On November 12th and 13th, the Huffington Ecumenical Institute at Hellenic College Holy Cross was pleased to host the 2024 Planning Committee of the International Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission. Lutheran and Orthodox delegates from around the world met on campus to discuss and finalize the agenda for the Joint Commission’s upcoming 19th Plenary Session scheduled for the Spring of 2025. These events follow close on the heels of a tremendously successful 18th Plenary Session, held in May 2024, in Cairo, Egypt. The Cairo sessions produced a Common Statement on the Filioque in which delegates representing both churches encouraged the normative use of the original Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, without the addition of the filioque. The shared hope of the delegations is that this fundamental agreement on the Creed will inform future discussions about Trinitarian theology and generally illumine further points of contact for the dialogue as it unfolds.
Following the day’s events of November 12th, the Hellenic College Holy Cross community was treated to two in-depth presentations on the history of Lutheran-Orthodox dialogue delivered by H.E. Metropolitan Isaias of Tammasos and Dr. Jennifer Wasmuth of Göttingen University, respectively. Both speakers began by acknowledging the remarkable but little-known fact that the origins of Lutheran-Orthodox dialogue are to be found nearly four hundred and fifty years in the past. Correspondence exchanged between Lutheran theologians at Tübingen and Patriarch Jeremias II of Constantinople in the late 16th Century marked the first attempt at rapprochement between Eastern and Western Christians since the tumultuous proceedings of the Council of Florence more than a century beforehand; through the sharing of the Augsburg Confession, this correspondence also introduced Protestant theology to the Orthodox world. While nothing came of these initial forays, they remain relevant to the modern ecumenical movement as early examples of cordial, if blunt, discussions of theological and ecclesiological differences.
The present Lutheran-Orthodox dialogue emerged from the churches’ common involvement in the ecumenical movement over the past century. At the 4th Pan-Orthodox Conference held in 1968, the Orthodox Churches determined to initiate formal contact with their Lutheran counterparts, and the first meeting of the International Lutheran-Orthodox Joint Commission would occur in 1981 in Espoo, Finland. From the outset, the express purpose of the Joint Commission was to achieve full communion and reconciliation between the churches. The ensuing forty years, however, have shown this to remain a lofty and distant goal. It has grown increasingly clear with time that a considerable discrepancy persists between the Lutheran and Orthodox approaches to sacramental life, with far-reaching implications in the realms of liturgics, soteriology, and church tradition. For an approximately 17-year period at the start of the 21st Century, discussions concerning the sacraments remained at a standstill. It was only after the Joint Commission decided to shift focus to discussing the Holy Spirit that the extraordinary breakthrough pertaining to the filioque was achieved earlier this year in Cairo.
Putting aside the content of the dialogue to reflect on its character, the speakers also shared insights from their extensive participation as official members of the Joint Commission. H.E. Metropolitan Isaias was keen to draw our attention to the invaluable experience afforded by the opportunity to travel and witness firsthand the social and cultural manifestations of theology—how the Word of God is interpreted and celebrated differently across space and time. In this spirit, for many years now, each daily session of the dialogue has been bookended by common morning and evening prayer. Eucharistic liturgies are also conducted in the rites of the host confession. These glimpses behind the curtain, so to speak, reveal a common love of Christ and challenge (as well as invert) the impulse to engage coldly and polemically with others in matters of faith. They also make clear, as both H.E. Metropolitan Isaias and Dr. Wasmuth addressed, that differences do not have to be antagonistic, but can inspire personal spiritual reflection and growth. Dr. Wasmuth confessed that oftentimes a return to the fundamentals—scripture and liturgy—can provide a dialogue with the vision and language necessary to see past points of confusion and frustration and discover Christ’s presence at the heart of the matter. Speaking on behalf of their respective delegations, H.E. Metropolitan Isaias and Dr. Wasmuth assured us that it is Christ who constitutes the impetus, focus, and fulfillment of this dialogue. We should realize, then, that it is entirely within our control to embrace a Christ-like manner to resolve our differences through dialogue; the rest—the results—we leave up to Him. H.E. Metropolitan Isaias reminded us that, “Wherever two believers are in conversation, Christ is there between them.” And since Christ always “commands” us to proceed, we have no right to give up: “We must wait for the miracle.”
As with other ecumenical efforts, it is the dynamic process of encounter amongst its participants—driven by mutual hope, drawn together by genuine love, and dependent upon generous humility—that seems to manifest the substantive fruits of the Lutheran-Orthodox dialogue as a thoroughly Christian endeavor. H.E. Metropolitan Isaias challenged us to view the Joint Commission as exemplifying the difficult but divinely inspired work required of Christ’s “authentic disciples.” He closed his remarks on a provocative (and thought-provoking) note: “The absence of dialogue is war.” In a world roiled by conflict and rent by difference, his words ring painfully true. Wherever we see a lack of communication, we also inevitably see a degradation and desecration of humanity—both in what it personally means to be human and in the extent to which we value the humanity of others. While the Lutheran-Orthodox dialogue has continually failed to achieve its overarching goal, the persistence and vigor of its participants nevertheless evince a shared commitment to doing all that is humanly possible to keep the connection alive; in steadfast hope, we await the miracle.
Vespers on the evening of November 13th in the Holy Cross Chapel proved a fitting epilogue to the events of the previous two days. With the entire Planning Committee in attendance, H.E. Archbishop Elpidophoros of America offered his blessing of the dialogue and shared some reminiscences of his time serving as its former co-secretary. In his remarks, he noted that with the preceding service, we commenced our commemoration of Philip the Apostle—the man who drew a skeptical Nathanael to Christ with a simple invitation: “Come and see.” At a moment such as ours—when the value of dialogue as a human, not to mention Christian, imperative is increasingly called into question—Philip’s encounter with Nathanael and Nathanael’s subsequent encounter with Christ demonstrate the inestimable power of reaching out to others in the name of the Lord as well as the glorious wonders that accompany accepting an invitation to be challenged in our presumptions. In any given ecumenical encounter, it seems we must emulate both Philip and Nathanael. On the one hand, we must encourage others to “come and see” our Lord; and on the other, we must be willing to be brought humbly before Him wherever He may be found.
Author: Benjamin Malian, First Year Master of Theological Studies (MTS), Hellenic College Holy Cross School of Theology