Ecumenical Church Research Articles

Open Hearts, Closed Doors: Immigration Reform and the Waning of Mainline Protestantism by Nicholas T. Pruitt

Reviewed by: Open Hearts, Closed Doors: Immigration Reform and the Waning of Mainline Protestantism by Nicholas T. Pruitt Mark Thomas Edwards Open Hearts, Closed Doors: Immigration Reform and the Waning of Mainline Protestantism. By Nicholas T. Pruitt. (New York: New York University Press. 2021. pp. x, 279. $45.00. ISBN: 9781479803545.) Evangelicals and fundamentalists were once marginalized in the study of American religious history, but now they receive too much attention. Thankfully, a new generation of scholars is proving that we still have a lot to learn about liberal, mainline, and ecumenical Protestants. Elesha Coffman, K. Healan Gaston, Kevin Schultz, Gale Kenny, and Gene Zubovich, among others, are moving the field beyond the "history of theology"—with its attendant obsession with the Niebuhr brothers—and establishing broader connections to American public life and identity. Nicholas T. Pruitt's new book is a welcome addition to that endeavor. His subject is the ecumenical Protestant "pluralistic bargain" (3) that culminated in support for the liberalization of immigration law under the landmark Hart-Cellar Act (1965). Pruitt's subjects were cosmopolitan in the (David) Hollingerian sense of championing controlled ethnic, racial, and religious diversity within a framework of continuing white Protestant supremacy. As Pruitt aptly puts it, "the pluralistic bargain amounted to an attempt by Protestant churches to incorporate progressive mores of toleration while bracing themselves against modern [End Page 633] cultural forces that threatened to decenter Protestant Christianity within American society" (7). Open Hearts, Closed Doors is an institutional history of Protestant home missions that highlights the social gospel's paradoxical inclusive-exclusive nature. Following the establishment of immigrant quota systems between 1917–1924, the Federal Council of Churches (FCC) and the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) pursued kinder, gentler forms of "Christian Americanization" (43)—like community centers, immigrant schools on Ellis Island, and the Bureau of Reference for Migrating Peoples—as alternatives to the violent nativism of a resurgent Ku Klux Klan. Ecumenical Protestants advocated toleration for Japanese immigrants but did not begin challenging immigration restriction laws until during and after World War II. In the name of wartime "Christian brotherhood" (92), the FCC and SBC expanded refugee relief, aided the resettlement of interned Japanese Americans, and lobbied for increased immigration from Asia. Pruitt finds that "tri-faith" Christian Americanism still aimed to keep the country white and Protestant even while becoming more accepting of diversities of culture and language. Perhaps the most important Cold War liberal project ecumenical Protestants undertook was applying steady pressure on Washington for a more open immigration policy, including the passage of Hart-Cellar. The costs for doing so were both immediate and long-term: Ecumenical Protestants found themselves repeated targets of Red Scare churches and politicians, while the eventual consequence of their activism was the undermining of any white Protestant establishment. Pruitt concludes his study with a brief discussion of how evangelicals have taken up ecumenical Protestants' "pluralistic bargain" in the twenty-first century. He might have used that space to relay how ecumenical churches today have repented of Protestant exceptionalism and embraced a thoroughgoing cultural and religious pluralism centered around supporting immigrants—as Grace Yukich explored in One Family Under God (2013). But that is a minor point of disagreement. Pruitt has masterfully documented and detailed an unexplored dimension of Protestant social Christianity in action, including its direct and lasting impact on American life and politics. His book deserves a wide audience. [End Page 634] Mark Thomas Edwards Spring Arbor University Copyright © 2021 The Catholic University of America Press

