Ecumenical Reception
Ecumenical Reception

Author: William G. Rusch

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 2007-07-16

Total Pages: 153

ISBN-13: 0802847234

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In 1988 William Rusch wrote a book tracing the development of the idea of reception up to that time. During the intervening years, both reflection on reception and the experience of attempting to engage in it have progressed considerably.Rusch begins with a bird's-eye view of the term reception across several disciplines -- law, philosophy, literary criticism -- before homing in on its theological import. He traces its use as a term and as a practice from the New Testament up to the twentieth century, painting a picture of a dynamic process that fosters unity and diversity among churches and spiritual communities. Finally, he examines the new chapter in the history of reception due to the establishment of the ecumenical movement, and considers what will be necessary for it to continue to move the church forward.

Toward a Common Future
Toward a Common Future

Author: William G. Rusch

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2019-05-20

Total Pages: 102

ISBN-13: 1532651716

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This book provides a specific proposal for churches divided by centuries-long disputes and disagreements to move toward a vision of the unity of the church. It seeks to offer a way for divided churches to move beyond the present quagmire that challenges much of the modern ecumenical movement. Building upon the theological dialogues between the churches, this volume identifies and supplies a way for churches to regain a momentum that seems recently to have been lost in the ecumenical movement.

THE ECUMENICAL IMPERATIVE AND FORMATION OF ECUMENICAL CONSCIOUSNESS AMONG PASTORAL WORKERS
THE ECUMENICAL IMPERATIVE AND FORMATION OF ECUMENICAL CONSCIOUSNESS AMONG PASTORAL WORKERS

Author: SEBASTIAN CHUKWUMA ANOKWULU

Publisher: Trafford Publishing

Published: 2013-09

Total Pages: 175

ISBN-13: 1490713565

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The idea of the Church as the instrument of unity had existed before Second Vatican Council; but the Council made the search for unity explicitly an imperative. From the Second Vatican Council emerged a more emphatic vision of the mission of the Church to the world in which ecumenism is no longer an option but an imperative. From the time of the Council onward, every Christian should positively respond to God's question to Cain: "Where is your brother?" (Gen. 4: 9). The ecumenical imperative is primarily the responsibility of pastoral workers. The book surveys in epochs the historical changes that has occurred in the Church up to Vatican II; reviews reception along the ages of the Church pointing to the uniqueness of Vatican II; and gives through biblical exegesis of 'conversion' a fresh understanding that will help pastoral workers to be ever conscious and ready to serve as Church's instrument of unity wherever they are. This book re-awakens the spirit of the Decree on Ecumenism (Unitatis Redintegratio), offering it to be properly received by all who pray with Christ for unity (Jn 17:21). It proposes pastoral suggestions on the practice of Ecumenism.

Formation for Transformation
Formation for Transformation

Author: Bruce Myers

Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers

Published: 2022-01-13

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 1666720925

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In the past century the ecumenical movement has made extraordinary efforts in healing the wounds of division in the body of Christ--the church. However, in their formal preparation for ministry, many clergy learn little or nothing about the achievements, methods, or implications of ecumenism. This failure to adequately educate and inspire successive generations of Christian leaders about the quest for the church's visible unity risks not only an irretrievable loss of ecumenical memory, but also a return to a time in which ignorance, fear, mistrust, suspicion, stereotypes, caricatures, recrimination, anathematization--even persecution--characterized the relations between divided churches. Drawing on decades of reflection on ecumenical reception and formation, and using the Anglican Church of Canada as a model, this book presents an approach to teaching the practical and theological aspects of ecumenism in a way that is both holistic and pragmatic and offers the potential to raise up a new generation of church leaders who are also agents of reconciliation and Christian unity.

Ecumenism: A Guide for the Perplexed
Ecumenism: A Guide for the Perplexed

Author: R. David Nelson

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2017-07-27

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 0567318575

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Ecumenism: A Guide for the Perplexed is a comprehensive introduction to the methods, achievements, and future prospects of the modern ecumenical movement. The authors begin the volume by charting out a serviceable definition of ecumenism, a term that has long been a source of confusion for students of theology and church history. They review the chronology of the modern ecumenical movement and highlight the major events, figures, accomplishments, and impasses. This historical survey is followed by critical examinations of three significant challenges for contemporary ecumenical theology and practice. Along the way, the authors provide commentary upon the difficulties and prospects that the ecumenical movement might anticipate as it enters this new millennium.

Koinonia and the Quest for an Ecumenical Ecclesiology
Koinonia and the Quest for an Ecumenical Ecclesiology

Author: Lorelei F. Fuchs

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 600

ISBN-13: 080284023X

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The word koinonia has gained prominence in recent ecumenical discussions. In this original and substantial work Lorelei Fuchs proposes the theological idea of koinonia, commonly translated as "communion" or "fellowship," as the key to moving fractured churches toward a future unity. Fuchs challenges churches to move beyond mere dialogue and to apply ecumenical insights at the local level. She begins by relating the exegetical meaning of koinonia to its ecumenical meaning, tracing the place of koinonia both within the churches and between the churches. She then examines the concept of koinonia in the extensive and fruitful dialogues that have taken place between Lutherans, Anglicans, and Roman Catholics, finally articulating a "symbolic competence for communionality" that provides a rich and workable way forward for church unity at all levels. Encompassing the latest in ecumenical thought, Koinonia and the Quest for an Ecumenical Ecclesiology provides a broad, thoughtful framework for realizing Christ's prayer "that all may be one . . . so that the world may believe."

Authority in the Roman Catholic Church
Authority in the Roman Catholic Church

Author: Bernard Hoose

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-03-02

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 1351956531

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How did the present authority structures within the Church come into existence? How, if at all, can we justify their existence? What form of authority should exist in the Church? These and other related questions exercise the minds of many Christians in these days when the very notion of authority is questioned, but debate about them is perhaps nowhere more lively than within the ranks of Roman Catholicism. This book offers an important contribution to such debate within that church. Leading Catholic theologians from both sides of the Atlantic take up the key issues: analysing the concept of authority and governance; examining the history of authority within the Roman Catholic church; discussing who should have a say in future developments; exploring ecumenical dimensions, with particular reference to Anglicanism and the Orthodox churches; and suggesting the kind of reforms that might be prudent, as well as ways in which such reforms might be brought about. The book will prove of interest to many Roman Catholics, but given the ecumenical impact of many of the issues explored, it is likely to exert a wide appeal far beyond the confines of that church.

Dumitru Staniloae: An Ecumenical Ecclesiology
Dumitru Staniloae: An Ecumenical Ecclesiology

Author: Radu Bordeianu

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2011-09-29

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 056710561X

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Widely considered the most important Orthodox theologian of the twentieth century, Dumitru Staniloae (1903-1993) contributed significantly to an ecumenical understanding of these themes. Because of his isolation by the Romanian Communist regime, his work still awaits its merited reception, especially given its potential contribution towards Christian unity. In Staniloae's understanding the Church is a communion in the image of the Trinity. Because there is a continuum of grace between the Trinity and the Church, the same relationships that exist among trinitarian persons are manifested in creation in general, and the Church in particular. In this way, the Trinity fills the world and the Church, determining their mode of existence. Intratrinitarian relationships are manifested in the relationships between humankind and non-human creation, the Church and the world, local and universal aspects of the Church, clergy and the people, and among various charisms.