Cultural Episcopacy and Ecumenism : Representative Ministry in Church History From the Age of Ignatius of Antioch to the Reformation. With Special Reference to Contemporary Ecumenism

Bishops are to be understood primarily as representatives of cultures regardless of where their people are territorially located. The vindication of this thesis has implications also for ecumenical reconciliation between episcopal and non-episcopal communions occupying the same geographical territory. The author compares the approaches and insights of both Vatican II and Lambeth 89 on this issue, and then proceeds to a historical and theological analysis of the development of the threefold Order in the early centuries, which he illuminates with the aid of contemporary sociological and cultural theory, in particular that of Durkheim. Key themes in the development of Order are identified in the classical texts of Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus, Cyprian, Tertullian and the Church Order literature. The author's conclusion is that we need both to break the geographical and jurisdictional mould in which our understanding of church Order has become set. CULTURAL EPISCOPACY AND ECUMENISM CONTENTS INTRODUCTION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABBREVIATIONS CHAPTER ONE CHALLENGES TO TERRITORIAL JURISDICTION 1. Cultural episcope: the Anglican dilemma 2. Cultural episcope and catholic churches of the Eastern Rite 3. The case for cultural episcope 4. Incarnational theology, culture, and liturgy 5. Towards a concept of cultural episcope CHAPTER TWO CULTURE AND ECUMENISM 1. Anthropological definitions of culture 2. Durkheim's phenomenology of culture 3. Wittgenstein and culture as agreement in form of life 4. Form of life, collective representations, and sub-cultures 5. Culture, the social construction of reality, and epistemological relativism 6. Lévi-Strauss: the limits of cultural relativism 7. Structuralism, myth, and the sacred stories of Christian revelation 8. In Conclusion: the sociological context for ARCIC and the Lima Liturgy CHAPTER THREE ORDER IN IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH 1. Ignatius and the apostolic ministry 2. The threefold Order as τúπnoι of the heavenly Church 3. The extension of the historical incarnation 4. Ignatius and the Johannine Tradition(a): the έμφúσησιζ 5. Ignatius and the Johannine Tradition(b): church Order 6. The typology of representation in Ignatius 7. Ignatius' clerical visitors as corporate personalities of their communities 8. Ignatius' church Order in a sociological perspective 9. Ignatius' sacred story 10. In conclusion CHAPTER FOUR PSEUDONYMITY AND APOSTOLIC TRADITION 1. The Apocalypse and ecclesial representation 2. Visionary process in Ignatius and the Apocalypse 3. Charisma, pseudonymity, and the παpαθήkη 4. Presiding Presbyters: Matthew 5. James and the παpάδoσιζ 6. James and the New Testament 7.παpάδoσιζ and the organization of the early Christian synagogue 8. In conclusion CHAPTER FIVE JURISDICTIONAL EPISCOPACY 1. Post lgnatian episcope 2. The Didascalia Apostolorum and the theology of martyrdom 3. The creation of the ''monarchical" episcopate 4. Representative themes in the early medieval period 5. Gregory VII and the triumph of the jurisdictional concept 6. Cultural pluralism and models of social solidarity 7. Summary and Conclusion CHAPTER SIX ECUMENICAL DIMENSIONS 1. Cultural Episcopates in the contemporary Australasian scene 2. Cultural episcope and ecumenical reconciliation 3. Cultural episcope and the ordination of women 4. In conclusion SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Texts 2. Dictionaries and Encyclopaedias 3. Philosophical and Sociological Studies 4. Historical and Theological Studies: Patristic and Pre-Reformation 5. Contemporary Reports, and modern and post Reformation historical and theological studies INDEX 1. Sources 2. Names of Authors 3. Greek Words and Phrases 4. Subjects STUDIES IN CHRISTIAN MISSION

Bishops are to be understood primarily as representatives of cultures regardless of where their people are territorially located. The vindication of this thesis has implications also for ecumenical reconciliation between episcopal and non-episcopal communions occupying the same geographical territory.
The author compares the approaches and insights of both Vatican II and Lambeth 89 on this issue, and then proceeds to a historical and theological analysis of the development of the threefold Order in the early centuries, which he illuminates with the aid of contemporary sociological and cultural theory, in particular that of Durkheim. Key themes in the development of Order are identified in the classical texts of Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus, Cyprian, Tertullian and the Church Order literature.
The author's conclusion is that we need both to break the geographical and jurisdictional mould in which our understanding of church Order has become set.

Bishops are understood as representatives of cultures regardless of where their people are territorially located. This study examines the implications of this thesis for ecumenical reconciliation between episcopal and non-episcopal communions, comparing Vatican II and Lambeth 89 on this issue.