Leithart seems to draw the discussion a bit more into the concept of catholicity, which is a central concern of the Federal Vision. It is true as I have mentioned in the first post that the Federal Vision may have particular theological commitments that may alienate other Presbyterian communities. However, their ultimate goal is to bring together diverse communities into a gloriously united community. Here it is important to note that unity does not require agreement in all matters. If this were the case, no families would ever stay together. To borrow the analogy, a family stays together, despite their differences, because they have come to the conclusion that if they are not united on what is central, they will self-destruct. They do not compromise their familial identity; they are still a Smith or a Brown. In like manner, the Reformed faith does not need to compromise their identity to live in unity with one another or even other families. Imagine that!
In light of my analogy, which may be more or less correct, Leithart says the following:
That means, for instance, that we’re willing to draw insights from Catholics like de Lubac, Bouyer, or Congar, or Orthodox theologians like Schmemann. More globally (and more controversially), it means that we’re not trying to formulate theological positions over-against – fill in the blank – Lutherans, Catholics, Orthodox, Methodist, what have you. The resulting theology is Reformed, but it’s Reformed and catholic – or maybe catholic and Reformed.
This, in my perception, is a healthy form of catholicity embraced by Federal Vision proponents.
