Gillian Kimber
Editor’s note: The first portion of this article was published in the previous issue of the East-West Church and Ministry Report 21(Winter 2013):1-3.
Proselytism Versus Evangelism Proselytism remains the biggest issue between the Orthodox and other church traditions. Dr. Erich Geldbach, a retired Baptist Professor of Church History and Ecumenical Studies at Phillipps University, Marburg, Germany, and a leader in the Baptist World Alliance, contends: Religious liberty includes the right of people to change their religious affiliation, or to have none at all, without any civil advantage or disadvantage…. Religious liberty refutes the notion that any church or religion has, by tradition, a claim to a geographical area as its own.
This statement, of course, runs directly counter to the Orthodox notion of canonical territory. However, Geldbach is in agreement that proselytism is unacceptable when it is defined as: an attempt to win converts from another religious community by applying ignoble means promising money,…taking advantage of a person’s health situation to secure a conversion,…threatening a person in legal terms,… [and] coercing a person into unwanted religious behavior. Geldbach further emphasizes this distinction when he concludes that evangelism is a: special form of Christian witness to the unchurched …. If Baptist evangelists try to proselytize among active members of other Christian churches for the purpose of increasing the numbers of the Baptist denomination, they fail to fulfill their calling (State Department, Annual Report, 1999, pp. 25- 28).
Although his words appear to offer hope, Romanian Orthodox in practice make no distinction between evangelism and proselytism. The latter term, therefore, comes to mean any activity by other church traditions which might result in Romanians joining that church rather than attending the local Orthodox Church, including Romanians who may not attend any church. Poplăcean, in common with Geldbach, considers that the unchurched are in need of the Gospel, and therefore it is legitimate to evangelize among them, regardless of Orthodox opposition. Consequently, the two churches are at loggerheads before they even begin any mission activity.
Proselytism, at the same time, is by no means one way. Romanian Orthodox, convinced of the authenticity of their faith, and understanding other churches to be, at best, incomplete and, at worst, “the gates of hell,” have no compunction about trying to persuade members of other church traditions to convert to Orthodoxy. It is true to say that Orthodox were the only believers who tried to recruit us while we lived in Romania. At a Lenten gathering in the city of Alba Iulia when a visiting American Orthodox told stories of Christians in the United States who had moved from other church traditions to become Orthodox, he was strongly applauded. In conversation with us he commented, “How wonderful to be here as an Anglican—what a wonderful chance to convert to Orthodoxy.” When we discussed his comment with Orthodox friends, they did not accept that this was proselytism, but simply considered it a form of rejoicing because people had come to the light of Orthodoxy. It is impossible to claim the moral high ground for any one denomination. Because the Romanian Orthodox Church wields dominant power in the country at every level of society, it is able to create much greater pressure on other denominations. At the same time, Protestants, while feeling victimized, have ways of fighting back which rarely include discussion or efforts toward greater understanding.
Orthodox in Alba Iulia—A Way Forward
In 2005 we were invited to the city of Alba Iulia by Archbishop Andrei Andreicut specifically to help with his church’s “mission.” We were asked by His Eminence to work with him at his theological faculty. My husband team-taught with Orthodox staff members in missiology, ecumenics, culture, sociology, catechetics, and New Testament, and I taught English. The atmosphere among faculty and staff was remarkably open toward us compared with that in Sibiu, the legacy of an influential friendship between Andreicut and now-retired Anglican Archdeacon the Ven. Granvill Gibson from Durham Diocese in the United Kingdom. In our first conversation the Archbishop asked how the Anglican Church was dealing with the challenges of secularism and whether our experience could help his church. Archbishop Andreicut’s permission for both of us to teach on his faculty was a remarkable turn of events since nonOrthodox are not usually permitted to teach doctrine. Teaching in Alba Iulia was a learning process for us, made possible by the openness of faculty and staff. They were clear about the boundaries of our responsibilities, and staff attitudes varied from vigorous refutation of the Anglican point of view to relaxed discussion.
Archbishop Andreicut is unique among Romanian Orthodox bishops for his multi-faceted and vigorous promulgation of mission. In its cause he has founded both a seminary and a theology faculty where he is dean, a religious publishing house, Reintregirea, and a religious radio station. His quarters house is a pilgrimage center where he has established a monastery dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and his staff relies on a small convent for hospitality for visitors. During Lent he invites visiting speakers to his Casa Cultura, where they speak to packed audiences of young people. For Andreicut, the goal of mission is the increase of theosis (sanctification) among Orthodox faithful. His aim is for people to live more holy lives in order to shed light in the world. For this reason he titled one of his books Can We Live in a More Beautiful Way? [Mai putem trăj frumos?] (2004). He begins his book with observations about the evils that have come upon society, but strongly refutes a pessimistic attitude on the grounds that God created the world, it is therefore beautiful, and human beings are given dignity by God. His premise is that “a person with beautiful and healthy ideas will act correctly. Do not let us forget the old saying: ideas are those which bring light” (p. 9).