ПЕРСПЕКТИВИ КОНСТИТУЦІЮВАННЯ УКРАЇНСЬКОЇ ПОМІСНОЇ ЦЕРКВИ

The article analyzes the process of formation of the newly created Local Ukrainian Church at the present stage. Ukrainian church life is a dynamic process. The church is constantly moving forward and must respond to societal requests and problems. It is determined that the institutional design of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine takes place in a multi-religious environment. Therefore, the article predicts that today in Ukraine, there is no reason to talk about the United Church in the future. It has been established that the proclamation of the independence of the Ukrainian Church took place as a significant event of the last decade on a church-wide scale. Today, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is on the path of universal recognition. The study found that over the past century, two diametrical concepts of understanding the structure of Ecumenical Orthodoxy have been formed. In particular, Fanar insisted and continues to insist on his own primacy and special status in the world church, and the reason for this is the canons of the Ecumenical Councils and the age-long tradition of Christianity of the Eastern rite. Instead, the Russian Orthodox Church declares the existence of Local Churches in the general system of Orthodoxy as a certain confederation of independent and fully autonomous entities. It has been proved that the future recognition of the newly formed Ukrainian Church by other Local Churches depends on the acceptance of the position of a certain party. It is determined within this study that the Ukrainian church issue is a kind of watershed in terms of the main controversial issues that have troubled the Ecumenical Church in recent centuries. Therefore, it has been proved that the settlement of the Ukrainian question is of great importance not only for the Orthodox believers of Ukraine, but also for the whole Orthodoxy. This sets a precedent for the currently unrecognized churches of Macedonia and Montenegro. The article claims that none of the Local Churches emerged in an independent status completely painlessly. Most countries that have received autocephaly in our time have been waiting for decades for world recognition of their own church. Therefore, the recognition of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine by only a part of the Local Churches is a natural process. It is established that autocephaly in modern conditions of society development and hybrid war is a vital condition for the country's survival. It has been studied that in modern conditions the Kyiv Church has received a great credit of trust in the eyes of the Ecumenical Patriarch. Today it is necessary to unite for the future recognition of the Ukrainian status by other Local Churches. The consolidated Kyiv metropolitanate may become the largest national Orthodox church in the world, which will significantly change the balance in the structure of the Universal Orthodoxy.

ЗАПАДНОЕВРОПЕЙСКИЕ И ВИЗАНТИЙСКИЕ ИСТОЧНИКИ ЭПОХИ СРЕДНЕВЕКОВЬЯ ОБ ОТНОШЕНИЯХ МЕЖДУ ЗАПАДНЫМИ И ВОСТОЧНЫМИ ХРИСТИАНАМИ И О ВЗЯТИИ КОНСТАНТИНОПОЛЯ КРЕСТОНОСЦАМИ В 1204 Г.

Historical sources and evidence of the eyewitnesses of the 4th crusade in many respects reflect the complexity and sharpness of the contradictions between the Western and Eastern Christendom at the turn of the 12th – 13th centuries. The evidence and narrations proceed from the most direct participants in the military events, broke out on the shore of the Bosporus in 1203–1204. The authors of those materials belonged to the two opposing camps, and therefore the analysis of those sources represents a sufficiently complete and detailed picture of the occurred tragedy. A thorough analysis of the sources makes it possible to at least partially see and comprehend the causes of the military confrontation between the Western and Eastern Christians, who represented – just a while ago, in the first half of the 11th century – the united Ecumenical Church. The sources vividly reflect the mood that prevailed in the crusaders’ encampment in April, 1204, hesitation and doubt of the bulk of the Cross Warriors who were not sure of the rightness of their actions in the preparation for the assault of Constantinople. Many of them understood that they would have to raise the sword against their fellow believers – the Christians of the East. But the most tragic outcome of the 1202–1204 Crusade was the crushing defeat of Constantinople by the Cross Warriors. For the Romans (Byzantines) that became the reason for the disintegration of the Roman Empire. For all Eastern Christians it indicated the demise of the capital of the Orthodox Christendom.

