06 — The Ecumenism Debate
The most contested part of Justin’s legacy: his 1974 The Orthodox Church and Ecumenism, with its sharp critique of the World Council of Churches and the ecumenical movement, and the live, unresolved dispute over how that critique should be read and applied today.
This section is written to the repository’s strictest standard for live disputes (METHODOLOGY §4). The first file presents Justin’s own position in full and in its strongest form: his ecclesiological premises, his critique of the ecumenical movement and the WCC, his famous language of a “pan-heresy,” and his practical conclusions. The second file is the flagship both-sides treatment: how anti-ecumenists across the Orthodox world invoke Justin as their patron, how his own disciples and other scholars contextualize and qualify him, and the specific points on which the two readings diverge — presented with proponents named on each side and with no adjudication offered.
Contents
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| the-orthodox-church-and-ecumenism.md | His 1974 book: the ecclesiological premise, the critique of the WCC/ecumenical movement, the “pan-heresy,” presented fully |
| how-his-stance-is-received-today.md | The both-sides flagship: how anti-ecumenists invoke him and how others contextualize/qualify him; proponents named each side; no adjudication |
See Also
- The Orthodox Ecclesiology — the ecclesiological premise underlying the ecumenism critique
- Against European Humanism — humanism diagnosed within the ecumenical movement
- The Justinian Bishops — the disciples whose divergent later positions are part of the reception