Abstract
Paul Avis, General Secretary of the Council for Christian Unity, Honorary Professor of Theology at the University of Exeter, and a Chaplain to HM Queen Elizabeth II, begins his impressive volume with clear and strong words: ‘The ecumenical movement is ripe for reform and renewal. Its theology needs to be reinvigorated and reshaped. Its bureaucracy deserves to be streamlined and refocused. There is general agreement across the churches about all that …’ And he notes the ‘uncertainty’ and ‘heart-searching’ about the future of ecumenism, ‘coupled with real scepticism about the value of investing resources in ecumenical activity’ (pp. vii–viii).
How then ought we to respond to this situation of inertia, doubt, and lack of direction confronting ecumenism today? Indeed, the high hopes of the ecumenical movement in the earlier parts of the 20th century have stagnated: many issues are no longer as pressing as they once were, others have been examined ad infinitum from various angles, and while partial or full agreement has been achieved in some documents, steps to realize these agreements by forging changes in structural relations between churches is slow or not happening at all. Today old hostilities among (mainline) Christian denominations have given way to mutual respect and friendship in many quarters. Eucharistic hospitality is widespread, including many Catholics who partake in Holy Communion in other churches and welcome Protestants to do likewise in their own, the discrepancy of official church teaching and praxis ever increasing. Nowadays the real divisions are acutely felt within churches between ‘progressives’/‘liberals’ and ‘conservatives’/‘traditionalists,’ for want of more fitting terms. And, as South American Pope Francis, urges us to see, the truly pressing issue facing the church and the world is the distribution of wealth, the scandal of poverty, marginalization, and injustice. Ecumenical dialogue and progress, on the other hand, might seem slightly luxurious pursuits in comparison.
Yet, Christ called his followers to be one; a unity which in some way is to emulate the unity and perichoretic love of the triune God; a unity which is not uniformity but communion in diversity, is founded on love, and belongs to the essence of being church. While some might cynically laugh at the line ‘what would Jesus do/think?’ and dismiss it as naive, Avis rightly notes: ‘… the eschatological framework of Jesus’ ministry is a standing challenge to the over-institutionalization of the Church … Sometimes it is salutary to ask: What would (rather: what does) Jesus think of us now? Have we missed his way for his people?’ (p. 14). Why, indeed, are we so slow to reiterate and take seriously this question and take consequences for our actions as individuals and, in a world driven by the rule of capital, as societies?
In ten chapters Avis focuses his discussion on central issues in ecumenism. Writing in a balanced fashion from an Anglican and ecumenical angle, there is little one would disagree with here and much to be gleaned from his well-informed reflections and suggestions. A concise first chapter on the nature of the church, its unity and multiplicity, is followed by ‘Rethinking Ecumenical Theology’ (Chapter two) in which Avis concentrates on the fundamental link between diversity, unity, and mission. The third chapter is concerned with ‘new paths in ecumenical method.’ A seasoned ecumenical theologian, he acknowledges with honesty that ‘for most of us, unpalatable though the truth may be, our methodology will be eclectic, amateur and rather ramshackle!’ Thus he simply points out four criteria for engaging in ecumenical theology; it needs to be ‘coherent, credible, critical and constructive’ (p. 42). Here he advocates the notion of ‘unity by stages,’ which while not a new concept, acknowledges ‘the eschatological nature of unity’ and has proved helpful in Anglican–Roman Catholic dialogue. Avis then considers some bilateral differentiated consensus documents between the Lutheran, Catholic, and Anglican Churches (Meissen, Porvoo, Joint Declaration). In Chapter four, ‘The Hermeneutics of Unity,’ he reflects on fundamental issues relating to hermeneutics in the ecumenical task of the search for unity, focusing here on interpretation, text, dialogue, and the interesting notion of hermeneutics as imaginative ‘indwelling’ in order to ‘understand a text or life-form’ (p. 66). He offers an extensive and helpful examination of ‘reception’ (Chapter five), a key concept in ecumenical dialogue, and, in Chapter six, he reflects on the meaning of a confessional and confessing Church. Chapter seven focuses on an old but unresolved chestnut: episcopacy as ‘focus of unity or cause of division.’ This is a valuable chapter, especially regarding the Lutheran and Anglican Churches’ positions on this issue. ‘Building and Breaking Communion’ (Chapter eight) offers some insightful, nuanced reflections on the meaning of ecclesiology, on communion/koinonia, and on the breaking of communion, which he argues can never completely happen between Christians, even if we strongly disagree over a matter. In the light of the bloodshed in the name of Christ that has occurred between people who all call themselves followers of Christ in history, this statement might be debatable. Chapter nine on ethics and communion as a ‘new frontier’ in ecumenism is a topical and important chapter, dealing with questions of ecumenical dialogue on ethical issues which causes challenges both between and within denominations, in particular on questions of human sexuality, in particular same sex relationships. He argues that while Christians should refrain from giving scandal to fellow Christians’ consciences, we must directly look to Jesus’ words and deeds as our ultimate criterion: ‘Jesus unreservedly embraced those whom the morally strict, within their theological and ritual framework, would have excluded’ (p. 175). Indeed! In many Christian churches we are yet awaiting such unreserved embrace. The concluding chapter, ‘Forging Communion in the Face of Difference,’ tries to grapple with the reality of an ever increasing diversity in the church and the imperative of unity founded on the love that Christ commanded. He returns to look at the aim of full visible unity/communion and with reference to William Reed Reddington’s ‘Appeal to All Christian People’ (1888), he outlines the basics for unity: ‘a common confession of the apostolic faith, grounded in scripture and set forth in the historic creeds; a common baptism and a single Eucharist; a common interchangeable ministry of word and sacrament and a common ministry of oversight’ (p. 198). Once these elements are given, we have the essentials for full visible unity. Here he notes how the Porvoo agreement has enabled the Lutheran and Anglican Churches to forge a large degree of communion in the face of confessional differences.
In this volume Avis has assembled a coherent collection of previously published articles. Maybe the word ‘reshaping’ in the title is slightly too big a claim, as he tackles central issues that have been with us for decades and will continue to be part of the discussion. Nor is the book, or does it claim to be, a kind of ‘blueprint’ for the future. For students it provides thoughtful introductions to central topics in ecumenical theology, while scholars in the field will value it for its thoughtful taking stock, its concentration on essentials, its focusing on what fundamentally matters in the search for unity, and for providing some pointers for the future. This is a work of a minister and theologian to whom the church’s search for unity deeply matters.