Overview

"Why is it that churches agree to the same basic faith in hundreds of dialogues, and yet remain locked in an ""ecumenical winter""? In Choose the Narrow Path, Bishop Pierre Whalon argues that to acknowledge the same doctrines while acting as if churches should remain separate is not only a recipe for disaster, but it is also itself a sin. This book spells out that doctrinal agreement in Part I, while Part II uncovers a more personal reaction, structured around the Nicene Creed. The primary argument is that, while churches may be ""one,"" ""holy,"" and ""catholic"" in what they believe, none of them is truly ""apostolic"" in their action. To begin to address this failing, the author calls for exceptional intercommunion for members of all churches that subscribe to the Narrow Path but are still reluctant to walk it together. ""Bishop Pierre Whalon … offers clear points about the challenges that Churches face, but also a way forward through what he describes as ""the narrow path."" — The Most Reverend Michael Curry, Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church ""Bishop Pierre Whalon’s Choose the Narrow Path is a much needed and highly accessible handbook of the contemporary Ecumenical Movement for the unity of the Christian Churches."" — The Right Reverend R. William Franklin, Assistant Bishop, Diocese of Long Island ""Bishop Pierre Whalon has gone beyond the rhetoric to produce a sound scriptural-based systematic treatise with concrete practical applications. The book … may well be the catalyst, as the subtitle suggests, That Opens the Way for the Churches to Walk Together."" —Prof. Cyril Orji, Professor of Systematic Theology, University of Dayton, OH ""Bishop Whalon’s Choose the Narrow Path is … a book for Christians of all stripes to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest—great for study groups and church leaders alike."" —The Very Reverend Dr. William S. Stafford, Dean Emeritus of The School of Theology, Sewanee, USA ""To walk any narrow path with a precipice on either side is very dangerous, but Bishop Pierre Whalon proves to be an excellent and sure-footed guide for the churches to try to walk together. He calls for action now so that we can avoid the scandal of disunity which threatens to plunge us into the depths, and instead to witness together to Jesus the Risen Christ."" —The Rev’d Canon Professor Richard A. Burridge,The University of Manchester"

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9781433196386

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Bishop Pierre Whalon’s Choose the Narrow Path is a much needed and highly accessible handbook of the contemporary Ecumenical Movement for the unity of the Christian Churches. Within the space of 221 pages Bishop Whalon provides a history of the Movement, a concise summary of the current dialogues, and above all a new theological framework, “The Narrow Path,” that serves to uplift both experts and the general public in this era of division and pessimism surrounding Church affairs. The Rt. Rev. R. William Franklin —Assisting Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, Member of the Faculty of Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, and Chair of the Standing Commission on Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations of The Episcopal Church. As the latest volume in the Studies in Episcopal & Anglican Studies series, Bishop Pierre Whalon's book is timely indeed, given the divisions not only among Christians but also in much of society both at home and across the globe. Whalon offers clear points about the challenges that Churches face, but also a way forward through what he describes as 'the narrow path.' There is much here for all the various branches of the Jesus Movement to take seriously and, hopefully, act upon, if we hope to show the world God's Way of Love. —The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry, Presiding Bishop and Primate of The Episcopal Church and author of Love is the Way and Crazy Christians The rhetoric of church unity can at times seem a theological nuisance. Pierre Whalon has gone beyond the rhetoric to produce a sound scriptural-based systematic treatise with concrete practical applications. The book comes at a time the revived language of synodality is resonating with the churches, including the Roman Catholic Church. This book will be of great significance to the synodal enterprise. It will be discussed for a long time across denominational boundaries, especially by ecumenists and ecclesiologists. It may well be the catalyst, as the subtitle suggests, That Opens the Way for the Churches to Walk Together. —Prof. Cyril Orji, Professor of Systematic Theology, University of Dayton, OH Bishop Whalon’s Choose the Narrow Way is a passionate and carefully reasoned call for all churches to permit Christians to receive Communion if they are far from their own churches. His call is based on clear, accessible analysis of the documents of the Ecumenical Movement, showing the universal agreement on the basics of Christian faith. He follows with a brilliant exposition of his own theology, to show how deeply it accords with the “Narrow Way” of common faith. This is a book for Christians of all stripes to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest—great for study groups and church leaders alike. —The Very Reverend Dr. William S. Stafford, Dean Emeritus of The School of Theology, Sewanee, USA To walk any narrow path with a precipice on either side is very dangerous, but Bishop Pierre Whalon proves to be an excellent and sure-footed guide for the churches to try to walk together. No stranger to this heady ecumenical terrain, he draws on his wide and deep experience of the church in Europe and the USA to lay out carefully all the progress made in dialogues especially between Roman Catholics and Anglicans, but also with our brothers and sisters in the Orthodox, Methodist and Lutheran traditions. But even more important than all these committees and statements is his passionate but carefully explained systematic theology which calls for action now so that we can avoid the scandal of disunity which threatens to plunge us into the depths, and instead to witness together to Jesus the Risen Christ. —The Rev'd Canon Professor Richard A. Burridge, The University of Manchester

Author Information

Pierre W. Whalon is a bishop of the Episcopal Church, serving the Convocation of Episcopal Church in Europe from 2001 to 2019. Before that, he served as a priest in three parishes, two in Pennsylvania and one in Florida. He is also a published author of many articles and three books, as well as a music composer. Bishop Whalon lives near Paris with his wife, Hélène.

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