The Influence of the Ecumenical Movement of the XIX Century on the Formation of the Universalist Ideology

Abstract

At the core of the majority of today’s socio-political and military conflicts lies one reason – the national identity crisis has caused a sharp conflict of values, which, in turn, is the consequence of globalization. The religious norms play the most important role in the formation of a person’s sense of identity. The consideration of the ecumenical movement in the XIX century is indicative for the analysis of the process of globalization, as the Christian church was the forerunner of the universalization through the call for ecumenism. The purpose of this article is to identify the genetic relationship between the properties of ecumenism of the XIX century and the main characteristics of universalization. The method of research is historical-genetic. The study includes the analysis of the dialogue between the three largest Christian confessions – Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican churches. A wide range of historical sources (letters, diplomatic documents, articles) related to the investigated period has served as the research material. The analysis led to the conclusion that the concept of “ecumenism” underwent a radical change during the XIX century, becoming a specific half-secular ideology akin to the concepts of “liberalism” and “postmodernity”. Herewith, each of these confessions was guided by its own choice of behavioral strategies by special, peculiar only to it, motives, which largely determined the specific national, country and regional identity of XX-XXI centuries. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n11p784