Comment By Torchlight

The Ecumenical Front

At the General Synod on May 3, Church of England clergymen and laity voted "no" on unity with the Methodists. This was the culmination of 25 years of discussion on the proposal. Just before the vote Dr Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury, appealed to the Synod to give a resounding "yes" to the motion. The Bishops voted strongly in favour but the overall majority of 65 per cent fell below the 75 per cent needed. The Methodists had already voted twice in favour.

Dr Kenneth Greet, Secretary of the Methodist Conference, said that the Synod's vote was a great setback to the Christian cause. He expressed very great disappointment, and continued, "I don't see that at the moment either the Anglican or Methodist Churches could or should seek a new initiative. There is bound to be a time for reflection. I hope a fresh initiative may come from churches other than the Anglican or Methodist".

In a statement after the vote, Cardinal Heenan, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, said: "It was an unfriendly act but a matter of conscience. We shall continue our discussions both with Anglicans and Methodists. This setback, in God's providence, may prepare the way for a much greater step towards the reunion of all Christians-Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox".

It is not without significance that a few days before the General Synod, Dr Ramsey, at a Press conference in Derby, reiterated his forecast that one day all churches would be united and would look to the Pope as leader. Questioned about this he said that it was unlikely to happen even in the lifetime of young people now, but the ultimate goal was one church, one fellowship, with maybe the Pope, not as an infallible leader, but as a presidential figure.

Twenty years ago such a pronouncement from a leader in Protestant Christendom would have been met with a storm of protest. Today the sentiment has become so commonplace in ecclesiastical circles that it causes scarcely a ripple of disturbance. Gradually the idea is gaining support, and protest is dubbed "old-fashioned prejudice". It is vital that born-again believers should see this trend against the background of the prophetic Word. Undoubtedly a great religious combine will emerge as the end-time approaches. But it will not be "the reunion of all Christians" (Heenan) nor will it be "in God's providence". It will be an apostate religious combine devised by His great Adversary. Such pronouncements as those we have mentioned seem to indicate that some leaders in Christendom are already marching to this goal.

Egyptian Threat

There was regret in Israel at the tone of the Soviet-Egyptian communique issued following President Sadat's visit to Moscow at the end of April. Israeli Deputy Premier, Vigal Allon, said, "I would have been much happier if Moscow and Cairo had voiced in this statement a message of peace". There seemed to be a strong feeling that the wording of the communique implied a threat of military action to free the Arab territory occupied by Israel.

In a May Day speech following his talks in Moscow President Sadat told a crowd of about 50,000 in Cairo: "We are prepared to sacrifice one million people. They (the Israelis) should also be prepared to sacrifice a million". Such talk is reminiscent of the threats of the late Colonel Nasser just prior to the six-day war in 1967. It bodes ill for the success of any peaceful initiative, and is bound to increase tension in the Middle East.

Meanwhile in Israel on the 27th of Nissan (April 11) the annual Heroes and Martyrs Memorial Day was observed and special services were attended by many thousands of survivors of the Holocaust and the relatives of the victims. The Holocaust is the Israeli term for the slaughter of 6,000,000 Jewish men, women and children in Nazi Germany during the last war. In a moving speech the Israeli Premier, Mrs Golda Meir, asked, "Are we learning the lesson of what actually happened?. Before the eyes of the whole world it was possible to murder and burn six million people. From bitter, unprecedented experience we know that we cannot rely on anyone".

This sums up the mood of the nation in these critical days. She stands unshaken in the belief of the everlastingness of Israel. We know from Scripture prediction that although she is indestructible her sufferings are not over. The Great Tribulation has yet to come. But then, at long last, purged and purified, she will greet her once-rejected Messiah with the words:

"Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord"

(Matt. 23:39).

unknown | Jun 1972
Comment By Torchlight