Unity Of Church Research Articles

François Hotman and the Critique of Gratian’s Decree: From the Investigation of Early Councils (De statu primitivae Ecclesiae, 1553) to the Rewriting of Europe’s Legal History (Antitribonian, 1567)

François Hotman (1524–1590) was one of the leading Reformed jurisconsults of his time. Past research has stressed his innovative interpretations and practices in the study of Roman, feudal, and French constitutional law. Little has yet been said about his views on canon law, another fundamental legal body in Western history that experienced renewed intellectual scrutiny during the sixteenth century. This paper investigates some of Hotman’s early work on canon law, focusing on his legal–historical reconstruction of the early Church in De statu primitivae Ecclesiae (1553) and his contribution to a budding historical field in Catholic circles: conciliar history. Despite the general lack of interest in the history of councils on the part of some leading Protestant theologians (Luther, Calvin, Bullinger), Hotman clearly believed that the textual tradition of councils provided a prime example of sustained popish efforts to control and deform the historical narrative and the legal structure of the Church. Yet, although he seems to have worked on demonstrating just that over more than forty years, he never again voiced his views on the matter in a dedicated work. Comparing in its conclusion De statu primitivae Ecclesiae with Antitribonian, this paper suggests that, in parallel to his better known ‘complex of Tribonian’ (Pierre Mesnard), Hotman seems to have suffered from a ‘complex of Gratian’: the doctrinal unity and institutional accomplishments of the early Church, as represented by the first councils, may well have dazzled Hotman and kept him from writing some definitive work against Gratian.

Федеративная модель Церкви в православном богословии

The author continues his study of the ways in which the political concept of federation is used to describe church organisation, this time taking as a basis the texts of Orthodox authors. These writers borrowed the idea of a federative structure of early Christian communities from Protestant historians of the 18th century and from subsequent works of Protestant scholars, for whom such notions became a component of the prevailing doctrine. In the writings of Russian theologians the concept of federation seems to have travelled the same path as in the West, having come into use against the background of a general fascination with political projections in theology and having lost its relevance under the influence of various criticisms. In Greek theology the picture turns out to be much more complex. In the course of the development of Greek historiography in the nineteenth century, federalism and democracy were declared to be the characteristic features of the model of organisation of the Eastern Christian Church, developed through the synthesis of the new religion and Hellenistic culture. In the twentieth century these ideas were revised. In modern Orthodox theology there is an agreement on the incorrectness of describing the Church using the concept of federation. Nevertheless, this image has come to be used as a polemical cliché in intra-Orthodox discussion, which is used to denote any form of rejection of the monocentric model of Church unity.

Church Unity or Ecumenism: The Perspective of the United Congregational Church of Southern Africa 1967–2022

Right-wing politics is re-emerging all over the world, challenging the church to defy this trend and be true to her nature of oneness and Catholicism. This brings to the fore the question of unity and the ecumenical spirit. It is from this understanding that this article, which is an exercise in contemporary church history, seeks to contribute to the Reformed Church scholarship in the face of the current context of mission. The United Congregational Church of Southern Africa (UCCSA), as part of Reformed Churches, has a rich history of union. This discussion stems from the hermeneutical considerations of the reformed understanding of church unity, and particular focus is given to the UCCSA’s understanding of unity and ecumenism. After articulating what ought to be happening, the article delves into the historical considerations of the UCCSA and Church unity.

Alexander's Eastern Campaigns for Religious Change in the Mediterranean Region

Alexander's Eastern Expedition was one of the most brilliant expeditions in the world's military history. Although Alexander's Eastern Expedition brought profound disasters to the people of Eurasia and Africa, the process of accompanying the Eastern invasion objectively made the spread of Greek culture to the East and the process of infiltration of Oriental culture into Greek culture. At that time, religion and culture were inseparable under the system of the unity of church and state. As a result of the dispersal and fusion of primitive religions during this period, the mainstream religions that determined the values of the majority of the world's people in later times were formed, thus influencing the course of human civilization.

