"Contemporary ecumenism seek first of all the union of the christian world and not the preservation of its identity. It is interested in the body of Christians and not the body of Christ. That is why whatever has to do with the body of Christ - Christ Himself and the Church, which is set forth in christology and ecclesiology - is relegated to a secondary position. Ecumenism sees neither christology nor ecclesiology theologically from above, but ventures to create christology and ecclesiology using the contemporary secularized anthropology and sociology. The “from below” christology, as well as the ecclesiology “of branches,” confirm this state of things.

Here is found the main difference between contemporary ecumenism and the universality or ecumenicity of the indivisible Church. The Orthodox Church persists in the truth of christology, for this offers the base for true anthropology. Heretical anthropology distorts anthropology, in addition to ecclesiology. There cannot exist a healthy body of the Church, when the faith concerning her head, Who is Christ, has been altered. Nor can there be healthy cells in a body which has a mutated head. The contribution of the Orthodox Church, which was present at the formation of the contemporary ecumenical dialogue, has not yielded any substantial result. . . It could be said, on the contrary, that within orthodox circles a certain theological minimalism has been cultivated in the name of some kind of ecumenical cooperation and overture.”

-- Univerality and Ecumenism, Christian Ethics, (Thessaloniki, Pounara, 2002), page 277.

Posted on 10/10/04. Filed under: Ecclesia • Ecclesiology: The Church and Ecumenism • Orthodoxy and Catholicity • • Email This Entry