Представление о Вселенской Церкви в средневековой Эфиопии (по данным судебника "Фэтха нагаст")

Представление о Вселенской Церкви в средневековой Эфиопии (по данным судебника "Фэтха нагаст")

Emerging Ecumenical Church Polity, 1965–2010: Lessons from Efforts at Church Unity in Zambia

This article explores an emerging ecumenical church polity in Zambia from a church historical perspective. While church polity and church unity literature has acknowledged the role of church polity and church unity in Zambia, and its use for ecclesiological purposes, the growing use of church polity and the efforts at church unity in the period 1965–2010 in Zambia, have remained unexamined. This article thus explores qualitatively how church polity and church unity were viewed in church legislation and official church documents of the United Church of Zambia (UCZ), the Anglican Church in Zambia (ACZ) and the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa (UPCSA) in Zambia. The article observes that ecumenical church polity has indeed been developed in Zambia and lessons from efforts at church unity in Zambia can assist in developing ecumenical church polity. This is demonstrated by comparing the church legislation and by studying lessons from efforts at church unity within the ranks of the UCZ, ACZ and UPCSA, among other ways. The article therefore advances the argument that ecumenical church polity can be developed by comparing the church legislation provisions and by studying the lessons from efforts at church unity in Zambia. This article contributes to the field of church history, church polity and ecclesiology.

Church Land Reform through a Combination of Examples and Theology of Spatial Justice

Land was one of the ways the colonialist venture as well as the apartheid regime used to divide people, as well as being a catalyst for superiority. Over hundreds of years, from the beginning of colonial rule until the end of apartheid in 1994, the indigenous people of South Africa were dispossessed from the land. With the end of the Truth and Reconciliation proceedings, it was clear from suggested actions that there should be restitution in South Africa to begin to correct the spatial and resultant economic imbalances. Churches in South Africa embarked on setting declarations on land reform ecumenically and within their own walls. However, little information is available on final reform measures that churches have taken after several ecumenical meetings in the 1990s. Additionally, there is little development in South African theology circles on a theology of land justice. Moreover, a praxis on land justice for churches has not been openly developed or discussed post-1994. This study aims to look at the history of the land issue in South Africa, particularly from 1948–1994, and will include the history of land ownership in the Roman Catholic tradition. In addition, it will look at examples of land reform in the Roman Catholic Church from 1999 until the present in the Diocese of Mariannhill. Furthermore, the article will consider the emerging praxis of spatial justice based on a hermeneutic view taken from black liberation and contextual theology. The article concludes with a look at how these examples and new praxis can develop the ecumenical church’s quest for a prophetic voice and actions in land South African land reform.

Missional appropriation of human trafficking for the sex-work industry

This article explores the possibility of the involvement of the ecumenical church in addressing the complex issue of sex trafficking. It is done through a glocal theological theory built on missional theology and social ethics as human trafficking is reinterpreted to be a theological issue which could lead to a life-giving mission. Research takes place within the transformative paradigm using a mixed-methods approach, and the theory and praxis are examined with the fullness of life, human dignity, hope, justice and healing in mind. As a destination for sex trafficking, empirical research was done in Rustenburg, South Africa, among victims and survivors, missional workers and church leaders, and experts in the field. This assisted the investigation into the viability and content of this theory. It is then argued that a missional appropriation based on hope, liberation and justice adds a new dimension to being church and leads to a transformative mission to victims.

