4D Religious identity through unification

Question 1

What is the ecumenical movement?

Answer 1

• The quest for unity

- (‘ecumenical’ derives from Greek ‘oikumene’ - ‘entire, inhabited world’)

Question 2

Give some biblical support for ecumenism.

Answer 2

• John 17:20-22 - “I ask […] that [tjose who believe in me] may all be one […] so that the world may believe that you have sent me”
- J recognises that the success of the mission of the c.ch = tired to C.tian unity
• Paul lamented the divisions in early c.ch + urged that C.tians be united (1 Corinth. 1:0)
• From beginning, C.ch came together to overcome diff.s (Acts 15) and feel the spiritual power of being united in worship (Matthew 18:19-20)
• Underlying these passages is the conviction that all C.tians are called to a deep fellowship w/ G and ∴ with one another

Question 3

Does unity mean uniformity?

Answer 3

• The C.ch has always valued diff. perspectives (4 Gospels w/ diff. persp. on J’s life) - one attempt to harmonise the Gospels (the Diatessaron) = rejected in favour of 4 Gospels

Question 4

What is the most important challenge facing the ecumenical movement?

Answer 4

• What the C.ch can agree on + what they can surrender as non-essential

Question 5

Why do Catholics believe they have the correct truth?

Answer 5

• Due to the Apostolic succession

• Can trace back all popes to Peter - J gave Peter this title
• Pope Francis = 266th

Question 6

What do most scholars attribute the beginning of the modern ecumenical movement to?

Answer 6

• The Edinburgh World Missionary Conference in 1910

* But, C.tians had been gathering formally and informally over centuries for common cause/worship

Question 7

When was the term ‘ecumenical’ first used in Christian discussions?

Answer 7

• 381 Council of Constantinople
• They applied it to Nicea in 325: the Nicene Creed (also known as the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed) = an ‘ecumenical creed’
- It is a Christian statement of faith that is the only ecumenical creed because it is accepted as authoritative by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and major Protestant churches.
- “We believe in one Holy, catholic, Apostolic Church” (catholic = lower case c in this sense)

Question 8

Give some information on the Edinburgh World Missionary Conference.

Answer 8

• Brought together an unprecedented number of Christian groups and led to the formation of c.ch org.s that evolved into the World Council of Churches
• 1200+ missionaries, 160 missionary boards, 10 days
• Gathered to consider reports on various aspects of missionary work
• Goal uniting them = bringing a self-governing, self-supporting C.ch in “each non-C.tian nation” to reflect the undivided C.ch of J
• Slogan = “Doctrine Divides but Service Unites” - the way to make progress ≠ to engage in theological disputes, but to focus on the need to spread the C.tian message
• Only resolution of the conference (unanimous) = that a committee should carry on co-ordinating missionary activity
• Breakthrough for cause of ecumenism ∵ acceptance of each other despite denominational differences, willingness to work together, commitment to further gatherings
• However, solely an evangelical Protestant gathering attended by mostly Anglo-American missionaries - neither RCC nor Orthodox c.chs were invited
- + some at conference viewed avoiding C.ch doctrine as a limitation; if there were going to be greater unity, diff.s in beliefs would need to be explored

Question 9

What happened after the 1910 Edinburgh World Missionary Conference?

Answer 9

• 1920: Orthodox Patriarch proposed a league of c.chs (inspired by ‘League of Nations’) as a response to G’s desire for c.ch unity
• 1921: International Missionary Council extended the work of 1910 by bringing together C.ch leaders from around the world to consider issues e.g. the C.tian message in a secular world + relevance of Gospel in response to issues e.g. war + slavery
• 1925: Life and Work Movement focused on responsibility of C.tians in soc., and eco. problems in aftermath of WWI
• 1927: Faith and Order Movement considered doctrinal divisions
• Most comprehensive merger = Church of South India in 1947 - 6 c.chs brought together
- 1971: Church of North India also merged 6 c.chs
• 1937: leaders from the Life and Work + Faith and Order Movements met to propose they merge into a ‘World Council of Churches’ (WWII delayed plans)

Question 10

When was the first meeting of the World Council of Churches (WCC) held? Where? How many delegates? How many church bodies?

