Dear all,
Recap:
Church - A Man made idea?
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/17729
Diversity in faith teachings - Accept them all?
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/17757
The Church of my Lord:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/17823
Ecumenism is an acknowledgement of our poor witness.
-----------------------------------------------------
At Calvary when the Body and Blood of Christ was offered for the
redemption of Man, Satan was horribly defeated. The prophecy in the
begining of time (Genesis 3:15) "..He will crush your (snake's) head"
was fulfilled.
But Satan crawled back into the world using the weaknesses of man. The
Body of Christ, THE CHURCH, was torn into pieces - and the many
'denominations' were born. Each 'denomination' claims to be the TRUE
CHURCH. Each 'denomination' has enough justifications and 'traditions'
(even the Bible only ones have traditions) to keep their faithful
engaged.
Thus it so happened that THE CHURCH of our Lord, which was my topic in
the previous section, also ended up being just another 'denomination'
atleast in the minds of a vast number of her followers.
Why? It is an acknowledgement of our poor witness.
Those outside our 'denomination' could only see in us a selfish and
narrowminded group, not the face of Christ. So they were not impressed
by our witness.
Even those inside our 'denomination' could not see the uncorrupt and
Apostolic Faith given to us, and they moved away in search of Christ.
A sure sign of our poor witnessing is when our own people could not
see Christ through us.
Something to think about - As each so called 'denomination' began to
reflect less and less of Christ, that is when the 'Ecumenical
Movement' began to take deep root in our world.
Ecumenism is a temporary stop-gap arrangement
----------------------------------------------
In a world where the chosen race failed to reflect the glory of the
one who chose them, when Christians across the board failed to show
the face of Christ, Ecumenism becomes prevalent. At best Ecumenism
can be seen as a stop-gap arrangement till we resolve our
differences. We were not intended to be like this. God did not Will
these different denominations. Till we grow up in the Lord, ecumenism
is a call for ceasefire, so that we do not kill each other and die
(spiritually, if not physically).
Ecumenism cannot be celebrated; it is just 'an admission of guilt'.
Accepting that we are guilty and fallen away even though we are the
heirs to the uncorrupt, pure, Apostolic faith, (fallen away in the
sense that we are unable to show Christ to the world in a manner
significantly better than the other 'group'), So we are trying to
look to the others and seeing how best we can get back the glory of
Christ into our lives.
Ecumenism is also an opportunity
--------------------------------
Ecumenism provides a platform for the various 'denominations' to come
together and listen to and learn from each other - which can be a good
thing if used without resorting to polemics and sarcasm. Admitting
that we all have failed to witness the Lord, we can use the Ecumenical
Movement to see what is good in the other group, and try to correct
ourselves. However, one needs to be very careful.
Not for everyone
-----------------
'These stunts are performed by experts, we urge you not to duplicate
them' - In India when the series 'Guiness Book of World Records' airs
on TV, I have seen this disclaimer being used. I felt it was somewhat apt to use
it when we think of Ecumenism. Today ecumenism is used by all and sundry to hide
their own lack of faith. It is dangerous territory. It is not meant for use
without due diligence.
I am proud to note that Philipose Mar Theophilose Thirumeni and
Paulose Mar Gregorios Thirumeni have been pioneers in this field. THE
CHURCH of the Lord is truly proud of these sons. Yet, make no
mistake, they always knew the balancing act they needed to perform. I
have had the opportunity to participate in SandhyaNamaskaram's and
Holy Liturgies led by Theophilose Thirumeni (Valiya Thirumeni) in
Vashi Aramana and I have read about the life of the personality of
PMG. I am sure they were truly Orthodox to the core and were
faithful to the Church. Only after a strong grounding in their own
faith, did they ever step out to explore the ecumenical world. And
when they did it in this manner, they added value to their own
understanding of the Ultimate, and they were able to lead
others better. Lesser mortals attempting the same is cooking a recipe for
disaster.
Christian charity demands an Ecumenical fellowship with other
Christian groups, but unity cannot be brought about in faith unless
the core differences which brought about the denominations are
thoroughly understood and resolved. Ecumenical movements typically
steer clear of these, and hence they may not be very useful in
leading the faithful into the true faith. However in the fallen
world, ecumenism seems a necessary vehicle of peace.
In Summary
----------
I started writing these trail of thoughts to make clear in my mind
certain things about the Church. Let me end the series by summarizing
from what I have got so far:
1) The Church established my Lord, is alive and well in the world.
2) Right from the time of its earliest existence she tolerated no
contradictions in faith.
3)I humbly submit that the Malankara Church I belong to is part of
this 'One Holy Catholic and Apostolic' Church.
4) Ecumenical relationship with other Christian brethren should not
be at the cost of erosion of the faith.
Thank you for reading and bearing with me. Please send in any comments so that I
may better see the Light and grow.
Warm regards,
Mathew Samuel,
Albany, NY
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/17975
Recap:
Church - A Man made idea?