Universal Church from the Perspective of Cyprian: A Pietistic Approach to Unity in the House of God

Despite Cyprian’s influence upon the early church, no scholarship has paid attention to the pietistic approach that undergirds his view of ecclesiastical unity. In probing his diverse works, one faces a set of questions that must be answered: What does Cyprian mean by unity? From where does the universal character of the church arise? Without answering these questions, it proves hard to understand other aspects of Cyprian’s works. Cyprian’s view of piety provides us a wider lens to understand his writings about conversion, church unity, and Christian ethics. For him, piety refers to believers unveiling divine grace with all the strength received from and conceived by God while they continue to overcome worldly pollutants such as lust, injustice, and wickedness. What is more, Cyprian’s perspective on church unity is not limited to the authority of the episcopate but includes the pietistic life of Christians. For Cyprian, good works neither signify a way to salvation nor operate as a cause or merit. Rather they are evident in the life of those who are cleansed by faith in Christ. His pietistic approach continues to play a role in binding others to Christ, helping them understand the love of God toward the world.

Mass of the Ages 18–39: The Sudden Revival of the Tridentine Latin Mass and Lessons for a More Robust Post-Conciliar Theological Aesthetics in Liturgy

The Tridentine Latin Mass (TLM) is rapidly growing in popularity. The movement that has formed around it has grown so attached to it as to threaten the unity of the Catholic Church. I attended TLMs in multiple distinct settings, studied the worshippers’ ordinary theology, and proceeded hermeneutically using the Circle Method. The most useful insight to emerge from this is that the theological aesthetics of the post-Conciliar Mass could be more deeply symbolic and synergistic with Conciliar intellectual theology. The TLM’s aesthetics offer worshippers assurances of certainty, but these assurances are empty. Therefore, parishes should facilitate the self-expression of the faithful, both to foster engagement with mystery and to inspire liturgical aesthetics. From these expressions, contextually meaningful symbols will emerge, which, through communal discernment guided by the Holy Spirit, may prove worthy to the task of enhancing liturgical aesthetics.

The Interest of the Convert: Marius Theodorian-Carada and the Romanian Greek-Catholic Church in the First Decades of the 20th Century

The present study aims to present the situation of the Greek-Catholic community in Bucharest in the first decades of the 20th Century, starting from the reports that Marius Theodorian-Carada sent to the Holy See at that time. As a convert to Greek Catholicism in 1908, Theodorian-Carada showed an increased interest in the situation of the Greek Catholic believers in Bucharest during the interwar period, more precisely after the parish of Saint Basil the Great had been placed under the authority of the Greek- Catholic Archdiocese of Blaj. The present paper covers the intellectual profile of the convert, his continuous activism for the cause of the union of the Orthodox Church in Romania with the Catholic Church and, above all, the solutions that Theodorian- Carada proposed in response to the most urgent problems that the Romanian Greek Catholic Church was facing at that time. Last but not least, our study sheds light, based on archival documents, on the perspective that the Nunciature from Bucharest and the Greek- Catholic hierarchy had on the issues raised. Keywords: Greek-Catholic Parish of Saint Basil in Bucharest, union of Churches, liturgical language, religious press, Greek-Catholics in the Old Romanian Kingdom

Love and ‘Spiritual Ecumenism’: A foundational Backdrop for Underhill’s The Spiritual Life

One foundational backdrop for Evelyn Underhill’s BBC radio talks, 'The Spiritual Life' (1937), is her posture of ‘spiritual ecumenism’ (prayer for Church unity). In 1936, Underhill had published 'Worship' and participated in various worship practices, plus prayer groups for Church unity. During these years, loving rather than critiquing Christians different to herself had become an area of growth for Underhill (outlined in her spiritual journals). Bérulle’s three types of generous love - adoration, communion and co-operation - provided Underhill’s macro structure for 'The Spiritual Life.' Through the lens of ‘spiritual ecumenism’, Underhill emphasised the centrality of love in ‘the spiritual life’ – love of God and neighbour – particularly fellow Christians. Underhill encourages us to pray for Church unity and engage in spiritual understanding rather than judgment, competition and ‘mud-slinging’. In the context of growing secularism, individualism, and Church disunity, ‘spiritual ecumenism’ has the potential to enhance the Church’s missional impact.

