Peacemaking in God's Church

This book is born of a deep-seated belief that only a reunited and prayerful Church is ever going to complete our mission to bring about God's kingdom; which was the main subject of Jesus' teaching and represents the only imaginable hope for the future of planet Earth. Maintaining the historic tensions between the churches - and in particular the gulf which opened up between Roman Catholics and evangelicals at the Reformation - is therefore a luxury we cannot afford. Martin Mosse presents some principles of peacemaking - first from the gospels and then from the life of his ancestor Charles Simeon - from which he proposes a structure for peacemaking according to which contrasting beliefs may not always be mutually exclusive. For instance, religious and non-religious approaches to God may be complementary. Again, confusion has often arisen from the fact that there are two bundles of good news in the New Testament both designated 'gospel'. Positive attempts to present Roman Catholics and evangelicals to each other in a favourable light are followed by trenchant and radical, but even-handed, criticisms showing how both sides have diverged from their earliest scriptural origins. Such divergences in their deepest thinking, while unrecognised, make reconciliation impossible. Mosse goes on to plead for a return to the ancient and biblical practice of waiting on God in silent, contemplative prayer. This allows God to re-order our minds and lives and leads to the mystical dimension which has frequently been manifest within Roman Catholicism, but which evangelical Protestantism was born without and needs to recover. Such a practice on both sides could bring about a healing of the Church and so advance the kingdom of our problem-solving God. "Martin Mosse's heart is in the right place; he is properly offended by the scandal of Christian disunion, and wants to bang together the heads of the warring parties and get them to come back to the ancient Christian discipline of silent contemplation allied to attentive reading of the Bible." Nicholas King, SJ, Academic Director, Theology, at St Mary's University, Twickenham. "An informed, engaging and compelling reminder that every Christian is called to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in building God's kingdom of peace here on earth, but that if the Church wishes to be heard, it must first demonstrate that work of peace-making within its own body. Offering fresh insights and drawing helpfully on Scripture and history, here is a call for integrity, understanding and humility in the costly work of bringing peace to a broken world." Revd Simon Sayers, Rector, Warblington with Emsworth.