Full Text for A Survey of Protestant and Roman Catholic Confessional Statements in the Twentieth Century (Text)

CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY Volume 42 Number 3 JULY 1978 The Future of Confessional Lutheranism ........................ in the World Samuel Nafzger 221 Confessional Emphasis on Law and Gospel for Our Day ................... Eugene F. Klug 241 Christian Apologetics in the Light of the Lutheran Confessions. ... John Warwick Montgomery 258 A Survey of Protestant and Roman Catholic Confessional Statements ................ in the Twentieth Century C. George Fry 276 ................................ Theological 0 bserver 305 .................................... Books Received. 326 A Survey of Protestant and Roman Catholic Confessional Statements in the Twentieth Century C. George Fry This paper d consist of two unequal halves. The first portion will address itself to Protestantism in the twentieth century, the second to Roman Catholicism in the identical period. I. Protestantism in the Twentieth Century Of the four great branches of the Christian Church - the Oriental, the Eastern Orthodox, the Roman Catholic, and the Protestant - it is the latter that is the most difficult to describe. Protestantism consists of a series of paradoxes. The most recent of the dwelopments within Christianity, with a history of less than five centurim, Protestantism claims to be faithful to the most ancient doctrines of Christianity. The youngest member of the Christian family, Protestantism has rapidly outstripped in size two of its elder brothers. By 1975 Protestants vastly outnumbered the Oriental Churches - any statistical comparison would make the venerable communions of the East appear insignificant. In that year, the three-quarter mark of the twentieth century, Protestants, who counted almost 325,000,000 members, were four times as numerous as the adherwts of Eastern Orthodoxy (the Orthodox Churches claimed some 92,000,000 members that year). This meant that htestantism was second in size only to Roman Catholicism, and though the Church of Rome outnumbered the Protestant denominations by almost two to one (the Roman Catholic Church totalled more than 552,000,000 followers in 1975), there were signs of phenomenal Protestant growth in previously predominately Latin areas (especially in South America). Protestantism began as a confessional movement within the ban Catholic Church; today it is virtually impossible to find any criteria by which to llnifv this family of believers that includes everyone hm the Lutherans to the Unitarians and the Anglicans (at least some of them) to the Universalists. The best that The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language could manage was this: "Any Christian belonging to a sect descending from those that seceded from the Church of he at the time of the Reformati~n."~ No wonder Will Herberg could remark that when an eccentric Unitarian neigh- Confessional Statements in the Twentieth Century 277 bor of his embraced Buddhism, the U.S. census merely hted him as " non-denomina tional Protestant. " It is, t h.erefore, extremely dangerous to make any generalizations about Protestant theology. As J. Leslie Dunstan, Professor of Christian World Relations at Andover Newton Theological School, wrote: . . . compared to the unity which characterizes those other branches (of Christendom), Protestantism is divided within itself among hundreds of separate organizations, some of which deny all relationship to others. The many denominations and sects have dif- fering beliefs and carry on a variety of practices, which give them the appearance of being distinct from one another. There are those who insist, because of the structure which Protestantism has, that it is incorrect to deal with it as a whole. While Pmtestantism may have a bit of an "identity crisis," enormous doctrinal diversity, and perhaps an inordinate amount of anarchy in profession and practice, it remains the most dynamic branch of the Christian Church. Once limited to Northern Eumpe, it is now a global fellowship. Initially Ger- man and Scandinavian, Protestantism is now th~mghly Asian and African, though its leadership is today predominantly North American. Seldom has so much vitality been evident in Christian history, and surely for the newer Protestant Churches there is no spiritual "energy crisis." Furthermore, it is safe to say that until the Second Vatican Council, the Protestant Churches - for better and for worse- were writing the agenda for World Christianity. What was that agenda? As I see it, the Protestant Churches in the twentieth century have had four great co~lcems, each of which has involved some understanding of what it means for Christianity to be a confessing community: (1 .) The first area is that of faith. There has been a great concern for the reconstruction of the Christian faith by the Churches. This is a theological task. There have been efforts at the reformulation of inherited doctrinal statements so that a more relevant confession can be reotlized. The Churches have pioneered "Contemporary Creeds." It has been felt that in this way Protestantism can better meet the spiritual and mental needs of modem man with his longing for truth and authen- ticity. (2.) The second am is that of virtue. There has been a great concern for the reformation of secular society by the Churches. This is an ethical task and it is a matter of personal and public piety. There have been efforts at the evolution of new standards of morality so that a contempomy ethic can be attained. The 278 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY Churches have produced "Social Creeds" out of the conviction that in this way Protestantism can better meet the moral needs of modem man, with his longing for just ice and integrity. (3.) The third area is that of order. There has been a great concern for the reunification of the Christian Churches -Oriental, Orthodox, Protestant, and, recently, even the Roman. This is an ecclesiastical task and it is a dttxir of polity. There have been efforts at the reintegration of a number of divided denominations into new fellowships, which, it is felt, will be more perfect approximations of what Christ has in mind for his people today. Councils have produced "Ecumenical Creeds" in the hope that in this way Protestantism may better meet the social needs of modern man, with his longing for love and community. (4.) The fourth area is that of ardor. There has been a great concern for the evangelization of the world by the Churches. This is a missionary task and it is a matter of energy and strategy. There have been efforts at both motivating Christians to witness and toward the development of more effective methods of individual and corporate evangelization. It is hoped that in this fashion Protestantism may molle faithfully and fruitfully fulfill the Great Commission of Christ, "Go . . . teach all nations. . . ." (Matthew 28:19). Often ad hoc assemblies of believers have produced "Evangelical Creeds" or "Covenants," mnvinced that in this way Protestantism may better meet the reIigious needs of modern man, with his intense longing for salvation. Theology, morality, polity, and strategy - these have been the four areas of concern for the Protestant Churches from the Victorian to the Elizabethan Age. In each of them individuals and institutions have made some significant confessional statements. Whether they have enduring worth, future generations must decide; that they have had immediate value, no one can deny. A. The Reconstruction of Theology The first task of the Protestant Churches in the twentieth century, then, has been doctrinal-the mconstruction of theology. ' This has become an ongoing process, giving rise to six distinctive movements - Liberalism and Fundamentalism (which dominated the initial third of the century), Neo- Orthodoxy (which prevailed in the middle three decades of the age), and Radicalism, EvangelicaIism, and Pentecostalism (which have competed for the loyalty of Protestants in the last thirty years of the twentieth century). Let us consider each of these in its context. Confessional Statements in the Twentieth Century 279 This reconstruction of Protestant theology has its origins in the nineteenth not the twentieth century. After the Wars of the Fwch Revolution and Napoleon there emerged an "Evangelical ~onsen9~~" among the major Protestant denominations in the Atlantic Community. There was an unprecedented harmony of spirit that was soon matched with a common confession of the tenets of "Core Christianity." Representative of this mood was the vang gelid -ce. Founded in London in August 1846 by some eight hundred churchmen from North America and Western Europe, the Evangelical Alliance accepted the following doctrinal basis: . . . the parties composing the Alliance shall be such persons only as hold and maintain what are usually understood to be Evangelical views, in regard to the matters of Doctrine understated, namely: (1) The Divine Inspiration, Authority, and Sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures; (2) The Right and Duty of Private Judgment in the Interpretation of the Holy Scriptures; (3) The Unity of the Godhead, _and the Trinity of Persons therein: (4) The utter Depravity of Human Nature, in wvence of the Fall; (5) The Incarnation of the Son of God, His work of Atonement for sinrmers of mankin&; and His Mediatorial Intercession and Reign; (6) The Justification of the sinner by Faith alone; (7) The work of the Holy