Overview

The term reception has leapt into prominence in the context of ecumenical dialogues. Documentary evidence from one dialogue, the first Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC), suggests that competing notions of the nature and function of reception in the authority structures of the Church inform opposing interpretations of the ARCIC texts. Developing an interdisciplinary tactic, this study organizes critical categories from the field of literary theory into a spectrum of views on the activity of readers in the reception of texts. This spectrum provides a heuristic framework for analyzing what is at stake for believers in various notions of reception operative in the ARCIC dialogue process.

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Reviews

Dr. Gaither has developed an extraordinarily clear theoretic overview of the ecumenical dialogue. She uses reception theory to study the Anglican-Roman Catholic responses to the dialogue, but her analysis applies more widely. The work has theological importance because she provides us with categories for understanding how the Spirit works in the interactive life of the Church. No ecumenical theologian, seminary library, or university should be without her work. (Rev. Dr. Stephen Happel, Chair, Department of Religion & Religious Education, The Catholic University of America) 'To Receive a Text: Literary Reception Theory as a Key to Ecumenical Reception' by Linda Gaither is a masterly analysis of both method and content in the process by which the Agreed Statements of the first Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission have been received by the general public as well as by the scholarly world. This book will need to be read by all persons who are concerned for the integrity of the ecumenical movement in the later twentieth century, and it will be a 'must buy' for every library in the fields of modern theology and church history. (Rev. Dr. J. Robert Wright, Professor of Ecclesiastical History, The General Theological Seminary)

Author Information

The Author: Linda L. Gaither is an adjunct professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Rowan College of New Jersey. She received her Ph.D. in Religion and Culture, with a specialization in the Western Theological Tradition, from the Catholic University of America. Her essay, The Anglican Doctrine of Ecumenical Councils, will comprise a chapter in the forthcoming volume, Prayer Book Doctrine.

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