Answer 10

• 1948
• Amsterdam
• 351 delegates
• 147 c.ch bodies

Question 11

How did the WCC define itself?

Answer 11

• As “a fellowship of churches which accept our Lord Jesus as God and Saviour”
- Has sometimes been referred to as an ‘ecclesiastical United Nations’; like the UN, not all c.chs are yet members, and some are observers

Question 12

What was outlined in the WCC’s 1950 Toronto statement?

Answer 12

• “Membership in the World Council does not imply the acceptance of a specific doctrine concerning the nature of Church unity”
• “common recognition that Christ is the Divine Head of the Body”

Question 13

There is a general assembly of the WCC around every seven years. Why was the 1961 assembly significant?

Answer 13

• The first Roman Catholics attended as official observers
• The Russian Orthodox Church and other Eastern Orthodox Churches became members
• The first Pentecostal bodies joined

Question 14

What is “The aim of the WCC”?

Answer 14

• “…to pursue the goal of the visible unity of the Church.”
• This visible unity includes:
- Common confession of the apostolic faith
- Common mission in spreading the Gospel
- Mutual recognition of all members and their ministries
• These three elements are a final destination at which the WCC has not arrived - it is on a journey towards this goal through its programmes
• “The World Council of Churches is not and must never become a superchurch”
• “The WCC does not negotiate unions between churches”
• “not based on any one particular church”

Question 15

What are the three programme areas of the WCC?

Answer 15

1) Unity, Mission, Ecumenical Relations
2) Public Witness and Diakonia
3) Ecumenical Formation

Question 16

Explain the first programme area of the WCC: Unity, Mission, Ecumenical Relations.

Answer 16

• Devoted to pursuit of visible Christian unity
• Unity comes first, reflecting J’s prayer for believers to be united so that the world may believe
• Mission = reaching out of the C.tian message
• Ecumenical relations = strengthening of r.ships btwn c.chs
• Two main challenges the WCC faces in these areas:
- WCC defines mission as witnessing the C.tian Gospel, but also says that mission is “increasingly seen too as fostering solidarity and respect for ppl.s dignity” ∴ are involved in many projects aimed at social justice, which has engendered criticism from member c.chs that it is ‘watering down’ the focus on evangelism (tensions exacerbated ∵ WCC engages in interfaith relations)
- Not all c.chs are members of WCC, most notably RCC (which is why there are groups in WCC tasked w/ building r.ships w/ these c.chs)
• This programme includes the Commission of Faith and Order, which is responsible for producing the most widely studied ecumenical document of recent history, ‘Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry’ (1982) - explores the growing agreement + remaining disagreements btwn c.chs in these areas

Question 17

Explain the second programme area of the WCC: Public Witness and Diakonia.

Answer 17

• Diakonia = Greek word for ‘service’
• Recognises that C.tians share many areas of social responsibility (this is the area that the Life and Work leave as their legacy)
• Programmes in this area seek to accomplish two main goals:
- Offer a highly public ‘prophetic voice’ which calls awareness to areas where c.chs + world need to pay especial attention; includes ‘peacebuilding’ in places like Syria + sending observers to influence key activities at UN
- Bring C.tians together to tirelessly + persistently live out C.tian values of social responsibility; uses the term ‘diakonia’ to refer to the care of the poor/oppressed in areas like global health, water rights, HIV/AIDS work etc

Question 18

Explain the third programme area of the WCC: Ecumenical Formation.

Answer 18

• The area of study, training and education so that the knowledge and convictions of ecumenism can take shape in the lives of individuals and c.chs; gives shape to ecumenical themes
• WCC has its own institute at Bossey - the Ecumenical Institute has its own faculty
• Provides training and education opp.s throughout world
• “The particular mandate of ecumenical theological education is to sustain the vibrancy of the ecumenical vision - that all may be one - manifested in faith, communion, witness and service

Question 19

Explain how the Catholic Church did not react positively to the growing ecumenical movement of the 1920s.

