Unity of the church

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The unity of the church is the goal of the ecumenical movement (from Ökumene, Greek oikumene “[whole] inhabited earth”, “earth circle”), within the framework of which the cooperation of different Christian denominations takes place. The difficulty is, on the one hand, that the various denominations have different ideas about what church unity means and, on the other hand, that different models for realizing unity have developed in the course of the ecumenical movement.

Unity ideas of different churches

In the following, the different concepts of unity of the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant , Anglican and Orthodox Churches are explained. These are closely related to the respective church image of the denomination.

Roman Catholic church image

The concept of unity of the Roman Catholic Church is based on three external basic features that should serve as the basis for an ecumenical rapprochement:

  1. Proclamation of the gospel and with it the profession of faith,
  2. the administration of the sacraments , with the celebration of the Eucharist being the climax and
  3. the episcopate and papacy .

Before the Second Vatican Council , the Roman Catholic Church saw the goal of ecumenism as the “return” to the one Catholic Church that was viewed as the historically true Church of Jesus Christ (Latin “est”). Another example was the encyclical Mystici corporis from 1943. In the Church Constitution of the Second Vatican Council, Lumen Gentium , the Roman Catholic Church is described as the Church of Jesus Christ that has been realized in concrete terms. This leads away from the “return ecumenism” towards the “restoration of unity”, which is already in place in the Roman Catholic Church (Latin “subsistit”).

Evangelical concept of unity

According to the evangelical opinion, two fundamental characteristics must be agreed in order to be accepted into the common church and communion fellowship. These are the pure preaching of the gospel, the correct understanding of which is expressed in the doctrine of justification of the Reformation fathers, and the foundation-based implementation of the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper . A certain form of ecclesiastical office is not seen as necessary ( Confessio Augustana Art. 7, Leuenberg Agreement 2).

Anglican standard concept

In the Anglican churches, too, right proclamation of the gospel and administration of the sacraments are seen as necessary. In addition, there is the Apostolic Creed as a baptismal symbol and the Nicene Creed as a sufficient declaration of faith as well as the historical office of bishop . Unity on the question of the episcopate is necessary for the full, visible communion of the church, but church and communion fellowship can be accepted before there is agreement on this question ( Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral ).

Orthodox concept of unity

In the "Declaration of the 3rd Pre-Council Pan-Orthodox Conference" the unity of the Church is established in the sacraments, in Jesus Christ and in the communion in the Trinity. In order to achieve unity in the sense of the Orthodox churches, a return to the old tradition is necessary, which is composed of three constitutive elements:

  1. apostolic faith,
  2. the sacramental and especially the Eucharistic life,
  3. the historical episcopate in apostolic succession .

This patristic tradition is lived in Orthodoxy to this day and it claims to be the sole maintainer of these old values. The Orthodox Church therefore sees it as its task to lead other denominations on this path of church unity.

Models of unification

All models that have been designed for the unification of the churches describe a practical implementation of the concept of unity. The following models have already been implemented in practice, although it must be noted that a distinction has only been made between the concepts of unity and models of unification since the 1970s.

Cooperative federal model

This model is divided into two main areas. Cooperative means that churches are involved in matters such as B. Practically working together evangelism and mission . In contrast, one element of the model is federal; H. an association of autonomous churches, whereby the identity of each denomination is retained. In this model, these two focal points are combined. It is one of the models of partial unification, as not all constitutive basic dimensions are implied (except for the creed, doctrine of the sacraments and understanding of ministry). Nevertheless, this model represents an important stopover on the way to church unity.

Organic / Corporate Union

Originating from the Anglican Church, the model was for many years the predominant model of unification. Since all constitutive basic dimensions are taken into account, it is considered a form of implementation of a full church fellowship . Characteristic of this model are the demands for an interdenominational, new creed while maintaining denominational diversity, the establishment of a unified church leadership and for a common authoritarian office. Churches that have come together according to this model are called union churches. These include B. the United Church of Canada (1925), the Church of Christ in Japan (1941) or the Church of South India (1947).

Model of mutual recognition / church fellowship

The model emerged from the Reformation horizon of thought. Characteristic is the recognition of the individual denominations resulting from the name in relation to:

  1. Common belonging to the Church of Christ
  2. Exchange of church officials
  3. Communion in word and sacrament
  4. Cooperation in all areas (witness and service in the world).

Under these conditions, this model already exists in the form of the “ Leuenberg Church Fellowship ” between Lutheran and Reformed churches. It got the importance of the ecumenical model of unification through the addition of the Anglican church.

Unity understanding of the World Council of Churches

The basic goal of all members of the WCC is "Christian unity" or "Churches unity". However, since the different denomination-specific understanding of unity is a core problem, at the 3rd assembly of the WCC in New Delhi in 1961, the four constitutive basic dimensions were formulated, summarized in a single formula. These are: Confession of apostolic faith and proclamation of the Gospel, recognition of baptism and communion in the Lord's Supper, recognition of office and common witness, and common action in the world. Despite the importance of this formula, to which later considerations and models refer again and again, controversies or conflicts arise time and again, which represent new challenges. Conflicts are, for example, the weighting between community in action and unity in faith as well as the differences between the churches that exist despite notions of unity and how best to integrate them into the concept of unity. Churches such as the Unitarians also remain excluded due to the trinitarian positioning in the final declaration .

The Church: Towards a Common Vision , published in 2013 by the WCC's Faith and Order Commission, contains a comprehensive synopsis of the various approaches and ideas for summarizing them .

literature

  • Harding Meyer : Ecumenical Objectives (= Bensheimer Hefte 78). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1996, ISBN 978-3-525-87166-9 .
  • Georg Hintzen, Wolfgang Thönissen : Church fellowship possible? Understanding of unity and concepts of unity in the discussion (= topic of ecumenism 1). Bonifatius, Paderborn 2001, ISBN 978-3-89710-165-4 .
  • Christoph Böttigheimer : Unit, yes, but which one? About the problem of ecumenical goals . In: Voices of the Time . 223, 2005, ISSN  0039-1492 , pp. 24-36.
  • Orthodox Forum 19, 2005, ISSN  0933-8586 , pp. 153-232.
  • Michael Kappes: Ecumenism - where to? Concepts of unity and models of unification . In: ders. U. a .: Overcoming separation. Ecumenism as a task of theology (= Theological Module 2). Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 2007, ISBN 978-3-451-29377-1 , pp. 106-137.
  • Johannes Oeldemann: Unity of Christians - Wish or Reality? Small introduction to ecumenism . Pustet, Regensburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-7917-2206-1 , pp. 168-183.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kappes: Ecumenism - Where to ?. Concepts of unity and models of unification , p. 106.
  2. ^ Kappes: Ecumenism - Where to ?. Concepts of unity and models of unification " p. 116.
  3. ↑ H. Wegener-Fueter: Church and Ecumenism . In: Georg Strecker (Hrsg.): Göttinger Theologische Arbeit . Göttingen 1979, ISBN 978-3-525-87363-2 , pp. 25 .
  4. ↑ cf. Jutta Koslowski: The unity of the church in the ecumenical discussion . Munich 2007, p. 63 .