John Armstrong and Devin Rose

I have been unable to get this comment to upload properly at John Armstrong's blog, so I offer it hear. It is a reflection on the important discussion taking place between John and the Catholic apologist Devin Rose.

This is a rich and necessary discussion that is taking place in the comment section and as a result of John and Devin's genuine and honest engagement in trying to speak the "truth in love" to each other. I must also say that it is a painful discussion to have as it brings us all into the wounds of Christ's body that have festered and developed for centuries. But leaving those woulnds and stopping the conversation won't make the wounds go away. We must continue to have these conversations and draw on the rich resources of our faith journeys, the Scriptures and the traditions and teachings that our communities have developed. For me, as someone in communion with Rome but still very much not a "Roman" Catholic (sometimes I think of myself as a Vatican II Protestant!!) I want to say a few things directly from my perspective: 1) I want to strongly affirm and add my voice to this section from John: "Yet in the practice of post-Vatican II ecumenism, and the teaching and practice of the last five popes, this is not what I see nor is it what I have experienced in my thousands of hours of conversation with Catholics. The lone exception to my experience usually comes from converts who have left Protestantism and seem to feel a deep need to do a kind of apologetics that shows why Rome is the "true church." Through this approach they conclude that everyone else is outside the true church though somehow we are all mysteriously inside that church in an incomplete way that keeps us, the "separated brothers," from the Table. But even here I have scores of Catholic friends who do not adopt Rose's view. These are not untaught or rebellious (liberal) Catholics. Conservative Catholic apologists take the supposed high ground by using the official teaching of the church on most matters but they seem to miss that there is a continued unfolding of what their church is also saying about unity with non-Catholics, especially since Vatican II."  2) I want to remind all of us of something that is deeply symbolic to me of the deeper affections that exist among Catholics for evangelicals, and evangelicals for Catholics, by recalling the fact that in the providence of God the very day that John Paul II was elected as Pope Billy Graham was preaching, at the invitation of a bishop in Poland, in a leading Cathedral in Poland. The bishop who invited him to preach was none other than Karol Wojtyla, who became John Paul II. The affection and sense of shared mission that these two giants of Christianity shared existed throughout John Paul's papacy and concluded with striking observations by Billy Graham upon John Paul's death. These two, and their decades-long relationship, offer us a vision of Vatican II ecumenism that is hard to reconcile with Devin's characterization of Roman Catholic teaching. 3) I think that John is jumping to quickly into the question of shared communion. I think that there are important steps and important understandings that must develop between Protestants and Catholics before we can arrive at that discussion. 4) Pope Benedict's recognition of Protestants as being "ecclessial communities" is an underappreciated step with rich potential for discussion and engagement. Because it was stated in the context of his refusal to call Protestants "churches" in the classical sense, his statement was viewed as a step back for ecumenical relations. But I think rightly understood it is a step forward and a step in keeping with Vatican II. I would challenge Devin and others of his perspective to ask themselves if their theology/apologetics allows them to affirm Protestants as being ecclessial communities separated from Rome. I would also ask them to reread key ecumenical statements of Vatican II and John Paul II and demonstrate more clearly how their emphasis on submission to the magisterium as a starting point for unity squares with those documents.

Streetwalking with Jesus arrives

I had preordered a copy many weeks ago so was surprised and delighted when the delivery arrived at my doorstep of Deacon John Green's new book Streetwalking with Jesus. Green's Emmaus Ministries is a great example of kingdom unity on the streets of my hometown Chicago. I know a number of people connected to this Ministry and I am so glad that there is now a book that explains the ministry and holds up missional ecumenism as a model for Christians at work on the margins. I know that I will be challenged by the book to, as the subtitle says, "reach out in justice and mercy." If I were in Chicago I would go to the book party that Cardinal George, the archbishop of Chicago, is speaking at on Sunday.

From my perspective and the perspective of this blog, it is a blessed thing to see a book on Christian ministry receiving endorsements from the Archbishop of Denver and a professor at Moody Theological Seminary!!

