While the Roman Catholic church has not been afflicted in the same manner by cults, it has had some problems of its own. The nineteenth century found the church facing a serious attack by theo logical liberals in Europe. Much of the attack cen tered around scientific subjects and historical criti- cism. The problem was not so severe or serious in the United States. Issues of more recent import within the Roman church have been questions concerning the place o f laymen in the church’s life, the marriage of priests, the relaxing of regu lations governing the eating of meat on certain days, and the use of the vernacular in church services. Added to these have been the recent at tempts on the part of certain priests to challenge the authority of the hierarchy in matters of polity, discipline, and direction. Some have gone so far as to attempt to unionize the priests in order to offset some of this authority and to provide more power for the lower echelons of the clerical order. Trouble has flared in some of the Catholic institu tions of higher learning where the authority and jurisdiction of the church as represented by the local administration have been called into serious question. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries have witnessed the passage of three very important papal decrees. The first was the announcement in 1854 of the immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary. This is a declaration of the church’s belief that Mary was born without original sin. The second was the declaration of papal infallibility in 1870. Contrary to the thinking of many Protes tants, this does not mean that the pope is always infallible ; it refers to those times when he is speak ing officially on behalf of the church. The third was the announcement of Mary’s assumption in 1950. This is a declaration that Mary was taken bodily into heaven. Presently the church appears to be pushing the concept o f Mary as co-redeemer. This does not mean that the church looks upon her as Saviour in the same way that Jesus Christ is re garded. However, it does make her more prominent than before and thereby decreases to that extent the importance of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. In considering these as well as other significant pro nouncements of the Roman church, it must be borne in mind that these decisions and decrees are not made suddenly or unexpectedly. The Roman church learned through many centuries the value of mak ing haste slowly. Such declarations are not made until they have been generally accepted by the bulk of the church for a long period of time. Their issu ance comes as no surprise to members of the church, because they have been expecting them for a long time, and the church has laid careful groundwork so that objections will be kept to a minimum.
Probably the outstanding religious phenomenon of the last two centuries has been the growth of the ecumenical movement. From the very begin ning of Christian history there has been a desire for outward union. Even when the church was fragmented by the reformation, some of the re formers hoped that they could enjoy union among themselves. While this hope was doomed to dis appointment, it was raised again in the early nineteenth century in England. None of the at tempts made in that century, however, was endur ing. The beginning of the present ecumenical move ment may be traced to 1910 in Edinburgh. A con stitution was drawn up for the movement in 1938, and the World Council of Churches was established at Amsterdam in 1948. That meeting laid greater emphasis upon social gospel activities than upon purely spiritual concerns. While evangelism was recognized as the first task of the church, it was not evangelism in the conservative sense of the term. Other major interests were ecumenical re lief, ecumenical education, and endeavors to in crease peace and abolish war. The Evanston meet ing o f 1954 was significant because it emphasized the disparity within the outward framework of union. Here the differences between the. churches and national groups were clearly evident. The 1961 meeting at New Delhi was significant because it witnessed the admission of the Russian Orthodox Church to the Council, thus, for the first time, giv ing the balance of power to non-Protestant Chris tianity. Again, the differences between the mem bers were evident, and it was obvious even to the most devoted follower of ecumenicity that there are significant obstacles to a real union. Undoubtedly the largest obstacle to ecumeni city is the large group of theologically conserva tive churches which have not joined the Council and have no intention of doing so. They have held back because they fear that co-operation will de mand compromise. Furthermore, the Council does not meet the requirements of a New Testament church because it includes those who do not hold the faith. Moreover, the Council in their judg ment poses a threat to their autonomy and religious liberty. This is evident from the actions of one of the affiliated organizations, the National Coun cil of Churches, which has infringed upon many rights of Bible-believing churches. Another reason that conservative churches are not interested is that the Council is not necessary to their success ful ministry; it cannot add anything that would make them more spiritual or more a church. Per haps, their objections may be summed up in a sim ple statement that the Council offers the probabil ity of a considerable serious loss without the prom ise of any real gain for a theological conservative. BH
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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