{
  "bookName": "History of Christianity in India: Source Materials",
  "authorName": "M. K. Kuriakose",
  "publisherName": "Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge",
  "publicationYear": 2011,
  "chapterNumber": 199,
  "chapterName": "1972. Nasrapur Statement",
  "pageFrom": 429,
  "pageTo": 436,
  "pages": [
    {
      "pageNumber": 429,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n429\n199. NASRAPUR STATEMENT (1972 A.D.)\nFrom 9th to 16th August 1972, representatives of the Roman\nCatholic, Syrian Orthodox and Protestant Churches met in confe-\nrence at Nasrapur. This National Faith and Order Study Confe-\nrence was the first of its kind ever to be held in this country. The\nAgreed Statements, some of which are reproduced here, represent\nan important ecumenical development. Christian Unity in India,\nReport of the National Faith and Order Study Conference, Nasrapur,\n1972, pp. 2-16.\nScripture, Tradition and Authority\nNature of Scripture\n-By 'Scripture' we today mean the Old Testament (with or\nwithout Apocrypha) and the New Testament. The message\ncontained in Scripture is on the one hand a divine message, addressed\nto us in the power of the Holy Spirit, and on the other a message\nproclaimed by men. The heart of the scriptural message is the\nself-giving of God in Jesus Christ for the salvation of mankind.\nThe Old Testament which is primarily the history of God's\ndealings with Israel has come down to us as the Scripture of the\nfirst Christians. It is part of our collection of Scripture since it is\nthe pre-supposition of the New Testament, while the New Testa-\nment, in turn, bears witness to the fulfilment of God's plan as attested\nin the Old Testament.\nThe Old Testament is authoritative for the Church in so far as it\nilluminates the mystery of Christ and God's eternal plan for the\nsalvation of mankind as definitely revealed in the New Testa-\nment. The importance of the New Testament lies in that it is a\ndivinely inspired record and primary witness to the revelation of\nGod in Jesus Christ preached by the Apostles as well as to the life\nand faith of the Apostolic Church. Hence, Scripture occupies a\nunique and central place in her life, teaching and worship, being\nnormative for all of the Church's ever-growing understanding,\nexplanation, activation and development of the apostolic preaching.\nThere is a complex dialectic of actual relationship between\nScripture and Revelation (or the Word of God or the Gospel.)\nRevelation is a prior reality to Scripture. Scripture is not simply\nidentical with the Revelation which it proclaims and embodies, but\nprecisely because Scripture is the divinely inspired record and\nwitness to Revelation it shares in-though it is distinct from-\nthe revelatory authority and power of the Gospel itself.",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 430,
      "ocrText": "430\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nWe acknowledge the diversity of the message of the New Testa-\nment including different presentations of the Church, yet we recog-\n'nise the task of looking for the underlying unity and of relating the\ndifferent emphases in Scripture by relying on the common mind\nof the Church and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.\nNature of Tradition\nGod, through the Christ-event (mission, life, death, resurrection\nof Jesus Christ) and the gift of the Holy Spirit, gathered together\na community of Faith, love and worship, witnessing to and pro-\nclaiming the saving act of God in Jesus Christ. This is the beginning\nof a continuing process of Tradition and its expression and develop-\nment. This Tradition was the guiding norm of the community in\nits oral preaching, life and worship. The New Testament is an\nauthentic and authoritative crystallization of this Tradition.\n'Tradition taken in this sense is actualized in the preaching of the\nWord, in the administration of the Sacraments and worship, in\nChristian teaching and theology, in mission and witness to Christ\nin the lives of the members of the Church.. We can speak of the\nChristian Tradition (with a capital T), whose content is God's\nrevelation and self-giving in Christ, present in the life of the Church.\nBut this Tradition which is the work of the Holy Spirit is embodied\nin traditions (in the two senses of the word, both as referring to\ndiversity in forms of expression, and in the sense of separate\ncommunions). The traditions in Christian history are distinct\nfrom, and yet connected with, the Tradition. They are the expres-\nsions and manifestations of the one truth and reality which is\nChrist. (The Fourth World Conference on Faith and Order, Montreal,\n1963, ed. P. C. Roger and L. Vischer, Association Press, New\nYork, 1964, pp. 51 f.)\nTo set the slogans 'sola Scriptura' and 'Scripture and\nTradition' against each other does not help us to arrive at the\ntruth. Scripture is given to us as part of a continuous living\nTradition. On the one hand it is read and understood within the\nTradition. On the other hand it exercises a normative function in\nrelation to Tradition.