In 1965, the Second Vatican Council formally issued a historic document titled Nostra Aetate (In Our Time). It was an attempt to frame the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and the Jewish people. Never before had an ecumenical council attempted such a task. The landmark document issued by the Council and proclaimed by Pope Paul VI precipitated a Copernican revolution in Catholic-Jewish relations and started a process that has spread to the Protestant and Orthodox worlds as well. A Jubilee for All Time, consisting of essays and reflections by Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, and Jewish scholars and theologians, by pastors and professors from the United States, Canada, Ireland, Great Britain, and Israel, is an evaluation of what Nostra Aetate has accomplished thus far and how Christian-Jewish relations must proceed in building bridges of respect, understanding, and trust between the faith groups. A Jubilee for All Time serves as a source of discussion, learning, and dialogue for scholars, students and intelligent laypersons who believe that we must create a positive relationship between Judaism and Christianity.

Jung's correspondence with one of the twentieth century's leading theologians and ecumenicists On Theology and Psychology brings together C. G. Jung's correspondence with Adolf Keller, a celebrated Protestant theologian who was one of the pioneers of the modern ecumenical movement and one of the first religious leaders to become interested in analytical psychology. Their relationship spanned half a century, and for many years Keller was the only major religious leader to align himself with Jung and his ideas. Both men shared a lifelong engagement with questions of faith, and each grappled with God in his own distinctive way. Presented here in English for the first time are letters that provide a rare look at Jung in dialogue with a theologian. Spanning some fifty years, these letters reveal an extended intellectual and spiritual discourse between two very different men as they exchange views on the nature of the divine, the compatibility of Jungian psychology and Christianity, the interpretation of the Bible and figures such as Jesus and Job, and the phenomenon of National Socialism. Although Keller was powerfully attracted to Jung's ideas, his correspondence with the famed psychiatrist demonstrates that he avoided discipleship. Both men struggled with essential questions about human existence, spirituality, and well-being, and both sought common ground where the concerns of psychologists and theologians converge. Featuring an illuminating introduction by Marianne Jehle-Wildberger, On Theology and Psychology offers incomparable insights into the development of Jung's views on theology and religion, and a unique window into a spiritual and intellectual friendship unlike any other.

The Catholic and Orthodox churches have been divided for nearly a thousand years. The issues that divide them are weighty matters of theology, from a dispute over the Nicene Creed to the question of the authority of the Pope. But while these issues are cited as the most important reasons for the split, they were not necessarily the issues that caused it. In Beards, Azymes, and Purgatory A. Edward Siecienski argues that other, seemingly minor issues also played a significant role in the schism. Although rarely included in modern-day ecumenical dialogues, for centuries these "other issues"-the beardlessness of the Latin clergy, the Western use of unleavened bread in the Eucharist, and the doctrine of Purgatory-were among the most frequently cited reasons for the dispute between East and West. Disagreements about bread, beards, and the state of souls after death may not, at first, appear to be church-dividing issues, but they are the nevertheless among the reasons why the church today is divided. This was a schism over azymes long before it was a schism over the primacy of the Bishop of Rome, and the beardlessness of the Latin clergy was cited as a reason for breaking communion with the Latin Church prior to all the subsequent arguments about the wording of the Nicene Creed. To understand the schism between East and West, Siecienski contends, we must grasp not only the reasons it remains, but also the reasons it began.

Apostolic, ecumenical and radical: these are the ecclesial characteristics highlighted by Gesa E. Thiessen while explaining her vision of the church. The author focuses on the meaning of each of these marks as well as on their intrinsic connections, an approach that leads her to delve deep into the history of the church, and to draw a wide span between the apostolic past and a radical perspective on the present and future ecumenical church. Apostolic and Prophetic studies the concept of apostolicity emerging in patristic theology and examines this concept as it has been developed in select Lutheran, Roman Catholic, and Anglican ecumenical documents.

The Malankara Mar Thoma Church's ecumenical outlook - marked by twin facets of openness and autonomy - has been the underlying ethos guiding its history, helping it to establish a unique identity. The book retells the church's ecumenical history dating back to its founding in 52 CE. This study throws ample light on the period between the significant changes of 1889 and the present times. It deals with questions such as: How did the church start practising an ecumenical outlook even before the word ecumenism was coined? Could this have resulted from the church's interaction with Indian culture that upholds unity in diversity?

