Wie kam es zu der kirchlichen Gemeinschaft zwischen den altkatholischen Kirchen der Utrechter Union in Europa und Nordamerika und der Iglesia Filipina Independiente auf den Philippinen? Die Aufsatze geben einen Einblick in die Entwicklung der oekumenischen Beziehungen am Anfang und in der Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts. Aufgrund der Korrespondenz der beteiligten kirchlichen und politischen Persoenlichkeiten zeigen die Autoren auf, wie die beiden Kirchen sich von der Jahrhundertwende bis zum Zweiten Weltkrieg zuerst auseinander entwickelten und sich nach einer Kehrtwende auf der Seite der Iglesia Filipina Independiente und dank Vermittlung der amerikanischen Episkopalkirche wiederfanden. Wo heutzutage die OEkumene ins Stocken geraten zu sein scheint, ruft dieser Band in Erinnerung, wie viel schon erreicht wurde und auf welche Weise.

El Filioque es una de las cuestiones mas largas y complejas de la historia del dogma cristiano. Se cuenta todavia entre las causas de la division entre catolicos y ortodoxos. En 1995, a peticion de Juan Pablo II, el Pontificio Consejo para la promocion de la Unidad de los Cristianos publico un breve texto que expresa la comprension catolica del problema. Entre sus diversas implicaciones, el documento, conocido como Clarificacion romana, se centra en los aspectos dogmaticos, que expone a partir de una amplia base de referencias patristicas. El presente estudio analiza la Clarificacion en dos partes. La primera presenta los precedentes historicos y magisteriales del texto, su genesis y sus fuentes, y ofrece una sintesis de las reacciones ecumenicas que siguieron a su publicacion. Como via para un entendimiento, la segunda parte del texto propone una consideracion detenida de las fuentes patristicas, orientales y occidentales. En ella se presentan los principales pasajes sobre el origen del Espiritu Santo y su relacion con el Hijo, contextualizados en el pensamiento trinitario de cada Padre. En funcion de el se valora el uso que ha realizado la Clarificacion de sus fuentes.

Der vorliegende Band der Reihe New German-American Studies eroertert anhand der Lebensgeschichte des geburtigen Westfalen August Rauschenbusch und unter Anwendung gangiger Methoden der deutsch-amerikanischen und transatlantischen Geschichtsschreibung das Schicksal eines deutschen Amerikaauswanderers im 19. Jahrhundert. August Rauschenbusch migrierte 1846 als protestantischer Missionar nach Missouri und hatte spater eine angesehene Stellung als Professor und Ausbilder von Predigern an einem deutschsprachigen theologischen Seminar im Staat New York inne. Der Verfasser ruckt durch seine Untersuchung der Biographie eines deutschen Theologen und Einzelauswanderers in den USA heute vergessene oder bisher weitgehend vernachlassigte Forschungsfelder deutsch-amerikanischer Geschichte wieder ins Bewusstsein.

Band 1 der Reihe Edition Israelogie will Beitrage zu einer erneuerten Israellehre liefern. Als Forschungsbereich greift die 'Israelogie' u.a. auf Forschungsergebnisse zuruck, die sich mit Israel oder dem Judentum im Allgemeinen beschaftigen. Auch die Ergebnisse der alt- und neutestamentlichen Forschung werden berucksichtigt. Doch im Rahmen dieser Verlagsreihe soll 'Israelogie' grundsatzlich als ein Teilbereich der christlichen Dogmatik verortet werden. Dabei ist u.a. die Frage relevant, wie die christliche Lehrbildung durch dogmatische Aussagen zum theologischen Verhaltnis von Israel bzw. Judentum und christlicher Gemeinde bereichert und modifiziert werden kann. 'Israelogie' will die biblischen Lehraussagen uber Israel und das Judentum identifizieren und systematisieren und damit einen Beitrag dazu leisten, eine in sich konsistente, erneuerte christliche Dogmatik zu entwerfen, die eine christliche Israellehre auch - von der klassischen Abfolge der Loci theologici her gesehen - vor und ausserhalb der Ekklesiologie definiert. Die biblische Lehre uber Israel soll dabei eigenstandig, von den zentralen Aussagen des christlichen Glaubens ausformuliert und theologisch reflektiert werden.