\nThe Structure of Visible Unity\n1. We agree that, while faith is primarily an attitude of the\nheart towards God, it must find outward expression in word and\nlife. While there may be a variety of forms of expression, there\nmust be some visible structure of fellowship to bring together all\nwho under differing forms express the one faith.",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 431,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n431\n2. All forms of visible unity among Christians should include\nthe following elements :\n(a) an element of personal ministerial leadership which takes\nas its guide the loving care of Jesus the Good Shepherd for all his\ndisciples.\n(b) an element of corporate responsibility in which all the\nfaithful share, which takes as its guide the teaching of St. Paul:\n'You are the body of Christ and severally members thereof', and\nwhich aims to enable every member to contribute his share to the\nbuilding up of the whole.\nThese two elements are interdependent and inseparable.\nPersonal pastoral leadership must be exercised in brotherly concord\nwith other leaders (collegiality) and within the corporate responsi-\nbility which is shared by the whole body (conciliarity). So also\nthe councils of the Church need for their effective working a wise\npastoral leadership.\n3. We agree that these two principles should be applied to the\nordering of the Church's life at all levels, local, regional, national\nand universal. However at each level there are matters on which\nwe are not agreed and which need further study.\nPriesthood, Ministry and Ordination\nPoints of Agreement\nA. Priest and People\n1. Christ, the Highpriest of the new Covenant, through the\noffering of his body once for all, has brought salvation to ali\n(Heb. 10: 12).\n2. Hence our approach to the question of Priest and People\nhas been in the context and framework of the priesthood of the whole\npeople of God: In him all the faithful are made a holy and royal\npriesthood; they offer spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus\nChrist and they proclaim the perfections of him who has called\nthem out of darkness into his marvellous light' (cf. I Pet. 2: 5 & 9).\nTherefore there is no member who does not have a part in the\nmission of the whole body but each one ought to hallow Jesus in his\nheart (cf. I Pet, 3: 15) and in the spirit of prophecy bear witness of\nJesus (cf. Apo. 19: 10) (Vatican II Decree on Ministry and the Life\nof Priest, Ch. 1, 2).",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 432,
      "ocrText": "432\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\n3. Within the priestly people there is a place for a special\npriesthood usually referred to as priest or minister set apart from\nthe people for the people and charged in the name of Christ publicly\nauthoritatively (i) to preach the good news (ii) to lead public\nworship (especially the Eucharist/the Lord's Supper) (iii) to guide\nthe people in the way of salvation (iv) to loose and bind: His gifts\nwere that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists,\nsome pastors and teachers for the equipment of the saints for the\nwork of ministry, for building up the body of Christ until we all\nattain to the unity of faith... to mature manhood, to the measure\nof the stature of the fulness of Christ' (Eph. 4: 11 ff).\n4. By virtue of baptism all Christian people have the privilege\nand duty to grow into the fulness of Christ; as he himself said 'you\ntherefore must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect' (Mt. 5:\n48).\n5. While all who share this priesthood of Christ should witness\nto His holiness of life, the Priest/Minister is to be a model to the\nflock (I Pet. 5: 3) setting himself as an example to believers in\nspeech and behaviour, in love, fidelity and purity (I Tim. 4:12).\nThis requires that he does not live a life apart from the life of the\nworld: They cannot be of service to men if they remain strangers\nto the life and conditions of men.\nthey live in this world among men\ntheir sheep'. (Vatican II, Decree on\nPriests, Ch. 1, 3).\nTheir ministry requires that\nas good shepherds that know\nthe Ministry and the Life of\n6. The calling of God into the special priesthood is effected\nby the Holy Spirit through the prayer of the Church with the laying\non of hands and its official authorization on the basis of recognized\nspecial charisma and training. This is usually called ordination.\nThe authority of the Priest/Minister is derived from this calling and\nnot from the person's worthiness.\n7. The relationship between the priestly people and the special\npriesthood is one of the mutual help and interdependence. The\nPriest/Minister has to see to it that the Apostolic Tradition among\nthe people is preserved. He is responsible for the fulness and growth\nof the faith among the people; he embodies for all the leadership\nof Christ, the Head of the Church, releasing the gifts of the priestly\npeople and leading them into unity. On the other hand the priestly\npeople uphold the Priest/Minister in his faith and work by prayer,\nco-operation and corrective love. They also help him to interpret\nthe gospel for the needs of family life, culture, economic affairs,\narts and professions, political institutions, international relations\nand the like.",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 433,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n433\nB. Ministerial Order\n1. Ordination is a rite of the Church whereby individuals, who\nare called of God, are set apart to the ministry of the Holy Spirit\nthrough prayer and the laying on of hands. The Church believes\nthat in answer to this prayer God gives the gifts needed for the\nministry, and the Church gives to those ordained commission and\nauthority, together with the stewardship of the mysteries of Christ'\nviz. the Word and the Sacraments and leadership in the Church for\nits mission to the world.