A Tale of Two Images

The icon on the left of Peter and Andrew embracing, "The Holy Brother Apostles," was presented by Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras to Pope Paul VI on the occasion of their meeting in Jerusalem on January 5, 1964 in the midst of the Second Vatican Council (1963-65). The photo on the right is from the meeting of Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in Istanbul this past weekend, the latest in a series of encouraging contacts between the two communions divided since the schism of 1054. Those who pray and work for the unity of Christ's church await future chapters of this tale in hope.

New publication--"James Wm. McClendon, Jr.'s Narrative Christology in Ecumenical/Ecclesiological Perspective"

The November 2014 issue of the Pacific Journal for Baptist Research (vol. 9, no. 2) includes my article "James Wm. McClendon, Jr.'s Narrative Christology in Ecumenical/Ecclesiological Perspective," The issue in its entirety is available online in PDF (click on hyperlink above); the abstract for the article follows:

ABSTRACT

The reception of Baptist theologian James Wm. McClendon, Jr.’s proposal of a “two-narrative” Christology has focused on its relation to the Chalcedonian “two-natures” Christology. While not ignoring this question, this article addresses the ecumenical and ecclesiological implications of McClendon’s Christology by turning to a pair of different questions. First, what does McClendon’s seemingly non-Chalcedonian Christology look like when viewed through the lenses of the attention bilateral ecumenical dialogue has given to Christology as central to efforts toward confessing “one faith,” in particular in light of the progress in overcoming the fifth-century Christological divisions made in the ecumenical dialogues between the non-Chalcedonian churches of the East and Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches during the past four decades? Second, what are the ecumenical implications of McClendon’s suggestion of a link between his two-narrative Christology and ecclesiology?