Spirit in the Canrrersian and Sanctification of the sinner; (8) The Immortality of the Soul, the Resurrection of the Body, the Judgment of the World by our Lord Jesus Christ, with the Eternal Blessedness of the Righteous, and the Eternal Punish- ment of the Wicked; (9) The Divine institution of the Christian Ministry, and the obligation and perpetuity of the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. This "Credo" undoubtedly reflected the beliefs of most of the Protestants involved in the Evangelical Alliance and it serves as a kind of "theoIogicaI thermometer" of the opinions that prevailed during the "Golden Days" of the "Consensus." In America this kind of EvmgeIicaIism reigned from the "Era of Good Feelings" under hident James Monroe to the "Age of Disruption" under Abraham Lincoln. But at the very time the nation was tom asunder, the Evangelical Consensus began to mllapse. There was a variety of causes - racism, and the secession d Black believers from the rnliinline Protestant Churches ; sectionalism, with the creation of regional denomina tims in the American South- Southern Baptists, SOU them Presbyterians, Sout hem Methodists, Southern Lutherans; Anglo-Catholicism, and the drift of the Protestant Episcopal Church away from Evangelicahrn toward 280 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY Traditionalism; conf essionalism, among both Lutherans and Calvinists, with the resurgence of a distinctive doctrinal identity; moralism or pietism, with the birth of the Holiness Mwement as a protest against the secularism said to epidemic in the "establishment churches"; but, the key issue was theological and was occasioned by the "Ordeal of the Faith endured by the Victorian generations. Betmeen 1859, with the publication of Charles Darwin's Origa'n of Species, and 1925, with the so-called "Monkey Trial" at Dayton, Tennessee, the Evangelical Churches were ripped apart over the issue of what to do with the "New Laming" emerging from the laboratories and universities - Biblical Criticism, Darwinism, and the Historical and Social Sciences. Those who favored a reception of these teachings were called "Liberals." Those who advocated a rejection of them were named "Fundamentalists." For almost seventy-five years, the Protestant Churches were to be polarized along "Modernist- Fundamentalist' ' lines. 1. Liberalism Classical Liberalism, which dominated in the mainline Protesta& Churches from 1890 until 1941, defies any one definition. If the Fundamentalists lacked charity, the Liberals often were failing in clarity. Perhaps it is best to suggest that Liberalism was a mood more than a message. The Liberal Spirit drew heavily on four sources: (1) the Experiential Christianity represented by the Radicals of the Protestant Reformation and continued in Britain and America by the Quakers, the Unitarians, and the Congregationalists; (2) the Emp&ical Philosophy that was born in Great Britain during the EnIightenment and which was identified with the names of John Locke in England and David Hume in Scotland; (3) the Participatory Politics that resulted from the English Revolution d 1688, the American Rwohtion of 1775, and the French Revolution of 1789; and (4) the Humanism of the Renaissance, particularly with its emphasis on Platonism and Personalism, as these value-systems reappeared in the thought of Immanuel Kant and the Idealists. The fusion of these four influences could produce an almost infinite variety of theologies. Walter Marshall Horton was persuaded that Classical Ll'beralhm tended to fall into one of three possible types: (1) Scientific, or Empirical, with an emphasis on investigation and on factual evidence and which was exemplified by Henry Nelson Wieman of the University of Chicago; (2) Platonic, or Mystical, with a concern for the role of the Spirit in both history and personality, and which was advocated by Dean William Ralph Inge of St. Paul's, London; and (3) the Idealistic, or Social, Confessional Statements in the Twentieth Century 281 with a passion for social justice, and which was practiced by such parish parsons as Washington Gladden and Walter ~auschenbusch. It is sometimes assumed by conservatives that the Liberal Credo was the Fatherhood of God, the Brotherhood of Man, the servanthood of the Church, and the sacredness of Personhood. We know, however, that the matter is not that simple. Because of the Liberal insistence on individual decision, their abhorrence of doctrine as a "test, " and their belief in Progress, ultimate or even penultimate statements were avoided. Perhaps this testimony, "A Modem Affirmation," which appeared in The Book of Worship of the Methodist Church in 1944 is one such "Liberal Creed": Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there ie the one tlue Church, apostolic and universal, whose holy faith let us now reverently and sincerely declare: We believe in God the Father, infinite in wisdom, power, and love, whose mercy is over all his works, and whose will is ever directed to his children's good. We beliwe in Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of man, the gift of the Father's unfailing grace, the ground of our hope, and the promise of our deliverance from sin and death We beliwe in the Holy Spirit as the divine presence in our lives, whereby we are kept in perpetual remembrance of the truth of Christ, and find strength and help in time of need. We beliwe that this faith should manifest itself in the service of love as set forth in the example of our blessed Lord, to the end that the Kingdom of God may come upon the earth. Amen. More indicative of the Liberal Spirit, I suspect, is the following murse description from the Iliff School of Theology catalogue: Christian Theology 24 352 Credo Each member of the class will write and present an essay setting forth hisher awn theological position, with special attention to designated problem areas. 2. Fundamentalism WNe Liberalism predominRted in the institutiom of established Protestantism, Fundamentalism found an outlet in a growing number of "Bible schools" and "independent seminaries ," as well as in splinter denominations, independent and Bible churches, and the radio. Forming a kind of "theological counter-culture," the Fundamentalists came .. from . a wide variety of traditions-with Calvinism and Ammmmm 282 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY prevailing. Given a wide diversity of views on the church, the sacraments, and the ministry, most Fundamentalists . . . sought to maintain the bemmcy of the Bible and the convictions long held by Evangelicals. Among the latter were the deity and virgin birth of Christ, Christ's atoning and substitutionary death, his bodily resurrection, his second coming, the work of the Holy Spirit in the conversion and sanctification of the sinner, the eternal blessedness of those accounted by God as righteous because of their faith in Christ, and the eternal punishment of the wicked. To these "Core Convictions" might also be added certain "Ethical Injunctions" or "Evangelical Counsels" concerning drinking, dancing, attending movies, proper attire, the comt observance of the Sabbath, as well as "Eschatological Doc- trinas" about the millenium, the rapture, and related matters. In 1919 the World's Christian Fundamentals Association was formed, and by the next decade the leading theologian of the movement was the Calvinist, John Gresham Machen (1881- 1937). What was the confessional significance of Fundamentalism? Even though a series of important Bible conferences were convened- ria, Winona, Rocky Mountain- and even though the Niagara Conference of 1895 articulated "the five points of F~ndamentalism,"~~ as a whole the movement was unhistorical , anti -intellectual, and non-ecclesiastical in its orientation. For these reasons it did not result in any major confessions in the classic sense of the word. 3. Neo-Orthodoxy By 1941 it was obvious to the theological avant-garde in America that both Libenslism and Fundamentalism had failed. Neither seemed to have a sense of realism as a new generation struggled with the Great Depression, the rise of the great dictatorships in Italy, Germany, Spain, and the Soviet Union, and the grim necessity of a hnd Great War. Late in that year John C. Bennett wrote as follows: As a result of the events of the past year we know that we live in a new age which we do not yet un- derstand but which arouses in us deep foreboding. There are many elements in the situation which are still unpredictable, but whatever events the next years may bring forth there are some characteristics of this new situation which will profoundly influence our lives. Those who speak about this new situation are usually classified as inhabitants of a dream world or as psychological victims of the war-so difficult is it to be Confessional Statements in the Twentieth Century 283 or to seem objective in one's attitude to it. This new situation in which we live may be a better one in which to make Christianity seem true and relevant, at least in those parts of the world where there is still freedom to teach a relevant form of Christianity at all; but christianity will necessarily be taught with a different and to people who have lost faith in much that has been identified in their minds with the gospel. The first of the underlying factors with which we must now reckon is the end of the spiritual unity of the West, a unity based upon a combination of Christianity and humanism as the sources of the moral standards recognized by the