The World Council of Churches and Its Vancouver Theme: “Jesus Christ the Life of the World” in Historical Perspective

1983 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-52
Author(s):  
George Huntston Williams
Keyword(s):  
Historical Perspective ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Sufficient Reason ◽  
Third Century ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Technical Language ◽  
The Third ◽  
The World ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
World Council

In reference to triadological and christological inaccuracies of a nevertheless very important regional synod of Antioch of 268 that definitively condemned and dispossessed Antioch's bishop, Paul of Samosata, St. Athanasius wrote: “Yes, surely every council has a sufficient reason for its own language” (De synodis 45). The Father of triadological orthodoxy indeed changed some of his own technical language in the course of many synods during the fourth century. The creed called liturgically that of Nicaea (325)—which, since the scholarship of the Lutheran Pietist Johann Benedickt Carpzov, Sr., has been called the Niceno-Contstantinopolitan Creed—was ascribed to Constantinople in 381, as a clarification of that at Nicaea, by two readers purportedly reciting the acts of these two councils at the Council of Chalcedon in 451. What is remarkable about Athanasius—referring in the middle third of the fourth century to a synod in the last third of the third century—and about the Fathers of 451—referring back to two earlier ecumenical councils—is that they purported to be expounding an unchanging truth revealed in the Septuagint and the New Testament, once for all delivered (Jude 3), that had simply been made clearer by generations of liturgical practice and theological scrutiny, privately and in synod.

The Confession ‘Jesus is God’ in the New Testament

1957 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 274-299
Author(s):  
A. W. Wainwright
Keyword(s):  
New Testament ◽  
Jesus Christ ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Rudolf Bultmann ◽  
The World ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
World Council

In a chapter of his book Glaube und Verstehen, recently translated into English under the title Essays Philosophical and Theological, Professor Rudolf Bultmann has discussed, by no means favourably, the Christological Confession of the World Council of Churches. The words of the Confession are: ‘The World Council of Churches is composed of Churches which acknowledge Jesus Christ as God and Saviour.’ Bultmann directs his attention chiefly to the confession that Jesus is God. In the New Testament he finds only one verse in which Jesus is un-doubtedly called God. That is John 20.28, in which Thomas addresses Jesus as ‘My Lord and my God!’ In contrast with this single example, there is in Bultmaann's opinion a great amount of evidence that the writers of the New Testament believed that Jesus was subordinate to His Father.

United and Uniting Churches

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Haire
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Significant Contribution ◽  
New Delhi ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Ecumenical Movement ◽  
The Third ◽  
The World ◽  
Different Types ◽  
World Council ◽  
History Of

United and uniting churches have made a very significant contribution to the ecumenical movement. In seeking to assess that contribution, the chapter first defines what these churches are, considers the different types of union that have been created, examines the characteristics of these churches, and looks at the theological rationale for them. It goes on to trace the history of their formation from the beginning of the nineteenth century, and particularly during the years leading up to and following the Third Assembly of the World Council of Churches at New Delhi in 1961, under the influence of Lesslie Newbigin. Giving a theological assessment, it emphasizes that the existence of these churches, despite difficulties, provides places where the final unity of Christ’s one body is most clearly foreshadowed. They will always present proleptic visions of that goal.

Rabbi in Nairobi

Worldview ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 23-25
Author(s):  
Arnold Jacob Wolf
Keyword(s):  
Third World ◽  
New Haven ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
The Third ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council ◽  
The Third World

I am the only Jew ever invited by the World Council of Churches to an Assembly. With that invitation I attended the latest Assembly, which was held in Nairobi at the end of 1975. For three long weeks I listened, talked to hundreds of delegates, was interviewed on television, lobbied shyly and cautiously for my people, and ate only vegetables and fruit. I found some Christians who had risked their very lives for Jews and open anti-Semites in priestly garb, learned churchmen and ignorant bigots. The Third World was the Assembly's scene and furnished many of its principal actors, but the script could have been as well produced in New Haven or Chicago. There were passionate (and demagogic) speeches aplenty, but the voting was always moderate and the Assembly usually acquiescent. I myself was surrounded by friends and supporters, but I felt very much alone.