Andreicut’s work is an example of a holistic Orthodox mission approach which attempts to penetrate every area of life. At the heart of his understanding of mission is the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, expressed also in his often-repeated remark, “Christ is everything.” The clear impression is of someone whose own spiritual life is devoted to Christ and whose mission activity arises out of this devotion and understanding of the task Christ has given the church, to be sent to “make disciples” as he was sent on his redemptive mission by the Father (Valentin Kozhuharov, Towards an Orthodox Christian Theology of Mission: Interpretive Approach [VESTA Publishing House, 2006], 7).
Andreicut is concerned not only with local issues. He and his theological faculty have a lively interest in Europe and a clear vision of the place Romanian Orthodoxy can play in its future. Each year he organizes an international symposium of European scholars, in which my husband was invited to take part, with a theme reflecting current European concerns. Andreicut consciously works within the bigger picture of Romanian Orthodoxy, both within and outside the country. For example, the Orthodox Diocese of Alba Iulia has an interconfessional relationship with Lutherans and Roman Catholics, which jointly run more than 30 social projects. At the same time, evangelical social work adds fuel to the flames of division. In Alba Iulia we made contact with Baptists and their Mennonite missionary associates, but unfortunately never received any invitations, possibly because their deep suspicion of Romanian Orthodox extended to Anglicans, particularly as we were known to be working with the Orthodox.
Building Relationships: Diakonia
All confessions believe that caring for the needy is a necessary outworking of the nature of the church in the task of mission. With the advent of Romanian membership in the European Union (EU) in January 2007, the country found that it needs to work more closely with the social projects of other confessions in order to access EU funding. The long dark night of Communism robbed Romanian churches of training and expertise in many areas of social ministry, and in this context Romanian Orthodox are willing to learn from Western experience. The financial support of Anglicans and Lutherans for Orthodox social projects is proving positive in building good relationships through shared concerns. Protestants and Orthodox are finding common spiritual ground while holding to their distinctives.
AIDRom, a partnership among Orthodox, Lutheran, and Reformed churches set up in 1991 in the wake of the 1989 Revolution (http://www. aidrom.ro), is chief among these ecumenical projects. With a wide brief, AIDRom includes not only social care but also the development of good ecumenical relations, the provision of education for reconciliation theological dialogue, and church cooperation. Its conferences, as well, tackle some of Romania’s major social challenges. Notable by their absence from these ecumenical activities are Baptists who, on theological grounds, do not belong to ecumenical groups of historic churches. Baptists, however, do work ecumenically with other evangelical churches, notably Brethren and Pentecostals, creating a second ecumenical stream in Romania. Such evangelical relationships are not easy and often break down where theological distinctives often trump Christian unity.
World Vision
World Vision is an evangelical Christian humanitarian organization working among needy children in Romania, in partnership with government agencies as well as with Orthodox and Baptists. Its creative approach to ecumenical relationships has led to the project “Gospel Light” that develops religious instruction materials for Orthodox parishes and trains priests and religious instruction teachers. World Vision also agreed in October 2009 to support the publication, translation, and dissemination of “The Way,” an Orthodox introduction to the Christian faith written by members of the Institute for Christian Orthodox Studies, Cambridge, United Kingdom. Such Evangelical-Orthodox collaboration is rare, if not unique. It works because those involved in “Gospel Light” are willing to assist the Orthodox in their own mission to re-catechize their people, because they respect Orthodox ecclesiastical authority, and because they have the formal support of the Patriarch (http:// gospelightworldwide.org/?cat=19). The success of this partnership is evidence that Evangelicals and Orthodox can work together in mission, provided Evangelicals are prepared to contribute to the Orthodox agenda. Although cooperation works for an inter-confessional evangelical parachurch organization like World Vision which has established trust, it is a different story for indigenous Protestant churches that feel they would have too much to lose.
Caritas and Diakonia
The Diocese of Alba Iulia also works ecumenically in social welfare with the Roman Catholic charity Caritas and the Lutheran charity Diakonia. Catholics and Lutherans assist Orthodox through the charitable organization Filantropia, established by Archbishop Andreicut, which oversees more than 30 social projects for children and the elderly. Again, it should be noted that this charitable cooperation is among members of the historic churches and not with Evangelicals, whose charitable efforts are seen as proselytism.
Building Relationships: Bible Translation
Although Romanian Baptists do not believe that Romanian Orthodox honor the Bible, in fact, Baptists and Orthodox do work together on Bible projects. The inter-confessional Bible Society of Romania has 13 partners, including Baptists and Orthodox. As well as working on translations, the Bible Society is active in promoting the Romanian Bible in the army, prisons, schools, among children and the elderly, and in Braille.