conscience of the West. We used to live in a world in which people generally realized that Christian standards had a claim on them, in which minorities could speak freely and keep national life under judgment in the light of thoee standards, in which those who exercised power were at least inhibited by the scruples of their own or of other people's Christian conscience. Europe and America- t he so- called West-belonged to that world, and we were conscious of membership in a common moral universe of discourse. It is the unity of that world that has been shattered and in most of its parts the authority of Christian standards is more seriously threatened than at any time since the days of Charlemagne. So long as we were able to take that kind of world for granted we thought little of it. Did we not find ourselves saying at times that good healthy paganism would be better than nominal Christianity? But we usdy assumed that our healthy pagans would retain the Christian ethics. l1 Neo-Paganism- Marxism in Russia, Fascism in Italy , Nazism in Gennany, Materialism in the Western democracies-favored the spread of Neo-Orthodoxy. Often named "Crisis Theology," or "Dialectical Theology," or "Neo- Reforma tion Theology, " this stance had spread in Europe rather rapidly after World War I. Reaching America a generation later, it was already associated with the "four Great B's" - Karl Barth, Emil Brunner, Rudolf Bulw , and NiC0la.i Berdayev-as well as Pad TiIlich and Richard and Reinhold Niebu hr . While the Neo-Orthodox movement encompassed much diversity (just contrast a Paul Tillich and a Karl Barth), it exhibited five central concerns: (1) a rediscovery of the Bible (with the spirit of neither literalism nor liberalism, but at- ta~thg to combine a critical study of the Scriptures with a respect for them as "containing the Word of God"), (2) a recovery of the confessional theology of the Saxon and Swiss 284 COXCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY Reformatiom, (3) an interest in the historic limejes of the Churches, (4) a passion for social morality, and (5 ) a desire for Christian unity. The prevailing theological mood in ~~~rica'~ "Age of Crisis" from the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 until the assassination of President John Kennedy in 1963, Neo- Ort hodolry was probably the most ecclesiastical, confessional, and historically-sensitive religious movement we see in our antury. For that reason it should not us that both individually and institutionally the ~eo-~x Era produced significant creeds. Three examples are (1) the Barmen Declaration, drawn up by Lutheran and Reformed theologians, on May 29-30, 1934, in the face of the neo-pagan German Christianity advocated in the Tliircl Reich; (2) the Confession of 1967 of the United f resbyterian Church in the u.S.A., with its attempt to combine ancient, Refonnation, and contemporary statements in a common anthology of doctrine to protest the facile identification of the "American way of life" with historic Protestantism; l3 and (3) the Hartford Affirmation of 1975, produced by several Neo-Orthodox theologians as a warning against the "loss of a sense of the transcendent" in recent Protestant thought. Perhaps it was the very "confessional," or at least, "theological" nature of Neo-Orthodoxy that caused it to be challenged by the mid-1960's by three new currents in popular mligion, which, as much as they differed from one another, were all grounded in "immediate experience" rather than "intellectual reflection" -Radicalism, Evangelicalism, and Pentecostalism. 4. Radicalism The Radical Theology that surfaced in the 1960's was popularly known for its theological affirmations (or negations) that "God is dead" (with the parody of a creed, "There is no God and Jesus is his Son") and its political ramifications (Civil Rights struggle, opposition to the Indochina War, and the investigation of the Watergate Scandal through to the resignation of President Richard Nixon).16 In my opinion these were simply two mmifestations of the real contention of Radical Theology, which was this, Western Madwoman is at the start of a New Age, with the dawning of an unprecedented kind of mnsciousness. The New Mentality was the subject of the number one best, seIIer of 1970, Charles A. Reich's The Greening of America, l6 A forty-two year old Professor of Law at Yale University, Reich took as his text some poetry of Wallace Stevens: The= is not any haunt of prophecy, Nor any old chimera of the grave, Ndiher the golden underground, nor isle Confessional Statements in the Twentieth Century 285 Melodious, where spirits gat them home, Nor visionary south, nor cloudy palm Remote on heaven's hill, that has endured As April's green endures, or will endure. l7 The thesis developed in his 430-page sermon is that of the ' 'coming Revolution, " which is much more than secularization (welcomed by the Radicals), or modernization (that was already passe), or even innovation and refonnation. It was, instead, an impending transformation, a metamorphosis of the psyche of the young generation which would produce "the new men- tality. " Consciousness 11 I was appearing, to replace Con- sciousness I, that symbolized by Herbert Hoover, the Old American, the Rugged Individualist, and Consciousness 11, incarnated in FrankIin D. Roosevelt, the Middle American, the Organization Man. Difficult to describe, evident in the counter- culture, subversive of all establishment s (especially Organized Religion), the New Mentality would involve "multimedia ex- periences ," " introspection," "reflection, '* "wholeness, " "magic and mystery, " "dance, " "romance," "clothes to express various moods, " "sex experiences with many people, '* "constantly learning new things, " and much more. l8 Though officially rejected by the majority in America, especially in the security- conscious 19709s, there is pwing evidence that millions of Americans, by default, are opting for elements of this "life style." This could easily mean a mass disaffection from the established churches in America comparable to what occurred in Europe in the 1920's. Already in the 1970's the United Methodists, the United Presbyterians, and the United Church of Christ, the "Big Three Mainline Churches," have lost 2.7 million members.19 The Protestant Episcopal Church loses a member every fifteen minutes. Our major Lutheran bodies regard themselves fortunate to "break even" statistically. I would suggest that it might be time to seriomly re-examine the statements of the Radical Theology-for there is some evidence it is becoming the de facto credo of many of the new genera tion. 5. Evangelicalism At first glance the dominant spiritual movement of the 19709s, Evangelicalism, seem to have little in common with Radical Theology. As an author in Time magazine wrote for the December 26, 1977, cover story on the Evangelicals: Most Evangelicals . . . are conventional Protestants who hold staunchly to the authority of the Bible in all matters and adhere to Orthodox Christian doctrine. They believe in making a conscious personal com- 286 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY mitment to Christ, a spiritual encounter, gradual or , instantaneous, known as the born-again experience. One can summarize Evangelicalism as meaning five things: (1) acceptance of the authority and reliability of the Sacred Scriptures; (2) the centrality of God's saving grace; (3) the necessity of personal faith; (4) the opportunity for fellowship in t the local gathered assembly of believers; and (5) the respon- sibility to lead a transformed life-personally and publicly. I 1 suspect most Evangelicals, whether President Jimmy Carter, or his sister, evangelist Ruth Carter Stapleton, or President Gerald Ford, or his son, evangelist Michael Ford of Pittsburgh, or singer Anita Bryant (cited as "Most Admired Woman" by Good Housekeeping in 1977). or author Marabel Morgan (Total Womm), or convert Malcolm Muggeridge, or Preacher Billy Graham (who has spoken to at least eighty million people in person), or convict-converts Charles Colson (Born Again, to be released as a movie in 1978) and Eldridge Cleaver (Soul on Ice), or Robert Schuller ("Hour of Power" speaker), would agree with that "Credo." But, nevertheless, there are three important points of similarity to Radical Christianity: (1) an emphasis on the priority of experience (so much so that one Evangelical writer has recommended a second look at Friedrich S~hleiermacher);~~ (2) a deep-seated suspicion of rational or intellectuaI articulations of the Christian faith inherited from earlier generations; and (3) a basic distrust of denominational Christianity and a weak understanding of the role of the Church. For these reasons I suspect that Radical, Evangelical, and Pentecostal Christianity all share certain common assumptions, or participate to some extent in the same "mentality." The Evangelical Resurgence of the late 1970's could, therefore, go one of two ways - either toward a "Second Evangelical Consensus," akin in mind and mood to that of the early nineteenth century, or toward a "Third Great Awakening" that would be significantly different from its historid precedents. With more than 45.5 million EvangeIicaIs in the United States (of whom 33.5 million are members of Protestant Churches outside the National Council, with the remainder as minorities within the maidhe Churches), Evangeli&m is, as historian Martin E. Marty suggested, "durable . . . it's not going to go away."22 The much-publicized Pentecostal or