Exploring Ecumenism

The Goal of Ecumenism 4: Openness versus Effort

This is the fourth in a sequence of posts based upon Chris James' blog post  The Goal of Ecumenism: Why and how to be one , part V.  The first of these posts is  Why Are We Divided?, the second is  The Visibility of the Church and the third is Ecumenism and Ecclesiality .

I must confess to a degree of impatience with the idea that ecumenism is a some sort of eschatological truth.  Of course I understand that the fullness of God's plan for humanity will not be revealed until the end times.  But how practical is it to assert this truth?  It feels like a cop out: we can't do anything about it now because it is an eschatological truth.

The Goal of Ecumenism 1: Why are we Divided?

This is the first of series of posts which will respond to a post placed by Chris James on his blog, The Goal of Ecumenism: Why and How to be One.  This is a helpful article, exploring the distinction between visible unity and reconciled diversity.  My aim is to consider each section of his post in turn and I hope Chris will forgive me for using his subheadings.  I do so in order that all readers have some chance of keeping up!

The purpose of my blog is to explore an approach to ecumenism based upon the practice rather than the content of conversations.  I question both visible unity and reconciled diversity and James' post offers me an opportunity to summarise and develop my ideas.

Elements of Mission 1: Community

Over the next few posts I will comment upon the three elements of mission Timothy Radcliffe suggested at the CTE Forum recently.  Here they are:

1. Community
2. Doctrine
3. Morality

Radcliffe had a great deal to say about the second two and virtually nothing to say about the first because it presents no problem for our culture.  So, that is where I will start.

On the Ecumenical Nature of Trees

Timothy Radcliffe at the CTE Forum last week likened the Christian faith to a Whitebeam, outside his window.  As always I develop the points he made and so not all that follows is Radcliffe's.

Arguments For and Against Ecumenism

I received a comment the other day which asked for positives and negatives about ecumenism to enable the reader to come to a conclusion.  I'm not sure I can achieve the last part because ecumenism is in its nature something we all have to make a decision about.  The aim of this post is simply to suggest some things you may wish to consider if you are unsure about ecumenism.

Ecumenical Ethics

It is odd that Christianity has a moralistic public image.  One of the problems St Paul faced in his letters was to explain the impossibility of adherence to every detail of the law.  Indeed, the law does not save people, it shows us what is right and wrong but it is not possible for anyone to practice it in full.  The Christian faith replaces law with spirit.  Non-Christians are prisoners of the law; Christians are freed by the spirit.  We would therefore expect Christians to be, whilst not uninterested in morals, at least distinguishable from those whose faiths prescribe precise moral positions.

Nothing Evolves on its Own

Survival of the Fittest focuses on the evolution of single species.  Competition is expressed in terms of what happens within each species.  The fittest individuals survive to breed.  Relationships with other species are of interest solely in terms of any influence they have upon natural selection within a particular species.  So if we focus on rabbits their survival might depend upon foxes and grass and a few other species but the focus is on rabbits bravely evolving away.

Neoliberalism and the Decline in Diversity

I want to return today to an old theme, the global economic problems.  I came across an article, A last chance, in an old edition of the New Statesman, dated 10 November 2008.  The article, by Paul Mason, was written in anticipation of a meeting of the G20 leaders on 15 November 2008.  He argues that the issue facing the G20 was not a simple debate about neoliberalism's rights and wrongs, matters have gone beyond that - neoliberalism has 'brought the world to the brink of an economic nuclear winter'.  This is not an accident but a flaw in its central mechanism. 

Ecumenism Re-imagined as Diversity

In this my last reflection for now on Kim's book, Christ's Body in Corinth, I want to ask what the implications are for ecumenism and particularly transformational reception, that is the conversation churches together have with the wider world. 

Ecumenism: Unity or Reconciliation?

According to Kim it depends upon how you read Paul's first letter to the Corinthians.  If you see the world from the perspective of the church, as hegemonic hierarchy, then you will understand ecumenism to be about unity.  The Body of Christ is defined by belief, and boundaries are drawn between believers and non-believers.

For Paul though, according to Kim, the problem is not disunity but conflict between factions.  His solution to power conflicts is reconciliation  between diverse groups.  This is achieved by living the life of Christ crucified rather than through belonging to a church.