What is Ecumenicalism or an Ecumenicist?
A commonality between egalitarians and ecumenists is that some who are egalitarian or ecumenical don’t even realize it. As I said in this article, there are many shades (or variations) of egalitarianism. And that is the same with ecumenicalism.
Hence, What is Ecumenicalism, or an Ecumenicist?
In short. The word ecumenical (or ecumenism) comes from the Greek word oikoumenē, which means the inhabited world, or the inhabited earth. It is a movement desirous of a worldwide cooperative unity among churches abroad.
So, there’s your definition. On the surface, unity sounds great, right? But not always. Now for a little commentary.
There is a good unity and a bad unity.
A Good Unity:
It is good and expected for local churches to have an internal union among themselves. It is good for unity within their denomination. And, at times, it can be good for Biblical unity among Christians who may not belong to your denomination. But never at the expense of sound doctrine.
It says in Psalm 133:1, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!”
Jesus prayed in John 17:21, “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.”
In 1 Corinthians 10:17, Paul implored the church of Corinth, “For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.” Especially during a communion service, Christians ought to be unified as one loaf, one body, not what I call the divided, sliced Weber’s bread ecclesiology.
So, unity in the local church is good, as is unity with other like-minded believers.
Though God and His Scriptures are immutable (they’re unchangeable), sadly churches have changed, and for the worse. Let’s move on to the next area: bad unity.
Bad Unity (aka Ecumenicalism or Ecumenism):
Unlike the times when the inspired Scriptures were penned. Today, among our so-called Protestantism, there are over 200 denominations. And since I’m a Baptist, there are dozens of various Baptist denominations.
Rather than an internal union, most of these churches demonstrate a bad unity, practicing an external union with others they ought not (aka ecumenism). Today, many of these unbiblical churches have no problem with Roman Catholicism.
It was the Roman Empire and its Roman Catholic religion (not a church) that pressed early on for this bad unity. And the ecumenical movement as we know it today did not become widely popular until the turn of the Twentieth Century.
And some of these ecumenical churches are affiliated with Mormonism. Today, an all-too-popular venue for ecumenism is Turning Point USA (TPUSA). Their ecumenism has risen to the level of religious pluralism. As well as a growing number of ecumenical conferences that even professing reformers are sharing stages with. I cannot write this paragraph without thinking of the soon-coming Christ is King – America After Trump conference hosted by pastor Joel Webbon. Their keynote speaker is the unregenerate, disgraceful, foul-mouthed, blasphemous, anti-Christ Alex Jones.
All this ecumenism is worse than unbiblical; it is anti-biblical; it is contra scriptura.
The Lord’s elect should embrace an internal Christian unity that is solidified in Scripture and doctrine. And we must do so while opposing this quest for ecumenism.
God warned in Deuteronomy 22:10 (NKJV), “You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together.”
The Lord commanded the church in 2 Corinthians 6:14-18, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”
Paul said in Ephesians 5:11, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.”
Once the Lord brought me to His doctrines of grace and Reformed theology, I learned that evangelizing with an Arminian was, in fact, a form of ecumenism. Arminians need to be evangelized, not evangelized along with.
The Protestant Reformation:
The Lord saved and delivered me out of Rome. And I’m thankful to be in a decent Reformed confessional church today. But I believe a majority of churches in America that claim to be “protestant” are not. I also believe a majority of churches that claim to be “reformed” are not. In this video, I call them Reformed in Name Only (RINO’s).
True Protestants not only separate themselves from Rome and ecumenism, but they also protest against Rome and its Roman Catholicism. And they will protest against professing protestant churches that are unbiblical or ecumenical.
Let’s make the protestant reformation and protesting great again. Semper Reformanda!
This post is part of a What Is series I’m working on.
Preaching Repent or Perish @ Target during the pandemic lockdown 🎯
Last night in less than thirty seconds, Mike Pence taught over fifty million television viewers his unbiblical soteriology – How should Christ’s bride respond?
Protected: Video: Angry “Christian” woman called me an “ego maniac” and “very offensive” for preaching the Gospel, she then calls the police (unedited version, available only for like-minded brethren)
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Bill Rhetts
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Though the subject Protestantism was only a portion of this blog post. I spent some time revisiting the word before ending the post that way. I copy & pasted these from a couple of many readings.
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“The Protestant Principle. A phrase popularized by Paul Tillich. It is a commentary on the first commandment: “You shall have no other gods before me,” a protest against idolatry, or the worship of “false gods.” The human temptation is always to worship as absolute that which is only relative (political party, nation, church), thus rendering it a rival “god” to the true God.”
P. Tillich, Systematic Theology, vol. 3 (1963); and The Protestant Era (1948).
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ROBERT MCAFEE BROWN
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Robert McAfee Brown, “Protestant Principle,” in Encyclopedia of the Reformed Faith (Louisville, KY; Edinburgh: Westminster/John Knox Press; Saint Andrew Press, 1992), 305.
