Christianity unity possibly in our lifeline

[Mannyfit75]

When the new Vatican Provisions concerning the Angelicans and this article catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=34694 about Bulgarian Orthodox Leader who desires unity with between Orthodox and Catholics, I think within 100 yrs period, we could see Christianity reunited.

What are yours thoughts. By the way, I am deployed now in Iraq and made it safely to COB Speicher. I am also helping the 1 Catholic chaplain (who was a former monk)

 

[KathleenGee]

Christian unity…especially for America…how great that would be…what a grace…

 

[dsears]

It would be great, but I do not think it will happen. There are too many protestant churches that support things we do not such as abortion, gay unions, and many other off the wall things. I do not see them giving up their position anytime soon, though most of them are loosing memebers faster than I can drink a diet coke!

 

[Nominefili]

It would be great, but I do not think it will happen. There are too many protestant churches that support things we do not such as abortion, gay unions, and many other off the wall things. I do not see them giving up their position anytime soon, though most of them are loosing memebers faster than I can drink a diet coke!

Well to be fair, there really hasn’t been any point in history with true Christian unity. Even Paul and James disagreed about the role of circumcision in salvation. There will always be fringe groups, but they are thought of as such and not ‘legitimate options’ for church, if that makes sense. In other words the Catholic church would incorporate so many church bodies that whatever is left will be relatively insignificant.

 

[wyp8riot]

forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=389974

 

[DavidMark]

Christian unity is not enough. There must be unity among all mankind, and they will come from all religious backgrounds, and God can weld them into a single body just as easily as He has put a single atmosphere above them, and made them walk on the same globe, and made all their blood red. It takes time to accomplish both.
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…and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.** (John 10:16 KJV)
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God will one day bring you all together; verily, God is All-Powerful. **(Qur’án, 2:148)

**That which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the healing of all the world is the union of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith. This can in no wise be achieved except through the power of a skilled, an all-powerful and inspired Physician. This, verily, is the truth, and all else naught but error.(**Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 255)

How is this possible? Because Baha’u’llah’s enemies banished Him to Palestine, and He summoned the Jews to return from their exile, and still, it is as if the nations can’t see their hand in front of their face.

By Thine aloneness the Sun of Oneness shone, and by Thy banishment the land of Unity was adorned. Be patient, O Thou Exile of the worlds.(Baha’u’llah, Fire Tablet, Baha’i Prayers, p. 218)

When the victory arriveth, every man shall profess himself as believer and shall hasten to the shelter of God’s Faith. Happy are they who in the days of world-encompassing trials have stood fast in the Cause and refused to swerve from its truth.(Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 319)

 

[Mannyfit75]

Christian unity is not enough. There must be unity among all mankind, and they will come from all religious backgrounds, and God can weld them into a single body just as easily as He has put a single atmosphere above them, and made them walk on the same globe, and made all their blood red. It takes time to accomplish both.
**
…and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.** (John 10:16 KJV)

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Unity amongst Christians must come first. This will eventually bring conversions to the Christian faith from other faiths who are not Christians. Christianity itself is the true religion of God.

 

[VARC]

When the new Vatican Provisions concerning the Angelicans and this article catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=34694 about Bulgarian Orthodox Leader who desires unity with between Orthodox and Catholics, I think within 100 yrs period, we could see Christianity reunited.

What are yours thoughts. By the way, I am deployed now in Iraq and made it safely to COB Speicher. I am also helping the 1 Catholic chaplain (who was a former monk)

It will never happen. Rome and Orthodox both see themselves as the infallible one True Church but at least one of them is wrong. Neither one is going to back down. You cannot unite with a Church that sees itself that way. You can only submit to it and be absorbed by it. That is the truth. Both Rome and the Orthodox know it and it isn’t appealing to either one so forget it. It’s a pipe dream.

OTOH there is much hope for unity among churches that have a less inflated view of themselves. TEC had entered into sacramental communion with the Lutherans (ELCA) and the Methodists (UMC). Agreements for the Morovian Church and the Presbyterians (PCUSA) are forthcoming.

