Chats Under a Hot Tin Roof

As the temperature soared over 90DEG in Montreal last week, the 500 delegates and visitors to the fourth Faith and Or der Conference met for their general sessions in the ovenlike atmosphere of McGill University's metal-covered winter stadium. Delegates called the meetings "chats under a hot tin roof."

The chats were edgy. The work of the conference, which was sponsored by the World Council of Churches, is with the bedrock problems that stand in the way of Christian unity--the meaning of Baptism, of the Eucharist, of the nature of the church and its ministry. Unanimity on these issues is hard to reach. "Faith and Order is a risky business," admitted Methodist Theologian Albert Outler of Texas' Perkins School of Theology. "We are never farther away than two bigots from disruption or three diehards from a deadlock."

Talking to Rome. Their conclusions may be tentative, but Faith and Order Conferences rank among the landmarks of the ecumenical century. Out of the first two, in 1927 and 1937, grew the World Council of Churches; all have created a climate of opinion in which serious talk about Christian unity becomes possible. The fourth conference, carrying on the dialogue of the third one, at Lund in 1952, proved more ecumenical, and less Protestant-dominated, than ever. Among representatives of 138 of the World Council's 201 mem ber churches was the first full dele gation of Orthodox theologians: there were 51 of them, including eight from Russia. Also present were 20 Roman Catholic observers--including five appointed by the Vatican--and Montreal's Paul-Emile Cardinal Leger delivered one of the major addresses.

The delegates were clearly impressed by the changes wrought in Roman Catholicism during the Papacy of John XXIII. Anglican Bishop Oliver Tomkins of Bristol, the Conference's presiding officer, declared that there was now the possibility of "a positive and fruitful dialogue" between Rome and other confessions. The Roman guests agreed, and Toronto's Father Gregory Baum even admitted that there was no dogmatic barrier to Rome's joining the World Council--although such a move now might be misunderstood by both Catholics and Protestants.

Protestants on Tradition. The dialogue with Rome has contributed to a new concern of Faith and Order's ec umenical theologians--the nature and scope of Christian tradition. Both Rome and Orthodoxy accept apostolic tradition as well as scripture as a fount of Divine Revelation; virtually all Protestants follow the rule of sola scriptura --the Bible alone as the repository of God's message. Yet much of the talk at the Conference was devoted to the way tradition has shaped man's interpretation of the Bible. One probable consequence of this new concern: a re-examination by Protestant theologians of Scriptural texts about Mary, to study the origin of Catholic and Orthodox teachings about the Mother of God.

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