Diakonia and Diaconal Church

What are the authentic features of a diaconal ecclesia in contexts of crisis such as the coronavirus pandemic? In the south African context, the response of the church has been both positive and negative. During this period of the outbreak of the coronavirus the church has been very visible and pastoral in Holy Week, and especially during Easter. After Holy Easter the visibility of the church gave way to non-governmental organisations, social responsibility organisations, government social development agencies, and other government departments. These institutions and organizations emerged as active, practical, and concrete sources of hope because they provided the immediate and tangible needs of the people, including food, shelter, medical care, and psychological support. This research investigates the gap in the church as liturgical movement and service oriented. This elicits the question, what is the church in times of crisis? On the assumption that the church is diaconal, what kind of diaconal ecclesia is suited for times of crisis, like the coronavirus pandemic in South Africa? To understand the main arguments and perspectives of the two modes of church, service and liturgy, I will do a literature review with special attention given to the ecumenical church. I will also do a conceptual analysis of the main terminologies and its effects on the development of notions of church. The modes of church will be interpreted through the lens of catholicity in order to formulate a diaconal ecclesia with distinctive features for times of crisis such as the current pandemic.

Beyond Critique: Just War as Theological Political Theology

AbstractThis article takes up a charge often directed to neo‐Augustinians by neo‐Anabaptists that their defense of just war lacks adequate theological foundations. It is the case that most contemporary just war advocates, even within Christian ethics, no longer embed their accounts within a distinctively theological context, let alone a robust appeal to a doctrine of God or divine providence attentive to the divine One who really entered history, suffered defeat, and conquered death. This development can be seen as a form of self‐denial for the sake of consensus and casuistry. In so doing, however, they confirm the claim of many Christian pacifists that just war reasoning betrays the radical creativity of Christian virtue in the name of some external (often duty‐based) notion of responsibility and retributive justice. My project differs. It taps into resurgent interest in political theology as a way to remedy this neglect at least a little. I focus on two aspects of political theology that bear primarily on the relation of the temporal and the eternal: providence and suffering. They are rooted in fundamental theology, guided by the memory of being grafted as strangers into the God of Israel, the same God who showed compassion for Esau even while blessing Jacob. Just war tradition is an act of compassion rooted in providence and the inevitable suffering faced in history. The point is to re‐theologize a living tradition that generations of the ecumenical church bequeathed to us as an exercise of their Christian imagination within their historical contexts where they took all of history seriously as God’s time. Wary of idolatry, we should strive for more than critique or a disappointing choice between Christendom or Church as the only theological word to the nations.

Moral Majority redivivus

John de Gruchy’s 1995 work Christianity and Democracy: Theology for a Just World Order was published at a heady time, not only in society but in the ecumenical churches, who were prominent as “midwives of democracy.” While the changes in Eastern Europe and South Africa were in the foreground, the book also covered emerging movements for democracy in sub-Saharan Africa outside South Africa. Sadly, De Gruchy’s optimism was not borne out in the decades that followed. Partly, this was due to internal problems within the movements themselves; partly, it was a transformation in the identity of Christianity away from the role of an enabling midwife to that theocratic master. A new kind of Christian politics asserted itself, modelled on and enabled by conservative Christianity in the United States. Moreover, it asserted itself in rivalry to a new “other”: fundamentalist Islam, which succeeded communism as America’s global enemy. This article traces the emergence of this new assertive religious politics, criticizing both its theologically problematic “Christian nationalism” and its lack of concern for sustaining the human rights gains of the early 1990s.

УКРАЇНСЬКЕ ЦЕРКОВНЕ ПИТАННЯ В КОНТЕКСТІ ПРОТИСТОЯННЯ "ПАРАЛЕЛЬНИХ ПРАВОСЛАВНИХ СВІТІВ"