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/17729
Diversity in faith teachings - Accept them all?
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/17757
The Church of my Lord:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/17823
Ecumenism is an acknowledgement of our poor witness.
-----------------------------------------------------
At Calvary when the Body and Blood of Christ was offered for the
redemption of Man, Satan was horribly defeated. The prophecy in the
begining of time (Genesis 3:15) "..He will crush your (snake's) head"
was fulfilled.
But Satan crawled back into the world using the weaknesses of man. The
Body of Christ, THE CHURCH, was torn into pieces - and the many
'denominations' were born. Each 'denomination' claims to be the TRUE
CHURCH. Each 'denomination' has enough justifications and 'traditions'
(even the Bible only ones have traditions) to keep their faithful
engaged.
Thus it so happened that THE CHURCH of our Lord, which was my topic in
the previous section, also ended up being just another 'denomination'
atleast in the minds of a vast number of her followers.
Why? It is an acknowledgement of our poor witness.
Those outside our 'denomination' could only see in us a selfish and
narrowminded group, not the face of Christ. So they were not impressed
by our witness.
Even those inside our 'denomination' could not see the uncorrupt and
Apostolic Faith given to us, and they moved away in search of Christ.
A sure sign of our poor witnessing is when our own people could not
see Christ through us.
Something to think about - As each so called 'denomination' began to
reflect less and less of Christ, that is when the 'Ecumenical
Movement' began to take deep root in our world.
Ecumenism is a temporary stop-gap arrangement
----------------------------------------------
In a world where the chosen race failed to reflect the glory of the
one who chose them, when Christians across the board failed to show
the face of Christ, Ecumenism becomes prevalent. At best Ecumenism
can be seen as a stop-gap arrangement till we resolve our
differences. We were not intended to be like this. God did not Will
these different denominations. Till we grow up in the Lord, ecumenism
is a call for ceasefire, so that we do not kill each other and die
(spiritually, if not physically).
Ecumenism cannot be celebrated; it is just 'an admission of guilt'.
Accepting that we are guilty and fallen away even though we are the
heirs to the uncorrupt, pure, Apostolic faith, (fallen away in the
sense that we are unable to show Christ to the world in a manner
significantly better than the other 'group'), So we are trying to
look to the others and seeing how best we can get back the glory of
Christ into our lives.
Ecumenism is also an opportunity
--------------------------------
Ecumenism provides a platform for the various 'denominations' to come
together and listen to and learn from each other - which can be a good
thing if used without resorting to polemics and sarcasm. Admitting
that we all have failed to witness the Lord, we can use the Ecumenical
Movement to see what is good in the other group, and try to correct
ourselves. However, one needs to be very careful.
Not for everyone
-----------------
'These stunts are performed by experts, we urge you not to duplicate
them' - In India when the series 'Guiness Book of World Records' airs
on TV, I have seen this disclaimer being used. I felt it was somewhat apt to use
it when we think of Ecumenism. Today ecumenism is used by all and sundry to hide
their own lack of faith. It is dangerous territory. It is not meant for use
without due diligence.
I am proud to note that Philipose Mar Theophilose Thirumeni and
Paulose Mar Gregorios Thirumeni have been pioneers in this field. THE
CHURCH of the Lord is truly proud of these sons. Yet, make no
mistake, they always knew the balancing act they needed to perform. I
have had the opportunity to participate in SandhyaNamaskaram's and
Holy Liturgies led by Theophilose Thirumeni (Valiya Thirumeni) in
Vashi Aramana and I have read about the life of the personality of
PMG. I am sure they were truly Orthodox to the core and were
faithful to the Church. Only after a strong grounding in their own
faith, did they ever step out to explore the ecumenical world. And
when they did it in this manner, they added value to their own
understanding of the Ultimate, and they were able to lead
others better. Lesser mortals attempting the same is cooking a recipe for
disaster.
Christian charity demands an Ecumenical fellowship with other
Christian groups, but unity cannot be brought about in faith unless
the core differences which brought about the denominations are
thoroughly understood and resolved. Ecumenical movements typically
steer clear of these, and hence they may not be very useful in
leading the faithful into the true faith. However in the fallen
world, ecumenism seems a necessary vehicle of peace.
In Summary
----------
I started writing these trail of thoughts to make clear in my mind
certain things about the Church. Let me end the series by summarizing
from what I have got so far:
1) The Church established my Lord, is alive and well in the world.
2) Right from the time of its earliest existence she tolerated no
contradictions in faith.
3)I humbly submit that the Malankara Church I belong to is part of
this 'One Holy Catholic and Apostolic' Church.
4) Ecumenical relationship with other Christian brethren should not
be at the cost of erosion of the faith.
Thank you for reading and bearing with me. Please send in any comments so that I
may better see the Light and grow.
Warm regards,
Mathew Samuel,
Albany, NY
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/17975
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