Ancient Faith and American-Born Churches: Dialogues between Christian Traditions, ed. by Ann K. Riggs, Ted A. Campbell, and Gilbert Stafford (review)

ANCIENT FAITH AND AMERICAN-BORN CHURCHES: DIALOGUES BETWEEN CHRISTIAN TRADITIONS. Edited by Ann K. Riggs, Ted A. Campbell, and Gilbert Stafford. Mahwah: Paulist Press, 2006. Pp. ix–312. The metaphor of learning a language has become a useful tool in theological discourse over the past twenty-five years. George Lindbeck’s post-liberal theory of doctrine, for example, has offered participants in ecumenical dialogues a means of reconciling what were thought to be mutually exclusive positions from differing confessional standpoints. In the course of dialogue, sometimes participants have discovered that certain statements, while either wrong or unintelligible from within one’s own confession, become plausible or even necessary when viewed within an alternative linguistic framework. To say, for example, that human beings can never merit salvation makes sense within the Lutheran language of doctrine, even as it clearly contradicts the teaching of Trent. Might it be possible, then, to view varying theological formulations as complementary rather than conflicting? To test this hypothesis, the Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of Churches has set up a laboratory in which scholars from a wide range of Christian confessions enter into dialogue over church-dividing doctrines. The text Ancient Faith and American-Born Churches documents the first round (1996–1999) of what the conveners term a “dialogue of discovery.” In the course of these encounters, Catholics enter into dialogue with Baptists over the meaning of Christian initiation; Anglicans and Seventh Day Adventists discuss the end-times; Lutherans and representatives of the Stone-Campbell churches compare approaches to interpreting scripture. Each chapter takes up a topic and places two, and sometimes three, traditions in conversation. As happens whenever two linguistic communities begin to talk, participants recognize cognates in the other’s language (e.g., padre in Spanish and Italian) but also “false cognates” (e.g., Gift in German means “poison”). When most Protestants speak of “apostolicity ,” they do not mean the transmission of teaching authority from bishop to bishop, but rather fidelity to the apostolic witness contained in scripture . As a means of negotiating these issues of “translation,” the conveners follow a two-step process, lucidly outlined in a chapter by John T. Ford: first, an exposition of the teaching of one’s own church on the topic at hand; second, a response to what the other(s) has said about the approach of his or her tradition. The goal of the first step is not to offer personal theological critique (a rule not strictly adhered to in every case), but book reviews 249 250 the jurist fidelity in expositing one’s own confessional teaching. The second step asks for a response under three headings: (1) resonance, What did you hear in the other’s presentation that could be readily affirmed from your own church’s standpoint?; (2) dissonance, What did you identify as contrary to the understanding of faith in your own tradition?; (3) non-sonance or non-sense, What did the other say that is confusing or incomprehensible to you? This text provides a highly promising methodology for dialogue at all levels of church life. Parish groups, as well diocesan commissions, might consider inviting their partners from other Christian communities to consider a series of meetings that follows the guidelines set forth in this volume . Seminarians and graduate students would also benefit from exploring these rules. The conveners of the Faith and Order Ecclesiology Study Group should be commended for designing a dynamic process that allows for both a fruitful exchange of confessional positions and that sharing of living faith that is at the heart of spiritual ecumenism. James Massa Secretariat for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Washington, DC THE PETRINE MINISTRY: CATHOLICS AND ORTHODOX IN DIALOGUE edited by Walter Kasper. NewYork: The Newman Press, 2006. Reassessing the papal office is one of the most challenging tasks before the theological and canonical communities in beginning to consider the commitments of, now, three popes to take serious account of the “two lungs” of East and West, and to see the first united millennium as significant in our ecclesiological and canonical reforms. This challenge has been exacerbated by Pope John Paul’s invitation to ecumenical partners to...