The Ecumenical Foundation of the Church: From the Perspective of Historical Theology

The Ecumenical Foundation of the Church: From the Perspective of Historical Theology

Chun-ming FONG

Christ is the head of the church and the church is the body of Christ. Since Christ has only one body, His churches should be united in one. On what basis can all the churches be unified together? The three different bases, which we are going to examine, are as follows:

 
1. The Roman Catholic Church argues that the unification of all churches has to be based upon the “historical standard,” that is, the longer the history of the church, the more authentic she is. The Roman Church argues that she is the only church institution which has the longest history. Her origin goes back to the early church, and extends from the Middle Ages up to today's world. It follows that the Catholic Church is the only ecumenical foundation of church unity.

Since the Reformation in the sixteenth century, Protestants insist that historical standard cannot be used as the foundation of church unity. A true church is not defined by how long the history of an institution can be traced to, but by the Word of God. Since the Roman Church has abandoned the faith of the early church and does not proclaim the Word of God correctly, she cannot be regarded as a true church. Neither can she be the foundation of church unity.

The early Baptists also criticized the Roman Church's idea of an institutional unity. Church unity is not based on the authority of a church organization. Neither is it depended on the decision of “a small group of authorized people” in the Roman Church, such as the pope and the Episcopal magisterium. In contrast, the church unity should start from each believer who has made a covenant with God through the sign of baptism, and then extends to various local churches that are composed of believers. The volition of all believers who have a covenantal relationship with God (such as whether they are willing to follow the Word of God) should be regarded as the supreme foundation of church unity.

 
2. Today the World Council of Churches points out that the only and most significant basis of church unity is Jesus Christ. But in today's pluralistic society this kind of saying is too general to have any strength to unify the Christian churches. The unity of the church should be based upon the Word of God or, more specifically, the core Christian beliefs that are derived from the Word of God.

 
3. The Reformer Calvin argued that church unity is based on the Word of God, which is clearly expressed through the “major doctrines” of the Reformation. Nevertheless, Calvin argued that the emphasis on the “major doctrines” is not to promote any form of strict doctrine purity. In fact, believers and church leaders need to tolerate each other for having different understandings of the “minor doctrines.” They are also demanded to allow a certain degree of liberty for various “external” practices, such as various forms of church government. In short, there is always space for the believer's conscience to acknowledge, discuss, and decide the orthodox beliefs of the Christian church.

 
Today Evangelicalism becomes the major trend of the Christian Church. JI Packer argues that since the root of Evangelicalism is derived from the Reformation, the “major doctrines” of the Reformation should be reconsidered as the entrance into any ecumenical talk. They will provide the internal strength for the evangelical churches to reunify themselves.