Cruciform Ecumenism

The Intersection of Ecclesiology, Episcopacy, and Apostolicity from a Catholic Perspective

By: Elizabeth Smith Woodard

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eBook | 6 September 2019

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The truth claims of Christianity appear compromised by the division of Christ’s followers into different denominations. What keeps Christians separated, retreating to their corners labeled Catholic, Orthodox, and various types of Protestant? Elizabeth Smith Woodard accounts for Christian disunity in terms of ecclesiology, episcopacy, and apostolicity: in brief, Who are we? Who is in charge? And are we who we say we are? Woodard argues that the controversial issues dividing Christians today stem from these questions of authority and identity. What would it look like, Woodard asks, if Christians did not insist on making “others” more “like us,” but instead worked toward all of “us” becoming more and more like Christ? She answers that growing in such cruciformity should serve as the basis for unity. Using recent unity-achieving Anglican-Lutheran discussions as a case study, she examines the crucial intersection of ecclesiology, episcopacy, and apostolicity to argue that Christians’ growth in Christ’s mission necessarily entails growing in unity and cruciformity.

Industry Reviews

A welcome addition to the literature on ecclesial apostolicity, the central point of division between the western Christian traditions. Elizabeth Smith Woodard makes many insightful points in the course of her valuable study. Most useful is the exploration of what the Catholic Church might have to learn from the Anglican and Lutheran traditions in relation to a renewed understanding of apostolicity with ecumenical potential.