This volume proposes a fresh strategy for ecumenical engagement -- "Receptive Ecumenism" -- that is fitted to the challenges of the contemporary context and has already been internationally recognized as making a distinctive and important new contribution to ecumenical thought and practice. Beyond this, the volume tests and illustrates this proposal by examining what Roman Catholicism in particular might fruitfully learn from its ecumenical others.
Challenging the tendency for ecumenical studies to ask, whether explicitly or implicitly, "What do our others need to learn from us?" this volume presents a radical challenge to see ecumenism move forward into action by highlighting the opposite question "hat can we learn with integrity from our others?"
This approach is not simply ecumenism as shared mission, or ecumenism as problem-solving and incremental agreement but ecumenism as a vital long-term program of individual, communal and structural conversion driven, like the Gospel that inspires it, by the promise of conversion into greater life and flourishing. The aim is for the Christian traditions to become more, not less, than they currently are by learning from, or receiving of, each other's gifts.
The 32 original essays that have been written for this unique volume explore these issues from a wide variety of denominational and disciplinary perspectives, drawing together ecclesiologists, professional ecumenists, sociologists, psychologists, and organizational experts.

This book is about the dangers of religious intolerance, conflict and violence oriented strategies in our contemporary society. It exposes the evangelical strategies of Christian Churches and Denominations in the Nigerian society. The process of the enthronement of 'prosperity theology' has led to manipulation of individuals and events through demonization, deliverance, organized healings and miracles. This type of Christianity destroys religious values and exposes the society to the danger of materialism. Christian Churches should be advocates of empowerment, freedom and dignity instead of victimization of its members. This study argues that authentic Christian witnessing can only be achieved through holistic and proper integration of its teachings into socio-cultural values of its local setting. It insists that religion should enhance good core values and not destroy it. It critically analyses the elemental causes of conflict and violence in Igboland and concludes by making recommendations towards a peaceful society.

This book evaluates William Temple's theology and his pursuit of church unity. It exposes a number of paradoxes and conflicts that have generally gone under-appreciated in assessments of Temple. William Temple was one of the most outstanding leaders of the early ecumenical movement. In many ways his ecumenical efforts provided a paradigm others have looked to and followed. Through detailed analysis of primary sources, this study sheds light on several behind-the-scenes conflicts Temple experienced as he worked toward church unity. Edward Loane explores the foundation of Temple's work by analyzing the philosophy and theology that underpinned and fueled it. The book also exposes the tensions between Temple's denominational allegiance and his ecumenical convictions-a tension that, in some ways, undermined his work for reunion. This book reveals issues that contemporary Christians need to grapple with as they seek to further church unity.

Baptized in the Spirit creatively examines the most recent trends in Pentecostal and charismatic theology, especially with regard to the displacement of Spirit baptism as Pentecostalism s central distinctive. The author begins by focusing on the significance of the Holy Spirit in reciprocal and mutual work with the Son in fulfilling the will of the Father. He also shows how the pneumatological emphases in Pentecostal and charismatic theology can help to correct the tendency in Western Christianity to subordinate the Spirit to the Word."

This examination of Anglicanism from the perspective of the Free Churches details the tension that exists between its Catholic and Protestant characteristics, while at the same time drawing attention to an important ecclesiological message that is applicable to all the Christian churches.

The office of bishop in the Episcopal Church in the United States has long begged attention from historians. Yankee Bishops: Apostles in the New Republic, 1783 to 1873 is the first collective examination of the American episcopate and offers critical insight into the theory and practice of episcopal ministry in these formative years. In this period, one hundred men were elected and consecrated to the episcopal order and exercised oversight. These bishops firmly believed their office to mirror the primitive pattern of apostolic ministry. How this primitive ideal of episcopacy was understood and lived out in the new republic is the main focus of this study. Yankee Bishops is also the first book to scrutinize and analyze as a body the sermons preached at episcopal consecrations. These valuable texts are important for the image and role of the bishop they propagate and the theology of episcopacy expounded. The final portrait that emerges of the bishop in these years is chiefly that of a sacramental and missionary figure to whom the pastoral staff came to be bestowed as a fitting symbol of office. These bishops were truly apostolic pioneers who carved out a new, vigorous model of ministry in the Anglican Communion. Yankee Bishops will be a primary source in Anglican and ecumenical studies and of general interest to the reader of American religious and social history.

