By Thomas Cogdell
One week ago today, my wife Amy and I had the privilege of visiting the Alleluia Community in Augusta, Georgia. We experienced many wonderful blessings, and right at the top was to see the community - which is mostly Catholic but has a good number of Protestants as well - receive into their midst a Greek Orthodox priest, Fr. Timothy Cremeens. Praise the Lord!
The picture above shows our subsequent meeting with Fr. Timothy and his cousin Patty. The gift we gave to him, which he is holding, is a small booklet called “Christianity: Fundamental Teachings.” One reason for the gift was the connection of this book to his church, the Eastern Orthodox church.
What we told him is what I wish to highlight for you -
“This book is a miracle and a prophetic sign in the Church.”
The best way to see this is to look at the signatory page, of who contributed to and endorsed the book:
A book on Christian theology, agreed to by the significant Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant leaders of an entire country! Take a minute, and let that sink in …
…
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… wow!
And the topics that they address are at the very core of the faith of those who follow Jesus. Here is the Table of Contents:
Just beautiful!
And it is important to note that the book is clear on where there is agreement, but also where there is not yet agreement - in hopes that one day there will be.
We encourage you to purchase a copy of this book (available on Amazon) and read it carefully. Share it with others, widely, and encourage them to do the same! Treat it as you would a sign and a symbol - a cause for great hope. Here at Christ the Reconciler, we have set it aside from all other books in our library, in a special glass case on the wall, to draw attention to it.
In conclusion, the region that is now modern-day Turkey was where much of the New Testament was written - with all of the epistles pleading for unity against the constant threat of divisive hostility. All seven of the ecumenical councils of the early church were in Turkey. The Nicene Creed was begun in Nicaea but completed in Constantinople (now Istanbul). In 1054, the Great Schism was triggered in Constantinople, dividing East from West - a wound that is yet to be healed, and in fact was exacerbated during the time of the Crusades.
And now, from Turkey, and from Istanbul where East meets West as nowhere else, comes a book declaring to the world that the major streams* of the Church can, in unity, agree on a statement of the fundamental doctrines of Christianity.
* I would consider this to be three of the four major streams of the Body of Christ, the fourth being Messianic Judaism which does not have a significant presence in Turkey. These three are certainly the most visible and widely known traditions in the body of Christ, with Messianic Judaism just re-emerging on the world scene.