What is Ecumenism?

Some of us recoil at the concept of ecumenism, denouncing the teachings of other Christian traditions. These are durable disagreements. I do not suggest that Catholics get lax on the teachings of Rome about Protestantism, or that Protestants get soft on the Solas. Ecumenism is not profitable for ecclesial purposes, each tradition can handle church just fine by themselves. It's the rest of the work we have to do that concerns me here, and should concern you.

Neither Catholics, Protestants, nor Orthodox Christians will win the West by themselves. What do I keep saying? "You can't afford to go it alone." We need all the backup we can get, sociopolitically, and Christians of all traditions agree on more than enough for this purpose. Whichever side of the reformation you're on, ask yourself, isn't a nation governed by your brothers on the other side of it preferable to this? How much more, then, must we unite with them to govern together?

Our agreements far outweigh our disagreements. We agree on the nature of God and of man, to start with. Our agreements have even been codified already, in the creeds of Christianity.

The Creeds

The Nicene Creed is the most universal of all Christian creeds, and most (including myself) would simply assert that anyone denying the claims of this creed is simply not Christian. There is some confusion about what certain phrases mean, and certainly disagreement on how it should be interpreted, but this is also true of scripture itself. To anyone who would still contest its validity, I would ask, how early on did the church err? This creed was written in 325 at the First Council of Nicaea, is it really possible that we are wiser than the earliest of ecumenical councils? I cannot think so.

If you're not familiar with the text of the Nicene Creed, go read it, right now. Reply to this email if you have any questions. This is not only an essential component of church history, it's the cornerstone of all ecumenism. With this to agree upon, we have a clear path forward, which is more than I can say for us at the moment.

The necessity of ecumenism

Christendom has become terribly divided, which should pain us all. It certainly pains Christ, who specifically instructed us to be unified (John 17:23). I don't imagine that reunification is possible, and it's certainly not probable, but as brothers in Christ we can avoid deepening the schisms between us. To do otherwise is disobedient, frankly, in addition to being counterproductive.

Without each other, we don't really have a social coalition. Baptists, Catholics, Methodists, Orthodox Christians, Presbyterians... none of these or any other tradition has enough pull to move the needle alone. Together we're a supermajority. Are we serious about the work we're doing or not? I cannot take seriously those who bash their brothers' faith with petty theological disagreements, when so much is on the line.

I look forward to hearing what you have to say about this! Join me tomorrow night at 8:00 PM Central for the space on X, or reply to this email with your thoughts and I'll read them tomorrow in our discussion. I look forward to hearing from each of you.

God bless you,

The Constantine Option