Authors:Clement Yung Wen First page: 133 Abstract: Source: Volume 14, Issue 2, pp 133 - 146After a long ecumenical Winter, it seems that Spring may finally be on the way, especially in light of the joint liturgical event in Lund, Sweden, between Pope Francis and leaders of the Lutheran World Federation, in 2016, heralding the symbolic quincentenary of Martin Luther’s Reformation. Against this background, this article suggests that Wolfhart Pannenberg’s (1928–2014) ecumenical theology deserves a fresh hearing. Pannenberg’s view of the ecumenical place of the Bishop of Rome, his re-appropriation of transubstantiation as a ‘transignification’, and his defence of Lutheran ordinations against Vatican II’s pronouncement that they suffer from a defectus ordinis, are outlined. At this juncture Pannenberg’s legacy can chart a way forward for Christian unity, especially eucharistic communion, for the Roman Catholic and Lutheran Churches. PubDate: 2018-05-04T00:00:00Z
Authors:Bernhard Knorn First page: 147 Abstract: Source: Volume 14, Issue 2, pp 147 - 163This article proposes a theological understanding of ‘reconciliation’ for the ecumenical model ‘unity in reconciled diversity’. Although reconciliation has become an important task in ecumenical relations, particularly after condemnations and violence in the past, the concept itself has not yet found sufficient theological grounding. Discussing a theology of the cross, the paper highlights the grace of being reconciled with God which stands before any division in the church and calls for re-establishing Christian unity. In order to relate this priority of grace to an understanding of reconciliation in the world and among Christian communities, the concept of the church as sacrament proves helpful. Both the theology of the cross and the church as sacrament provide significant specifications to the idea of a ‘unity in reconciled diversity’. PubDate: 2018-05-04T00:00:00Z
Authors:Sjoerd Mulder First page: 164 Abstract: Source: Volume 14, Issue 2, pp 164 - 184In recent years, several theologians have argued that ecclesiology can benefit from the method of ethnography, which would make it less systematic and less rigid. This argument can be found, for example, in Nicholas M. Healy’s Church, World and the Christian Life. This article analyses how Healy views ethnography as a possible ecclesiological method, and to what extent he prefers this method over other methods. While Healy suggests that ethnography might be helpful for ecclesiology in general, it will be claimed that his argument in fact assumes and advances a specific pilgrim ecclesiology and a postmodern epistemology. Furthermore, his attempt to push ecclesiology in a more ethnographic direction is weakened by a misinterpretation of older, systematic, so-called ‘blueprint’ ecclesiologies. The article concludes by arguing that, in the secular Western context, ethnography can indeed be a useful ecclesiological tool, as long as it is more explicit about its own theological position than Healy is. PubDate: 2018-05-04T00:00:00Z
Authors:Joas Adiprasetya First page: 185 Abstract: Source: Volume 14, Issue 2, pp 185 - 202This article discusses the significant roles of the innkeeper and the inn (pandocheion) in the parable of the Good Samaritan and how contemporary Christians can use the story to construct an open ecclesiology in the midst of global fear of others. The idea of open ecclesiology requires a rethinking of the classical marks of the church as one, holy, catholic, and apostolic in the light of the new marks: diverse, vulnerable, concrete, and friendly. By tracing the root of pondok in Indonesian language back to the Arabic word funduq and the Greek word pandocheion in the Gospel of Luke, the author demonstrates rich intercultural and interreligious negotiations that encourage Indonesian Christians to reclaim their heritage from their Muslim counterparts. The article concludes with the story of GKI Yasmin as a diaclesial and open church that passes-through or crosses-over boundaries amidst violence. PubDate: 2018-05-04T00:00:00Z
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