Ecumenicism: A Wrong Strategy
Ecumenical dialog has usually attempted to work towards church unity. I am not speaking of inter-religious dialog. I am speaking of dialog between Christian churches alone. This work has been motivated by the perceived disunity of the Church. Not only are there hundreds of denominations, but some of them think that others are not even Christian. Then there is the tendency amoung the Reformed to demonize Catholics, while the "church growth" crowd sanctifies them. Meanwhile the Orthodox are left out of the picture, and the Fundamentalists are treated like a disease by all. Attempts at unity have attempted to find a lowest common denominator in both belief and practice. This solution will never work and should not be tried at all.
This solution will not work because it ignores the tradition that each denomination has already formed. The lowest common denominator of Christian denominations does not include sola scriptura, nor does it include any of the other Reformation solas. It would not include Roman Catholic views on the sacraments, nor the Orthodox distinction between Tradition and tradition. There are plenty of other things it would not contain either. So none of the parties could agree to work based on such a thing. They would all think that their distinctive traditions supply the balance that is lacking in such a lowest common denominator.
Not only this, but the very attempt to stand on such a lowest common denominator is also wrong. It requires the participants to identify themselves as part of a tradition while also denying that very same tradition. Such a thing is not only deceptive, but it is also not even ecumenical. Ecumenical dialog can only happen when the various traditions are actually represented. Sham representation get everyone nowhere.
These points do not mean that identification those areas of common agreement is useless. Dialog cannot proceed without common ground. What it does mean is that the dialog proceeds out of various traditions. These various traditions do not stand out of a common ground, but interact through that common ground. The attempt to find a lowest common denominator eventually fails because of nature of tradition. For the same reason it is also immoral to try.
This solution will not work because it ignores the tradition that each denomination has already formed. The lowest common denominator of Christian denominations does not include sola scriptura, nor does it include any of the other Reformation solas. It would not include Roman Catholic views on the sacraments, nor the Orthodox distinction between Tradition and tradition. There are plenty of other things it would not contain either. So none of the parties could agree to work based on such a thing. They would all think that their distinctive traditions supply the balance that is lacking in such a lowest common denominator.
Not only this, but the very attempt to stand on such a lowest common denominator is also wrong. It requires the participants to identify themselves as part of a tradition while also denying that very same tradition. Such a thing is not only deceptive, but it is also not even ecumenical. Ecumenical dialog can only happen when the various traditions are actually represented. Sham representation get everyone nowhere.
These points do not mean that identification those areas of common agreement is useless. Dialog cannot proceed without common ground. What it does mean is that the dialog proceeds out of various traditions. These various traditions do not stand out of a common ground, but interact through that common ground. The attempt to find a lowest common denominator eventually fails because of nature of tradition. For the same reason it is also immoral to try.
posted by Matthew at 1:20 PM
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