Charismatic Movement has been hailed as a "Third Force in World Christianity." While attention has fkquently focused on the symp- toms -w hether audible sounds f " glossaMia" and "prophecies"), -or visual sights ("visions" and "turnings"), or physical signs Confessional Statements in the Twentieth Century 287 ("healings" and "cum")-I think the primary purpose of Pentecostalism is to produce "an altered state of con- sciousness." Upon receiving "the baptism of the Holy Spirit," the affected individual is said to be "beside himself" or "to be another person." If this observation is correct, then there is reason to look for some common Iinks between Pentecostalism and Radical and Evangelical Christianity. It would be helpful, I believe, to explore the relationship between the experiences of "Consciousness 111," "being born again," and "the baptism of the Spirit." Such a study could assist us to understand a major shift that may be under way in the American (and Western) mentality. a3 So we have finished our survey of the efforts of the Protestant Churches at the reconstruction of theology-with the opinion that either one of two things is about to happen: either we have gone full circle and are on the eve of a second "Evangelical Consensus," or that we are on the threshold of a significant transformation of Western spiritual, social, and personal values, that will cut clean across all our existing in- stitutions. Should the first occur, we may have a Confessional Age. Should the second transpire, the intellectual articulation of Christian truth will be relegated to a minority within the Churches. B. The Refomtion of Society The Rev. Henry Patten, long the associate of Dr. Washington G ladden at the First Congregational Church, Columbus, Ohio, once shared with the general public a revealing incident from his initial interview for a call to that parish. In the course of his conversation with Dr. Gladden, Patten assured the older gentleman that for him there were only two concerns-liberal thought and social action. At that Gladden winked and reported, "What else is there?" Within each decade the Protestant Churches have stressed some aspect of the quest for social justice: (1) from 190-1919, the thrust was for Industrial Righteousness, (2) from 1910- 1920, the concern was for Peace and International Order, (3) from 1920-1930 the issue was Religious Toleration, (4) from 1930-1940, in a world gone mad with Fascism, the aim was Social Democracy, (5) from 1940-1950, the dream was of Global Reconstruction, (6) from 1950-1960 the quest was for Civil Liberties, (7) from 1960-1970 the problems were Equality for Black Americans and Peace in Vietnam, and (8) in the 1970's the goal is Liberation-for all manner of minorities. Each generation has seen both significant legislation in the state house and the Senate, and considerable polarization in the Churches. 288 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY One wit, observing this continuing struggle in the Churches, set side by side two verses, each a parody of the opposing points of view. First there was the hymn, "Rise Up, 0 Men of God," cr, if you prefer, "Rise Up, 0 Saints of God," with the stanza: Rise up, 0 Men of God, His Kingdom tarries long, Bring in the day of brotherhood, And end the night of wrong.*' Then came the other text: Sit down, 0 Men of God, His Kingdom He will bring, Whenever it may please His will, You cannot do a thing. Besides legislation and polarization, certain common af- firmations resulted from the effort at the Reformation of Society. These "Social Creeds" were primarily in the areas of Industrial Justice and World Peace. One of the earliest of these was the "Social Creed" of the Federal Council of Churches, issued in 1908. That had been a critical year for labor in the United States. The Supreme Court had issued several reverses in terms of labor legislation; three labor leaders of national reputation were indicted for not heeding an injunction. Child labor, the exploitation of women in industry , the seventy- two hour week, unsafe and unsanitary factory conditioxs, the absence of retirement plans, unem- - ployment cornpensat ion, health and medical benefits, the im- portation of cheap foreign labor-all were matters very disturbing to some within the Protestant Community. Few denominatiom, however, had spoken to this concern. While the Presbyterian Department of Church and Labor had issued a statement, it was the Federal Council of Churches that took the initiative. A report was prepared for the Council by the Committee on the Church and Modern Industry, which was largely the work of Frank Mason North. The document presented not only a description of conditions in industrial America, but a prescription for a confessional witness by the Churchts. The heart of the recommendations was Article 9, which contained fourteen points, soon to become known as the "Social Creed" of the Churches and to be adopted by the Methodist Episcopal Church within the year. It read: We deem it the duty of aU Christian people to concern themselves directly with certain practical industrial problems. To us it seems that the churches must stand- For equal rights and complete justice for dl men in all stations of life. Confessional Statements in the Twentieth Century 289 For the right of all men to the opportunity for self- maintenance, a right ever to be wisely and strongly safe-guarded against encroachment of every kind. For the right of workers to some protection against the handicaps often resulting from the swift crises of industrial change. For the principle of conciliation and arbitration in industrial dissensions. For the protection of the worirers from dangerous machinery, occupational disease, injuries, and mor- tali ty . For the abolition of child labor. For such regulation of the conditions of toil for women as shall safeguard the physical and moral health of the community. For the suppression of the 'sweating system. ' For the gradual and reasonable reduction of the hours of labor to the lowest practicable point, and for that degree of leisure for all which is a condition of the highest human life. For a release from employment one day in seven. For a living wage as a minimum in every industry and for the highest wage that each industry can afford. For the most Wtable division of the products of industry that can ultimately be devised. For suitable provision for the old age of the workers and for those incapacitated by injury. For the abatement of poverty. To the toilers of America and to those who by organized effort are seeking to lift the crushing burdens of the pm, and to reduce the hardships and uphold the dignity of labor, this Council sends the greeting of human brotherhood and the pledge of sympathy and of help in a cause which belongs to all who follow Christ. 26 Though there were subsequent amendments and revisions of the Social Creed, this was to be the basic confession of the member Churches concerning the Industrial Order. World Peace has been a second area of creedal concern to the Protestant Churches. The initial effort in this direction was made on December 16, 1921, when the Executive Committee of the Federal Council of Churches adopted the "International IdeaIs of the Churches of Christ," or "A Declaration of Ideals and Policy Looking Toward a Warless World." To properly understand the content of this confession, we must recall the context of the 1920's. "The war to end all wars" had just stopped in Europe on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. An almo9t apocalyptic struggle, 290 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY much more expensive in men and material than either World War I1 or Vietnam, the Great War of 1914 had to be justified as absoIutely the last war. On November 11, 1921, a major naval disarmament conference had been convened in Washington, D.C. by President Warren G. Harding. The tomb of the Unkn Soldier had been dedicated, with a stirring address by Harry Emerson Fosdick. At the end of the decade, in the Kdogg-Briand Pact, the nations of the world would officially "outlaw war." It was from that setting that the following "Peace Creed" came: 1. We believe that nations no less than individuals are subject to God's immutable moral laws. 2. We believe that nations achieve true welfare, greatness and honor only through just dealing and unselfish service. 3. We believe that nations that regard themselves as Christian have special international obligations. 4. We believe that the Spirit of Christian brotherliness can remove every unjust barrier of trade, oolor, creed and race. 5. We believe that Christian patriotism demands the practice of mill between nations. 6. We believe that international poiitics should secure equal justice for all racee . 7. We believe that all nations should associate themselves permanently for world peace and goodwill. 8. We believe in international law, and in the universal use of international courts of justice and boards of arbitration. 9. We believe in a sweeping reduction of armaments by all nations. 10. We believe in a warless world, and dedicate ourselves to its achievement. 