Unity, Truth & Christian Identity
In One Body Through the Cross: The Princeton Proposal for Christian Unity—A Call to the Churches from an Ecumenical Study Group Sponsored by the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology
edited by Carl E. Braaten and Robert W. Jenson
Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2003
(62 pages; $10.00, paperback)
reviewed by S. M. Hutchens
This document has been produced by a study group of 16 theologians and ecumenists, members of mainline Protestant, Evangelical, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox churches. It is addressed “to the churches of North America, Judicatories, Ecumenical Agencies, Ecumenical Officers, Laity and Clergy,” and set forth in 72 paragraphs in 7 sections.
Its editors direct the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology, whose Pro Ecclesia is, in the opinion of this writer, the best academic journal of ecumenical theology. They represent the mind of what is probably the most theologically expert and broadly attractive track of serious ecumenical activity in North America, now that the National Council of Churches (NCC) has settled into its grotesque and increasingly irrelevant chaplaincy to the religious and political left. The editors of Touchstone have always regarded their work as worthy of serious and respectful attention, and the manifesto under consideration is no exception.
The Mandate of Unity
According to the authors of One Body, the mandate of unity is a permanent and central aspect of Christian life. While this unity already exists in Christ, it must appear more fully in our worship, mission, and the structure of our religious life. Division cannot be regarded as normal, but as the result of ignorance and sin. A brief history of the ecumenical movement is given, with emphasis on the achievement of the 1961 New Delhi conference in developing a statement of the unity we seek as being
brought together by the Holy Spirit into one fully committed fellowship, holding the one apostolic faith, preaching the one Gospel, breaking the one bread, joining in common prayer, and having a corporate life reaching out in witness and service to all and who are at the same time united with the whole Christian fellowship in all places and all ages, in such wise that ministry and members are accepted by all. . . .
This “Christocentric universalism” has been replaced in the World Council of Churches (WCC) by a deliberate paradigm shift toward interreligious dialogue that is frequently at odds with it. The original goals of the ecumenical movement that were so well stated at New Delhi must be carried on by those who share its vision.
Our celebrations of diversity, the statement goes on to say, are easily conscripted to sinful purposes, particularly to group identities that perpetuate old contempts, hatreds, and fears. Elements that cause division must be subject to constant questioning, judgment, reconciliation, and reconfiguration. The whole Christian mystery is visible unification in Christ. So far as Christian groups distinguish themselves from others by claiming special strengths and insights, they are committed to knowing something other than Christ and him crucified.
Our complacency about divisions undermines our mission because the assertion of special marks detracts from the confession we have in common. The true transformations to which we must be committed too often devolve into divisions of race, class, culture, and ethnicity (attempts to overcome this may be escaped simply by walking to the church down the street), and because the attempts to strengthen our own fellowships risk emphasizing precisely those things that divide us.
The authors note that much harm has been done by the confusion created by Christian division. Movements Christians make between more or less rigorous churches may be on account of differing perceptions of the gospel, but church-shopping may also be a sign of ecclesiastical consumerism. Divisions between the churches were originally understood as rooted in real doctrinal disagreement, but now all too often it is asked not whether a disputed teaching is true, but whether it comports with the denomination’s self-definition. Some Christian groups have adopted a policy of cultural accommodation; others have resisted, but more for the sake of their distinctive identities than truth. This can be overcome only through a commitment to visible unity. However much we insist that Christian discipleship is not a matter of consumer choice but normative teaching, the point will not be credible in the world until Christian communities unite in shared disciplines of faithfulness to the apostolic word.
S. M. Hutchens is a senior editor and longtime writer for Touchstone.
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