A Conversion of Conviction: The Spiritual Journey of Fr. Lewis (Paul James Francis) Wattson, SA

ABSTRACT: The spiritual journey of Father Paul James Francis was marked by faith, courage, and determination. Born Lewis Thomas Wattson, he became an Episcopal priest. He served as rector of a parish in Kingston, New York and Superior of the Associate Mission in Omaha, Nebraska, before returning to New York to found the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement in 1898. Father Paul, as he was and is known historically, always held a "high church" theological perspective. Gradually, over an approximate ten-year period he made the transition and in October 1909 was, along with his community, corporately received into the Roman Catholic Church. His decision came about because of three events: (1) The realization that papal primacy was indeed true, (2) The rejection of a sermon he gave to an archdeaconry meeting in New York, and (3) A change in Episcopal canon law that allowed any person approved by a local rector or bishop to preach in an Episcopal church. Harassed by both the Episcopal communion and the Catholic community for "living in both camps," Father Paul nevertheless achieved his lifetime goal to become a Catholic and to found a religious society based on church unity and mission.

Perold de Beer: Reflecting on the theology of a missionary pioneer

Dr Perold de Beer was a missionary pioneer who contributed as both a church leader and a theologian to the Reformed Church in Africa (RCA). This research recorded his contribution to the RCA as this church navigated political issues during apartheid, multireligious positions and the challenges accompanying church unity; all of these ended up in the Laudium Declaration (LD) which De Beer drafted and was then accepted as the church’s official position. In addition to De Beer’s views, other, differing positions from his colleagues and contemporaries were used to reflect on the eventual decisions and theologies developed in the RCA. The article’s social and scientific value lies in both recording and reflecting on the work of a missionary pioneer not yet investigated; it addressed and informed issues that are still relevant today (racism, pluralism and unity) and which are still heading the church’s agenda. Both literature study and interviews were employed.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: While this article investigated missiology (mission theology, social justice and church unity), it also contributed to religion studies (interfaith dialogue), church history, and polity (the history and documents of the RCA) and systematic theology. It offered insight into the history of a specific segment of South African society during apartheid.

Kościół pw. Zmartwychwstania Pańskiego w Rzymie jako świątynia Rzeczypospolitej Obojga Narodów

