ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT. The long and varied history of Christian ecumenism is reflected in the many definitions attached to the word itself. The Greek oikoumenē comes from the noun oikos ("house, dwelling") and the verb oikeō ("to live, to dwell"). Oikoumenē, which is derived from the present passive participle of the verb, suggests the land in which people live or dwell and is usually translated "the inhabited world." The word initially had no theological implications; it was a descriptive term used by the Greeks to describe the world they knew, and later by the Romans to describe the Roman Empire.

Biblical usage of the word oikoumenē is sparse. Eight of the fifteen references are found in Luke and Acts, and with the exception of two references that suggest the Roman empire (Lk. 2:1, Acts 17:6) and one that may have cosmic import (Heb. 2:5), the remaining uses are no more...