Exploring Ecumenism

Righteousness, Justification and Faith in Jesus

Today I want to follow up yesterday's post by asking how Paul understood faith and belief.  The photo, by Niall McAuley, is from SS Peter and Paul's church, Athlone, completed in 1937. This window is in the porch.  It shows Paul's letter to the Romans.  (His other letters are under his cloak.)

My argument is based upon a passage in John Dominic Crossan and Jonathan L Reed's In Search of Paul, page 381 onwards.  In this passage they discuss Romans 3:26:

... it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus.  (NRSV)

Using the Pastoral Cycle

I first encountered the pastoral cycle during my study year, 1981-2, at the Urban Theology Unit.  In those days theology was still seen as something studied at university and the idea of 'doing theology', as an activity available to all, was new and exciting.  Central to this was the idea of praxis, that interaction  between action and reflection at the heart of the pastoral cycle.

Faith as Conversation

However did we get into this situation?  Yesterday, I started to open up the question of belief and I stated that belief drives out faith.  Doubt creates room for faith.  Today I'll explore this a bit further.

How Belief Undermines Faith

When I first became a Christian in 1978, I was running the bath.  I decided to argue for Jesus rather than against him.  After the bath, I went to see a Methodist minister and asked him, 'what must I believe?' to which he replied, 'Nothing'.  We studied the Nicene creed together and then called it a day.

Alternative Ecumenisms

Apart from ecclesiology I suppose there are three main reasons for divisions between Christian traditions.  Of these, theological differences and historical persecutions immediately spring to mind but in recent years ethical divisions have become more prominent.  It is interesting that traditions otherwise divided find unity of purpose on ethical grounds.

Approaches to Ecumenism

Owing to its history, ecumenism in England is often perceived as focused solely upon structural unity.  The goal of ecumenism is to bring the churches under one unified structure.  It is easy in these more cynical times to lose sight of the vision of the sixties when the churches glimpsed the possibility of a united church in England.  This vision is long gone and now we have to face up to a number of models of ecumenism.

Christian Diversity in England

One of the most significant changes the ecumenical movement faces in Britain today is the unprecedented increase in the diversity of Christian churches and communities over the last 10 to 15 years.  Many of the new churches are small, local churches and have no presence as national churches.  This has challenged the balance between national and local expressions of Christian unity.

Why do we need Ecclesiology?

Ecclesiology never needed to be invented because it was always there.  Ever since the first child (or adult) asked the question: why do we do things this way?, there had to be some answers.

Local Ecumenical Partnership Ecclesiology

Throughout their history, Local Ecumenical Partnerships have been seen as mainstream churches working together.  This made sense pre-1982, when the English covenant was a live possibility and LEPs were believed to be the way forward for the main Protestant denominations.

The Culture of Congregations

Another dimension to ecclesiology is to do with the culture of congregations.  Formal statements of doctrine are set through each tradition's councils (with some degree of influence from ecumenical councils).  However, the reception of these by local churches is not as straightforward as it might first appear because churches have different cultures and will interpret their formal doctrine according to their culture.