As you take a deep breath and submerge yourself in the waters; as you rise wet and warned and welcome, prepared to walk into Lent, hear this: You are loved by God. Each and every one of you: cherished, adored, liked - just as you are. God loves you, Jesus loves you, the Spirit loves you: Three-in-One. No exceptions. Follow Christ's footsteps, walk into the wilderness - and dance in the desert. Beloved of God, come on a journey.

Ecumenical consciousness has not always been part of the Catholic experience. Father Bliss traces how the concern for ecumenism came about - from uneasy tension to confidence in the true grace of catholicity. From the emergence of the medieval Papacy to Trent and the open spirit of Vatican II, the history of the Church continues to shape contemporary dialogue. Catholic and Ecumenical is a solid work that also gives an up-to-date and accurate view of Catholic participation in ecumenical dialogue among the churches and with people from other faith traditions.

Avery Dulles, well-known for several previous works in ecclesiology, including Models of the Church, here surveys a theme that demands new treatment in the present global and ecumenical context. He deals with questions that are vital for the identity of churches that designate themselves Catholic, and for the relationship between these churches and Protestant forms of Christianity. The prospects of Catholicism are realistically appraised. The Catholicity of the Church reproduces, in slightly revised form, the Martin D'Arcy Lectures delivered by Fr Dulles at Campion Hall, University of Oxford. 'In theology such as this the seeds of real unity between divided Christendom are being sown.' B.L. Horne, 'This is a fine book, providing a framework for fruitful dialogues among Christians of all traditions.' Journal of Theological Studies Expository Times 'This is a refreshing and challenging book, and is of considerable ecumenical importance.' Oliver Rafferty, The Month 'At the heart of ecclesiology is the concept of catholicity, and in tackling the nature of the Church's catholicity Fr Dulles has courageously addressed himself to the crucial ecumenical question.' Roger Greenacre, Theology 'doing honour to the memory of Martin D'Arcy both for its realism and for its renewal of our sense of Catholicism.' Fergus Kerr, The Tablet

Providing a new, women-centered view of mainline Protestantism in the 20th century, Good and Mad explores the paradoxes and conflicting loyalties of liberal Protestant churchwomen who campaigned for human rights and global peace, worked for interracial cooperation, and opened the path to women's ordination, all while working within the confines of the church that denied them equality. Challenging the idea that change is only ever made by the loud, historian Margaret Bendroth interweaves vignettes of individual women who knew both the value of compromise and the cost of anger within a larger narrative that highlights the debts second-wave feminism owes to their efforts, even though these women would never have called themselves feminists. This lively historical account explains not just how feminism finally took root in American mainline churches, but why the change was so long in coming. Through its complex examination of the intersections of faith, gender, and anger at injustice, Good and Mad will be invaluable to anyone interested in the history of gender and religion in America.

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.

"Flawless . . . [Makdisi] reminds us of the critical declarations of secularism which existed in the history of the Middle East."-Robert Fisk, The Independent Today's headlines paint the Middle East as a collection of war-torn countries and extremist groups consumed by sectarian rage. Ussama Makdisi's Age of Coexistence reveals a hidden and hopeful story that counters this cliched portrayal. It shows how a region rich with ethnic and religious diversity created a modern culture of coexistence amid Ottoman reformation, European colonialism, and the emergence of nationalism. Moving from the nineteenth century to the present, this groundbreaking book explores, without denial or equivocation, the politics of pluralism during the Ottoman Empire and in the post-Ottoman Arab world. Rather than judging the Arab world as a place of age-old sectarian animosities, Age of Coexistence describes the forging of a complex system of coexistence, what Makdisi calls the "ecumenical frame." He argues that new forms of antisectarian politics, and some of the most important examples of Muslim-Christian political collaboration, crystallized to make and define the modern Arab world. Despite massive challenges and setbacks, and despite the persistence of colonialism and authoritarianism, this framework for coexistence has endured for nearly a century. It is a reminder that religious diversity does not automatically lead to sectarianism. Instead, as Makdisi demonstrates, people of different faiths, but not necessarily of different political outlooks, have consistently tried to build modern societies that transcend religious and sectarian differences.

