Ecumene

The Greek term cited above is the feminine present middle participle of the verb οἰκέω (oikéō, '(I) inhabit') and is a clipped form of οἰκουμένη γῆ (oikouménē gē, 'inhabited world').

During the Middle Ages, this picture of the world was widened to accommodate Scandinavia, the North Atlantic, East Asia, and eventually sub-equatorial Africa.

A belief in global symmetry led many Greco-Roman geographers to posit other continents elsewhere on the globe, which existed in balance with the ecumene: Perioeci (lit.

[6] His Fifth Epistle berates John for having "attempted to seize upon a new name, whereby the hearts of all your brethren might have come to take offence",[7] despite the title having been granted at the emperor Maurice's behest.

The work of ecumenism takes place in the form of negotiations conducted between committees of various denominations and also through the deliberations of inter-denominational organizations such as the World Council of Churches who have registered as their web domain oikoumene.org.

[9] William H. McNeill later popularized it in his Rise of the West (1963), suggesting that a single global ecumene emerged through the dominance of European political institutions, science, technology, and economic forms from the late 18th century onwards.

One could argue that prior to the great voyages of discovery carried out by Christopher Columbus, Vasco da Gama, and Ferdinand Magellan, there were originally two separate ecumenes—one covering the Old World and one the New.