No Better Words

Strictly speaking, “ecumenical” and “orthodox” are properties peculiar to Christ’s one, true Church, so their employment to describe a journal of discussion is admittedly unusual and solicits comment.

Touchstone was begun by a very serious group of independent evangelical Protestants who “grieved for the affliction of Joseph.” Their hearts were pricked by two points in particular: their own canonical separation from other Christians and the alarming disintegration of doctrine among American Christians generally. The first point urged an attention to ecumenism, while the second prompted a solicitude for orthodoxy. As “A Journal of Ecumenical Orthodoxy,” the new publication would address both concerns.

During the ensuing years, nearly all of the original people in the Touchstone enterprise have joined either the Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox churches. Indeed, the journal has since been obliged to take special care that the evangelical Protestant perspective would still be represented in its pages. So, with the Touchstone founders finally pursuing different ecclesiological paths, while new people were joining the enterprise with distinctive ideas of their own, the result has been somewhat less agreement among us about the meaning of “ecumenical orthodoxy” than there was when we started.

THIS ARTICLE ONLY AVAILABLE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
FOR QUICK ACCESS:

Patrick Henry Reardon is pastor emeritus of All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church in Chicago, Illinois, and the author of numerous books, including, most recently, Out of Step with God: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Book of Numbers (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2019).

• Not a subscriber or wish to renew your subscription? Subscribe to Touchstone today for full online access. Over 30 years of publishing!

personal subscriptions

Purchase Print &
Online Subscription

Get six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for only $39.95. That's only $3.34 per month!

RENEW your print/online
subscription

Purchase
Online Subscription

Get a one-year full-access subscription to the Touchstone online archives including pdf downloads for only $19.95. That's only $1.66 per month!

RENEW your online subscription

gift subscriptions

GIVE Print &
Online Subscription

Give six issues (one year) of Touchstone PLUS full online access including pdf downloads for the reduced rate of $29.95. That's only $2.50 per month!

RENEW your gift subscription

Transactions will be processed on a secure server.

bulk subscriptions

Order Touchstone subscriptions in bulk and save $10 per sub! Each subscription includes 6 issues of Touchstone plus full online access to touchstonemag.com—including archives, videos, and pdf downloads of recent issues for only $29.95 each! Great for churches or study groups.

kindle subscription

OR get a subscription to Touchstone to read on your Kindle for only $1.99 per month! (This option is KINDLE ONLY and does not include either print or online.)

Your subscription goes a long way to ensure that Touchstone is able to continue its mission of publishing quality Christian articles and commentary.