The paper examines the primary iconography of the interior design of the Church of the Resurrection in Rome, located in via San Sebastianello 11, reconstructed thanks to the archival materials. The interior of the church of the Resurrectionists in Rome was consecrated on November 5th, 1889, during the time of partitions and the lack of representation of the temple of the Polish nation in the Eternal City. The church until the 1979 renovation had a homogeneous decoration in the historicizing trend, which was bound together by polychromy in the type of “carpet polychromy” (Tapisseriemalerei), capturing the most semantically significant elements of decoration – stained glass windows and historical paintings. Iconography in the chancel referred to the Resurrection and the role of the Church in delivering this message. On the axis of the apse there was a stained-glass window with an image of the Risen Christ, flanked by two stained glass windows with representations of Immaculata and St. Joseph, whose cults were promoted in the Church by Pope Pius IX. The stained-glass windows also included the coats of arms of Pope Leo XIII and the founders. The main altar: a mensa from 1775, from the former church of St. Paul the First Hermit of the Pauline Fathers (formerly the Polish temple), over a wall-mounted canopy whose founder was Father Władysław Czartoryski, with an image of Our Lady of Częstochowa. The triumphal arch on the pillars framing the altar featured painted figures of St. Stanislaus and St. Sebastian, and on top of the chancel arch was an image of the Vernicle. Above the stalls there were figural paintings relating to the handing down the mission in the Church during various historical moments: The Ascension by Henryk Siemiradzki (on the south side) and The First Vows of the Resurrectionists and the Approval of the Congregation by Pius IX by Józef Unierzyski, enframed in a wooden frame with the coats of arms of Popes Gregory XVI and Pius IX. In the window area above it, there was the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Poland, while in the successive spans of the nave there were the coats of arms of Cardinal Mieczysław Ledóchowski and the Lithuanian Pogoń. Across the nave, there were two figural paintings by Franciszek Krudowski, depicting encounters with the Risen Christ on earth: Infidel Thomas and Noli me tangere. Therefore, the southern wall of the presbytery and nave depicted the presence of the Risen Christ on earth, while the northern wall pointed to the Church of Poland, from the formation of the Resurrectionists to the symbols of the state and the primate-interrex. The symbolism of the connection between the Universal Church and the Polish Church was developed on the choir wall, divided by the organ emporium into two tiers, in which stained glass windows were placed, in the lower one were the figures of the three Archangels and the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Annunciation scene, in the upper one were Saints Casimir and Josaphat, all stained glass windows were accompanied by coats of arms, whether of the Polish State or the founders. The Church of the Resurrection thus merged the iconography of the cult of the Resurrection of Christ with national representation, which was expressed both by the depicted saints and the extensive heraldic program. The emphasis on the cult of Christ and the saints of the Polish church has a reference to the first temple of the Polish nation of St. Stanislaus, whose main patron was the Blessed Savior; the image of St. Stanislaus also referred to the name of this temple. The presence of St. Josaphat, on the other hand, refers to the tradition of the Uniate hospice of Sts. Sergius and Bacchus, representing the Ruthenian nation. The iconography with images of St. Casimir, St. Josaphat, the Eagle and Pogoń coats of arms indicated that this was the temple of the First Republic, a buried state, which was represented in Rome by the Resurrectionists, the informal Polish ambassadors to the apostolic capital, who also protected and spread the Uniate rite. The saints present in the temple’s iconography and the emphasis on the relationship between the Polish Church and the Universal Church were also reflected in the Resurrectionists’ apostolic mission. The union of Church and state – altar and throne in the iconographic program of the Resurrection temple emphatically indicated that there would be no resurrection of the homeland without the Church, which was also confirmed in the political and social program of the Resurrectionist congregation.

Ecumenical impulses in the documents of the International Theological Commission

Since the Catholic Church has entered the current of modern ecumenism, her ecumenical commitment has become of utmost importance. However, the most significant manifestations of the ecumenical attitude – apart from the lively participation in it of the entire ecclesial community – should be sought primarily in those institutions that are paramount in shaping the doctrine of the Church, pointing out prospects for development and stimulating appropriate action. One such institution is the International Theological Commission, which, despite its auxiliary character, represents the theological circles of the Catholic Church from all over the world, has great scientific potential and is able to show the perspectives of faith in the context of the rapidly changing and constantly evolving modern world. Building Church unity is an extremely important and difficult, so necessary is to examine the ecumenical inspirations contained in the documents of this Commission. To do this it is first necessary to identify these impulses from the content of the documents and then to bring them together in a systematic way in order to arrive at a holistic picture, evaluation and reception of the results.

Kardynał Bessarion i jego księgozbiór

Cardinal Bessarion (ca. 1400–1472), a theologian born in Trebizond and educated in Byzantium, made a career in the hierarchy of the Byzantine clergy and attracted the attention of the imperial family. He was one of the most active participants of the Council of Ferrara-Florence (1438–1439). Following the failure of the church union in Constantinople, Bessarion came to work for the papal curia in Rome. As a cardinal he used his income and contacts to help Byzantine refugees and Greeks living under the rule of the Republic of Venice, especially after the fall of Constantinople. Fearing that the loss of statehood could mean that the heritage of Greek culture would fall into oblivion, Bessarion created a great library containing the masterpieces of Ancient Greek literature, the classical philosophical works, and the texts of the Eastern Church Fathers. In 1468, he donated this collection to the Republic of Venice, and in such a manner founded one of the first public libraries in Europe.

