.155Church of England Newspaper, 16 June 2006 and 22 August 2008. Bishop Hilarionrepeated his warning that, for the Orthodox church, Anglican moves to instal women bishopswould mean the exclusion of ‘even the theoretical possibility of the Orthodox churchesacknowledging the apostolic succession’ of Anglican bishops.Page 167
In her study of the Evolution of the English Churches, 1500-2000, Ch 12,Churches Together and Churches Apart, 156 Doreen Rosman surveys the changesthat have developed in these churches in the 20 th Century. She points out thatthe Church in England has moved from a vigorous pursuit of uniformity (seenin the unsuccessful Acts of Uniformity of the 16 th and 17 th Centuries) to anacceptance of diversity in unity.Rosman characterises modern churches as having the following features:• Among Protestant churches, a tolerance of doctrines and ecclesiologieswhich had previously sharply divided Christians. Examples include theGeneral and Particular Baptists joining together in the Baptist Union; theformation of the United Reformed Church in 1972, which broughttogether different ways of ordering church life; the subsequent inclusionof the Churches of Christ, which brought together in the same bodypaedo- and credo-baptist views; and, from 1917, with the first ordinationof a female minister (in the Congregational Church), a growing acceptanceof women’s ordination.• An increased place for the study of the Scriptures. This was seen rightacross denominational lines and was particularly noticeable in the RomanCatholic Church after Vatican II. In 1967 Lenten interchurch Bible studygroups began, and they still continue. In 1986 120,000 of their studybooks were sold.• An increased commitment to the observance of the Holy Communion orEucharist; this is particularly noticeable in Protestant churches.• The sharing of church premises for worship, not only between Protestants,but sometimes embracing Catholic congregations.• An increase in lay involvement in all the mainstream denominations.• A sharing of different kinds of ‘spirituality’ across denominational lines.The charismatic and renewal movements have been influential in this as havethe ecumenical worship of communities like Taizé and Iona. Catholics andProtestants now enjoy each other’s hymns.Rosman suggests that schemes for church unions are ‘too tidy’ for manychurch members today. People want a unity that does not mean uniformity.156Rosman, Doreen, Evolution of the English Churches, 1500-2000, Cambridge UniversityPress, 2003, Ch 12.Page 168
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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,
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the West, the North and the South.
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‘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
Page 169 and 170: indulgences, were all confirmed str
Page 171: however, at a lower level, manifest
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
Page 221 and 222: 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
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Calvin held that the Gospel of Jesu
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Relations between Protestantism, Ca
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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
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Frame, John M, 91, 187Francis of As
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Richardson, Paul, 239Roman Catholic
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