The Views of Rabbi Moses Feinstein, Rabbi Abraham Joshua ...

continued in 1925 in Stockholm, Sweden with the Universal Christian Conference on
Life and Work. At this conference, ―over 600 delegates representing 91 denominations
and 27 countries met to discuss economic, educational, and international issues.‖ 8
To
carry on this work, a Continuation Committee, later known as the Life and Work
Committee, was established, and an additional Life and Work Conference, concerned
with such issues as Church, Community and the State, was convened in 1937 in Oxford,
―mark[ing] a turning point for the ecumenical movement.‖ 9
At this conference, ―the
merging [of] the Life and Work Commission with the Faith and Order Commission was
approved, [thereby]…pav[ing] the way‖ 10 for the eventual establishment of the World
Council of Churches after World War II.
In 1910, Protestant Episcopal, the Disciples of Christ, and the Congregational
churches within the United States attempted to engage the doctrinal differences of one
another. The first conference devoted to this subject, Conference on Faith and Order,
was convened in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1927.
An additional Faith and Order
Conference convened in Edinburgh in 1937 ―resulted in a general agreement about the
‗grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,‘‖ 11 but not much else, save a decision to merge with the
Life and Work Conference, resulting in the establishment of the World Council of
Churches in 1948. Cooperation between liberal Protestants, Catholics, and Jews was
evident when, in response to increased antisemitism in the United States in the 1920‘s
and due to concern over the rise of Hitler in the 1930‘s, they began to promote the idea of
the United States as a Judeo-Christian nation, ―nurtured by three ennobling spiritual
8 Queen, Prothero, & Shattuck 195
9 Queen, Prothero, & Shattuck 195
10 Queen, Prothero, & Shattuck 195
11 Queen, Prothero, & Shattuck 195
3