Interpretation of Revelation 13 in the writings of Ellen White

The origin and development of the Adventist Church was based on eschatological interpretations of the apocalyptic books of the Bible. Ellen White, one of the co-founders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, played a prominent role in the interpretation of prophetic texts. In this article, I highlight her interpretation of one of the most controversial passages in the book of Revelation – the thirteenth chapter – in which John writes about the Antichrist. I show that Ellen White took a historical approach to the interpretation of apocalyptic prophecies. White interpreted the beast from the sea as a symbol of the papacy, and the beast from the earth as a symbol of Protestant America. White argued that the image of the beast would be a separate authority, a union of church and state in the United States, a kind of counterpart to the papacy. The restoration of the power of the papacy and its alliance with Protestantism will lead to the loss of religious freedom and persecution. The article highlights that the mark of the beast, according to Ellen White, symbolizes the celebration of Sunday – a false and idolatrous Sabbath. This spiritual sign will be activated in a future eschatological spiritual battle that will take place in the matter of worship and faithfulness to God’s commandments. White wrote about Sunday laws in the historical context of the United States, where they were hotly debated and even passed in some states. I argue that White was not limited by historical context, but was making a statement about future Sunday observance legislation on a worldwide scale, with other countries following the US’s example. The article shows that Ellen White also interpreted the Antichrist individualistically, by indicating the personal appearance of the devil in the form of Jesus Christ at the end of time.

Marian Devotions and the Unity of the Catholic Church (Argentina, Twentieth Century)

Marian Devotions and the Unity of the Catholic Church (Argentina, Twentieth Century)

Love Speaking Understanding: Possible Steps toward Greater Church Unity Regarding Tongues through Biblical Theology

Paul’s address regarding spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 is conspicuously centered around his address of love in chapter 13. It could appear Paul is emphasizing that love is to be at the center of the exercise of spiritual gifts. If that is the case, one question in the context of Global Pentecostalism seems to be “How does love intersect with the gift of tongues in community and why does it matter?” In our day of political and social division, Jesus persists in his desire for Church unity. In the context of this Special Issue, the investigation herein proposes suggestions grounded in biblical theology for adjustments in the expectations of the manifestation of tongues and the practice of tongues in the local assembly. The expression of tongues, for various reasons, is a point of contention within the body of Christ. Addressed here are the questions of a requirement of God to manifest tongues, and the legitimacy of exercise of uninterpreted tongues in the assembly. This study hopes to add to the conversation in revisiting a biblical theology for both.

Church union: the quandaries over acceptance of the Union of Brest (1595–96)

ABSTRACT The Union of Brest of 1595–96 brought many of the hierarchs, clergy, and faithful of the Orthodox Kyiv Metropolitanate into the Catholic Church. Yet from the first, large segments of the church in the Ukrainian and Belarusian lands of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth rejected the Union. This paper poses the question of why there was resistance to the Union by presenting counterfactual premises of what the chances for the Union would have been 30 years earlier and 30 years later. It suggests that care must be taken in understanding terminology on religious issues within the context of the period and in taking into account varying usages by clergy and laity. It maintains that increasing attention to Catholicism and Orthodoxy as confessions transformed the environment in which attempts to carry out the Union occurred. Before the Khmel′nyts′kyi Uprising of 1648, many of the participants of the discussions on the Union sought to maintain the unity of all Ruthenians through compromise. After the violent uprising, the formation of the Cossack Hetmanate, and the decline of tolerance in the Commonwealth, attempts at union took place in an atmosphere of heightened confessional allegiance and the more forceful intervention of political authorities in religious affairs.