However, the Bible can also be a source of conflict. Orthodox and Evangelicals use different translations, with Orthodox insisting that their own translation is truer than the one used by neo-Protestants, and pointing to some evangelical versions in which the word for idols is translated by the word for icons.
Building Relationships: Theological Inquiry
Theological inquiry is a lively arena in Romania, where the Lutheran church works tirelessly for better ecumenical relations. It takes the lead in creating ecumenical opportunities by investing German money in buildings and projects with the ecumenical purpose of theological study of subjects of common concern. Dr. Stefan Tobler’s Institute for Ecumenical Research brings together post-graduate students studying the theology of confessions other than their own, thus creating greater mutual understanding. Signs of a new spirit of ecumenical inquiry in Eastern Europe may be seen in ecumenical syllabi in confessional theological faculties, a more positive interest in inter-confessional relationships, and a new network for ecumenical theological education which arose out of an ecumenical conference in 2007 in which Tobler was a contributor. It is noteworthy that evangelical churches did not participate in the 2007 conference, but theological study between Romanian Baptists and Orthodox does exist. For a number of years Areopagus, a Baptist foundation in Timisoara, has been sponsoring courses on theological and cultural matters with an inter-confessional staff that includes an Orthodox theologian (http:// www.areopagus.ro/). However, it is not known how acceptable Areopagus is to the Orthodox hierarchy.
Also, a number of Romanian Baptist theologians have made a study of Orthodox theology, for example, Deification in Eastern Orthodox Theology by Emil Bartos (Paternoster, 2002). Unfortunately, such studies have not necessarily led to better relations. Paul Negrut’s Christian Research Institute paper, “What Evangelicals Should Know about Eastern Orthodoxy” (1998), which questions the theological understanding of Evangelicals entering the Orthodox Church in the West, has met with angry Orthodox responses. (See Joel Kalvesmaki, “What Evangelicals Should Know about Negrut’s Assessment of Eastern Orthodoxy,” 2003, http:// www.kalvesmaki.com/CRJ.htm.) Less abrasive was the 2005 publication, Baptists and the Orthodox Church: On the Way to Understanding (Prague, Czech Republic, International Baptist Theological Seminary). Three Romanian Baptist theologians took part, looking at the topics of the Bible, the meaning of tradition, and salvation in the Orthodox Church. At the same time, it is significant that no Orthodox contributed to this publication, and it would be difficult to find a Romanian Orthodox theologian who would think it worthwhile to study Baptist theology.
Building Relationships: the Necessity of Reconciliation
AIDRom has created an ecumenical commission which has taken the lead in establishing countrywide ecumenical events such as an annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and includes a Women’s World Day of Prayer. In Sibiu, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity has been an interesting example of the outworking of AIDRom’s approach. An inter-confessional service is held every evening in a church of each tradition in rotation including Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Hungarian Reformed, Saxon Lutheran, and even Greek Catholic. After the service clergy eat together, hosted by the various churches. By this means church leaders get together socially and are able to form personal relationships rather than seeing each other merely as confessional representatives. This interaction does not mean that church relationships in Sibiu are always good; rather, an uneasy truce exists as long as Saxon Lutherans and Hungarian Reformed confine their activities to their own ethnic groups.
Ecumenical prayer does not happen frequently. Orthodox priests are forbidden to worship in the churches of other confessions. Orthodox leaders who break ranks in a bid to form closer ecumenical ties face discipline. As far as worship is concerned, an Orthodox priest wishing to take part in an evangelical service cannot do so officially, and Orthodox lay people visiting other countries are forbidden to worship in churches of other confessions.
Healing of Memories
The damage caused by the Communist regime and the history of aggression among church traditions have created a need for healing of past conflicts. Steps toward the healing of memories have in fact begun to take place in Romania. In addition to AIDRom’s Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, an inter-confessional, interdisciplinary project is now underway involving the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe, the Conference of European Churches, and the Lutheran, Reformed, Baptist, and Orthodox Churches in Romania (http://www.healingofmemories.ro/). In 2008 this collaboration led to the creation of the Foundation for Reconciliation in South-East Europe (RSEE) as an outcome of the World Council of Churches Ecumenical Conference in Sibiu in 2007. In May 2009 RSEE organized an international conference of Healing of Memories Church Initiatives. This foundation also plans to establish courses in the Greek Catholic seminary at Blaj and the Orthodox theology faculty in Cluj. Church leaders trained through these courses are then to moderate local seminars on healing of memories throughout the country, a project that got underway in 2010. This initiative is to be welcomed for its serious efforts to bring church leaders together across confessional divides to discuss openly the wounds of history.
