www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life The Christian East & West Reunion - a different take

I have been pouring over the very long thread �11 pages now on �are we an impediment to reunion� (I was going to print it out but saw that it would be over 70 pages!) and mulling over the other thread on east vs. west and had a new thought.

When Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the empire, the Christian communities were diverse, divided and always arguing. The emperors over the centuries tried over and over to �unify� the Christians, and tried many different tactics from force to compromise. I wonder if we could learn a lesson from history. The techniques used to unify didn�t work then. And considering all the different gatherings of Christian leaders, they haven't been able to do it on their own. Perhaps we need to look to new techniques for resolving conflict when we talk about �reunion� (though it seems its still a matter of �union� without the �re�.

Christians need to step back from all the details, the doctrinal disagreements, the efforts to grab and/or maintain power, each individual history of forced conversion or persecution. (My head is spinning from trying to read about it all)

Imagine a huge well lit conference hall. I have this vision of a neutral highly skilled mediator or team of mediators with all the leaders or representatives of the various churches, and representatives of the laity from those churches brought together in that hall. Each �faction� would have their own table -- all tables arranged in a circle and there would be the aides, the runners those that gather information for the parties, the translators.

And they could hash it all out.

Mediators are good at helping parties to a dispute identify areas of agreement and of disagreement of helping parties to identify their BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement). A favorite story of how mediation works is the two people fighting over an orange: seemingly a zero sum situation. But the mediator talks to both sides and helps them to see that where one party wants the peel to make orange cake, the other party wants the pulp to make juice. Mediation also does not mean achieving the absence of conflict but instead means developing the tools to manage conflict. (Absence of conflict is an unreal state, it exists no where on this earth.)

Well just a thought. I feel that the Protestants too need to be brought into this discussion of reunion, is that an improper feeling on my part?

Has anyone here read much on the history of Byzantium? I found John Julius Norwich�s three volume treatise on Byzantium excellent reading. I ploughed through all three volumes then picked up Treadgold�s :A Hisotry of the Byzantine State and Society � only one volume but rather impenetrable. I am only a third of the way through and I started reading it over a year ago�.

Patriarch Athenagoras had an idea: find a suitable island, build a large and comfortable conference center, and send all the theologians there. Then, while the theologians are absent, the Churches can unite without the theologians yelling and screaming. Sounds like fun!


Incognitus

Dear Incognitus and Nonna,

Some great ideas.

Why not do what some village did when the Cardinals needed to elect a new pope and dragged it on for years? Lock them all in a room, with one bathroom, and enough food and drink for a week maximum. No extra heat or cooling. I wonder how long it would take to calibrate the Churches into a reunified statement of faith?

When Elder Isidore of New Gethsemane Hermitage was a young monk, he was the cell-attendent for Archimandrite Anthony. Once when serving tea for a meeting between the Archimandrite and Metropolitan Philaret, he overheard them talking about a coming meeting between the Orthodox and RC hierarchs.

The Metropolitan was asking the Archimandrite about the difficulties of selecting who would be in the presiding chair, as neither Orthodox or RCS would likely want to concede.

Elder Isidore, while pouring tea, said "It's easy. The Mother of God - that's who will be first. Leave the presiding chair empty - it will belong to the Mother of God." Both marvelled at the wisdom of the then young monk Isidore.
DD