26 The Peace Movement continued, and during the Second World War, on March 16, 1943, the Federal Council convened a committee of twenty-six persons, under the Chairmanship of hfessor Robert Lowry Calhoun of Yale University, to study and report on "The Relation of the Church to the War in the Light of the Christian Faith." The resulting document was in three parts-diagnostic, doctrinal, and practical. " The report was widely studied in the member Churches. A generation later, action as well as reflection was evidenced during the Indochina War. Thousands made their confession through demonstrations, either for or against the conflict, in every major city in the Western World. Perhaps the best summary of some swen decades of Protestant mnfessional concern for Social Justice and World Confessional Statements in the Twentieth Century 291 Peace was uttered by Philip A. Potter, the General Secretary of the W70rld Coundil of Churches, in 1972 : 'It is my conviction,' he said, 'that to separate the horizontal from the vertical, the immllnent from the transcendent, is a denial of the crags and the resurrection. ' Above all, Potter, also a student of history-believes that faith and action are inseparably entwined. 'Each new man in Christ is the promise of the renewal of society,' he says, declaring that Christ saves a man not so he can escape the world but so that he can be 'more genuinely involved in it as an authentic person.' 'To be for Christ,' he adds, 'is to be for humanity.'48 C. The Reunification of the Churches A third area of concern for the Protestant family has been the reunification of the Christian Church. It was appropriate that it was Protestantism, the most fragmented branch of the Universal Church, that took the initiative in the movement for Christian unity. It has been also fitting that English-speaking Protestants, coming from the most sorely divided household of faith, have often provided the leadership within the Ecumenical Movement. The Ecumenical Movement has expressed itself in a codliar, denominational, and inter-confessional fashion. On the conmliar level we have seen the formation of the World Council of Churches in 1948, its subsequent meetings at Ewmston, New Delhi, Upsda, and Nairobi, its continuing growth in mem- bership, and its evolution of its own brand of "m theology." On the denominationaI Level we have witnd an enormous number of national and regional mergers within confessional families and the genesis of a host of global fellowship, as the Alliance of Reformed Churches Throughout the World Holding the Presbyterian System (1875), the International Congxqptional Council (1891), the Old Catholic Union of Utrecht (1889), the World Metkbt Council (1881), the Baptist World Alliance (1905), the Luthran World Federation (1923, 1947), the World Convention of the Churches of Christ (1930). the Friends' World Committee for Consultation (1920), the Lambeth Conference of Anglican Bishops (1867), and the International Association for Liberal chn&amQ *. . and Religious Freedom (1900). But perhaps the most striking development has been the merger of Churches aQoss &t confessional lines. 29 Perhaps four of these mergers, occuring in four different decades, in three diverse English-speaking 292 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY nations, can indicate the ecumenical and confessional significance of the movement for church union. (1.) One of the earliest mergers across denominational hes happened in Canada in 1925. This United Church of Canada, which recently debrated its f'rrst half-century, is amalgamation of four groups of Canadian Churches which represent between them some forty distinct Christian bodies and some nineteen separate acts of Church Union. The Presbyterian, Congregational, Methodist, and Local Union (Community) Churches united- reflecting four different polities (congregational, connectional, presbytesial, and episcopal), three different theologies (Reformed, Wesleyan, and Free Church), axid two different liturgical traditions (both the fod and the free). The New Church confessed its "allegiance to the evangelical doctrines of the Reformation" but in its Twenty Articles of Faith refused to follow either the Westminster Confession or one of the classic Wesleyan standards. Representative, perhaps, was a mediating statement between tbe Calvinist and Armman . . positions on election: We believe that God, out of His great love for the world, hrts given His only begotten Son to be the Saviour of sinners, and in the Gospel freely offers His all-sufficient salvation to all men. We believe also that God; from the beginning in His own good pleasure, gave to His Son a people, an innumerable multitude, chosen in Christ unto holiness, service, and salvation. (2.) A second bold merger occurred in the United States in 1957, bringing together heirs of both the British and Con- tinental Refomtions, American Revivalism and European immigration, Lutherans, Calvinists, Congregationalists, and non-confessiod Disciples or Christians in the United Church of Christ. (3.) A third merger, even more comprehensive in scope, had transpired in India. The Church of South India, constituted in 1947 after prolonged merger negotiations, united more than one million Christians of the AngIican, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Congregationalist traditions. It was the first union to involve the Anglims. (4 .) An evenmore audacious scheme was to be proposed in an Episcopal Cathedral in the United States. The must ambitious plan of church union yet devised, it came to be called the Consultation on Church Union or, later, the Church of Christ Uniting. The Consultation on Church Union had its beginning on December 4, 1960, when the Reverend Eugene Carson Blake, the Stated Clerk of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. preached a sermon in Grace Cathedral (the seat of the Rt. Rev. James A. Pike), San Francisco, entitled "Toward the Confessional Statements in the Twentieth Century 293 Reunion of Christ's Church." The occasion was the triennial meeting of the National Council of Churches. In what was soon called the "Blake-Pike Proposal" the Presbyterian leader suggested that representatives of the United Presbyterian, the Episcopal, and the Methodist Churches, together with the United Church of Christ, form "a plan of church union both catholic and reformed," and he made it clear that "any other churches which fmd they can accept both the principles and the plan of union would also be warmly invited to unite with us."32 Response to the sermon was immediate and positive. It became the number one digioua news story of the year and the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. at its General Assembly 'in May 1961 asked the Protestant Episcopal Church to join with it in inviting the Methodist Church and the United Church of Christ "to explore the establishment of a united church truly catholic, truly reformed, and truly evangelical. " Each church was to appoint a committee of nine to "negotiate a ph of union. " Within half a year the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church accepted this invitation. In September 1961 it responded favorably, with the proviso, however, that its Joint Commission on Approaches to Unity was "to conduct the conversations on the basis of the Chicago-Lambeth QuB-M . . ." The Lambeth Quaddateral was the traditional Aq$can basis for Church Union-agreement on the role of the Holy Scriptures, the Ecumenical Creeds, the Dominical Sacraments, and the Hktoric Ephpate. The favorable reply of the Episcopalians made possible the start of the Consultation on Church Union. There were several significant meetings in the 1960's: (1.) Washington. In October of 1961 a plammg committee met and prepared the way for the constituting plenary meeting with representatives of the United Presbyterian Church, the Protest ant Episcopal Church, the Methodist Church, and the United Church of Christ. The Codtation on Church, Union met in Washington April 9-10, 1962. Since the UCC was engaged in unity talks with the Disciples of Christ (the International Convention of Christian Churches) and the Methodist Church was in merger negotiations with the Evangelical United Brethren Church (which has since dted in the United Methodist Church), invitations were issued to those two bodies to become part of the process. The invitations were accepted in the autumn of 1962. The Washington meeting created an Executive Committee with an Executive Secretary and scheduled the next meeting for Oberlin, Ohio, in March 1963. (2 .) 