The Oxford Handbook of Ecumenical Studies is an unparalleled compendium of ecumenical history, information and reflection. With essay contributions by nearly fifty experts in their various fields, and edited by two leading international scholars, the Handbook is a major resource for all who are involved or interested in ecumenical work for reconciliation between Christians and for the unity of the Church. Its six main sections consider, respectively, the different phases of the history of the ecumenical movement from the mid-nineteenth century to the present; the ways in which leading Christian churches and traditions, Orthodox, Anglican, Methodist, Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Baptist, and Pentecostal, have engaged with and contributed to the movement; the achievements of ecumenical dialogue in key areas of Christian doctrine, such as Christology and ecclesiology, baptism, Eucharist and ministry, morals and mission, and the issues that remain outstanding; various ecumenical agencies and instruments, such as covenants and dialogues, the World Council of Churches, the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity and the Global Christian Forum; the progress and difficulties of ecumenism in different countries, areas and continents of the world, the UK and the USA, Africa, Asia, South America, Europe, and the Middle East, ; and finally two all-important questions are considered by scholars from various traditions: what would Christian unity look like and what is the best method for seeking it? This is a remarkably comprehensive account and assessment of one of the most outstanding features of Christian history, namely the modern ecumenical movement.

Catholics without Rome examines the dawn of the modern, ecumenical age, when "Old Catholics," unable to abide Rome's new doctrine of papal infallibility, sought unity with other "catholics" in the Anglican and Eastern Orthodox churches. In 1870, the First Vatican Council formally embraced and defined the dogma of papal infallibility. A small and vocal minority, comprised in large part of theologians from Germany and Switzerland, judged it uncatholic and unconscionable, and they abandoned the Roman Catholic Church, calling themselves "Old Catholics." This study examines the Old Catholic Church's efforts to create a new ecclesiastical structure, separate from Rome, while simultaneously seeking unity with other Christian confessions. Many who joined the Old Catholic movement had long argued for interconfessional dialogue, contemplating the possibility of uniting with Anglicans and the Eastern Orthodox. The reunion negotiations initiated by Old Catholics marked the beginning of the ecumenical age that continued well into the twentieth century. Bryn Geffert and LeRoy Boerneke focus on the Bonn Reunion Conferences of 1874 and 1875, including the complex run-up to those meetings and the events that transpired thereafter. Geffert and Boerneke masterfully situate the theological conversation in its wider historical and political context, including the religious leaders involved with the conferences, such as Doellinger, Newman, Pusey, Liddon, Wordsworth, Ianyshev, Alekseev, and Bolotov, among others. The book demonstrates that the Bonn Conferences and the Old Catholic movement, though unsuccessful in their day, broke important theological ground still relevant to contemporary interchurch and ecumenical affairs. Catholics without Rome makes an original contribution to the study of ecumenism, the history of Christian doctrine, modern church history, and the political science of confessional fellowships. The book will interest students and scholars of Christian theology and history, and general readers in Anglican and Eastern Orthodox churches interested in the history of their respective confessions.

