Christian Unity (the book) - The Maranatha Community

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So the Holy Spirit is given to create the unity man cannot achieve (Ephesians4.3), and it is up to Christians to ‘maintain the unity in the bond of peace.’ Onthe Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit fell on the Church there wascomplete unity: they were all ‘homou epi to auto,’ all together with the samething in mind (Acts 2.1). Days later they were still of ‘one heart and mind’(4.32), but this unity did not last long.The Church is meant to reflect the harmony of the Trinity, complete in unity,rich in diversity. Yet soon after the beginning of the Church’s growth,divisions began to appear within its ranks. Jesus’ prayer for the unity of hisfollowers, ‘that they may be completely one, so that the world may knowthat you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me’(John 17.21 NRSV) has never since the very earliest days been realised.So, are those who hope today for a widespread movement towards ChristianUnity, when the Church is so much larger and complex than it was in those firstdays, just naive optimists, idealists who are always going to be disappointed intheir hopes for the Church? Certainly, the Church’s record in history ofattempts to bring about unity is not an inspiring one. At almost every period ofhistory it has been true of the Church that it was ‘by schisms rent asunder, byheresies distressed’, and that is true still today as we begin the Church’s 21 stcentury.Yet there is this to say. We are entering a period in which it may well bepossible for the Church to enjoy a ‘spiritual ecumenism‘ not experienced sofar in its history, by coming to accept that many of the schisms and heresiesof the past are really no bar to the declaration of oneness in worship andwitness.Arianism was a heresy that the Early Church recognised as creating a barrier tounity, and its teachings on the Person of Christ are still held today by one ortwo sects. That barrier must still hold if the Church is to be loyal to itsScriptures and Creeds. But there are other ‘heresies‘ of the Early Churchperiod, for instance Nestorianism and Monophysitism, which while not beingmainstream Christian theology can be thought of as odd Christological viewsrather than as heresies, for both hold a high view of the deity of the Person ofJesus.Eastern Orthodoxy is today reassessing its judgement of these two ‘heresies‘.In fact it has gone further than that. On 23-28 September 1990 the ChambésyPage 13
(Geneva) Agreed Statement was issued between the Orthodox Church and theOriental Orthodox Churches, which for most of Church history had beenseparated from each other. In this statement both sides condemned theEutychian and Nestorian heresies and lifted the ancient anathemas standingagainst each other. The Roman Catholic Popes Paul VI and John Paul II signedjoint declarations with Pope Shenouda III of the Coptic Orthodox Church in1973 and 1979.It may well be that now the ‘filioque’ clause in the Niceno-ConstantinopolitanCreed, which stated that the Holy Spirit proceeded from the Father and theSon, which has divided Catholic and Orthodoxy for so long, need no longer be acause for division. In purely theological terms, it may well be that both Eastand West can agree on the Father being the source of the Holy Spirit’sprocession and that the perceived historical ‘snub’ to the East by Rome in itsunilateral action on the doctrine can be forgotten.The situation we are in today is unique in respect to the change in attitude toChristian unity, and it is a change that has taken place quite recently. What isnew, in both Catholic and Protestant circles, is that there is a growingrealization that to worship with and have fellowship with Christians from theopposite side is not to compromise one’s own beliefs. I, as a convincedProtestant Evangelical, do not capitulate to Rome by searching out, meetingwith, and supporting Catholics who, as I do, believe in Jesus as personalSaviour and Lord. Similarly, Catholic Evangelicals do not fear contamination byresponding to Protestant offerings of fellowship and cooperation.The 19 th Century saw the most remarkable growth of the Church worldwidethat has ever taken place, and this was largely due to the overseas missionarymovements of all three traditions of the Church, Orthodox, Catholic andProtestant. Then, in the early 20 th Century, arising largely from the impetus togrowth given by the missionary movements, came the realisation of the harmbeing done to the work of the Church by its divisions. This directly or indirectlyled to the formal Ecumenical Movement, the World Council of Churches (WCC)and national Councils of Churches and, in the UK, the present ChurchesTogether movement.In the latter half of the 20 th Century the charismatic and renewal movementscrossed denominational barriers in the West and led to inter-churchcooperation to a degree never before seen in the Church’s history. Para-churchorganisations came into being which drew Christians together, particularly inPage 14
Page 11 and 12: Can Christian Unity be expressed ac
Page 13 and 14: ‘In the Trinity the three are one
Page 15 and 16: Protestants, equally, have to be ab
Page 17: When John Wesley said that Christia
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
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
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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
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CHAPTER 7CHRISTIAN UNITY AND THE EV
Page 113 and 114:
In Dr Woodward’s account of the r
Page 115 and 116:
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
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hymns and Eastern orthodox spiritua
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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 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
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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