0 berlin. The second plenary meeting was held in Oberlin, 2M CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY Ohio, on March 19-21, 1963. Yielding a consensus on Scripture, Tradition, and the Guardians of Tradition. (3.) Princeton. The third plenary meeting was held at Princeton, New Jersey, on April 13-16, 1964, resulting in a mnsensus on Baptism and the Lord's Supper. (4.) Lexington. The fourth plenary meeting was held at Lexington, Kentucky, on April 4-8, 1965, with the African Methodist Episcopal Church becoming the seventh participating body. This was the first time an all-black denomination had been included in the negotiations. Consensus was reached on the ministry. (5.) Dh. The fifth plenary meeting was held at Dallas, Texas, on May 2-5, 1966, resulting in the approval of the Principles of Church Union. Two more denominations affiliated with the Consultation, the Presbyterian Church in the U.S . and the African Met hodis t Episcopal Church- Zion, which meant that a Southern or sectional church, as well as a Wesleyan Church, of predominantly black membership was naw included. (6.) Cambridge. The sixth plenary meeting was held at Cambridge, Massachusetts, from May 1 to 4, 1967, approved "Guidelines for the Structure of the Church," and decided to begin to develop a plan of union. In January 1967, the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church had become the tenth participating body. (7.) Dayton. The seventh plenary meeting was held at Dayton, Ohio on March 25-28, 1968, producing An Order of Worship for the Prochmutrbn of the Word of God and the Celebration of the Lord's Supper, provision for a permanent Secetariat (Paul A. Crow, Jr., was the first General Secretary), and the authorization of a Plan of Union Commission to present a draft for mew by 1970. (8.) Atlanta. The eighth plenary meeting was held at Atlanta, Georgia, on March 17-20, 1969, to consider three reports: "An Outline of a Plan of Union," "An Interim Report for the Unification (Mingling) of Ministries," and "Guidelines for Local Interchurch Action. " (9.) St. Louis. The ninth pIenary meeting was held at St. Louis, Missouri, on March 9-13, 1970, with discussion of a ten- chapter, 109-page document of A Plan of Union for the Church of Christ Uniting. After revision the text was submitted to the member Churches and the general public. By the end of the decade of the sixties COCU had a specific plan. Let us look at that consensus briefly in terms of theology, liturgy, and polity: (1 .) Theology. The United Church would recognize the Holy Scriptues as having "a dque authority" within the Christian Confessional Statements in the Twentieth Century 296 community as "witnesses to God's revelation and to man's response." "In, with, and under, around, over, and beside" the Scriptures was the Tradition of the Community, by which was understood "the whole life of the Church ever guided and nourished by the Holy Spirit. . . ." The Bible was regarded as part of the Tradition, to be understood in light of it, and aiso as the supreme "guardian and expression" of it. Besides Canon and Custom, the Church ought to receive the Ecumenical Creeds (the Apostles' and Nicene) "as a corporate act of praise and allegiance. . . ." In all matters, however, the Church would not "permit the use of any single confession as an exclusive requirement for all. . . . 1' (2.) Liturgy. The United Church would accept two primary sacraments: Baptism, as the act of incorporation into the Christian Community, to be administered in any mode, either at infancy or in adulthood; and the Lord's Supper, as "an act of remembrance, an act of present communion, an act of proclamation . . . and an act of hope anticipating the future consummation." While a diversity of worship forms was to be permitted, the United Church would continue to be seeking creative new liturgies. (3.) Polity. The United Church would dve through the Anglican Church the historic episcopate and the three-fold office of ministry - deacon, priest (or presbyter), and bishop. Experiment a1 ministries, new offices, and non-neighborhood parishes were envisioned. Yet the Church of Christ Uniting has not produced a union of churches. This most ambitious of all plans for church union has run into difficulty for at least four reasom: (1 .) There was the unpredictability of the 1960's. None of the movers of the original Consultation on Church Union could have foreseen the kind of questions and accusations they would have to face by 1969, for they had not planned on Women's Liberation, the Civil Rights Movement, Black TheoIogy, the Anti-W ar Protests, the Ecological Crisis, Watergate, and Social Activism. To the avant garde in many of the COCU member churches, the issue of union seemed increasingly irrelevant. (2.) There was the amazing durability of denominationalism. A small sign of this is found in the fact that The Christian Century has started a series on the major American denominations. Historian Martin E. Marty, writing in an essay entitled "Denominations: Surviving the 70'9, " confessed . . . denominatio~m outlasts aU the theologies designed to replace it. The relative decline in status and power of national, regional, state and ld counch of churches occurred for many reasons, not the least of them being a "new denominationalism' that found 296 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY people scurrying back to and huddling in their denominational homa in a time when senses of identity were bard to come by.'' Conservative Churches, such as the Southern Baptist Con- vention, continued to experience consistent growth, the SBC adding more than two million members in the 1970's. This meant that Church Union had not caught the imagination of America's masses. (3. ) Indeed, there was the striking absence of any popularity for the COCU scheme among the general church-going public. If Episcopalians and Presbyteriam, Methodists and Disciples were excited about anything, it was either Evangelidism (as with Charles Colson and mident Gerald Ford) or Pen- tecostalism (in the case of Methodist evangelist-educator Oral Roberts). (4.) There was the unexpected crisis of emmenicity - or at least of the ecumenical movement. The ecumenical spirit was alive and weII, but institutional ecumenism was in deep trouble. For example, in October 1977 the Massachuesetts Council of Churches "reported that the ecumenical movement in that state is suffering significant declines in funding, programs and public acclaim."34 Meanwhile, the Church Federation of Grater Chicago, established in 1907 for a variety of reasons, including "efforts to develop a greater understanding of the confessional diffe2~~1ces among the denominations," was in financial woes. In 1962 the Chicago busin- George Sisler, a Vice President of the Firat National Bank, had lead a drive to raise $600,000 for the Federation to purchase a sixteen-story building on Michigan Avenue. Though the Federation had a hefty mortage, the edifice was to be "the symbol of the visible presence of Chicago's Proterrtantism and an indication of a unifid approach to the city's many problems." By the late 1960's problems developed-the annual budget falling from $500,000 in 1967 to $90,000 in 1977; the Federation was forced to sell its building, which is now the home of the American ckmsermtory of Music. Now the Federation "rents a com- pemtidy small suite of officea in the structure it once d.... '9 as Though COCU continues, with revisions of its Plan of Union to extend until 1983, its future is hardly bright. D. Evmgehation of the World A final area of concern for the Protestant Churches has been the ~8qphtion of the world. This missionary emphasis has been a soume of confessid activity in the twentieth century in two ways: Confessional Statements in the Twentieth Century 297 (1 .) Evangelical Christians have begun to prepare "statements," "covenants," and "affirmations" at great global assemblies on world evangelization, such as tbose held in Berlin and at Lausanne. I suspect that theae confessions of "Core Christianity" will take on a role of increasing importance as we enter an age of "Evangelical Resurgence." (2 .) Third World Christians have begun to prepare their own cmfessions. These, I believe, will generally and hmwingly be Co~~servative and Evangelical. One fii example is the "Con- fession of Faith of the Huria Kristen Batak Protestant," drawn up in 1951 by Indonesian Christian theologians without the advice and consent of any Western scholars. It has strong sections on the Trinity, the Scriptures, Original Sin, Rsdemp- tion, the Church, the Sacraments, and the Last Things. 86 In comparison with many Occidental Creeds prepad in the identical time period, it is extremely Orthodox. 11. Roman Catholicism in the Twentieth Century This essay has dealt prhady with Protestant confessional activity in the twentieth century, with its concern for the reconstruction of theology, the reformation of society, the rdcation of the churches, and the evan@zation of the world. Much of this activity was conducted without any direct reference to the Roman Catholic Church. That Communion had its own difficulties and pursued a separate path of development until relatively recently. We can describe that pilgrimage in terms of a mnversion from the rejection of modern thought to its reception. A. The Rejection of Modern Thought The Roman Catholic Church, the predominant form of Christianity in Mediterranm Europe and Latin America, entered the twentieth century fairly committed to the rejection of modern thought, which meant primarily Rotestantism and Secularism. This attitude had been cIearly enumhted during the pontificate of Pius IX (1846-1878) by mcvlna of three &@kant acts: (1) the proclamation of the TmmRmllRte Conception of the Virgin Mary in December 1854, a step that was inflammatory of Protestant opinion; (2) the preparation of the Syllabus of Emra in 1864, which condemned many of the popular practices and cherished principles of the nineteenth century, such as tbe separation of church and state, the existence of mn-sectarian schools, and the toleration of religious pluarlism; and (3) the convocation of the First Vatican Council on December 8, 1869, which, on July 18, of the following year, issued an affirmation of Papal Infalliiility, maintaining that when the Pope speaks e;x: 298 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY cathedra as Doctor and Pastor of the Ecumenical Church, as the Vicar of Christ, on matters of faith and morals, he is inerrant. The completion of the Papal Monarchy seemed at hand, and the insulation of the Roman Church from both Evangelicalism and Modernism seemed total. The only exception to this position of isolation was in the area of social action. Roman Catholics, following the lead of Pope Leo XI11 and his famous encyclical, Rerum Novarum, demonstrated a strong interest in industrial justice. In most other respects, the Roman Community was the Church Militant-very Militant-in its opposition to the twin movements that had produced modem times-the Reformation and the French Revolution. B . The Reception of Modem Thought As a First Vatican Council seemed to mark the self-imposed exile of the Roman Church from the contemporary world, a Second Vatican Council announced its emergence into modernity with a mad passion. As one wit observed, suddenly Roman Catholics seemed intent on making all the mistakes Protestants had made in four and a half centuries within ten years! On October 2, 1962, some 2,540 bishops from all four comers of the earth met in Rome at the invitation of Pope John XXIII in order to "enable the Church to bring herself up to date" and in that mRnner to hasten the hour "of the reunion of Christen- dom." By December 8, 1965, the Pope, in his closing address, codd caII the Council "one of the greatest events in the history of the Church." Within three short years the Roman Church had undergune a Revolution. 