\n2. The ordained ministry, as we find it in the New Testament,\nis entrusted with the ministry of Word and Sacraments to the flock,\nand a commission to bring the other sheep' into the fold.\n3. The Church and the ordained ministry are inseparable\none from the other, inasmuch as there could be no ministry without\nthe Church and no Church without the ministry.\n4. The New Testament does not offer a clear-cut pattern of the\nordained ministry of the Church, but it does provide antecedents\nfor such ministerial offices as the Bishop, the Presbyter and the\nDeacon, though not in any specific structure. The threefold\nministry belongs to the very early tradition of the Church, and while\nits origins are to be traced in the New Testament, it is attested in a\nfully developed form at the beginning of the second century. The\nChurch has thus exercised its freedom under the Holy Spirit to\ndevelop the forms of its ministry.\n5. In the early tradition of the Church the ordained ministry,\nfunctioning in a collegial and conciliar manner under the guidance\nof the Holy Spirit, has the highest authority to make and to\nimplement decisions.\n6. The full life of the Church includes not only the ordained\nministry but also the multiplicity of the other charismatic ministries,\n'to equip God's people for work in His Service, to the building\nup of the Body of Christ' (Eph. 4: 11-13).\n7. The proper characteristic of the Christian ministry is not\nthat of lording it over, but of serving the flock and the world after\nthe example of Christ, the Servant Lord.\n8. The apostolic mission takes its origin from the Blessed\nTrinity. When the Lord sent forth the apostles, he said. As my\nFather has sent me, even so send I you' (John 21: 20). This\nmission has been continued through the centuries in the preaching\nof the faith and the building up of the fellowship. According to\nseveral Churches, the guarantee and the sign of continuity in faith\nand fellowship is the unbroken succession of episcopal ordination.\nOthers do not accept this view.\n28",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 434,
      "ocrText": "434\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nPoints for Further Study\n1. Is ordination rightly described as a sacrament?\n2. In what way is the special priesthood distinct from and one\nwith the general priesthood of all believers?\n3. There is need for a special study of the doctrine of the\nEucharist/Lord's Supper, with particular reference to its sacrificial\naspect and its relationship with the ordained ministry.\n4. Is the Apostolic Episcopal Succession of the esse of the full\nministry of the Church?\n5. Because of the frequent complaint of lack of time on the\npart of the Priest/Minister it seems necessary to examine an order of\npriorities in his occupations.\n6. How far are women called to participate in particular\nministries and the special priesthood?\nMariology\nThis is only the report of an initial and very tentative dialogue.\nAny study of Mariology in depth, must take into account its\nconnections with the doctrines of Christ, the Church and Man.\nI. Points of Agreement\nThese emerged from the explicit witness of the Bible.\n1. Like all men and women, Mary is a member of the human\nrace, created by God, and in need of redemption by Christ.\n2. She occupies a unique position within the Body of Christ\nbecause through her motherhood of Christ mankind's hope of\nredemption expressed throughout the Old Testament was fulfilled.\n3. To call Mary Theotokos '-Mother of God or God-\nbearer-as the Orthodox and the Catholics do, makes clear the fact\nthat Jesus is true God and true Man, ruling out wrong interpreta-\ntions of the incarnation in the line of Docetism or Adoptionism.\nMany Churches of the Reformation and the Assyrian Church, how-\never, preferring the title Mother of Christ', or the Scriptural\n'Mother of Our Lord', equally assert that Jesus Christ is true God\nand true Man.\n4. For all these reasons, Mary holds a special place of honour\nin our understanding of the Incarnation and the Redemption.\n5. A full assessment of Mariology would require that we take\ninto account biblical typology, as applied by the Bible itself to Mary,\nand further development by the Fathers of the Church.",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 435,
