Fr. Radu Bordeianu, Ph.D.: The (False) Unity We Seek

 

Thus, the first theological question related to ecumenism has to be an ecclesiological one: how do Orthodox understand the relationship between the Orthodox Church and the church described in the Creed as the Una Sancta, and what does that understanding mean for the ecclesial status of other Christian Churches? In other words, is the Body of Christ limited to Christians belonging to just one denomination—in this case, Orthodoxy—or can various denominations be considered as distinct members of the same Body of Christ? Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, Orthodoxy does not have an authoritative position on this question. In fact, Orthodox theologians and church representatives have espoused two main views of Christian unity, based on two different understandings of the boundaries of the church, broad and strict, respectively.

First and foremost, the official position of all autocephalous Orthodox churches and the view of most contemporary theologians is that Orthodoxy needs to engage in dialogue with other churches, in whom God’s grace and work of salvation are present. Accordingly, all those baptized with water in the name of the Trinity are validly baptized members of the Una Sancta. Were such persons to convert to Orthodoxy, they would not need to be baptized. If in Baptism we unite ourselves with Christ and become members of his Body, then all baptized Christians are united in their mutual identity with Christ. Consequently, Orthodox theologians agree with the two external marks of participation in the church, which were identified at the Third Assembly of the WCC in New Delhi (1961): baptism in Jesus Christ and confession of him as Lord and Saviour (Kinnamon 2003, 153).

The theological presupposition of recognizing the validity of non-Orthodox baptisms is that the grace of God is at work fully in the Orthodox Church, which represents the fullness of the Una Sancta, but also in other churches, which share in that fullness to different degrees. As will be shown later, this presupposition is worded differently by various Orthodox theologians, with various (and even conflicting) emphases. But the basic principle stays the same: Orthodoxy represents the fullness of the church.

- “The Unity We Seek,” by Fr. Radu Bordeianu, Ph.D., from The Oxford Handbook of Ecumenical Studies, edited by Geoffrey Wainwright and Paul McPartlan (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021), pp. 578-579.

Fr. Radu is Assistant Priest at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church (GOA) in Pittsburgh, PA, and Professor/Director of Graduate Studies at Duquesne University.