Church Unity
Mar 9, 2017 16:08:50 GMT -6
Post by Todd on Mar 9, 2017 16:08:50 GMT -6
The Restoration Movement of the mid 1800s sought to provide the temporal unity of the Church by restricting what was permissible for Christians to those things that were explicitly condoned in the Bible. This was an old problem. The Roman Catholics had tried for centuries to be unified even while entertaining different monastic orders, similar to Protestant denominations. The Roman Catholic Church was adopted by Constantine largely because it seemed to promise a basis for unity that could be politically useful. Needless to say this did not produce the expected results. By the time of the Reformation, temporal unity was largely a dream of the past, though it still haunted some people. The Reformation had a figure (Zwingli) who, possibly for other reasons, also advocated restricting what was permitted for Christians to the positive permission of the Bible. Another leader of the Reformation (Luther) believed anything was permissible that was not explicitly forbidden in the New Testament.
But there is a more basic issue here, at least so far as the Restoration Movement is concerned. It arises from the notion that we must restore unity. Two problems arise. First of all, the human attempt at unity on this side of eternity is going to prove to be a waste of time. It is like pursuing happiness. The more happiness becomes one's goal, the more surely it will elude him. Similarly with church unity. The more we pursue it the less likely we are to obtain it, because it must proceed according to some sort of standard, some norm, some plan that supercedes the strictly Biblical injunctions, and is disagreeable to others. The second problem is that in the only meaningful sense, the Church already is united, and always has been. The Universal Church is united in its head, Jesus the Christ. We need to recognize that in the temporal world of particulars, there can be no absolute, total unity. It cannot be forced (the Catholics had already failed to produce theological unity by force centuries before the Reformation), nor will it be realized by argumentation; the Reformation itself proved that.
We must, rather than making perfect unity a goal, recognize that each servant stands or falls before his own master, and make sure the Biblical precepts are taught, accepted, and applied, leaving the rest to the individual and God. Can the Christian go to war? No man can make my answer for me. The Bible offers guidance that it is not quite possible to universalize. Can the Christian drink? Again the Bible permits it, but there are those who still have issues with it. And what is that to me?
The main thing is to preach the Bible tirelessly and allow division to heal of itself or disappear over time. In this world it will never be perfect. But making it our goal only makes the problem worse. Instead, let us amaze and dumbfound the World with our love for one another. -Todd
But there is a more basic issue here, at least so far as the Restoration Movement is concerned. It arises from the notion that we must restore unity. Two problems arise. First of all, the human attempt at unity on this side of eternity is going to prove to be a waste of time. It is like pursuing happiness. The more happiness becomes one's goal, the more surely it will elude him. Similarly with church unity. The more we pursue it the less likely we are to obtain it, because it must proceed according to some sort of standard, some norm, some plan that supercedes the strictly Biblical injunctions, and is disagreeable to others. The second problem is that in the only meaningful sense, the Church already is united, and always has been. The Universal Church is united in its head, Jesus the Christ. We need to recognize that in the temporal world of particulars, there can be no absolute, total unity. It cannot be forced (the Catholics had already failed to produce theological unity by force centuries before the Reformation), nor will it be realized by argumentation; the Reformation itself proved that.
We must, rather than making perfect unity a goal, recognize that each servant stands or falls before his own master, and make sure the Biblical precepts are taught, accepted, and applied, leaving the rest to the individual and God. Can the Christian go to war? No man can make my answer for me. The Bible offers guidance that it is not quite possible to universalize. Can the Christian drink? Again the Bible permits it, but there are those who still have issues with it. And what is that to me?
The main thing is to preach the Bible tirelessly and allow division to heal of itself or disappear over time. In this world it will never be perfect. But making it our goal only makes the problem worse. Instead, let us amaze and dumbfound the World with our love for one another. -Todd