      "ocrText": "SOURCE MATERIALS\n435\nII. Differing Viewpoints and Approaches\nA. The Orthodox Church (the following statement refers to the\nSyrian Orthodox Church in India):\nThey have a deep veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the\nlife, piety and worship of the Church. She is the ever-Virgin\nMother of God the Word, the unique witness of the Incarnation.\nOrthodox Mariology cannot be separated from Christology and\nEcclesiology. In the thought and piety of the orthodox, the Blessed\nVirgin is the symbol par excellence of the Church, which is the bearer\nof Christ to the world. They do not believe in the Immaculate\nConception; they hold that the Blessed Virgin Mary was sanctified\nby the Annunciation, and that the redemptive action of our Lord\nJesus Christ applies to her as to any other member of the Church.\nThe Orthodox pray for the Blessed Virgin as well as invoke her\nintercession, which is very specially valued. The belief in the bodily\nassumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is common in the life, piety\nand prayers of the faithful, but it is not held by the Church as a\ndogma necessary for salvation.\nB. Tie Lutheran Church:\nIt does not have any official doctrine on Mary. However, its\nconfessional books are not silent on our Lord's mother. State-\nments on her appear either in the Articles on the person of Christ\nor in contexts of Christ's redemptive work. She is 'most worthy\nof the most ample honours' as Mother of God', 'most blessed\nVirgin' (in one place ever-Virgin'), and our example of faith and\nhumility in accepting her unique vocation. All this finds an\nincreasing place in Lutheran devotion, especially connected with\nthe celebration of Advent and Christmas. On the other hand, the\nLutheran Confessions firmly deny any redemptive power of Mary,\nwhich is believed to obscure Christ as the only Mediator between\nGod and man. For this reason the Lutheran faith also denies\nMary's sinlessness at any time of her life. She is reckoned as one\nof the justified sinners, though an outstanding believer, and in this\nsense may be called the 'Mother of the Church'. Christ's own\nsinlessness and full obedience would be obscured, if his manhood\nhad already inherited sinlessness, as it were. Regarding her\nbodily Assumption into heaven, Lutherans miss evidence in the\nearly Apostolic tradition, which for them has found normative\ncrystallization in the N.T. for all beliefs necessary for salvation.\nThey would, therefore, hold that her body sleeps with all the\ndeceased faithful, awaiting with the whole Church the resurrection\nof the dead. They also do not find any ground in Scripture that\ndeparted souls may be implored for intercession with Christ,\nwhile they believe that all Christian believers may be asked for\nintercessory prayer to the Triune God.",
      "status": "completed"
    },
    {
      "pageNumber": 436,
      "ocrText": "436\nHISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA\nC. Other Churches of the Reformation:\nThe Churches of the Reformation have no official doctrine\nconcerning Mary and are at liberty to hold a variety of opinions.\nAmong Anglicans, and therefore within the C.S.I. and C.N.I.,\nthere are some whose Mariology is similar to that of the Catholics\nor Orthodox Churches, though they do not hold any Marian dogma\nas necessary to salvation and, in any case, remain in communion\nwith those whose views differ widely from their own.\nIn general, the Reformed approach to Mary is governed by\nsuch historical evidence as we have concerning her in the New\nTestament. Though the N. T. records no sin committed by her,\nand stresses her devotion and obedience, the prevailing view rejects\nany dogma of her sinlessness, either from conception or birth, and\naffirms that she was a member of sinful humanity needing redemp-\ntion. Her justification by divine grace may have begun anticipa-\ntorily at the Annunciation, but in view of evidences of possible\ntension between her and Jesus in a few passages of the Gospel\nnarrative, the supposition is that her salvation was only complete\nwhen she believed in her crucified and risen Son as Lord and\nSaviour.\nThus Reformed Churches adhere to the credal assertion that\nMary was a virgin at Jesus' conception and birth, but many,\nprobably the majority, of their members would reject the doctrine\nof her perpetual virginity, and interpret the scriptural text as imply-\ning that she consumated her marriage with Joseph in the normal\nway after the birth of Jesus and bore him several children. In\nview of the sanctity of marriage they would not regard this as in any\nway compromising her conformity to God's will.\nWith regard to belief in her bodily 'Assumption' at the end of\nher life on earth, they would assert that there is no historical evidence\nfor this, the legend of the 'Assumption' having originated about the\n5th century A.D. Some believe that she is already forever with her\nson and Lord in heaven; others that she awaits the general resur-\nrection at the last day; they cannot accept any belief concerning\nher human body which is not anchored in history.\nThe majority of the members of these Churches do not invoke the\nvirgin Mary in prayer, though most would regard her as a saint\nwith a unique vocation. Many, particularly those of the Anglican\ntradition, observe the presentation of Christ in the Temple and the\nAnnunciation as holy days, commemorating her with thanks-\ngiving. Few call her by the title Mother of God', the majority\nregarding this title with some suspicion as failing to do justice to\nthe humanity of Jesus.",
      "status": "completed"
    }
  ]
}