Elective Affinities: Papal and Regal Privileges for Mount Athos and the Holy Mountain’s Relationship with the Medieval West

Abstract Though the self-presentation of the Holy Mountain as a bastion of Orthodoxy and implacable foe of church union is in some respects justified, popes and western rulers in fact played an important, and not always a hostile, role in the history of Mount Athos. Some of the founding figures of Athonite monasticism had Roman connections, and there were even periods in which the monasteries of Mount Athos sought the protection of popes and potentates from the West. While Athonite archives contain numerous charters stemming from Byzantine and other Orthodox rulers, and the monasteries’ vast Ottoman holdings have received increasing attention in recent years, charters issued by Latin Christian potentates and prelates have largely been overlooked. This contribution adds new information to previous studies of the relationship of Mount Athos with the Medieval West and applies the notion of interreligious founding to the Athonite context, attempting thereby to nuance the notion that Byzantine and Latin religious patronage operated in mutually exclusive spheres, even after the so-called “Great Schism” of 1054.

Reforming narratives on human sexuality in the Dutch Reformed Church

This article offers a critique on the dominant narrative on human sexuality in the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC). A mirror is held up to the binary nature of this dominant discourse, centred on ethics, hermeneutics, and ecclesiology. The limitations of how the DRC has engaged with human sexuality, and homosexuality in particular, are framed within the church’s own construction of being “vasgeloop” (stuck) amidst plurality and diversity. These limitations are discussed as issues of church unity, justice, and embodiment. Finally, a subaltern “window” is offered out of this apparent impasse, that looks upon the liberating alternatives presented by embodied queer narratives. In an attempt at seeing queerness within the Reformed tradition, queer phenomenology is presented as an epistemic shift away from the normative, binary discourse that has dominated the discourse on human sexuality in the Dutch Reformed Church.

PROBLEMS AND VECTORS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF ORGAN DONATION AND TRANSPLANTATION IN UKRAINE

Organ transplantation is a field of medicine that has been continuously developing in the world for the past 50 years. For the development of the system of organ donation and transplantation in the conditions of its formation in Ukraine, a scientific justification of its problems of an organizational and managerial nature is needed, as well as a search for development vectors. Today, transplantology has become one of the most science-intensive and dynamically developing medical technologies. Organ transplantation makes it possible to provide effective assistance to such patients who were previously doomed to inevitable death or severe disability.
 The aim is to determine the problems and vectors of optimization of the organ donation and transplantation system in Ukraine.
 Materials and methods. To achieve the goals set, the work uses general scientific methods of analysis, synthesis, generalization, interpretation of scientific data, as well as methods for the unity of the logical development of socio-economic systems, a systematic approach, and dialectical principles of comparison.
 Results. The article presents evidence-based directions for the development of the system of organ donation and transplantation, which allow optimizing its organizational potential. They are based on a set of interrelated forms and technologies of the production process of the functioning of the modern system of organ donation and transplantation. They make it possible to determine the organizational, managerial, socio-economic tool for the development of the sphere of organ donation and transplantation.
 Transplantation is needed by the country, and it is the responsibility of the state to the people. The government needs to correctly form an idea about transplantology, it is necessary to develop a national strategy for the development of this discipline. strategy is not there yet.
 The main vector of the development of transplantology in Ukraine is the creation of a national concept of organ donation and transplantation, as a system of scientific views on transplantology. this vector determines the main ideas and directions of its development, which forms the ideological base of the medical staff, which changes the traditional views of the public on donation.
 For the majority of the population and medical professionals, the moral problems of modern transplantology are a matter of solving moral problems arising in the field of manipulation of the human body, both living and dead. In this field, the union of society, state and church is needed to define the right to dispose of one's body, even after death, to respect the human body, which is part of its human essence, and to increase donation.
 Conclusions. Despite the fact that in recent decades Ukraine has seen the development of the field of transplantation, there are also a number of problems of an organizational nature. To make a significant breakthrough in the development of organ transplantation in Ukraine, it is necessary to carry out a lot of organizational work to develop the field of transplantation. Searching for solutions to the problems of organ donation and transplantation, as saving human life, is impossible without a deep study of the medical, organizational, legal, social and moral aspects. Today, transplantology has become one of the most science-intensive and dynamically developing medical technologies.
 Transplant medicine is not only a new means of providing assistance to the population, but also an indicator of the success of the country's development in general, an important element of national pride and prestige.