tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25190947.post114807809857664825..comments2023-10-28T03:26:35.948-05:00Comments on Catholic in the Third Millennium: The Oriental Orthodox take on Unity and CatholicityDan Dunlaphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15610718122774026303noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25190947.post-1148146557147727982006-05-20T12:35:00.000-05:002006-05-20T12:35:00.000-05:00Good comments, both of you.One thing I caution tho...Good comments, both of you.<BR/><BR/>One thing I caution those of my correspondents who have, or are thinking about, crossing the Tiber or the Bosphorus is that they take a good hard and honest look at the divisions that occured PRIOR to the great schism of 1054. On this side of 1054 we have a tendency to romanticize the age of the "undivided church." It was not undivided, nor are the issues that separated Christian churches in the first millennium, and continue to keep them separate, resolved by a simple and convenient adherence to the ecumenical councils (whether we ascribe to 3, 4, 7, or 12!) Councils are only ecumenical to the parties who win. My next entry, I believe, demonstrates how problematic it is simply to dismiss outright the Oriental Orthodox churches as "heretics."Dan Dunlaphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15610718122774026303noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25190947.post-1148097046738802682006-05-19T22:50:00.000-05:002006-05-19T22:50:00.000-05:00"The Oriental Orthodox Churches understand themsel..."The Oriental Orthodox Churches understand themselves as faithfully continuing the apostolic tradition of the one undivided church. They believe, however, that the fullness of the apostolic communion 'has always to be manifested more fully, and this in company with all other Christians at work in the world.'"<BR/><BR/>Those words sound remarkably like the sentiments of an Anglican revivalist, John Wesley. "If your heart is right with God as my heart, give me your hand." I would commend to any contemporary Anglican his sermon "The Catholic Spirit."Steve Blakemorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10826666093164587256noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25190947.post-1148094201444026102006-05-19T22:03:00.000-05:002006-05-19T22:03:00.000-05:00I think Joseph's challenge got us Anglicans sweati...I think Joseph's challenge got us Anglicans sweating a bit, and that is all for the good; it forced us to face the historical ambiguities of our own claims to catholicty and gave us pause to consider what the "fullness" of catholicity could possibly mean, post AD 1054.<BR/><BR/>These words from Abp. Keshishian do sound remarkably Anglican, pointing as they do to the "historical circumstances" that have "obscured" the Church's unity. These "historical circumstances", in fact, are the very things that cause me to scratch my head. How, in heavens name, could catholic fullness exist anywhere on this earth, in the face of our sad divisions?<BR/><BR/>-MarkAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com