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PROTESTANTISM The theological and ecclesiastical movements that arose in the sixteenth century in protest against Roman Catholicism. Major tenets: (1) the material principle of justification by God’s grace alone accomplished through the work of Christ alone and appropriated by faith alone; and (2) the formal principle of sola Scriptura (“Scripture alone”) that the Bible alone is the supreme authority for theology and church practice. Originally developed as several diverse yet related reformations against Roman Catholicism (Lutheran, Reformed, Anglican, and Anabaptist), Protestantism has spawned other movements (e.g., Baptist, Methodist / Wesleyan, Pentecostal). It has also spread missionally into most corners of the globe. See also authority of Scripture; justification; Roman Catholicism; solas of Protestantism.
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Gregg R. Allison, “Protestantism,” in The Baker Compact Dictionary of Theological Terms (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books: A Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2016), 174–175.
Some additional similar words related to the Greek word oikoumenikós.
The original Greek root word, oikos, means “house,” and that grew into the word oikoumenikós, which means “the entire world.” Today it most often refers to bringing people of diverse Christian religions together; however, an ecumenical service might bring Christians, Jews, and Muslims together under one roof.
FAMILY
1. oikos (οἰ̂κος, 3624) signifies (a) “a dwelling, a house” (akin to oikeo, to dwell); (b) “a household, family,” translated “family” in 1 Tim. 5:4, RV, for KJV, “at home.” See HOME, HOUSE, HOUSEHOLD, TEMPLE.
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W. E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, and William White Jr., Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 1996), 225.
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Noun: οἰκουμένη (oikoumenē), GK 3876 (S 3625), 15×. oikoumenē is used in the NT to refer to the “inhabited earth” rather than the whole globe
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William D. Mounce, Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006), 808.
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3864 οἰκία (oikia), ας (as), ἡ (hē): n.fem.; ≡ DBLHebr 1074; Str 3614; TDNT 5.131—1. LN 7.3 house, a building (Mt 2:11; 7:24–27); 2. LN 10.8 family, related by blood, marriage, slave-master relationships, or worker-boss (Mt 5:15; Mk 6:4); 3. LN 57.21 property, possessions (Mk 12:40; Lk 20:47)
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James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).
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Earth Strong’s Greek #3625
2. oikoumene (οἰκουμένη, 3625), the present participle, passive voice, of oikeo, “to dwell, inhabit,” denotes the “inhabited earth.”
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World Strong’s Greek #1755
3. oikoumene (οἰκουμένη, 3625), “the inhabited earth” (see EARTH, No. 2), is used (a) of the whole inhabited world, Matt. 24:14; Luke 4:5; 21:26; Rom. 10:18; Heb. 1:6; Rev. 3:10; 16:14; by metonymy, of its inhabitants, Acts 17:31; Rev. 12:9; (b) of the Roman Empire, the world as viewed by the writer or speaker, Luke 2:1; Acts 11:28; 24:5; by metonymy, of its inhabitants, Acts 17:6; 19:27; (c) the inhabited world in a coming age, Heb. 2:5.¶
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W. E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, and William White Jr., Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 1996), 191–685.
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3876 οἰκουμένη (oikoumenē), ης (ēs), ἡ (hē): n.fem.; ≡ Str 3625; TDNT 5.157—1. LN 1.39 earth, the world (Lk 4:5; Ro 10:18); 2. LN 1.83 empire, the entire Roman world (Ac 11:28; 17:6; 24:5; Lk 2:1); 3. LN 9.22 people, humankind (Lk 21:26; Ac 17:31; Rev 3:10; 12:9)
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James Swanson, Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament) (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).
ECUMENISM: I belong to the “others are skeptical or even hostile toward it” camp.
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“Reformed churches are divided in their attitude toward the ecumenical movement. While the majority participate with great openness and can be considered to be a driving ecumenical force, others are skeptical or even hostile toward it. Basic for the Reformed understanding of ecumenism is that the Reformers did not intend to found a new church but sought reform of the whole church. Reformed churches open to the ecumenical movement see it as an opportunity to resume the dialogue with other churches that was prematurely disrupted in the sixteenth century. In a certain sense, the ecumenical movement is the fulfillment of the deepest intentions of the Reformation.”
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Lukas Vischer, “Ecumenism,” in Encyclopedia of the Reformed Faith (Louisville, KY; Edinburgh: Westminster/John Knox Press; Saint Andrew Press, 1992), 114
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I belong to the “suspicious” camp, and ecumenists hate me for it.
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“Evangelicals are often suspicious of contemporary ecumenism (World Council of Churches, Catholic-Orthodox-Protestant dialogues) because of its perceived doctrinal and evangelistic weaknesses and its liberal political ideology.”
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Gregg R. Allison, “Ecumenism,” in The Baker Compact Dictionary of Theological Terms (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books: A Division of Baker Publishing Group, 2016), 68.