Writing the History of Ecumenism

Intended as a review of the first volume of the new multi-volume publication A History of the Desire for Christian Unity, this article also considers approaches to the writing of ecumenical history, which can, it asserts, quickly become contested history, and on two fronts. First, ecumenical history cannot isolate itself from the modern, secular approach to historiography, where historical developments are accounted for within the framework of human, social, psychological, economic, and cultural forces without regard to specifically religious factors (still less, divine involvement). Second, advocacy for Christian unity takes different forms, promoted variously by particular churches and traditions, or by the ecumenical organizations themselves, or by certain interest groups.