Date of Award
4-1-2000
Document Type
Seminar Paper
Degree Name
Master of Sacred Theology (STM)
Department
Historical Theology
Abstract
The thesis of this paper is that the approach to the problem of intercommunion taken by the Commission on Faith and Order demonstrates a foundational change in the hermeneutical approach taken by the Commission in doing theology. This conclusion is suggested as an answer to the question: What caused the shift in Faith and Order's study and discussion of intercommunion from one that seeks agreement among doctrinal differences and difficulties to a pluralistic approach which embraces all perspectives as complimentary and mutually affirming? The significance of the hermeneutical shift is this: the seeming theological convergence on intercommunion has come at the expense of churches seeking agreement in truth. Differences in doctrine regarding the Lord's Supper were once thought to be divisive and the challenge was seen to be how they may be corrected and overcome by churches together seeking that truth. Now, however, the differences in doctrine and practice, though they still exist between churches, are no longer held to be church dividing, at least from the perspective of the Commission on Faith and Order as it has developed its position on intercommunion.
Recommended Citation
Buetow, Mark, "The Study of Intercommunion 1951-1971 : Evidence of a Hermeneutical Shift in Faith and Order" (2000). Master of Sacred Theology Seminar Papers. 62.
https://scholar.csl.edu/stmsp/62
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