Sunday, January 13, 2008
Who needs ecumenism?
“I first became involved in the ecumenical movement at the fourth Faith and Order conference in Montreal, which took place from 12 to 26 July 1963…When in a group session we lamented the division of the churches, the Orthodox theologian Nissiotis maintained that the body of Christ was not divided at all; in Christ we are all already ‘one’ (John 17:21), J. Moltmann, A Broad Place (Fortress 2008), 84-86.
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Steve, what are your thoughts generally about Moltmann and his theology?
ReplyDeleteMoltmann is a liberal Protestant theologian. This is his basic problem: on the one hand, he denies the verbal inspiration of Scripture. He then appeals to his liberal view of Scripture to justify his lack of exegetical rigor:
ReplyDelete“Theology is not subject to the dictation of texts, or the dictatorship of the exegetes. Questionings as to whether the theology is ‘in conformity with Scripture’ seem to me to be an remnant left over from the old doctrine of verbal inspiration,” God Will be All in All, R. Bauckham, ed. (T&T Clark 1999), 230.
On the other hand, he does attempt to justify his theological reflections by Biblical prooftexting. But what’s the point of prooftexting if he denies verbal inspiration, as a result of which he also denies the need to ascertain the actual meaning of the text?
Unless his theology is grounded in revelation, what is the source of his ideas, and why believe that his ideas are true? His position is both incoherent and a form of make-believe.
I tend to agree with his comment about not needing ecumenism because "the church is one" already. I am wondering why you would choose to quote someone like Moltmann on a topic like this (if in fact that was your point), when someone like A.A. Hodge said essentially the same thing, and said it so much better.
ReplyDeleteBecause it's interesting to have this comment coming from an Orthodox theologian. I happen to agree with him at this point. Indeed, I've been saying for a long time that Jn 17:21 is not a prooftext for ecumenism, unless one assumes that Christ's prayer went unanswered.
ReplyDeleteThere are, however, lay Orthodox apologists who are using the stock Catholic objection to sola Scriptura, viz. it leads to sectarian divisions. So it's useful to see an Orthodox theologian make the obvious point that Jn 17:21 presupposes the unity of Christians. This is not an unrealized goal. For the Father hears the Son.
Thanks Steve.
ReplyDeleteThanks Steve. Love the pithy summary of Moltmann (who I think was an advisor to William Lane Craig, and WLC has written some great apologetics).
ReplyDeleteAnd I love how you used an Orthodox theologian to rebut Catholic claims of a visible (organizational) unity.