The Encyclopedia of World Religions

130 S Egyptian religion

formed a World Buddhist Council and a World Buddhist Sangha Council. Even more encompass ing is the Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions, organized in the 1990s. It brings rep resentatives of all religions together, as it did, for example, in the summer of 2004 with its parlia ment “Pathways to Peace” in Barcelona, Spain. Not all churches, however, have participated in the ecumenical movement. Many conserva tives prefer to emphasize their particularity and view the ecumenical movement with suspicion. Some prominent churches in the United States do not participate in either the World or National Council of Churches. They include the Southern Baptist Convention, the Assemblies of God, and the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod. In addi tion, at the beginning of the 21st century churches that did belong to these Councils were grappling with issues that threatened to divide them once again. The most controversial issue was whether churches should ordain sexually active homosex uals and perform marriage ceremonies for gay and lesbian couples. Further reading: Thomas E. FitzGerald, The Ecumenical Movement: An Introductory History (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2004); Ruth Rouse and Stephen Charles Neill, eds., A History of the Ecumenical Movement, 1517–1968, 4th ed. (Geneva: World Council of Churches, 1993). Egyptian religion The religion practiced in ancient Egypt. Much of the evidence for Egyptian religion comes from burial practices. Clearly, Egyptians gave the afterlife a great deal of attention ( see AFTERLIFE IN WORLD RELIGIONS ). But their religion dealt with life in this world, too. HISTORY Ancient historians divided the history of Egypt into 30 dynasties or families of rulers. Modern scholars have divided Egyptian history into sev eral periods. Some were more important for reli gion than others.

not compete to convert the same people. A second was the Commission on Life and Work; it dealt with cooperation in serving other people. The third was the Commission on Faith and Order; it explored whether it was possible for churches to come together on teachings about which they had disagreed. In 1948 the two commissions combined to form the World Council of Churches (WCC). In 1961 the International Missionary Council joined them. In the early years of the ecumenical move ment, Protestants took the lead. By the time the WCC was founded, Orthodox churches were also actively involved. The Roman Catholic Church ( see R OMAN C ATHOLICISM ) has never joined, in part because some in the church think that the only way for Christians to reunite is for all those who left the Catholic Church to rejoin it. Nevertheless, the Second V ATICAN C OUNCIL (1961–65) opened the Catholic Church up to the ecumenical movement. Since then it has cooperated with the WCC. At the beginning of 2005 the WCC had 347 member churches in more than 120 countries. It officially defined itself as “a fellowship of churches which confess the Lord Jesus Christ as God and Savior according to the scriptures, and therefore seek to fulfill together their common calling to the glory of the one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” The World Council of Churches was not the only organization to grow out of the ecumenical movement. Churches around the world that shared the same heritage also formed global organizations. Two examples are the Lutheran World Federation and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. In addition, churches in individual countries came together to form associations, such as the National Council of Churches in the United States. In some places churches with varying heritages merged. One such merger produced the Church of South India. Some churches, too, opened up official dia logues with other churches. One result was that some churches entered into full fellowship with one another, agreeing, for example, to accept each others’ ministers. The ecumenical movement was part of a larger trend in the 20th century. For example, Buddhists