Analysis on Christian Division

[AquinasXVI]

Everyone:

I thought I’d make a nutshell analysis on why we’re divided.

Christ prayed that his flock be one. History and our own experience show that this hasn’t yet been the case. The greatest division arguably is the reformation.

Questions that need to be answered. Did God desire/will this divide? Why did God allow this massive rending of Christendom? The essence of the Trinity is Unity. And if we are to imitate God, we have to be united. Because of free will, God allowed this event.

IMHO the evil one used the weakness of human nature to perpetrate this division. The corruption of those given the authority plus the greed and pride of those who rebelled worked against this unity. So we have to blame both sides of the reformation. The Catholics that were abusive did not have the right to do so. On the other side, the Reformers took the opportunity to set up their own churches thinking they now have the authority.

Solution. The people in the CC has to live up to the sanctity that God calls it to be. The non Catholic Christians need humility to reverse the pride that separated them in the first place. Both virtues SANCTITY on the Catholic side, and HUMILITY on the Protestant side are the solutions to the CORRUPTION by the Catholics in the reformation era and the PRIDE by the reformers.

That we may all be ONE.

All comments welcome.

in XT.

 

[janman55]

I think there is alot I agree with in your thumbnail analysis. I would take exception that “it hasn’t yet been the case” Humans are flawed and I think the stipulation you have placed on the Church is the same that Christ placed on it, and it has struggled to pursue since Pentecost. There has also always been debate within the confines of the Church which has been resolved by the Holy Spirit through the authority of the Church. Reformers had some valid concerns and many invalid which should have been resolved without division.

I believe Pride is the biggest impediment to reunion.

 

[Della]

I agree that pride is a big contributing factor to the continuing disunity between Christian bodies. But, I think we have to add ignorance and fear to the mix.

What people don’t understand they oftentimes fear. They fear getting trapped in a man-made structure so big that they would get lost in it and too worldly in the way some of its leaders have reacted to the sins and problems of modern life.

And they fear deception, comparing the Church to political systems and the failures of governments to address their concerns.

They do not understand the concept of a Church that is both human and divine. All they see is the human and a culture they don’t understand, which they find repellent to their Puritan sensibilities. All the color and pomp and formality puts them off because they know nothing of the spirituality of the great saints with whom they are unfamiliar and do not understand when they take the trouble to read them because their understanding of God and man is so very different.

And this is only the short list of things that divide Catholics from Protestants and Orthodox and other Christian groups.

 

[BrianH]

Della:

I agree that pride is a big contributing factor to the continuing disunity between Christian bodies. But, I think we have to add ignorance and fear to the mix.

I do not often get far in my conversations when I start with, “hey you ignorant, scared, prideful person…have i got some truth for you”.
Brian

 

[JMJ_Theresa]

Much of the Reformation was fueled by greed and politics as well as doctrinal confusion. The rulers at the time were interested in claiming the political power and material wealth of the Catholic Church. By establishing their own churches, they were able to confiscate lands and money as well wrest political control.

Maybe you have to add detachment from power and wealth to humility.

I cannot see how unity will be restored until the return of Jesus Christ

Come, Lord Jesus!!

 

[Della]

BrianH:

I do not often get far in my conversations when I start with, “hey you ignorant, scared, prideful person…have i got some truth for you”.
Brian

I didn’t say it was all on one side.

 

[Dan-Man916]

Personally, I think the East-West schism was a bigger problem than the reformation. It is just that we see the fruits of the reformation moreso in this country because America is pretty much a Protestant country.

The other problem I see is that the analysis assumes that everyone sees that Catholicism has the fullness of the truth and that everyone is going to come over in humility.
Everyone thinks someone is a heretic.
The Orthodox think Catholics are heretics. Catholics think the Protestants are heretics, etc.
One group must first recognize that their belief system is flawed before one is going to humbly come back to another “fold”. If you are Eastern Orthodox, you will be saying the exact same thing that Catholics say about Protestants, for Orthodox believe that Catholics are the original “Protestants”, as it were, because of our “heretical Christology” in adding the filioque.