37 Basically, the changes wrought by Vatican I1 fall into three categories. Leitourgia, or worship, the adoration of God by the Church was one major area of rehrm. Koinonia, or fellowship, the unification of the Church was a second item of attention. And Diokonicr, or service, the ministration of the Church to the world was a third topic on the agenda. The result of Vatican I1 has yet to be My measured, for the rest of the world had four hundred-not fifteen-years in which to experience the Ref;oTmation, the Enlightenment, the French, British, and Industrial Revolutions, and Secularization. But two things, I think, are obvious: (1.) There is the proliferation within the Roman Catholic Church of alternative systems of thought and styles of living. Among them are the Traditionalists, who seek a restoration of the Old Order; the Evangefids, who long for a genuine Reformation of the Church; the Pentecostals, who quest for a madestation of apostolic gifts in the present age; the Radicals, who mix Jesus and Mans in order to plot the Liberation of the oppressed; and the confused, who wonder what has happened to "Ehd Rome." This polarization within the Roman Com- Confessional Statements in the Twentieth Century 299 munity has caused it to resemble both the Jewish Church at the time of Jesus - with its distinct and divergent parties - and the Anglican Church today - with its various schools of opinion and practice. It will be increasingly important to differentiate which Roman Church we are talking about. (2.) There is the increased destation of the importance of the Papacy in maintaining the unity of the Roman Church. In t absence of a common theology (as in the days of Scholasticism), or a shared territory (as in Medieval Europe), or recognized hegemony (as in the Age of the Baroque), or a universal Latin liturgy (as before the Reformation), or effective episcopal collegiality (as in the Eastern Orthodox Churches), or genuine conciliarity (as in the Ancient and Undivided Church of the Seven Ecumenical Councils), the Rom~n Community must discover some acceptable source of unity. Without a common confession, the Church must turn to a unique person, the Pope. Rome, in my opinion, must increasingly become a Papal, not a confessional Church, if it is to survive. Otherwise fragmen- tation, as occurred in the Reformation in Northern Europe, will overtake the Latin Church. Thus, if there is to be a confessionaI resurgence to match that of the Ancient Church with its Ecumenical Councils or the Reformation Fe11mhip with its Evangelical Affirmations, it will have to come from Protestantism. Divided and distracted, distressed and distraught, it, nevertheless, derives in part from the Reformation effected by our Lutheran foreh, and it still professes, at least in part, the precious truths of the Gospel. This situation offers to Evzmgelical and Confessional Lutherans a unique opportunity for service. FrnOTES 1. "Religious Population of the World," The World Almanac and Book of Facts. 1975 (New York: NEA, 1975) p. 322. 2. Peter Davies, editor, The American Heritage Dictiolurry of the English Language (New York: Dell Publishing Company, 1973). p. 568. 3. J. Leslie Dunstan, editor, Protestantism (New York: Washington Square Press, 19691, p. ix. 4. Imagine with what emphasis Solomon would have written these lines if he had lived in our age: ". . . of making many books the is no end. . . ." (Eccl. 12:12). A few of the classic titlea dealing with Protestant Theology in this century are as follows: Edwin Ewart Aubrey, Present Theologicul Tendencies (New York: Harper and Brothers, Publishers, 19361, I. M. Bochenski, Contemporary European Philosophy (translated from the German by Donald NichoU and Karl Aschenbrenuer; Berkeley: University of California Press, 1956), Colin Brown, Philosophy and the Christian Faith: An Introduction to the Main Thinkers and Schoois of Thought from the Middle Ages to the Present Duy (Chicago: Intervarsity Press, 1969), Gabriel Fackre. Humiliation and Celebration: Post-Radical Themes in 300 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY Doctrine, Morals, and Mission (New York: Shed and Ward, 19691, Gregory K. Fiechtner and C. George Fry, editors. Protestant Theology, 1914-1975, A Basic Bibliography (Fort Wayne: Concordia Theological Seminary, 1976). C. George Fry, editor, European Theology, 1648-1914 (Fort Wayne: Concoda Theological Seminary, 19761, C. George Fry and Ralph Hall, editors, Ten Contemporary Theologians: A Basic Bibliography (Fort Wayne: Concordia Theological Seminary, 1976). Washington Gladden, Present Day Theology (Columbus: McCleUand and Company, 1918), Stanley N. Gundry and Alan F. Johnson, editors, Tensions in Contemporary Theology (Chicago: Moody Press, 1976), Marvin Halverson, editor, A Hadbook of Christian Theology: Essays on Concepts and Movements of Thought in Contemporary Protestantism (New York: Living Age Books, 1958). Walter Marshall Horton, Theism and Modern Mood (New York: Harper and Brothers, Publishers, 1930), Realistic Theology (London: Hodder and Stoughton, Ltd., 1935). Contemporary English Theology: An A mericm Interpretation (New Yo*: Harper and Brothers, Publishers, 1936). Contemporary Continental Theology: An Interpretation for Anglo-Saxons (New York: Harper and Brothers. Publishers, 1938), H. Stuart Hughes, Consciousness and Society: The Reorientation of European Social Thought, 1890-1930 (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1961), Thomas A. Langford, In Search of Foundations: English Theology: 1900-1920 (Nash- ville: Abingdon Press, 1969). Hugh Ross Mackintosh, Types of Modern Theology: Schleiermacher to Bmth (London: Nisbet and Company, Ltd.. 1937), John Macquarrie, Twentieth Century Religious Thought: The Frontiers of Philosophy and Theology, lSXXkI970 (London: SCM Press, Ltd., 1971 1, Dagobert Runes, editor, Twentieth Century Philosophy: Living Schools of Thought (New York: Philosophical Library, 1947). Wilbur M. Smith, Therefore, Stand: A Pka for a Vigorous Apologetic in the Present Crisis of Evangelical Christicmity (Boston: W. A. Wilde Company, 1945), Ralph W . Sockman, Recoveries in Religion (Nashville: Cokesbury Press, 1938), John R. W. Stott, Basic Christianity (Downers Grove, Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 1975), Christian Mission in the Modem World (Downers Grove, IUinois: Intervarsity Press, 1975). Roland N. Stmmberg, After Everything: Western Intellectual History Since 1945 (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1975). William Irwin Thompson, At the Edge of History (New York: Harper and Row, Publishers, 1971), Paul Tillich, Theology of Culture (London: Oxford University Press, 1959). A History of Christian Thought: From its Judaic and Hellenistic On'grgrns to Existentialism, edited by Carl E. Braaten (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1967), Systematic Theology (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951- 1963, 3 volumes in one), Alec R. Vidler, Essays in Liberality (London: SCM Press, LM., 1957), David F. Wells and John D. Woodbridge, editors, The Evangelicals: What They Believe, Who They Are, Where They Are Changing (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1975), J. S. Whale, Christian Doctrine: Eight Lectures Delivered in the University of Cambridge to Undergraduates of AU Facdties (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1966) and, for background, Reinhold Seeburg, The History of Doctrines, translated by Charles E. Hay (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1977, 2 volumes in one). 5. Ruth Rouse and Stephen Charles Neill, editors, A History of the Ecumenical Movement, f 51 7-1 948 (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1954), p. 320. 6. Elorton, Contemporary English PP. 1 ff . d evelops this typology. 7. The Book of Worship fo' Church and Home (~h~ he^ publhhing House, 1944), p. 11 - 8. The Zliff School of Theology, 1977-7* Catdog, p. 95 9. Kenneth Scott Latourette, A History of christhnity (N~~ york: H-, md Brothers Publishers, 1953), P. 1427 . 10. These were the verbal inerrancy of Scripture, the deity of christ, the virgin birth, the substituGona~ atonement, and the physical and My return of Jesus. 11. John C. Bennett, Christian Realism (xew YO&: Charles Sm%ner*s sons, 1941). pp. 12. 12. See John H. Leith, editor, Creed5 of the C'hurches (~~~d~~ city, N~~ York: Doubleday-Anchm . 1963!, pp. ,517-522. 