Exploring Ecumenism

So, the end of the world has not been a terribly edifying experience. (Hilarious certainly, but not edifying). It does seem to me though the issue has not always be stated clearly.

What stands out for me is not so much the prediction that the end of the world is nigh, as the confidence Harold Camping and his mates have that they are amongst the elect.

Divisive Theologies

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In the final of three posts about ideas emerging from my comments on the passages in one light: one world, I pick up on the question of love between Christians in different churches.

How far is it possible?  This may seem a pessimistic question but let me explain.

I thought for a long time, the main problem we have is ecclesiology.  It is our ecclesiology which  prevents structural unity.  But now I'm not so sure structural unity is necessarily our primary goal.

I wonder whether theology is the greater division?  One problem is, the success of British ecumenism means we are less aware of where the real divisions lie.

Whilst relationships are perfectly cordial between the traditional denominations, they are less so within them.  There are two major English ecumenical institutions and the largest (at least in terms of staff which equates to wealth) is the Evangelical Alliance.  They are largely reasonable Christians, that is not fundamentalists, who have profound difficulties with liberal theology (whatever that is). 

Whilst the relationships are cordial, there is no real sense of convergence between these two branches of the faith.  The churches are effectively sliced in two along ecumenical lines.

Whilst I believe I could personally find some common ground with some members of the Evangelical Alliance, it becomes harder at the extremes.  Some fundamentalist views are hardly Christians at all, especially where they advocate violence.

I don't think I'm atypical in this matter and there are many who would be the mirror image of me.  One insight that struck me forcibly, as I worked through one light: one world, was the demand we do not allow our theological divisions to separate us.  This is particularly well argued by Paul in Romans 14, where he argues the weak should not condemn the strong and the strong should not despise the weak.  The problem is of course, these days weak and strong don't meet at all. 

I have to ask whether our successes have in fact distracted us from the main task.  As our institutions focus on rapport, we lose sight of where the divisions are.  Institutional unity seems to move the divisions elsewhere.

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The Bible and Institutions

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This is the second of three posts, summarising some emerging thoughts following my commentary on one light: one world.

Ecumenism, certainly in recent decades, has been about the reconciliation of institutions.  This is not uncontested.  Ecumenism in Britain was largely Protestant until the breakdown of the English Covenant in 1982.  By 1989 the Swanwick Agreement had formally abandoned this institutional approach.  Swanwick abandoned the search for a single unified church.

However, since then for many it has been business as usual.  The Anglican Methodist Covenant, for example, has always been seen as a step towards interchangeability of ministry and ultimately visible unity between the two churches.

It is difficult to justify this approach from the Bible.  All the passages I read in the one light: one world sequence, dealt not with institutions but the behaviour of individuals.  This should come as no surprise as there was no institutional church at the time the earliest New Testament letters.

That is not to say institutions are not a preoccupation of the Bible.  We only need to read Walter Wink about the powers, to find the Bible has a lot to say about the dangers of institutional power.  At best we are encouraged to be sceptical about formal structural unity.  Such unity would be exclusive were it to happen.

This is not in any way to devalue the progress made in formal conversations.  These conversations have cleared the way for Christians to recognise one another as real Christians and one another's institutions as real churches. 

It seems the Bible questions institutional unity and encourages us to love across our artificial boundaries.

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The Glory of God

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Back to normal.  Well, more or less.  Yesterday I posted the last of my comments on the passages in one light: one world.  It is a Churches Together in England publication.  I don't know who chose the passages or on what basis, other than they are intended to be read as ecumenical passages.  Do these passages demonstrate the Bible is supportive of ecumenism?

This is not an easy question to answer.  A qualified yes, perhaps?  In this and the next two posts, I will focus on three themes that have emerged for me as I worked through the passages.  It is not that the Bible does not support ecumenism, so much as it addresses questions different from the ones modern ecumenists are asking.  This means we have to discern answers from the material we do find in the Bible.

The big positive is John 17 and the idea that unity is from the glory of God.  If we understand the glory of God to be the physical evidence we witness of God at work in the world, then this makes sense.  Unity is evidence of God's presence in the world.  In a world of violence, a community of people who are faithful to each other and yet open to all is a convincing witness to God.

This glory is best seen where love transcends traditional divisions.  To be part of the same structurally united church is not as impressive as being prepared to live and die for each other across our traditions.

Furthermore, structural unity necessarily implies excluding some who will not be a part of the one true church.  These will not only be small traditions who exclude themselves for one reason or another (and not all bonkers extremists, the Quakers would most likely be in this group for example) but also those who for one reason or another find no home in the mainstream churches. 

It is the poor, the destitute and the unloved who would be excluded.  And let's face it, people would on current showing be excluded on grounds of sexuality.

Would there really be a place for tax collectors and prostitutes in the great world church of Jesus?  I doubt it.  So, we need to look again at what we're trying to achieve as ecumenists.

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How Wonderful it is for God's People to Live Together in Harmony

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This is part of a series of posts based on the Churches Together in England publication one light: one world.  If you click on the link you will find the biblical texts.  This post of the same name covers the purpose of this series.

Psalm 133: 1 - 3

It must have been the summer of 1973 when I had a vacation job with the Bassets Liquorice Factory in Sheffield.  I remember the bacon and egg double decker with tomato dip (in my pre-vegetarian days).  It was a wondrous sandwich; a bacon sandwich with a fried egg and one slice dipped in hot tinned tomatoes.  The best bit was biting into the egg yolk, which would burst.  The yellow goo ran down my chin and set in my beard.  Indeed a thing of wonder.

This image of Aaron's beard is both exhilarating and somewhat disgusting.  Presumably the oil would stay there for a long time as it's unlikely people often had a bath.  Such oil would make the priest smell relatively pleasant compared with others.

But you can feel the priest's pleasure in the poem and the pleasure is the point.  It's a positive note to end this series.  Unity as a pleasure!

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Aim to Do Good to One Another and to All People

Image by Anna L Conti via Flickr

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is part of a series of posts based on the Churches Together in England publication one light: one world.  If you click on the link you will find the biblical texts.  This post of the same name covers the purpose of this series.

1 Thessalonians 5: 13 - 25

This is the end of another letter and again a list of good advice.  Presumably Paul intended to end the letter by being encouraging. 

The aim is in verse 23 is sanctification.  The mark of any Christian community is its growth in grace.  We forget this when we affirm our own tradition as right.  Even if our tradition has got it mostly right, we still need God's grace.

Verses 20 and 21 offer a clue.  We are told not to despise the words of the prophets and then to test everything, affirming what is good and abstaining from evil.  This is not to accept the words of the prophets at face value but to test their words and discern what they mean for us.

Surely this advice applies to unity as much as it does to anything else?  What do we need to affirm as we seek greater unity and what do we need to abstain from?

Whatever the answer, the point is at the end of this passage.  It is faithfulness, not losing sight of the vision that is Jesus Christ.