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Christian Unity (the book) - The Maranatha Community

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agreement into <strong>the</strong> terms and ethics which serve <strong>the</strong> purposes of <strong>the</strong>gospel in subsequent languages and cultures.’ 21It is not <strong>the</strong> purpose of this <strong>book</strong> to investigate how <strong>the</strong> Nicene Creed can beapplied to <strong>the</strong> cause of <strong>Christian</strong> <strong>Unity</strong> today, but to call for this to be done.<strong>The</strong> task has already been begun in <strong>the</strong> symposium Nicene <strong>Christian</strong>ity, <strong>the</strong>future for a new Ecumenism. In this volume Ephraim Radner observes thatCreed must go with Canons:‘We must realize… that <strong>the</strong> communal ordering of <strong>the</strong> Creed’s speech wasgiven in <strong>the</strong> context of Canon Law. If <strong>the</strong> Creed makes any sense or pointsto any sense within <strong>the</strong> faith of <strong>the</strong> <strong>Christian</strong> community, it does so onlywithin <strong>the</strong> context of <strong>the</strong> ascetically ordered life of <strong>the</strong> Church.’ 22His caveat shows what a lot of work lies ahead in relating ecumenism to <strong>the</strong>Creed, but even Radner ends on a hopeful note:‘Let us take our minds, let us take our money, let us take our wills and ourplans, our strategies for reform, our manifestos and demands, and let usgive <strong>the</strong>m over to one ano<strong>the</strong>r. That is order. And at that point, ‘credo inunum deum et in Iesum Christum, et unam ecclesiam’ will be a sound witha startling swell.’ 23CYPRIAN AND AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO<strong>The</strong> influence of two great North African bishops, both of Carthage, must bementioned in relation to <strong>Christian</strong> <strong>Unity</strong>.<strong>The</strong> first is Cyprian (c.200-258 AD). Cyprian was born and brought up in anupper-class pagan family and was converted to Christ as a young man.Intensely earnest about his <strong>Christian</strong> faith, on baptism he forsook pagan ideas21Willis, David, Clues to <strong>the</strong> Nicene Creed, William Eerdmans Publishing Coy, 2005, p 78.22Radner, Ephraim, To desire rightly, <strong>the</strong> force of <strong>the</strong> Creed in its Canonical Context, essayin Nicene <strong>Christian</strong>ity, <strong>the</strong> future of a new Ecumenism, ed Seitz, Christopher, R, BrazoPress, 2001, p 220.23Radner, Ephraim, To desire rightly, <strong>the</strong> force of <strong>the</strong> Creed in its Canonical Context, essayin Nicene <strong>Christian</strong>ity, <strong>the</strong> future of a new Ecumenism, ed Seitz, Christopher, R, BrazoPress, 2001, p 228.Page 36

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