The article describes the main provisions of the idea of an independent Ukrainian church in the 21st century. The age-old confrontation of Constantinople and Moscow in the context of world diptychial primacy is explored. Historically, the proclamation of a new autocephaly has been accompanied, to a greater or lesser extent, by church turmoil. This was manifested in the dissolution of the Eucharistic communion, the interruption of mutual prayerful commemoration of the Primate of the churches, the postponement of the great All-Orthodox Council or pre-council meetings in the twentieth century, and all kinds of political pressure on the part of individual states-bearers of Orthodox culture.After recognizing the autocephaly of the Ukrainian Church, the longstanding historical confrontation between Fanar and Moscow is gaining momentum. There is a great schism in the Ecumenical Church, which is caused by the formation of two camps, the watershed of which, officially, is today the church issue of Ukraine. Therefore, the article analyzes the current state of separation of the Ecumenical Orthodox Church in the context of the Ukrainian church issue. The content of the position of each of the Local Churches concerned is revealed.At the Council of Crete 2016, the Local Churches unambiguously reaffirmed the postulate of the supremacy of the Council in resolving any controversial or complex church issues. Definitely, the process of proclaiming a new autocephalous church is an event of worldwide proportions.Thomas' proclamation to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is a well-established fact. It is important that it should only help to build a new Ukrainian nation, but that is not its main task. The main thing is that in pursuit of the national, the Church does not cease to be a Church, so that it does not lose itself. The Church is not only a structure, it is a house of God in which people seek peace of mind, and can be accessed by all who live in Ukraine, regardless of nationality.There is clearly no brotherly Christian love in the maturing great schism. Therefore, world Orthodoxy places great hopes on the possible gathering of the Heads of Churches to discuss the Pan-Orthodox situation. Further, either consensus and recognition of Ukrainian autocephaly, or a major global split.

SOLOVYOV’S PHILOSOPHY AS RATIONALIZATION OF RELIGIOUS FEELINGS AND BEHAVIOUR

Abstract: The article is dedicated to Vladimir Solovyov (1853 - 1900), the greatest Russian religious philosopher of the 19th Century. The main thesis is that the central ideas of Solovyov can be interpreted as philosophical reflections on fundamental religious feelings and aspects of religious behavior. With respect to this a detailed discussion of Solovyov’s teachings of ‘positive all-encompassing unity’ (всеединство), sobornost (togetherness, соборность) and Godmanhood (Divine Humanity, Богочеловечество) are discussed. Special attention is paid to Solovyov’s theocratic project of Christian Universal Church and the re-unification of the Christian world.Key words: All-encompassing unity; Godmanhood, Sobornost; Russian Orthodoxy; Universal Church (Ecumenical Church)

Religion and Social Justice: A Critical Analysis of the South African Council of Churches in Post-Apartheid South Africa

Within the South African context, the South African Council of Churches (SACC) played a constructive role in the formation of a democratic society. The SACC was the united voice of the church, and its relationship with civil society made it a major role-player in the dismantling of apartheid and the establishment of democratic rule. While post-apartheid is a time of hope and achievement, the country is facing serious social injustices more than two decades into democratic rule. This shift from apartheid to democracy has resulted in a different relationship between church and state. The relationship between church and state has moved from antagonism and polarisation during the apartheid era to “critical solidarity,” and finally to “critical engagement.” This paper will analyse and evaluate the role of the ecumenical church for social justice in post-apartheid South Africa. It will investigate the reasons for the presumed turning point in the relationship between the church and the state, the impact that the relationship between the church and state has on the role of the church, as well as the contribution the church can make to social justice issues, with particular reference to those at the margins of society.

The Church as Family

This article discusses the significance and impact of the family as an ecclesiological metaphor in the Chinese context. It describes how a specific Confucian understanding of the family shapes congregational life. It argues that, while the metaphor of the family is a possible obstacle in ecumenical church relations, it has also significantly contributed to the growth of Christianity in China.

Believing in the Church: Why Ecumenism Needs the Invisibility of the Church

Amidst the plethora of approaches to ecumenical dialogue and church reunion over the last century, a common theme has been the depreciation of the classic Protestant distinction between the “visible” and “invisible” church. Often seen as privileging an abstract predestinarianism over the concrete lives and structures of church communities and underwriting a complacency about division that deprives Christians of any motive to ecumenical endeavor, the concept of the “invisible” church has been widely marginalized in favor of a renewed focus on the “visible” church as the true church. However, I argue that this stress on visible unity creates a pressure toward institutional forms of unity that ultimately privilege Roman Catholic ecclesiologies at the expense of Protestant ones, and thus fails of its ecumenical promise. Renewed attention to Reformational understandings of the relationship between divine grace and human action and the centrality and uniqueness of Christ as the foundation of the church, I argue, dispels some misunderstandings of the church’s “invisibility” and demonstrates the indispensability of the concept. I argue that this Reformational framework, which refuses to accept the empirical divisions of the Church as definitive and summons us to an ecumenism that belongs to the church’s sanctification, provides the best theological ground for ecumenical endeavor.

