Ecumenical Theology in a Postmodern Context

Abstract

In place of Modernism's timeless self-sufficiency, Postmodernism maintains an openness to multiple viewpoints and pays close attention to what has been excluded from traditional authoritative positions. This paper argues that this new phase in Western culture allows for new initiatives in Christian ecumenism. A new awareness of the linguistic and social conditions of thought allows the possibility of overcoming the Cartesian dualism embodied in the antithetical “sacrament” versus “proclamation” positions of classic Catholic and Protestant theologies.