After the Third Assembly

Worldview ◽  
1962 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-5
Author(s):  
Arthur Moore
Keyword(s):  
General Public ◽  
New Delhi ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
John Xxiii ◽  
The Third ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Pope John Xxiii

To begin to assess the Third Assembly of the-World Council of Churches, which met in New Delhi, India, November 18-December 5, it is necessary to keep firmly fixed in mind the' intended function of such an Assembly and, even more importantly, what is not its function.This cautionary advice, normally the most threadbare of clichés, gains its validity from the present atmosphere surrounding the subject of Christianity. Spurred on by a number of factors, including the attitude of Pope John XXIII; unity has become a glamorous and bewitching, albeit extremely vague, concept to the general public and to the popular press. Unknown and dramatic events are constantly being anticipated.

Third World Theological Priorities

1987 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kortright Davis
Keyword(s):  
Third World ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
The Third ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council ◽  
The Third World ◽  
First World ◽  
New Tradition

How does one properly account for the rise of theological ferment in the Third World, when so much of the theological activity in that region is so closely related to what happens (or fails to happen) in the First World? To what extent can the decisions of the Second Vatican Council, or the programs of the World Council of Churches, or the initiatives of the Mission Boards in North America, be given credit for the emergence of Third World theologies? Or how do we explain the paradox that in spite of two decades in the growth and development of local theologies in the Third World, much of the way in which Third World churches conduct their business and their worship still fails to reflect such developments? Who sets the priorities for theology in the Third World? What is the procedure for its validation and official acceptance? When does the local church know that it is safe to shift from the received tradition to the new tradition? All these are questions of farreaching significance, for they bear on the very heart of authentic Christianity as it is proclaimed and practised in the Third World. Third World Christians must determine for themselves when and how they will theologize in their own language, in which they were born (Acts 2.8). Third World theologians have stepped out in front and have taken some initiatives for themselves, and among themselves.

THE EMERGENCE OF RESISTANCE TO ECUMENISM IN THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH (ROC) IN THE POST-PERESTROIKA PERIOD OF RUSSIA

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 74-93
Author(s):  
V.A. LIVTSOV ◽  
◽  
A.V. LEPILIN ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Russian Federation ◽  
Russian Orthodox ◽  
Orthodox Church ◽  
International Level ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Russian Orthodox Church ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Emergence Of Resistance

The main purpose of the article is to analyze the emergence of opposition to ecumenism in the Rus-sian Orthodox Church (ROC) in the post-perestroika period of Russia. The article examines the issues of interaction between the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) and the World Council of Churches (WCC), the aspects of opposition to the ecumenist movement in the Russian Federation in the post-Soviet realities. The author comes to the conclusion that in the post-perestroika period, a number of representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church were negatively disposed towards ecu-menism and considered this movement a heresy. The issues of this kind caused disagreement not only at the international level, but also within the structure of the ROC itself.

Presbyterian Ecumenism

2019 ◽  
pp. 251-264
Author(s):  
Louis B. Weeks
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Of Christ ◽  
World Council Of Churches ◽  
Biblical Authority ◽  
The World ◽  
World Council ◽  
Reformed Churches ◽  
Federal Council Of Churches

Most Presbyterians possess an ecumenical spirit. They recognize other denominations as parts of the Body of Christ just as surely as their own. They cooperate enthusiastically in service, worship, and witness with Christians in many different denominations. Their reliance on biblical authority and agreement with Christians in other communions on many theological issues have led American Presbyterians to be involved in practically every major ecumenical endeavor. Many Presbyterians have been leaders in these enterprises as well. The Old Light and New Light Presbyterian reconciliation, major revivals in America and Europe, the mergers of denominations and comity arrangements for mission have provided energy and vision for ecumenism. The planting of newer Reformed churches—in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and predominantly Catholic countries in Europe—embodied this ecumenism. Mainstream Presbyterians played an important role in numerous ecumenical organizations including the Evangelical Alliance, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the Federal Council of Churches, the Faith and Order and the Life and Work movements, and the World Council of Churches. Those who left the larger Presbyterian denominations to create new Reformed bodies have likewise engaged in ecumenism. In recent years, however, the extensive formal ecumenical ties have been eclipsed by the extensive ecumenism of local Presbyterian congregations and their individual officers and members.

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