ONE GOSPEL — DIVERSE EXPRESSIONS

Abstract

The affirmation of the unity in faith has been considered from the very beginning an essential element that kept together in full koinonia the members of the sacramental Body of Christ everywhere. The insistence on the is found both in the New Testament and in the early creeds. There is one body and one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism and one God and Father of all (Eph. 4:4-6). There is one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, one salvation and one kingdom of God. Although according to many authors, there is a single and unique gospel. Although with many approaches and different perspectives, there is a single Apostolic faith that binds Christians together as brothers and sisters. Moreover, the very basis of the World Council of Churches is the common confession of Jesus Christ as God and Saviour, who is the same yesterday, today and forever (Heb. 13:8).(1) Christian faith, however, does not remain in the realm of a philosophical system or of intellectual gymnastics; it is rather incarnated in the very reality of the whole cosmos. The faith in the Word who became flesh and lived among us (John 1:14) relates to life in all its aspects and, consequently, looks for meaning and relevance. It is not a simple repetition of some magical or holy articles inherited from the past with no relation to the reality that people live in. On the contrary, the affirmation of the Apostolic Faith has always been profoundly related to humankind and creation and motivated by their final goal: salvation. The basis and the general framework of the Apostolic faith are found in the scriptures, being the very Revelation of God Himself through His Incarnated Son in the Holy Spirit. Its formulation, however, is an act of the church throughout history in its attempt to preserve the spirit of the one gospel against repeated tendencies to distort it. In this context, it is important to underline the relationship between local and catholic in the process of doctrinal formulations. The ecumenical councils of the first millennium of Christianity, which formulated in concise formulas and articles important parts of Christian doctrine, were convened out of necessity. As a certain local church was troubled by disputes and misunderstandings on certain aspects of the Christian faith and life, it needed the help, guidance and advice of the church as a whole (Catholic). In this way, a particular problem of a local church became a global problem. However historically important a local church could be, it was not able to give the definitive answer to disputes and divisions. The truth was seen only in the koinonia of the whole. According to all (kata olon), the mutual accountability, as one would say today, was the criteria for truth and koinonia in the early church. As we attempt to advance on the path towards mutual acceptance and full recognition in the visible eclesial unity, the rediscovery of that ancient and efficient golden rule and criteria could be very fruitful. Very often we are not able to recognize the same message of the gospel in the expression of the other as his or her cultural context is different from our own. Many times the theological expressions of the other seem to us heretical as the terminologies that we use come from different cultural backgrounds. There are times when the liturgical expressions of the other seem to us blasphemous, syncretistic and pagan just because they are not identical to ours or to our way of understanding worship. And still, at the end of the day, we have to discover with perplexity that despite all differences we share the same faith, are led by the same ethos and live with the same hope. Such feelings have been shared by many of the non-African Orthodox who attended in Addis Ababa in January 1996 the Inter-Orthodox preparatory meeting for the Conference on World Mission and Evangelism, which will take place in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, towards the end of 1996. Despite the liturgical dances, the very specific way of singing and in general the African expression of orthodoxy, we could, after some time of reflection, feel at home. …