ECCLESIA SEMPER REFORMANDA was our unanimous decision for the title of SEARCH’s biennial Colloquium this year. In this quincentennial year of the Reformation, focus on the need for continuing reform in the church, rather than reinterpretation of the past, seemed crucial to all on the editorial committee. “The (Reformed) Church always in need of Reform” – the Latin phrase apparently dates back only to the 17th century in the Dutch Reformed Church; but the concept is much older and also much younger – having returned prominently in the thinking of Vatican II.
Yet as our keynote speaker Werner Jeanrond points out, we have to look back as well as forward if we are responsibly to consider why reform of church structures as well as theology is always required. “God is always greater”. Jeanrond reintroduces us to Paul Tillich and his teaching on the need for constant interplay of “Protestant principle” and “Catholic substance”.As a historian specialising in the Church of Ireland, Alan Ford notes the danger of absolutising the Reformation confessions and placing loyalty to past concepts and adversarial positions before the call always to move forward to deeper understanding. Maurice Elliott then selects themes from the reformed heritage which can usefully be re-visited and makes four specific proposals relating to continuing reform and re-thinking in the areas of doctrine, Christian formation, ecclesiology and ministry.Re-thinking, both in terms of personal spirituality and church structures, is strongly urged by Bishop Kenneth Kearon from his experience as secretary general of the Anglican Communion. Our expectations of God, reception of the Bible and decision-making in the churches are his themes. Taking our thinking “into all the world”, Linda Hogan re ects on how the church can best promote human ourishing in a world of massive poverty and deprivation, in which religious pluralism and the re-politicisation of religion are the norm. She concludes “the church must be the champion of a multi-religious, cross-cultural, ethical conversation about how to live a moral life today”. Two thoughtful responses, from Kate Turner and Eimhin Walsh enlivened discussion at the Colloquium, and Bishop John McDowell presided genially over the day with help from Salters Sterling. An unexpected arrival, Gerard Walsh SJ, has contributed a final reflection. Our warmest thanks to all our speakers, organisers, advisers, and to the participants at the Colloquium.
Contents
An overview of the Colloquium
Nearly all of sacred doctrine consists in these two parts: knowledge of God and of ourselves.
- John Calvin. The Institutes of the Christian Religion 1.1
THE PERSPICACITY of these opening words from perhaps the best known and certainly most influential of all the theological works of the Reformation was borne out as scholars and enthusiastic amateurs like myself wrestled with the doctrine of God and Christian anthropology recently at the colloquium organised by SEARCH in TCD to commemorate the 500th Anniversary of the series of crises that led to permanent division of the western Church.
Ecclesia Semper Reformanda in Theological Perspective
EVERY generation of Christians faces the challenge to renew the personal and communal forms of its faith-praxis in the light of critical and self-critical reflections on the central aspects of its faith. When we approach this challenge today, two related procedures present themselves to us: we might wish to concentrate primarily on Christian beginnings, developments and past reforms, or we might wish to reflect more on Christian visions of the end of God’s creation and human existence in this universe.
THE SIXTEENTH-century European Reformation unleashed a torrent of theological, liturgical, religious, social and political innovation, as the face of western Christendom was transformed from a unitary religious body into myriad churches. The Bible was translated into the vernacular, the liturgy was similarly transformed, with communion in both kinds and lay participation; the mystique of the ministry was removed, with clergy marrying and becoming a part of civil society; social care was transferred from the church to the state; new, closer relationships were forged with the secular powers, with the church becoming nationalised in some countries.
Semper reformanda: the challenges today and tomorrow
IT IS HARDLY a typical Friday evening when one finds oneself in deepest rural County Limerick having a conversation with a stranger, the opening line of which runs as follows: “How can I get on a trip to Wittenberg this year?” The encounter happened only a few weeks ago, and is indicative of just how much interest is currently circulating around all aspects of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Many groups and individuals, it would appear, have something to say about it. The Gates of Freedom World Reformation Exhibition runs in Wittenberg from 20 May – 10 September this year.
Ecclesia Reformanda – global and local perspectives
IN LOOKING back 500 years to the actions of Luther which triggered what we now know of as the Reformation, we can identify numerous strands of social, cultural, and political influences as well as the ecclesiastical origins which are all worthy of study today. The combination of a myriad of factors which found their kairos in the nailing of 95 theses to the door of the church in Wittenberg is a fascinating study in itself; and we are benefitting from the excellent scholarship which is available to us today as we try to understand more fully what was going on at the time.
I HAVE been asked to respond to Bishop Ken’s address, but to do so as a non-academic, drawing on my experience as a former lay member of the Anglican Consultative Council. Due to time restrictions I will to reflect on just two of his three points.
Into All the World: Shaping an Agenda for Tomorrow’s Church
AS ONE reflects on the commission to go “into all the world” in this important anniversary year, one is drawn to the question of the contribution that Christian theology and the churches can make to the urgent task of building a coalition of traditions to protect human dignity and promote human flourishing. That there is a need for such a task I take as self-evident and I will not spend time arguing that case. Sufice it to say that according to the Human Development Report 2016 “even with all the impressive progress in reducing poverty over the past 25 years, 766 million people, 385 million of them children, lived on less than $1.90 a day in 2013. Poor nutrition causes 45 percent of the deaths among children under age 5. Yet one-third of the world’s food is wasted every year... Unless the world tackles deprivation today, 167 million children will live in extreme poverty by 2030, and 69 million children under age 5 will die of preventable causes.”
IT IS CERTAINLY the case that religions in general, and the Christian churches in particular, have the potential to be strong advocates for human dignity and promoters of human ourishing. My concern, however, is that the churches at present are interested only in the flourishing of certain humans. To become credible advocates, churches need to extend their compassion to all human beings, and embrace the equal dignity of the many marginalised communities within the churches. In responding to Prof. Hogan’s essay therefore, I wish to consider some of the conditions required for the churches to become credible voices in conversation with secular society.
Reform in the church: the art of getting it right!
IT WAS an honour for me to attend the conference on April 22nd 2017 entitled Ecclesia Semper Reformanda organised by SEARCH. In fact, it felt like a home-coming. One reason is that I had spent four years studying social science in the nearby Arts Block of Trinity College in the early 1980s. Another reason is that I have had many Anglican friends in Kenya and in Rome in subsequent years and making new acquaintances among members of the Church of Ireland was a delight. In what follows, I o er an account of insights I received from the speakers at the colloquium, as well as from the discussion that occurred between speakers and other participants. I conclude with some personal reflections
