The Ecumenical Letters 5

Read Ben’s letter here.

Ben,

Firstly, I would like to thank you for your advice in regards to my role within my own church. As you stated, “I have learned much from keeping my yap shut,” I have found that to be an excellent strategy for learning in virtually every discipline. It’s no surprise to me that it holds true yet again, but often times it’s the simplest advice that I overlook, as I often mistake overcomplication as diligence. As someone who is new to Christianity (in a truly believing, practicing sense) I have been overcome with the zeal that naturally accompanies being new to something. That zeal is only magnified by the fact that this is the ultimate thing - the first, last, and most important pursuit of all. And yes, I have also found there to be a lot of unknown from those whose job it is to know, but nonetheless, my zeal can blind me to the proper observance of my elders and the lessons (good or bad) that I may take from them. In short, it was good advice for me to hear.

I was quite surprised to hear your thoughts on the election of Pope Leo, and the possibilities for division within the Catholic church had someone else been chosen. Admittedly I had no idea of such friction, and although I’m quite interested to learn more, those are questions for another time. In any case, I’m glad that the Catholic church’s decision has avoided conflict. Christendom certainly needs no more internal battles to fight.

To your question on authority, it is an important one in my world. I heard Bishop Robert Barron speak on the trend of the 20th century Christianity conforming to, or becoming a reflection of, the culture at large. You don’t need to have a doctorate in theology to see that American Protestantism is as guilty of that as any other tradition out there. Our secular “anything goes, make your own rules,” culture has certainly taken its toll on our religion. As Barron alluded to, we have deified freedom in a way, even turned it into a vice. In my view, sola scriptura, especially in the modern Protestant layman’s interpration, is a result of that. Sola scriptura is not a belief that I hold to, perhaps that’s my brief Methodist upbringing showing its roots, who knows. Yet still, even though I don’t agree, I think that even that doctrine of scripture alone has been corrupted. Some Protestants have seemed to intrepret it as a reason to entirely disregard Church tradition, along with the writings of the Church fathers and the many great saints and thinkers of our past. John Calvin, for example, was an avid reader of Saint Augustine and quoted him more than anyone else. Of course, Calvin championed sola scriptura, but he certainly didn’t take it to mean that one couldn’t learn from past Christians and the early church. It seems that some of my Protestant brothers have taken this doctrine to justify an “every man for himself” interpretation of The Bible. I don’t believe classical Protestantism quite agrees with this approach.

Now that my extremely limited knowledge of theological history has been put on full display, allow me to get on to my actual point. I believe that this modern interpretation of sola scriptura has eroded the authority in a lot of modern Protestantism. Whether it be the episcoposy of an Anglican/Episcopalian/Methodist church, or the elders of a Presbyterian Church, many Protestant traditions do have the means for an authoritative church government, and strong leadership. It seems to me that the relatively recent Protestant divides along conservative and liberal political lines and the splintering of denominations as a result has wreaked havoc on those systems of authority. My hope is that a mending of those fences in the Protestant world would restore the authority of those church governments, putting our leaders in a better position to treat with Rome, as well as the Eastern Orthodox, to further our quest for Christian unity.

That is certainly enough of my rambling for one letter. I leave you with one question, my friend. Since there is quite literally no end to the the theological debates and discussions to be had, I think it’s also important for us to keep the practical in mind as well. So I ask you, what might be a cultural victory you would most like to see as a result of a Catholic/Protestant alliance in the short term?

I remain in His praise,

Fairbairn