Answer 19

• 1928: Pope Pius XI published a letter declaring that “the union of Christians can only be promoted by promoting the return to the one true Church of Christ.”
- He feared that agreements btwn c.chs would lead to watered down doctrine and eventually irreligion
• Forbabe its members from attending WCC as observers after it refused to join in 1948

Question 20

Why did the election of Pope John XXIII in 1958 lead to a new approach to ecumenism?

Answer 20

• 1960: Pope met w/ Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher - the first time an AoC had visited the Vatican in 600 years
• 1960: Pope appointed a ‘Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity’ w/ purpose of developing an ecumenical spirit in the Cath. C.ch
- Shortly thereafter, Vatican approved Catholic observers for the WCC’s assembly in Delhi in 1961 + invited non-Catholics to be observers at Vatican II
• This new approach found expression in the Vat. II documents, Unitatis Redintegratio (Latin: Restoration of Unity) - “we hope that it [unity] will continue to increase until the end of time.”

Question 21

Why is Unitatis Redintegratio significant?

Answer 21

• Describes C.tians outside RCC as “separated brethren” rather than as ‘heretics’ or ‘dissidents’
• Accepts that both sides share responsibility for divisions
• Moves away from simple identification of one true c.ch
- States that the true C.ch “subsists” in the RCC, rather than “is” (although the meaning of ‘subsists’ has been debated)

Question 22

Outline the reactions of the Catholic Church to the ecumenical movement in the years after Vatican II.

Answer 22

• 1965: Pope Paul VI + Patriarch Athenagoras issued a joint statement which retracted the mutual excommunications and condemnations since 1054
• 1966: Pope Paul VI gave AoC Michael Ramsey an episcopal ring
• 1967: Pope Paul VI and AoC Michael Ramsey est. the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Committee (ARCIC)
• 1968: RCC became full members of the Faith and Order Commission of the WCC (but not full membership)
• Pope Benedict CVI stated that the positive message to the ecumenical movement is that the RCC recognises that there are C.tian activities outside of it (but at the same time insists that the Church of Christ is in the RCC in an incomparable way to other c.chs)

Question 23

How many church bodies are currently in the WCC?

Answer 23

• 348

Question 24

Outline the tensions in the ecumenical movement relating to the Orthodox Church.

Answer 24

• Orthodox: believe that other c.chs need to find consensus w/ other Orthodox c.chs if unity is to be achieved ∵ see themselves as identical w/ universal C.ch
- Conflicts w/ tendency in WCC to seek consensus btwn C.chs than favour one c.ch
• Fall of communism strengthened Orthodox C.ch; rise in xenophobia + nationalism in countries where the Orthodox C.ch is strong - led to suspicions about ecumenical movement
• Some Orthodox feel uncomfortable w/ worship style at WCC gatherings + differences w/ what is perceived as a ‘liberal’ attitude to other r.s/issues of social justice e.g. homosexuality
• 1991: Orthodox to WCC: “We perceived a growing departure from biblically based understandings”
• 1997: Georgian Orthodox quit WCC

Question 25

Outline the tensions within the ARCIC relating to papal authority.

Answer 25

• 1981: ARCIC noted many areas of agreement, esp. in understanding of Eucharist

• Suggested that Anglicans might welcome a merger w/ RCC if Papacy were seen as a more practical route to C.ch unity rather than a theological necessity (would deal w/ many of the criticisms many Anglicans have about Cath. doctrines of Mary (Immaculate Conception + Assumption) which originated by infallible papal teachings
• RCC responded by noting that it is a theo. necessity ∵ rooted in scripture: “it belongs to the divine structure of the Church” - “you are the rock on which I will build my Church”
• ∴ not willing to surrender any doctrines introduced by papal authority ∴ heart of division = nature of authority

Question 26

Give examples of events that have threatened the ARCIC.

Answer 26

• Ordination of women in Anglican Communion perceived by RCC as damaging to hopes of unity
- Walter Kasper: Ordination of women as bishops is an “obstacle for reconciliation between the Catholic Church and the Church of England”
• Ordination of openly homosexual men (Gene Robinson) caused Pope John Paul II to suspend participation in ARCIC in 2003

Question 27

Despite tensions in the ARCIC, it continues to meet. What has supported the initiative in recent years?

Answer 27

• Warm r.ship btwn Pope Francis and AoC Justin Welby