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LutheranScholar
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So, what about it? The church was under the authority of a single Synod then. Now, Christians are so divided and each so convinced of the correctness of their own position, the authority wielded in the Apostolic Age would have zero relevance today.
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LutheranScholar
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No, not impossible. A pan- Lutheran council would be critical for such an event to occur and for that to be, certain standards would have to be maintained, objections from the liberal and conservative branches of Lutheranism overcome and the very issues to be discussed in such a Synod would have to be ratified beforehand.
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LutheranScholar
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I’m sure they could easily buffer their arguments from Scripture alone. As Martin Luther is considered a Doctor of our church, his name and quotations from his works would be invoked. That’s simply how it is.
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MaryT777
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Do you think having an Intra Lutheran conference first would be beneficial so you could provide a united front to the Ecumenical conference?
How would we go about giving votes to each individual Lutheran Synod, LCMS, ELCA WELS and other variations of Lutheranism?
That is the tricky issue.
The same would be true of other non Catholic denoms of course but since you are Lutheran I use Lutheranism as an example.
Mary.
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LutheranScholar
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I think one of the most basic and foundational questions would be this: " why do we need a Council? We’re already united to our brothers and sisters in Christ by the Holy Spirit given in baptism." Many Lutherans, indeed many Protestants in general feel a basic independence that they would feel a binding council would threaten. " We have the Seven Ecumenical Councils. That’s enough. Now, we can wait until Jesus returns to set up His Kingdom visibly on Earth and we can rejoice in the varieties of Christianity that have sprung up to accommodate each according to his or her need." Never mind that so many of these " varieties" have drifted so far into the ways of the world and from the way of Life that the Reformers, the Early Church Fathers and the Apostles themselves would fail to recognize their movements as Christian.
No, the varieties of Lutherans out there would have to have endless series of discussions and resolutions before any kind of united front could be presented. Unity’s a laudable goal, but to paraphrase a quote from an esteemed Anglican scholar, " Protestants are a motley crew." Perhaps a descent of the Holy Spirit like to that which was recorded at the first Pentecost could bring our spiritual kin together, but nothing less than a miracle could bring that about.
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Starwarsfan2
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Maybe 50 for the lwf , 25 for the ilc , and celc , and then 5 for the independent ones like the North American Lutheran , and norweigian Luther mission .
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brittrossiter
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Sadly, even getting just the Orthodox bishops to even agree to meet with each other is proving to be a challenge.Hmmm, I think you’re being a tad optimistic there.There are many challenges/barriers to the goal of any post-schism council being counted as ecumenical by both Catholics and Orthodox.
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exnihilo
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Being under the authority of the Church is what places you within the Church. There were disagreements from the beginning and some who chose to ignore the authority of the Church. That didn’t invalidate the authority of the Church in the Apostolic Age. The division of Christians doesn’t make authority impractical. It just indicates some have abandoned that authority.
I would say unity is a divine command. Jesus Himself prays for it and the Epistles also instruct us to be one.
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Peter_J
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Ah, I think I misunderstood your earlier post a bit. So if I understand you, the criticism wouldn’t apply (or perhaps would but only to a lesser extent) to the Council of Nicea. That is, it is specifically opposing the idea of a “reunion council” between different communions?
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Peter_J
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Indeed. Certainly more of a challenge than it is for Roman Catholic bishops.Sadly, even getting just the Orthodox bishops to even agree to meet with each other is proving to be a challenge.
I think it’s easier for people to forget that the papacy has both positives and negatives.
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Peter_J
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We all can.
(Okay, I know I’m not saying much that’s worthwhile there, I just wanted to get in on the above sentiment.
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Starwarsfan2
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mostly russian bishops if i understand correctly.Sadly, even getting just the Orthodox bishops to even agree to meet with each other is proving to be a challenge.
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Peter_J
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Thanks, Jon.
To be honest, I wish you would respond to some of my posts on other threads on this forum, but regardlessly I’ll say that I’m glad that we agree here. 
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Vic_Taltrees_UK
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- Combatting clericalism including clericalism by proxy (putting clergy on a pedestal which can be “exploited” in some forms of argument)
- Catechesis, catechesis and more catechesis.
How can uncatechised bishops mobilise uncatechised laity to evangelise?
The world is almost beyond hunger now, and so are many Catholics.
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pablope
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Okay…can you cite an example…of where the Scripture stated or decided on what is the correct interpretation on any of the four EC’s you accept?
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benjamindt
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I’m sorry, I’d think you’d need to be in communion with Rome in order to have anything to do with a council…
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benjamindt
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i’m still very confused. i don’t pretend to be able to tell Lutherans what they believe or what their “teachings” are, so why is a Lutheran telling the Catholic Church what to accept or not to.
I mean no offense to any persons, it is just the idea that a protestant trying to “correct” the Catholic Church’s teachings seems at best laughable. I get the differences, but I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there will never be an ecumenical council that in anyway denies what has already been established as infallible Church teaching, so if you can’t even get past accepting all 21 councils, what sense is there of moving on?
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benjamindt
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I think many people are making a false assumption that councils are meant to be arbitrations between the Church and its apostates in order to make some compromise to allow them back in without capitulating to the authority of the Church which comes directly from Christ.
Councils are meant to clear up misunderstandings, condemn heresies and generally unite the Church in teaching, as far as I can tell.
We really don’t need a council to reunite the protestants with the Church, you can reunite yourself, can you not? I mean if you’re not willing to renounce Apostasy Theory and come into the Church, what makes anyone think that all 45,000 or so Protestant sects are going to come into the fold?
Perhaps I’ve gotten all of this backwards and if I have, I apologize in advance for my ignorance and stupidity.
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