Reflections from Rome

The reports on the missional ecumenism gathering in Rome are beginning to come in. John Armstrong, a key evangelical leaders whose work I have been highlighting on this blog, has begun a series of extended written reports on the gathering. If you live near Wheaton, IL, you can hear him Thursday, March 24, at 4:30 p.m., at the Wheaton College Student Ecumenical Society in the Beamer Center, in the Phelps Room (on the lower level). His talk is entitled “Conversation at the Vatican”. In his blog, Armstrong says that the meeting was a small gathering of Protestants and Catholics who are each involved in “missional ecumenism at the margins” or, ministering with Christians from other traditions to people without worldly power and influence. Just the kind of group the Holy Spirit would bless!! I can’t wait to hear more about it.

Pentecost and Ecumenism

John Armstrong is back from the Rome gathering and has a very thoughtful reflection on the gathering and on the significance of bridge-building and Pentecost for those committed to the reality of John 17 in the life of the Church.

Update on Rome meeting

John Green has an update on the missional ecumenism meeting in Rome. His description of the ecumenical history of the place of their meeting today is fascinating.
The wonderful group  InncerChange that is a part of the meeting has a great website.

J.I. Packer on "missional ecumenism"

John Armstrong’s book on missional ecumenism is called Your Church is too Small. Discussion about his book is one of the best places to start to understand the reaction to missional ecumenism. This website tracks what a number of different bloggers are saying about the book.

The one and only J.I. Packer’s foreword to the book can be read here. Packer sees Armstrong as one who

views the visible church as a single worldwide, Spirit-sustained community within which ongoing doctrinal and denominational divisions, though important, are secondary rather than primary. In this vision, the primary thing is the missional-ecumenical vocation and trajectory crystallized for us by our Lord Jesus Christ in his teaching and prayer and illustrated in a normative way by the Acts narrative and much of the reasoning of the apostolic letters.

John Armstrong reads Pope Benedict

John Armstrong is the strongest evangelical proponent of the term “missional ecumenism” that I have read. He is wise to see in Pope Benedict a kindred spirit. In three different posts on his blog Armstrong engages with Pope Benedict’s recent book Light of the World. Here are some of the highlights:

The Pope says that we can/should acknowledge one another as brothers and sisters and join in service as Christians.

If I read this correctly we are not near union between Protestants  and the Roman Catholic Church. Some Protestant communions may be closer to union than others; e.g. Anglican. But even here the prospect of union has been damaged in recent decades as I noted in yesterday’s post.

What we are nearer to, especially since Vatican II, is missional-ecumenism. We can embrace the dynamic ways in which we are joined by the Holy Spirit as fellow believers. By this means we can find new and creative ways to “join in service.” We can read the Holy Scriptures together and pray together. This is precisely what I mean by the term missional-ecumenism.

This thesis is rejected, often rather strongly, by some Catholics. The individual Catholic who refuses to believe that Vatican II, in the Fourth Session, actually taught anything new about relationships with other Christians reacts against missional-ecumenism. In some cases this reaction is based on indifference since they believe Rome is the true church and Protestants are outside the true church and that is the end of the matter. These Catholic brothers and sisters need to read the encyclicals of their recent popes, listen to the words and witness of the Vatican’s Congregation of Christian Unity, and then remove the blinkers that still keep them from clearly seeing what the Spirit has done in the last fifty years.

On the other side there are many, especially conservative ones, who refuse to believe that anyone can believe Catholic dogma and be a real Christian. (This is often stated in a strange way that says: “An individual person in the Catholic Church can be a real Christian but they must not believe Catholic dogma or they will be lost!”) This prejudice is rooted in a number of misunderstandings about the present; e.g. the condemnations of the Council of Trent are misunderstood/misapplied, Rome teaches that one is saved by doing good works thus they preach a false gospel, Catholics pray to the saints thus they deny Christ’s sufficiency, etc.

A new day has dawned for the whole catholic church. We can embrace it in love or reject it out of hand. I believe missional-ecumenism is consistent with the teaching of the whole counsel of Scripture and thus commends itself to Christians on every side. I even believe Pope Benedict XVI agrees.