Human Rights and the Citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven

AbstractThis article argues for a new Christian theological rationale for human rights that takes into account serious contemporary critiques of rights language. Human rights derive from our being made in the image of God. But rather than being static metaphysical properties which humanity possesses, they form a moral language about the image of God, which must be constantly refashioned to suit the times. Furthermore, the human community to which these rights belong is not mere created humanity, but instead the humanity of the eschatological kingdom of heaven, of which the ecumenical church is the messenger. The ecumenical task, then, is to articulate a more holistic conception of what the image of God means to ensure that human rights language does not become narrowly sectarian.

Ecumenical General Council and Church Schism

Ecumenical General Council and Church Schism

The Role of the Church in Socio-Economic Transformation: Reformation as a Transformation Process

This paper consists of five parts. Firstly, a brief historical background of reformation will be discussed as an exercise to remember reformation. Secondly, we review the role of the ecumenical church (SACC) prior to democracy in South Africa. The purpose for focusing on the role of the church from this period is that it gives us a model to follow in our involvement in socio-economic transformation. Thirdly, the social and economic challenges facing the church and society in democratic South Africa will be discussed. Fourthly, we debate the role of the ecumenical church (SACC) in democratic South Africa. Fifthly, the article explores what role the Uniting Reformed Church in South Africa (URCSA) is playing (descriptive) and ought to play (normative) through all her structures to transform the socio-economic situation in South Africa.

The Trend Towards Multiversities: A Case of Incoherent Heterogeneity

My proposition is that the present recession in Higher Education is significantly related to the trend towards "multiversities". By the latter I mean the assumption that each university should maximize its institutional capacity towards satisfying the widest range of goals, values and interests. Maximal institutional capacity and viability are assumed to be contingent on maximal structural heterogeneity. It seems that multiversities together with industrial conglomerates, department stores, ecumenical churches, political parties and other modern organizations fulfill the old dictum: the future lies with heterogeneity, and that makes for cohesiveness.

The Dutch Reformed Church as a prominent established South African church: In transition towards the 21st century

The Dutch Reformed Church (Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk) is in transition because of the influences of the more recent South African epochs of democratisation, Africanisation and globalisation. The histories of these epochs extend over more than 20 years and have had a significant influence on the church. The Dutch Reformed (DR) Church changed institutionally because its place and influence within society changed considerably as a result of political and social transformation since 1994. The ongoing process of Africanisation that accompanies these transformations brings certain reactions to the bosom of the church via the experiences of its members. Most are Afrikaners being more inclined to westernised social frames of reference. Ironically, these people are more susceptible to the effects of globalisation, especially secularisation, which transposes the religious set-up of the DR Church into an open and individuated system. These developments pose major challenges to the DR Church in the sense that it has to reconsider how it approaches society, what it can contribute to the ecumenical church, why it is necessary to reflect on its denominational identity and what its academic, theological endeavours in these regards entail.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article has an interdisciplinary scope because the multiplicity of the present-day calls for interdisciplinary academic reflection. For the purpose of this article, Church Historiography helps to systemise recent ecclesiastical developments within the DR Church. To clarify the influences of these developments on the DR Church, sociological premises are incorporated to describe them within a broader social context. References to the conducted empirical study serve to explain respondents’ (members of the DR Church) social and religious constructs regarding these ecclesiastical and sociological phenomena.