The deep antipathy between Orthodox and Baptists in Romania is a reality. Part of the challenge is that Baptists, for their part, put evangelism ahead of building good relationships, while Orthodox, for their part, put Orthodoxy first. Both traditions need to take a more responsible and constructive attitude toward the other in order to heal long-standing hostility. As theologian Bradley Nassif writes:
Nothing less than courageous initiatives by Orthodox leaders, lay and ordained, can break decades of hatred, fear, and ignorance toward Evangelical Christianity which continue to dominate the perceptions of Romanian Orthodox peoples. Similarly, nothing less than bold initiatives by Evangelical leaders, lay and ordained, that may risk offending their Protestant constituency will be able to move Evangelicals beyond the misconceptions and popular abuses of Orthodox faith (“Eastern Orthodoxy and Evangelicalism: The Status of an Emerging Global Dialogue,” Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology 1 [Spring 2000], 4).
Baptists should try to understand the meaning of the Orthodox liturgy and be willing to invite Orthodox priests to pray on suitable occasions. Orthodox, in turn, should be willing to accept the reality and power of the Baptist practice of extemporaneous prayer.
The Language of Salvation
A constant stumbling block for Romanian Evangelicals is the apparent lack of insistence in Romanian Orthodoxy on the need for the sort of personal relationship with Christ that is nonnegotiable in Evangelicalism. The vocabulary of personal relationships can be very different according to tradition and is an area of major importance for dialogue. What do Evangelicals really mean when they speak of “having a personal relationship with Christ”? Is it fair for Orthodox to consider this unduly individualistic? Evangelicals insist that a relationship with God depends upon a personal commitment to Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit. But this is only half the story. The personal nature of this commitment joins the believer not only to the Trinity, but also to others in all Christian churches who believe. If this step is not taken, then the personal nature of the relationship does indeed become individualistic. In contrast, Orthodox do not always seem to realize fully the personal implications of the relational nature of the believer with God in the church, They can be scornful of Evangelical insistence on “personal relationship” as superficial. The primary relationship in Orthodoxy is with the triune God who is indeed personal, but it is possible to share the life of God only through the Orthodox Church, which supersedes and often seems to replace the personal element in the relationship of the believer with God.
Semantics as Relevant as Theology
Thus, semantics can be as relevant as theology in explaining Evangelical-Orthodox misunderstandings. Where Evangelicals talk of a personal relationship with God, Orthodox speak in terms of a holy intimacy with God, as a child with its father. As Orthodox theologian Dmitri Stăniloae notes, “Through the incarnate Son we enter into filial communion with the Father, while through the Spirit we pray to the Father or speak with Him as sons” (The Experience of God, Vol. I, Revelation and Knowledge of the Triune God [Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 1998], 248). This filial relationship is central to both church theologies. Orthodox concerns about nominal faith and the need to re-catechize their people in the faith to lead holy lives can surely be acknowledged by Evangelicals as a genuine way of understanding the mission task of bringing people to a transformed personal faith in the Holy Trinity through Christ.
Although Orthodox are prepared to work with others on such projects as Bible translation, which is considered fundamental to mission in all confessions, their fear of confessional contamination is never far away. Unless Orthodox are in charge of the project, cooperation is often pragmatic and short-lived. Thus, all missional efforts with Orthodox must take place under their jurisdiction. Baptists, similarly, are not comfortable working with Christians from other confessions, apparently from a fear that their understanding of the Gospel will be misrepresented or contaminated in some way. As a result, the creation of personal friendships as well as greater understanding of each other’s theology are key elements in overcoming fears and making cooperation possible. Baptists should be sympathetic to Romanian Orthodox concern for the re-catechization of parishioners. In addition, they should be willing to concede that a personal relationship with Christ can happen in different ways with different people, that in the Orthodox Church one may find believers for whom Christ is central, who seek to follow him in humility and repentance, and who possess authentic Christian faith.
The hope, then, is that both church traditions will begin to identify what they have in common, in particular their understanding of the Trinity, so that, inspired by divine love and obeying the command of Jesus Christ to be one, they can begin the task of creating more constructive attitudes toward each other. Each tradition should work toward an agreement that authentic Christianity is found in both traditions. In turn, this understanding should lead to an acceptance of the fact that people may genuinely know Christ in both traditions.
Edited excerpts published with permission from Gillian Kimber, “Mission Impossible: Developing an Understanding of the Task of Interconfessional Mission with Reference to the Romanian Orthodox Church and Romanian Evangelical and Baptist Churches in Transylvania,” master of philosophy thesis, University of Nottingham, 2010.
Correction
In the previous issue, the editor regrets errors in the summary percentages for major beliefs in Azerbaijan: East-West Church and Ministry Report 21 (Winter 2013), 4. The correct percentages are Muslim− 83.67 (2001) and 87.58 (2010); and Christian− 4.63 (2001) and 2.74 (2010).