Ulf Ekman’s conversion to the Catholic Church sparked a healthy discussion over how to hold the reforming impulse of Protestantism alongside the new ecumenical impulse.
The starting place for such a discussion is the recognition that the reforming impulse and the ecumenical impulse converge on the need for a ressourcement of historic Christianity as the way to affirm catholicity. This is the case regardless of whether one sees the Catholic Church (or Orthodox churches) as the most complete visible expression of the Body of Christ and all other forms as “lesser,” or whether one defines the Body of Christ in terms of the invisible communion with no visible form fully expressing that body. (The latter commitment does not imply that all ecclesial traditions or ways of doing church are equal.)
Read Full Article »