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vainly to look, and when at last it
rises ... we find a church in many as–
pects very different from that in the
days of St. Peter and St. Paul" (Jesse
L.
Hurlbut,
The Story of the Christian
Church,
p. 41).
Let's take a look back into history.
Where did dísuníty start - and what
steps toward unity have been taken?
Schisms Eady
in
Church
Even during the Apostolic Age, there
were problems of apostacy and deliber–
ate attempts by some to draw away fol–
lowings after themselves. The New
Testament gives broad hints of the
problems, though few details. But with
the completion of the New Testameot
about 100 A.D., a sudden silence falls
over the early Church. The few writings
duriog the next half-century tell little
about the state of Christianity.
lt is not until the time of Justin Mar–
tyr, writiag about 150 A.D., that we
again have statements about specific
'
1
heresies." Justin tells us that there
were many different groups which bore
the name Christian. He names a number
extaot in his time. This first Catholic
writer shows that "Catholic" Christian–
ity was a misoomer
in
the 2nd century.
Justin places a major share of the
religious confusion on one Simon
Magus, whom he identifies with the
Simon of Samaria in Acts 8. So we are
told that heresy and schism in Christ's
Church began even in the early days of
the apost les!
The Catholic Church Divides
It
was precisely because of the many
schisms and differences of belief that
the Roman emperor Constantine called
the Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. - a
conference to decide basic tenets of
Christian belief. Constantine was not so
much concerned about
what
was de–
cided for doctrine, just so long as there
was unity. Minority opmwn was
squelched in the council. "Heretics"
(individuals and groups who did not
agree with the decisions of Nicaea) were
forbidden to meet together and, later,
violently persecuted. Those who insisted
on other forms of Christianity had to
The
PLAIN TRUTH
leave the Romao Empire or keep hidden.
For over 700 years no great variance in
reiigious belief was tolerated. Then
carne the great split in 1054 between
East and West, giving rise to the Roman
Catholic and the Greek Orthodox
churches.
Severa! attempts were made in the
following centuries for a recoociliation.
The Second Council of Lyons in 1274
and the Councils of Basle, Ferrara,
florence and Rome ( 1431-43) made
temporary reunions. But these were all
repudiated after a few years.
Then carne the Protestant Reforma–
tion. Once the idea of "protesting" got
under way, it was hard to stop. The
original Protestant groups themselves
subdivided, followed by further branch–
ings of the subdivisions, followed by
splintering of the branches.
This was the state of things when the
great missionary activity to native peo–
ples reached its height in the 19th
century.
Beginnings of the Ecumenical
Movement
As missionaries of one denomination
moved into an area, they found their
counterparts from other denominations
already there or soon arriving. The
"rivalry for souls" was a constant source
of embarrassment for all concerned. As
one writer noted, it was somewhat dis–
turbing to ask a Hong Kong citizen
what his religioo was aod receive the
reply,
"I
am Canadian Baptist."
Such a state of confusioo resulted in
the first major step toward unity on an
international leve!: the
World Mis–
sionary Confermce
at Edinburgh in
1910. This eventually produced
the
International Missionary Cormcii,
founded in 1921; the
"Life and
W
ork"
movement, 1925, which sought unity
through mission and service; and the
"Faith and Order"
movement in 1927,
designed to work on the problem of
divisive doctrines.
An attempt to unite the latter two
movements was cut short by World
War
II.
But 1948 brought forth tbe
W orld Cotmcil of Churches
(WCC) in
Amsterdan1. Then the WCC merged
July 1971
witb tbe World Missionary Conference
in New Delhi in 1961.
The WCC has remained the main
international movement for union
among Protestants. But there bave beeo
more localized attempts. Two of these
in the United States are the
National
Cormcil of Churches
(NCC) aod
Con–
stdlation on Chmch Union
(COCU) .
But this history of ecumenical drives
would be incomplete without sorne dis–
cussion of the historie Vatican
II.
Vatican
11 -
"Sorne Fresh
Air"
It was January 1959. Pope Jobn
XXIII
was preparing for the termina–
tion of a prayer week for church unity.
Suddenly a most unusual thing hap–
pened - he was told, according to one
source, by a heavenly voice that uoity of
his church would be brought about
through an ecumenical couocil: "As we
found ourselves in deep prayer," he
said, "we heard through the intimacy
and simplicity of our spirit a divine invi–
tation to call an ecumenical council."
Despite opposition from conserv–
atives in the church itself, Pope John
pushed ahead with his plans. It is
related that, when asked by one cardinal
what he hoped to accomplish by the
council, he threw open a window and
replied, "Let some fresh air into the
church."
John presided over the openiog of
Vatican
JI
(Vaticao
I
was the council in
1870 which established the doctrine of
papal infallibility), but he did oot live
to see its completion. The council began
in October 1962; John died the next
June, and his successor, the present
Pope Paul VI, assumed the papal chair.
When the council ended in December
1965, it seemed that the Catholic Church
had already begun a new era. Perhaps
one of the most significant declarations,
at least to non-Catholics, was that of
religiotts freedom.
Protestant "observ–
ers" had been pJeasantly surprised in
many cases at their relations with the
Catholic delegates.
An
air of tolerance
pervaded the council.
To most Christians, Vatican
II
was
indeed a breath of fresh air!