The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian denomination and claims a membership of some 80 million members in about 164 countries. Given that there are only around two hundred countries in the world, this makes the churches of the Anglican Communion the most geographically widespread denomination after Roman Catholicism. The 44 essays in this volume embrace a wide range of academic disciplines: theological; historical; demography and geography; and different aspects of culture and ethics. They are united in their discussion of what is effectively a new inter-disciplinary subject which we have termed 'Anglican Studies'. At the core of this volume is the phenomenon of 'Anglicanism' as this is expressed in different places and in a variety of ways across the world. This Handbook covers a far broader set of topics from a wider range of perspectives than has been hitherto attempted in Anglican Studies. At the same time, it doesn't impose a particular theological or historical agenda. The contributions are drawn from across the spectrum of theological views and opinions. It shows that the unsettled nature of the polity is part of its own rich history; and many will see this as a somewhat lustrous tradition. In its comprehensive coverage, this volume is a valuable contribution to Anglican Studies and helps formulate a discipline that might perhaps promote dialogue and discussion across the Anglican world.

The term "charism" is drawn originally from Pauline literature and refers to a gift given by the Spirit for the upbuilding of the body of Christ. Since the mid-twentieth century, Christians from a broad spectrum of theological positions have applied this term, in varying ways, to groups within the Church. However, no book thus far has provided a rigorous and sustained critical investigation of this idea of ecclesial charisms. In Division, Diversity, and Unity, James E. Pedlar provides such an investigation, drawing on biblical and systematic theology as well as literature on church renewal and ecumenism. Against those who justify denominational separation in order to preserve particular gifts of the Spirit, Pedlar insists that the theology of charisms supports visible, organic unity as the ecumenical ideal. Division, Diversity, and Unity argues that the theology of ecclesial charisms can account for legitimately diverse specialized vocational movements in the Church but cannot account for a legitimate diversity of separated churches. Pedlar tests and develops his constructive proposal against the fascinating and conflicted histories of two evangelistic movements: the Paulist Fathers and The Salvation Army. While the proposed theology of ecclesial charisms stakes out a legitimate and important place in the Church for specialized movements, it excludes any attempt to justify the permanent separation of an ecclesial body on the basis of an appeal to an ecclesial charism.

The historical course of Christianity in the twentieth century has been strongly marked by the Ecumenical Movement and the Liturgical Movement, and often these currents for the recovery of the Church's unity and the renewal of its worship have flowed together. In this new book, author Geoffrey Wainwright draws on his three decades of active participation in both movements to offer a theologically informed account of what has been at stake in them, what their achievements have been, and what tasks remain for them to accomplish. He shows how the two movements have engaged such issues as the authority and function of scripture and tradition as well as the nature of the Church and sacraments. In this last connection, Wainwright illuminates the convergence represented by the widely received Lima text on "Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry," in the writing of which he played a prominent part. The linguistic and anthropological turns that characterize twentieth-century thought are reflected in the attention given to the language and ritual of worship. The social location of the Church is addressed in chapters that look to liturgical practices for common Christian perspectives on ethics, politics, and culture, so that discords and conflicts may be resolved and reconciled. The book makes its own contribution to the symphony of praise to which the apostle Paul summons Christians and the churches when they will "with one mind and one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."

This book studies the historical, religious and political concerns of the Iraqi Shi'i community as interpreted by the members of that community who now live in the United Kingdom and Ireland, following the 2003-2010 war and occupation in Iraq. It opens up a creative space to explore dialogue between Islam and the West, looking at issues such as intra-Muslim conflict, Muslim-Christian relations, the changing face of Arab Islam and the experience of Iraq in the crossfire of violence and terrorism - all themes which are currently emerging in preaching and in discussion among Iraqi Shi'a in exile. The book's aim is to explore possibilities for dialogue with Iraqi Shi'i communities who wish, in the midst of political, social and religious transition, to engage with elements of Christian theology such as pastoral and liberation theology.

The vibrancy of faith and the fast growth of different churches in Nigeria seem to obscure the reality of some precarious historical challenges that call for crucial and genuine ecclesiological inquiry. The Nigerian Church's unique history loaded with various facets of indoctrination and the peculiarities of her constituents demands an urgent ecclesial and theological attention. Following an exploratory, analytical, critical and historical methodology, this book finds Francis Alfred Sullivan's explication of the intricate nuances of the Four Marks of the Church as a fitting ecumenical model for the Nigerian ecclesial situation. It delves into this model and presents the findings through a catechetical prism as an alternative for effective and sustainable de-indoctrination. The author also finds dialogue as a probable effective tool for de-indoctrination, but also acknowledges that legitimate ecclesiological dialogue does not rule out difficulties in the process. He therefore argues that the consciousness of the ecumenical worth of the Four Marks of the Church as well as faithfulness to the principles of dialogue will lead to the resolution of much of these differences.

