Monday 2 March 2009

Why is an Alliance-Nazarene college named after a Roman Catholic saint?

In 2007, Alliance University College and Nazarene University College joined to form one institution, and chose the name Ambrose University College.

According to their website:

Ambrose is a Christian who predates the Reformation. The selection of any individual who is post–reformation or aligned with either the Nazarene or Alliance denominations would be highly problematic...
Ambrose stands as one of the great Christians of his generation; a servant leader in both the church and society, an individual who embodies the values of our institution.
Figures like Ambrose are significant to all streams of Christian tradition and experience. He therefore serves as a figure who emphasizes unity in Christ rather than the particular emphasis of any group.

I'd like to know the names of the post-Reformation figures who were rejected, and why they were rejected.
Note the mention of leadership in both church and society. This is typical of modern evangelicalism, which seeks to have a foot in both camps. Where in the New Testament are Christians called to be leaders in society? The apostle Paul certainly wasn't a leader in society after his conversion:

...for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake...we are weak...we are despised.
Being defamed, we entreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.
I Corinthians 4:9-10, 13

The New International Version renders the latter part of verse 13 as:

Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

As for "unity in Christ," that's a lot easier to achieve with an evangelicalism that emphasizes works over doctrine.
For evidence of Ambrose's Roman Catholic credentials, look at his entry in The Catholic Encyclopedia. By the way, there's a St. Ambrose Parish in Coaldale, Alberta, about 100 miles southeast of Calgary; and yes, it's a Roman Catholic parish.

2 comments:

  1. Ambrose was pre-medieval Roman. He was an important church father, along the lines of Augustine and Athanasius. He was an early and ardent anti-Arian and a great influence on Augustine. That the Romans claim his as a Saint does not minimize his true Christianity. Calling him a "Roman Catholic Saint" is misleading.

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