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Standing Against The Ecumenical Monoculture

Standing Against The Ecumenical Monoculture

Standing Against The Ecumenical Monoculture

Standing Against The Ecumenical Monoculture

God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform; He plants his footsteps in the sea, And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines Of never failing skill He treasures up his bright designs, And works his sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints fresh courage take, The clouds ye so much dread Are big with mercy, and shall break In blessings on your head.

Judge not the LORD by feeble sense, But trust him for his grace; Behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast, Unfolding every hour; The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flow’r.

Blind unbelief is sure to err, And scan his work in vain; GOD is his own interpreter, And he will make it plain.

--William Cowper

Saturday, October 29, 2005

 

What is the ecumenical monoculture?

My first, posts will answer two fundamental questions about the ecumenical monoculture. First, what is the ecumenical monoculture? Second, why should you stand against it? And finally I will propose one question about the ecumenical monoculture; are you standing against the ecumenical monoculture?

What is the ecumenical monoculture?

  • The issue of ecumenism exists on two fronts; first in dealing with interdenominational unity among Christian churches or denominations and secondly dealing with the worldwide unity among all religions. The monoculture is the result of ecumenism. Through tolerance and improved interfaith understanding a single, homogeneous culture without diversity or dissension forms.
  • You must be careful not to minimize the inherent threat contained within interdenominational unity. Denominations have doctrinal differences for a reason. Many of these differences are of such an antithetical nature that they cannot be reconciled. For example: the salvation by grace through faith alone of the protestant reformers could not be reconciled to the salvation obtained by and preserved by good works of the Catholic church. They could not reconcile it then and it cannot be reconciled now, even as there are those presently trying to do so. (A brief disclaimer. The proponents of the monoculure would quickly label such a statement as untolerant, and it may be. I have many close friends of varying faiths and denominations who would assert, as strongly as I, that our truth claims are irreconcilable. This does not prevent friendship and love. The untolerant tolerance of the ecumenical monoculture, however, cannot tolerate “agreeing to disagree,” everyone must conform to the monoculture.)
  • The truth claim, or lack there of, of the ecumenical monoculture is postmodern in nature, pragmatic in use, and self-contradictory in essence. It is postmodern in nature in so much as the basic assertion of postmodernism is that truth is a fabrication of the human mind; everyone determines their own reality; and therefore no one has the truth. It is pragmatic in use in that the consequences of an action justify the action itself; however, in postmodernism the individual determines their own truth and can therefore justify both the consequence(s) and the action(s) independent of one another. It is self-contradictory in essence given the assertion that “truth is a fabrication of the human mind; everyone determines their own reality; and therefore no one has the truth.” This truth claim, while a complete fabrication of the human mind, is determined for all and possessed by all resulting in the inherent self-contradiction and the ecumenical monoculture.