Michael Ramsey - The Gospel and the Catholic Church: Recapturing a Biblical Understanding of the Church as the Body of Christ

Why would I recommend a book written more than seventy years ago by a dead, white, English-Anglican male to a twenty-first-century American Christian? Intellectual English writers dont write in American English; thats one thing, but for an author to quote in four languages [Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and French] without even bothering to translate can make reading downright difficult. It runs contrary to our feel good American view of religious writing. Come on! Make it simple, straightforward, and entertaining.

That is not what you will find in Michael Ramseys The Gospel and the Catholic Church. This book is not an easy readbut it is immensely rewarding. The reward is great enough that it is worth every minute of your effort. This book is a classic in the best sense of that word because it says things of ultimate importance in a unique and creative way that has not been surpassed since its publication in 1936.

Let us begin with several basic word definitions, as used in the title of the book. The word gospel literally means the good news. It is used to describe the first four books of the New Testament that tell the good news of Jesus Christ, who not only taught the truth about who God is, but was Himself the Son of God and our redeemer. The Gospel also has a collective meaning: it is the whole experience of how God was in Jesus Christ so that God might bring us all back into relationship with Him. It is the good news of our reconciliation with God.

What about the phrase and the Catholic Church? Here is where a confusion may begin. Michael Ramsey was using the word catholic in a nonsectarian way. He is not referring to the Roman Catholic Church but to the universal Church that includes all those who call themselves Christians. The author chose that particular wordcatholicfor two reasons. First, he was consciously writing this book not just for himself, but for Christians everywhere. His second reason was subtler, but true to the theme of the book; he felt that no individual denomination could call itself universal (i.e., catholic) if it was not being true to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He felt strongly that no denomination could say that it alone was the true church unless it recognized that all those who respond to the Gospel are also a part of Christs BodyHis continuing presence in this world.

When Michael Ramsey published this book in 1936 its very title caused an incredible stir. It upset liberal Protestant theologians who dominated the English academic scene, and it upset many Roman Catholics who thought of the Church Catholic as meaning only the Roman Catholic Church. But most of all, it upset Michael Ramseys own denomination, the Church of England. To explain this we must explore a bit of European history.

Historically the American religious scene has differed from that of England and Europe. One of the great guarantees of our American Bill of Rights is freedom of religion. Although Americans are a very religiously minded nation, we have no official church and all religions must compete for their existence in an open market. By contrast, in Europe and in the British Isles each country has had an official religion; for example, Denmark, Lutheran; Italy and Spain, Roman Catholic; England, Anglican; and Scotland, Presbyterian. Today no one is required to attend the countrys official denomination, but in most of these countries the official churches receive the majority of their income from taxes paid to the state. Hence they are called state churches. The official state religion of England is the Church of England, also known as the Anglican [Anglicana is the Latin word for English] Church.

In the sixteenth century, when the Reformation was sweeping across Europe, much blood was shed over what form of Christianity would dominate in each region. (Ultimately, in most cases, the religion of the monarch became the religion of his or her people.) Those who wanted to get back to the simplicity of the Gospels and decried the wealth and ceremonialism of the Roman Catholic Church were derogatorily called protesters or Protestants. Ecclesiastically they sought means of governing themselves other than the rule of Bishops; some became known as Congregationalists (the only authority was the local congregation); others became Presbyterians (governed by elders/ministers).

Because of historical and theological circumstances in England, not only the monarch, Henry VIII, but also the majority of his Parliament and of his Bishops embraced Reformation ideas. Although England reformed its doctrines and forms of worship, it maintained the traditional church governance, by the Episcopate or Bishops. (The adjective describing governance by bishops is episcopal). When Henry died in 1547 his nine-year-old son was encouraged to more drastically purge the Church of England of idolatry (the use of paintings, sculptures, and elaborate vestments) in worship services. But when young Edward VI died six years later, the throne went to his sister Mary.

Mary, who had remained a devout Roman Catholic, demanded that the Church of England return to all the practices that had been abolished in the English Reformation. She also persecuted her detractors, even burning them to death as heretics. Many pious Protestants escaped to the Continent, where they were exposed to the more radical reforms of the Protestants in Holland, Germany, and Switzerland.

When Queen Mary died six years after she had been crowned, she was replaced by her sister Elizabeth, whose reign was long and stable. Elizabeth was a convinced but conservative Protestant whose compromise established the Church of England as being both Catholic and Reformed. Even so, she encountered extremists, especially those called Puritans who wished to purify the Church of England from all its idolatry. After Elizabeths death these voices became more strident; eventually a civil war divided the country.

In 1660 the monarchy was restored, and with it returned Elizabeths moderate reformation. Nonconformists who refused to comply with the official Church of England were excluded from the public arena, causing an undercurrent of resentment that continues in England to this day. Thats a lot of history for a book on theology. Why do I tell you all this? Because this history has everything to do with Michael Ramsey.

Arthur Michael Ramsey (19041988) is best known as being the one hundredth Archbishop of Canterburyfrom 1961 until 1974; as the Archbishop of Canterbury, he was both the head of the Church of England and the head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, the third largest body within Christendom. He was a noted theologian and lecturer and a significant player in the founding of the World Council of Churches and in many ecumenical events. Perhaps his most stunning achievement was the great respect shown to him by the Orthodox churches and by Pope Paul VI and Pope John Paul II. Until the day he died, he wore the episcopal ring that Paul VI had given him. The retired Archbishop was also well known in North America, and he is still remembered with awe by the staff and students at the Nashotah House seminary, where he taught in eight long stretches before his death. His biography is well-worth reading: Owen Chadwick,