Insofar as the twentieth century has often been referred to as 'the ecumenical century', the twenty-first seems poised to become known as 'the century of World Christianity'. Into this situation, the present study seeks to show the ongoing relevance of Wolfhart Pannenberg's ecclesiological and ecumenical proposals and, in doing so, finds that his eschatologically-oriented and historically-rooted emphasis upon an 'open-ended distinctiveness' is exactly the kind of corrective that the emerging theological paradigm of World Christianity needs if it wants not only to stay contextually 'open-ended', but remain 'distinctively' Christian in outlook and character as well. Towards that end, the book begins with the story of ecclesiology's definitional expansion (from the time of the Reformation to now) before tracing the biographical and ideational roots of Pannenberg's overall programme. The study then proceeds by outlining the main contours of Pannenberg's ecclesiology and ecumenism, especially as such pertain to World Christianity. In this regard, several facets of Pannenberg's thought are highlighted for consideration, including his understanding of 'the church as sign of the kingdom', his doctrine of 'participation in Christ', his reassertion of the church's missionary task, his (underdeveloped) 'personalist' and 'social' thought-structures, his (ironically relevant) 'Constantinianism', his (directly relevant yet abstract) notion of 'creative love', and his views concerning contextualization and the ecumenical potential of the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed of 381. While much that is here developed serves as a healthy corrective for an emerging theological paradigm that is still maturing, some surprising critical insights arise that also flow the other way.

The first intellectual history of interreligious dialogue, a relatively new and significant dimension of human religiosity "[A] fast-paced history of interreligious dialogue . . . For those new to the field or interested in looking at where we've been and how we came to be here, this book is a very good place to start."-Emily Soloff, Christian Century In recent decades, organizations committed to interreligious or interfaith dialogue have proliferated, both in the Western and non-Western worlds. Why? How so? And what exactly is interreligious dialogue? These are the touchstone questions of this book, the first major history of interreligious dialogue in the modern age. Thomas Albert Howard narrates and analyzes several key turning points in the history of interfaith dialogue before examining, in the conclusion, the contemporary landscape. While many have theorized about and practiced interreligious dialogue, few have attended carefully to its past, connecting its emergence and spread with broader developments in modern history. Interreligious dialogue-grasped in light of careful, critical attention to its past-holds promise for helping people of diverse faith backgrounds to foster cooperation and knowledge of one another while contributing insight into contemporary, global religious pluralism.

The Oxford Bible Commentary is a Bible study and reference work for 21st century students and readers that can be read with any modern translation of the Bible. It offers verse-by-verse explanation of every book of the Bible by the world's leading biblical scholars. From its inception, OBC has been designed as a completely non-denominational commentary, carefully written and edited to provide the best scholarship in a readable style for readers from all different faith backgrounds. It uses the traditional historical-critical method to search for the original meaning of the texts, but also brings in new perspectives and insights - literary, sociological, and cultural - to bring out the expanding meanings of these ancient writings and stimulate new discussion and further enquiry.
Newly issued in a series of part volumes, the OBC is now available in an affordable and portable format for the study of specific sections of the Bible. The Pentateuch, or Torah ('the law'), comprises the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, Genesis to Deuteronomy. The Commentaries are preceeded by introductions to the Old Testament and to the Pentateuch as a whole.

As a multi-faceted introduction to sacramental theology, the purposes of this Handbook are threefold: historical, ecumenical, and missional. The forty-four chapters are organized into the following parts five parts: Sacramental Roots in Scripture, Patristic Sacramental Theology, Medieval Sacramental Theology, From the Reformation through Today, and Philosophical and Theological Issues in Sacramental Doctrine. Contributors to this Handbook explain the diverse ways that believers have construed the sacraments, both in inspired Scripture and in the history of the Church's practice. In Scripture and the early Church, Orthodox, Protestants, and Catholics all find evidence that the first Christian communities celebrated and taught about the sacraments in a manner that Orthodox, Protestants, and Catholics today affirm as the foundation of their own faith and practice. Thus, for those who want to understand what has been taught about the sacraments in Scripture and across the generations by the major thinkers of the various Christian traditions, this Handbook provides an introduction. As the divisions in Christian sacramental understanding and practice are certainly evident in this Handbook, it is not thereby without ecumenical and missional value. This book evidences that the story of the Christian sacraments is, despite divisions in interpretation and practice, one of tremendous hope.