Philosophical Reflections With

Matthew M. Umukoro

mattmukoro@gmail.com  (08034052655)

 

 

The tendency towards diversity in Christian worship started during the time of Christ, even before the official inception of the Church which later occurred on the day of Pentecost after his Ascension.   John, one of Christ’s favourite disciples, complained to him, saying: “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name; he does not follow us, and so we prohibited him.” Jesus responded: “Do not prohibit him. For there is no one who can act with virtue in my name and soon speak evil about me. For whoever is not against you is for you. For whoever, in my name, will give you a cup of water to drink, because you belong to Christ: Amen I say to you, he shall not lose his reward” (Mark 9:37-40). 

Thus, even ahead of the founding of His Church, Jesus was aware of the possibility of the proliferation of faith - under the singular authority of his name. With or without the splitting of the Roman Catholic Church spearheaded by Martin Luther, the German teacher, professor, and monk, in 1517, the Protestant Reformation which swept across Europe in the 1500s might still have occurred in a different way. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther (1483-1546) published his Ninety-five Theses, in which he attacked the sale of indulgences in the Church, thus setting the reform in motion. Although Christ did not authorize the founding of a Church different from his, it is obvious that he was not, and is not, against other groups teaching and performing miracles in his name. The only problem is the rise in fake prophets, of hypocrites pretending to be speaking for him, but exploiting the people and making money out of religion.

Ecumenism, the doctrine of the promotion of unity and cooperation among Christians, is known to have been initiated by Nathan Soderblom (1866-1931), the Archbishop of Uppsala, the head of the Lutheran Church of Sweden, in the twentieth century, calling on all Christian leaders to work for peace and justice during the First World War. In separate activities, Paul Couturier (18811953), a French priest, also promoted the ecumenical movement, alongside other advocates of ecumenism (Internet Sources).  How far has this doctrine succeeded, and what are its prospects for the future?

The centrifugal forces, pulling away from the Centre, have always proved stronger than the centripetal forces in Christian relationship, resulting in the proliferation of the Christian sects, which has gathered a new momentum with the continued growth of Protestantism.  The established conservatism of the Catholic Church and its strict adherence to tradition are largely responsible for the schism and the split of the Church as founded by Christ. The oath to chastity, poverty and obedience, is one of the controversial dogmas over which the major split occurred, followed by the current trend of many more splinter groups emerging purely out of commercial interests. King Henry VIII broke ties with the Pope in the 1530s after the Catholic Church denied him the request to annul his marriage to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, for failure to produce male heirs for him. King Henry went ahead to establish the Church of England through the Act of Succession and the Act of Supremacy in 1534, and consequently declared himself the Supreme Head of the new Church, outside the control of Rome. Thus began the Anglican Church (Anglo-Catholic, as different from the Roman Catholic), which has a lot in common with the Roman Catholic Church, in liturgical celebration, excepting the rejection of the vow to celibacy, and different interpretations of the Holy Eucharist.

The Church of England grew stronger under Queen Elizabeth I, and the Anglican Church has emerged as the most formidable Orthodox Church outside the Roman Catholic Church. Apart from the traditional Orthodox Churches, the Pentecostal Churches have widened the Christian schism, and offered greater challenge to ecumenism. Pentecostalism emphasizes the invocation of the Holy Spirit and miraculous healing, with a strange interpretation of the concept of speaking in tongues through the utterances of unintelligible verbiage. They dominate the current Nigerian Christian landscape, and provide ready hiding places for fake and hypocritical prophets, merely deceiving their miracle-seeking followers, with magical displays to increase their membership for material gain. They compete in the purchase of private jets, and promote the gospel of prosperity over and above suffering and the mandatory carrying of the cross. Thus, they constitute a huge drawback for ecumenism. 

With the establishment of the World Council of Churches (WCC) in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on 23rd August 1948, a bold move towards the realization of the objectives of ecumenism was taken, by the organization initially made up of 147 members, mostly Protestant Churches based in Europe and North America. Today, with its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the organization now comprises 345 member Churches, representing an estimated 500 million Christians around the World (Internet Source).  But in the Book of Revelation authored by John, the focus shifts from ecumenism to certain strange occurrences which will characterize the End Times.

Three main events of the expected period are the Rapture, the Great Tribulation, and the Second Coming of Christ. The issue of Christian ecumenism pales into insignificance, since what will matter is not the religious group or sect to which one belongs, but how well one has fulfilled the Christian mandate, which will determine the judgement to be pronounced. Ahead of the occurrence of that final consummation, Christ expects the Gospel to be preached “throughout the entire world, as a testimony to all nations” (Matthew 24:14). Those who know the truth but fail to preach or practise it, are likely to face severer sanctions than people of other faiths who might have been misled by circumstances of birth and other mitigating factors.

In the final analysis, Christianity thrives on unity in diversity, regardless of the ecumenical movement, and all Christians are under the single banner of Christ. The central focus of Christian theology, regardless of diversity, is the acceptance of Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the World.