In my interview on Gospel Simplicity, I shared that there isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t long for and dream about the unity of the church. I really mean that.
As substack exists partially to write down daydreams, I thought I might share a dream for what reunion of the church would look like. I’ll defend the claims made here in subsequent posts, but for now I just want to lay out the vision.
A Renewed Catholic Church
In the church where the Reformation has succeeded, we would all come under the Bishop of Rome as the chief pastor of the church. He would be akin to an archbishop of a province, but of the whole church. Papal infallibility would be rejected, as would magisterial infallibility.
In the church of a united future, we would rethink the past 1000 years of Christian theology and start right back to where the Great Schism happened. We would ask ourselves where things went wrong. How did this happen? Are the definitions of the past 1000 years really necessary?
In a united Catholic Church of the future, we would allow for the diversity of Eucharistic views within the range of what existed among the orthodox fathers: we would allow that the bread and wine may (or may not) remain, but insist that a) the body and blood of Christ is objectively present, such that what one receives in the Eucharist is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Christ, and b) we would maintain the mass is a sacrifice, in the sense that it re-presents the one, perfect sacrifice of Christ (without requiring any other sense of the word “sacrifice”)
In a united Catholic Church of the future, we would allow that there is some form of post-mortem cleansing for souls, but reject the system of merit that sees any retributive punishment left to endure for those in Christ.
In a united Catholic Church of the future, we would allow for a moderate version of saintly intercession—truly limiting our prayers to the saints in terms of requesting their intercession.
In a united Catholic Church of the future, we would maintain moderate icon veneration, but reject any modes of icon veneration that treat the icon as a proxy for what they mediate—using them as catalysts towards heaven.
In a united Catholic Church of the future, we would reject indulgences, but maintain confession and absolution as well as the medicinal use of penance.
In a united Catholic Church of the future, we would dogmatize a male-only presbytery and episcopate while dogmatically pursuing venues for women to lead and flourish in using their gifts for the good of the church (e.g., in healing, non-preaching modes of teaching, anointing of the sick, philosophy, theology, etcetera).
In a united Catholic Church of the future, we would hold to Sola Apostolica and thus keep ourselves accountable and submissive to that which the prophets and apostles actually taught us, always seeking to make sure that we have understood them faithfully and transmitted their teachings reliably.
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And so, perhaps a united Catholic Church of the future, for Anglicans, requires the renewal of Anglicanism. Perhaps, if orthodox Anglicanism could look like the above, we would make progress towards the unity of the church.
The phrase, "reveal her unity", in the Eucharistic prayer, always strikes me.
Gospel Simplicity?! I know that guy.