13. There was a voluminous literature on this subject; see "Dissent on a New Creed," Time LXXXVI (August 6, 19651, pp. 70-71; "New Look: Con- fession of 1967, Change in Presbyterian Doctrine," Newsweek LXVII (June 6, 1966), pp. 67-68; Martin E. Marty, "Script-Writers Take Over: Presbyterian Confession of Faith." The Ch~scian Century LXXXII (June 9, 1965), pp. 733-735. 14. See "Ecumenical Theology at the Crossroads: Appeal for Theological Affirmation Issued at Hartford Conference," America CXXII (Febmary 15, 1975) p. 103; Avery DuIies, ''Finding God and the Hartford Appeal," America CXXXII (May 3, 19751, PP. 334-337: "God Invented Us: Appeal for Theological Affirmation Issued at Hartford Ecumenical Conference," Commonweal CI (February 14. 197'51. pp. 379-380; E. Wright, "Hartford Affirmation: Limiting Liberal Theology, " Christianity Todcry XIX (February 15, 19751, pp. 53-55: "Hartford Heresies: Warning that American Theology Has Strayed Far Afield," Time CV (February 10, 1975), p. 47: "More Questions Than Answers: Appeal for Theological Affirmation," Christianity To&y XIX (February !28, 1Y75), p. 32; B. Thompson, "Neuhaus, Coffin, Cox: SRO at 475: The Hartford Appd for Theological Affirmation," The Christian Century XCII (June 4, 1975), pp. 563-564; S. C. Cowley and L. Lisle. "New Heretics: Second Hartford Conference." Newswoek LXXXVI (September 29, 1975), p. 64; and Martin E. Marty, "The Relevance of Attacking Rdwance: Reaction to the Hartford Theological Conference, The Christian Century XCII (February 19, 1975). p. 183. 15. Little has been written about Radical Christianity in the form of dysis rather than either advocacy or polemic. Helpful are tbe following: John Charles Cooper, Radicd Christianity and its Sources (Philadelphia: The Westminister Press, 1968), The New Mentality (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1969), The Turn Right (Philadelphia: The West- minister Press, 1970), A Neu, Kind of Man (Philadelphia: The West- minister Press, 1972). and The Recovery of America (Philadelphia: The Westminister Press. 1973). 16. Charles A. Reich, The Greening of America (New York: Bantam Books, 1970). 17. Ibid., p. ix. 18. Ibid., pp. 166-170. 19. "The Evangelicals: Empire of Faith," Time CX (December 26, 19771, p. 53. 2C. Ibid. 302 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY 21. See Robert IS. Johnston, "Of Tidy Doctrine and Truncated Experience," Christianity T&y XXI (February 18, 1977). pp. 10-14. 22. "Religion in Transit," Christianity T&y XXII (October 21, 1977), p. 114; see Donald Tinder, "Why the Evangelical Upswing?" Christianity Toduy XXII (October 21, 1977). pp. 76-78; H. Dermott McDonald, "The Lusts of Modern Theology." Christianity Today XXII (October 21, 1977), pp. 84- 86; and David F. Wells and John D. Woodbridge, The Evangelicals: What They Believe, Who They Are, Where They are Changing, revised edition (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1977). 23. I have tentatively explored this topic in my paper, "An Historian Looks at Three Trends in Popular American Religion in the 1970's." delivered at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne. Indiana, on February 21, 1977. 24. William Pierson Merrill, "Rise Up, 0 Men of God." 25. Quoted in Charles S. MacFarZand, Christian Unity in the Making: The First Twenty-Five Years of the Fedeml Council of the Churches of Christ in America, 1905-1930 (New York: Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, 1948), pp. 45, 46. 26. Ibid., p. 213. 27. See Leith, Creeds of tlre Churches, pp. 522-554. 28. "West Indian to Succeed Blake." Christkity T&y XVI (September 15, 1972), p. 46. 29. For the story of the Ecumenical Movement, see Rouse and Neill, editors, A History of the Ecumenical Movement, 1517-1948, Gaius Jackson Slosser, Christian Unity: Its History und Challenge in ail Communions in dl Lands (New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, Inc., 1929), and David P. Gaines, The World Council of Churches: A Study of Its Background and History (Peterborough, New Hampshire: Richard R. Smith, 1966). 30. Quoted by Rouse and Neill, A History of the Ecumenical Movement, p. 455. 31. There is a prolific literature on the Church of South India. See The Book of Common Worship (authorized by the Synod of 1962; London: Oxford University Press, 1963). The Sacraments: The Meeting of the Joint Theological Commission of the Church of South I& and the Fe&mtion of Evangelical Lutherrzn Churches in India, March, 1955 (Madras: Christian Literature Society, 1956), A. Dammers. Grecrt Venture: The Church of South India in Action (London: Highway Press, 1958), S. M. Gibbard, Unity is Not Enough: Reflections After a Visit to the Church of South India (London: Mowbray, 1965). Michael Hollis, The Significance of South India (London: Lutterworth Prese, 1966), James E. Newbigin, The Reunion of the Church: A Defence of the South India Scheme (New York: Harper and Brothers Publishers, 1948), Douglas Webster, Wht is the Church of South India?, rev. ed. (London: Highway Press, 1959), Bengt Gustaf SuIsdkler, Church of South India. The Movement Towards Union, 19-231947 (London: Lutterworth Press, 1954), and Hermann Sasse, Church Union in South India. Some Considemtions for Lutheran Theologians (n.p., n-p., 1963). 32. The sermon is in David H. Scott, The Challenge to Reunion: The Blake- Pike Proposal Under Scrutiny (New York: McGrnw Hill Book Company, 1963). There is much literature on COCU. Some of the following is helpful: Paul A. Crow, editor, A Bibliography of the Con- sultation on Church Union (Lexhgton, Kentucky: Comultation on Church Confessional Statements in the Twentieth Century 303 Union, 1967); COCU, Principles of Church Union, Guidelines for Structure, and a Study Guide (Cincinnati: Forward Publications, 1967), A Plcm of Union for the Churches of Christ Uniting Commended to the Churches for Study and Response by the Consultation on Church Union, March 9-13, I970, at St. Louis, Missouri (Princeton, New Jersey: COCU, 1971), A Catholic Perspective (Washington, D.C. : USCC Publications Office, 1970). See also George L. Hunt, Where We Are in Church Union: A Report on tke Present Accomplishments of the Consultation on Church Union (New York: Association Press, 19651, Paul A. Crow, Jr., and Williftm J. Boney, editors, Church Union at Midpoint (New York: Association Press, 1972), Ronald E. Osborn, A Church for These rimes (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 19651, Bela Vasady, Christ's Church-Evangelical, Catholic, and Reformed (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965), Robert McAfee Brown and David H. Scott, editors, The Challenge to Reunion (New York: McGraw Hill, 1963), Lewis S. Mudge, One Church: Cuthlic Md Reformed (Philadelphia: The Westminister Preas, 19631, William J. Wolf, A Plan of Church Union: Catholic, Evangelical, Refonned (Cambridge, Massachusetts : Episcopal Theological Seminary, 1965), J. Robert Nelson, Church Union in Focus (Boston: United Church b, 1967). as well as these primary sources: Digest of the Ploceedings of the Consultation on Church Union for 1962 (Washington, DC,) d 1963 (Oberlin, Ohio), Volumes I and I1 com- bined; Digest of' the Pmdings of the Consultation on Church Union (Princeton, New Jersey), April, 1964, Volume 111; Digest of the Proceedings of the Fourth Meeting on the Consultation on Church Union (Lexington, Kentucky), April 5-8, IW; Volume IV; Digest of tAe Proceedings of the Fifth Meeting of the Consultation on Church Union (Dallas, Texas), May 2-5, 1966, Volume V; Digest of the Proceedings of the Sixth Meeting of the Consultation on Church Union (Cambridge, Massachusetts), May 1-4, 1967, Volume VI; these are printed by the Executive Secretary, Consultation on Church Union, Fanwood, New Jersey; see also Consultation on Church Union, COCU: The Official Reports of tke Four Meetings of the Consultation (Cincinnati: Forward Publications, 1966) and A Preliminary Outline of a Plan of Union, Discussed at the Eighth Meting of the Consultation of Church Union, Athta, Georgia, March 17-20, 1969 (Princeton, New Jersey: CWU, 1969). 33. Martin E. Marty, "Denominations: Surviving the 70'9," The Christian Century XCIV (December 21, 1977), p. 1187. 34. "Melting Pot or Salad Bowl?" The Christian Century XCIV (December 21, 1977), p. 1179. 35. Ibid. 36. It can be read in Leith, Creeds of the Churches, pp. 555-566. 37. A few of the basic books are: Geddes MacGregor, The Vatican Revolution (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), Walter M. Abbott, general editor, The Documents of Vatican II (New York: Guild Press, 1966), HW K~ng, Yves Congar, and Daniel O'Hltnlon, editors, Council Speeches of Vatican II (Glen Rock, New Jersey: Pauliat Press, 1964). Richard Baumann, Ein Luthenurer im VatiRan: Oekwnenische Gespnrche [EW: H. hiewer, 1962), Basil Chrbtopher Butler, The Theology of Vatican II (London: Darton, Longman, and Todd, I%?), Oscar Cullman, Vatican Council II: The New Direction (New York: Harper and Row, 19681, Christopher Hob, The Achievements of Vatican II (New Yo&: Hawthorne Boob, 19671, 304 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY George A. Lindbeck, The Future of Roman Catholic Theology: Vatican IZ: Catalyst for Change (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1970), Warren A. Quanbeck, editor, CKlenge and Response: A Protestant Perspective on the Vatican Council (Minneapolis. Augsburg Publishing House, 1966). E-bund Schlink, After the Council (translated from the German by J. C. Bouman, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1968).