The church and its function in society

Front matter

Class

Book ,V 5 3 _

Gof^'fight If a W v -%

Part 1

THE CHURCH AND THE CHURCHES by Dr. W. A. Visser’t Hooft

Foreword 7

I. The Various Doctrinal Conceptions of the

Church 11

II. The Churches in History 47

III. The Church as an Ecumenical Society 76

Part II

THE FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH IN SOCIETY by Dr. J. H. Oldham

IV. The Predicament of the Church 91

V. The Church: Some Necessary Distinctions 101

VI. The Church and the World 108

Contents

VII. The Functions of the Church 140

VIII. The Nature of the Corporate Life 162

IX. The Witness and Action of the Church in the

Corporate Life 174

X. The Witness and Action of the Church as an

Organized Society 191

XI. The Spring of Christian Action 217

THE OCCASION AND THE SETTING by Dr. J. H. Oldham

F or those who hold, or are held by, the Christian faith, and who are moved by Christian compassion for the distresses, frustrations and anxieties of mankind, no more momentous question can be posed than that which asks how the church can bear its witness, fulfill its mission, and be the messenger of God’s redeeming mercy to the world. The assembling together at Oxford of representa¬ tives of the church from all parts of the world to examine this question and to face this responsibility is an occasion that must quicken hope. The fruitfulness of the delibera¬ tions depends, however, on the measure in which the issues at stake are apprehended in their true gravity. It is a vital question whether the conference deals with them at a super¬ ficial level, or pierces to their real depths.

There is a widespread sense, which finds expression in the writings and utterances of many serious thinkers, Christian and non-Christian, that we stand today at one of the major turning points in history. The basic assum ptions which ha ve hitherto given meaning to existence, an d unity and stability to civilization, have lost their unques¬ tioned validity. An epoch in the life of mankind is drawin g to a cl ose, and we are on the threshold of a new age in which conceptions of life that are still struggling in the womb of time will rule men’s minds and direct their con¬ duct. We are not concerned here to inquire how far and in what sense these assertions are true. It is not the task of the conference at Oxford to attempt to formulate a philosophy of history. What is important for our present pur¬ pose is the indubitable fact that we live in the midst of profound and far-reaching change. The relative stability of the world which existed before the war has gone. The foundations of human society are quivering. The fact itself none will dispute, but our minds become dulled by familiarity to its significance. We give it our indolent assent, and contentedly resume the tenor of our habitual attitudes. There can, however, be no true wrestling with the realities of the contemporary situation except in so far as we allow their meaning to break through the crust of our customary thinking into those deeper levels of our being in which our experience is absorbed and organized, so that there will take place progressively, and to a large extent subconsciously, a reconstruction of our whole out¬ look and a reorientation of our fundamental attitudes.

An openness of the mind and of the whole being to the realities of the world in which the church must today fulfill her mission is essential if deliberations are to be fruitful. For this receptivity will determine the scale and propor¬ tion of what is thought and said and done, and set the meas¬ ure of our desires and expectations. It will make all the difference to the discussions whether the assumption, con¬ scious or unexpressed, is that all that is needed to enable the church to fulfill its mission is an extension and im¬ provement of its present organization, activities and metlu ods; or whether we are willing that these familiar forms give place, if God so will, to others more adequate to meet the needs of the present time, and are ready to allow the stream of Christian life to break out in fresh ways and create for itself new channels of expression. It is of no small moment whether, when we speak of the church, we picture to ourselves the church as we have hitherto known it, or whether we think in trustful expectancy of the church

The Occasion and the Setting 3

which it is in God’s power to fashion as the instrument for the fulfillment of his purpose in our time and in the days to come.

It is fitting that discussion of the relations between church and community, and church and state, take as its starting point a fresh consideration of the meaning of the church and of the nature of its mission. That the church of Christ is the one hope of the world is the faith we confess in meeting in conference at Oxford. But this faith, which is the master light of all our seeing, is far from warranting the conclusion that the same thing can be predicated of the churches which send representatives to Oxford. We fall too easily into the mistake of equating God’s purpose for the church with what our limited under¬ standing and imperfect embodiment of that purpose make of the church as it actually exists. We believe that to the church is entrusted the truth which has power to save the world, but this treasure, as St. Paul reminds us, is contained in vessels of clay. In the divine and human institution of the church the human element is always tending to limit and obscure and even to deny the divine. God’s way with men is to lead them to repentance, in order that, being delivered from their corrupt and paralyzing past, they may serve him in newness of life. A profound dissatisfaction with what the church now is, with what it now sees, with its present understanding of its message and its responsi¬ bilities, is the spiritual soil in which the seeds of new life may germinate. It is when we have come to despair of our¬ selves that the divine mercy meets us, and we learn to put our whole trust and confidence in God.

In a gathering at the present time of representatives of the church from different parts of the world there cannot be absent a sense of the responsibility of historical decision. A heightened appreciation of the significance of history is characteristic of our time. Even in its secular forms this point of view doubtless owes more than it is often aware of to Christian thought. It is at least a view that is wholly congruous with the Christian understanding of life. For Christian faith is concerned from first to last with the mighty acts of God in human history. God is at work in history. He has a purpose in it, and he calls men to share in the fulfillment of that purpose. The fact that we live in history and form part of history implies that not only to prophets and heroes but also to ordinary men there may come moments when important events may hinge on their choice and action. Through the issues considered by the Oxford Conference, God may be calling the church to de¬ cide whether it is content to follow beaten and well tried paths, or is ready at his command to meet the unknown and uncertain future in fresh and bold adventures of faith.

PART I

THE CHURCH AND THE CHURCHES

by

Dr. W. A. VISSER T HOOFT