Historical memory is the perception of order in what has been done and said. Such a memory creates awareness and consciousness, both individually and socially. Together it generates discernment and wisdom for the future, for the "res gerendae". This work is a documentation of the beginnings of the Church in Africa in general and Nigeria in particular. It tries to bring the two coordinates of the Church's presence in Africa together: the past and the future. The former seems to point to, and almost map out, the latter. Writing and reconstructing the history of missionary enterprise and the development of the Nigerian Church, various political, religious and economic groups and concepts have to be taken into account: Missionary and religious groups, the Vatican, the colonial powers and traditional leadership, slave trade and its emancipation, Protestantism, the First and Second World Wars, African traditional religion(s), Inculturation, the Nigerian People, catechists and, most importantly, African culture. "Blaise Okachibe Okpanachi examines the process of Christianisation in Nigeria from its beginnings in 1884 until 1950. He depicts the developments, not only from the Roman Catholic point of view but fills in the background with information about the Protestant missionaries and the spread of Islam in Africa. The work is aptly illustrated with quotations from letters from contemporary witnesses which Mr. Okpanachi collected in various archives throughout Europe." (Cynthia Schroll)

The work analyses the current state of research on the problem of the relationship of the Fourth Gospel to the Synoptic Gospels. It proves that the Fourth Gospel, which was written c. AD 140-150, is a result of systematic, sequential, hypertextual reworking of the Acts of the Apostles with the use of the Synoptic Gospels, more than ten other early Christian writings, Jewish sacred Scriptures, and Josephus' works. The work also demonstrates that the character of the 'disciple whom Jesus loved' functions in the Fourth Gospel as a narrative embodiment of all generations of the Pauline, post-Pauline, and post-Lukan Gentile Christian Church. These features of the Fourth Gospel imply that it was intended to crown and at the same time close the canon of the New Testament writings.

Recently, voices were raised in the worldwide Christian ecumenical movement that it was high time the Protestant-Catholic fundamental topic "Holy Scripture and Tradition" was approached and ecumenically reviewed. In Germany, this has already been achieved by the "OEkumenischer Arbeitskreis evangelischer und katholischer Theologen" (Ecumenical Study Group of Protestant and Catholic Theologians; founded in 1946). The results of this study group were published in the 1990s under the title "Verbindliches Zeugnis" by Theodor Schneider and Wolfhart Pannenberg. This edition provides the essence of the three volume work for the first time in English. The treatment of this age-long dispute in Protestant and Catholic theology, but first of all its fundamental settlement can thus be recognised and discussed in the international ecumenical dialogue.

Ressourcement: A Movement for Renewal in Twentieth-Century Catholic Theology provides both a historical and a theological analysis of the achievements of the renowned generation of theologians whose influence pervaded French theology and society in the period 1930 to 1960, and beyond. It considers how the principal exponents of ressourcement, leading Dominicans and Jesuits of the faculties of Le Saulchoir (Paris) and Lyon-Fourviere, inspired a renaissance in twentieth-century Catholic theology and initiated a movement for renewal that contributed to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. The book assesses the origins and historical development of the biblical, liturgical, and patristic ressourcement in France, Germany, and Belgium, and offers fresh insights into the thought of the movement's leading scholars. It analyses the fierce controversies that erupted within the Jesuit and Dominican orders and between leading ressourcement theologians and the Vatican. The volume also contributes to the elucidation of the complex question of terminology, the interpretation of which still engenders controversy in discussions of ressourcement and nouvelle theologie. It concludes with reflections on how the most important movement in twentieth-century Roman Catholic theology continues to impact on contemporary society and on Catholic and Protestant theological enquiry in the new millennium.

How can ecumenism succeed and under what preconditions? Silke Dangel examines these questions by considering the conflicts between identity and difference in contemporary interdenominational dialogue. She shows that successful ecumenism depends upon a dynamic notion of identity. The ecumenical process in turn updates and modifies the nature of denominational identity.