 

[Catholic29]

I certainly don’t see it happening either, for all the reasons given in this thread and so many others.

As long as there are minds to disagree, they will disagree…

 

[VARC]

I certainly don’t see it happening either, for all the reasons given in this thread and so many others.

As long as there are minds to disagree, they will disagree…

I would say that as long as disagreements are viewed as heresies there will never be unity. Differing theological perspectives and ecclesial traditions must be respected before unity is possible.

 

[benidict]

When the new Vatican Provisions concerning the Angelicans and this article catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=34694 about Bulgarian Orthodox Leader who desires unity with between Orthodox and Catholics, I think within 100 yrs period, we could see Christianity reunited.

What are yours thoughts. By the way, I am deployed now in Iraq and made it safely to COB Speicher. I am also helping the 1 Catholic chaplain (who was a former monk)

hi heading to iraq myself in may or june next year. with the 25th in hawaii. scholfield barracks. that would be awesome to see Catholics, Anglicans and Orthodox, all on the same page. it would be huge!

 

[Catholic29]

I would say that as long as disagreements are viewed as heresies there will never be unity. Differing theological perspectives and ecclesial traditions must be respected before unity is possible.

After mutual respect is actually achieved, there is the no small or easy matter to determine who’s theological perspective is the right one, if any. As far as I’m concerned the Christianity of century one AD may not of resembled anything that is practiced today.

I’m actually a former Catholic to let you know, but set up my account here when I was quite devout in said faith, if I could change my screen name I would.

 

[VARC]

After mutual respect is actually achieved, there is the no small or easy matter to determine who’s theological perspective is the right one, if any. As far as I’m concerned the Christianity of century one AD may not of resembled anything that is practiced today.

I’m actually a former Catholic to let you know, but set up my account here when I was quite devout in said faith, if I could change my screen name I would.

I don’t believe pinning down who theology is correct is worthwhile. If the tent could be broadened to only requiring assent to the Nicene Creed that would put almost everyone under the umbrella. This is the cost of unity. But for many this price is too high.

 

[Catholic29]

I don’t believe pinning down who theology is correct is worthwhile. If the tent could be broadened to only requiring assent to the Nicene Creed that would put almost everyone under the umbrella. This is the cost of unity. But for many this price is too high.

And there are of course Evangelicals who claim it was Nicea and Constantine who broke Christianity from its apostolic and biblical continuity. Unity is a nice thought and concept to be sure, but is just as much a pipe dream imo.

 

[DavidMark]

:thumbsup:hi heading to iraq myself in may or june next year. with the 25th in hawaii. scholfield barracks. that would be awesome to see Catholics, Anglicans and Orthodox, all on the same page. it would be huge!

While you are there,see what you can find out about the Nestorians and the Assyrian Christians and try to learn more about the Baha’i community. It was in Baghdad that Baha’u’llah lived for ten years (1853-1863) before being exiled again. My son is in ROTC and will probably put his Arabic and Persian to use in that theater. His mother was Iranian.

 

[Hoops]

I think it might be valuable to define what unity means. As for me, I see remarkable unity among Christians, from high church to low church, in essential core doctrine. That is a relatively new phenomenon, one for which we can stand assured that there is the truth in those doctrines.

 

[RoryMcKenzie56]

When the new Vatican Provisions concerning the Angelicans and this article catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=34694 about Bulgarian Orthodox Leader who desires unity with between Orthodox and Catholics, I think within 100 yrs period, we could see Christianity reunited.

What are yours thoughts. By the way, I am deployed now in Iraq and made it safely to COB Speicher. I am also helping the 1 Catholic chaplain (who was a former monk)

There are some terrific promises from Our Lady of Fatima that seem as yet unfulfilled. When Russia is converted, (I don’t think this has happened yet) it will be more than Gorbachev conceding to let the Berlin Wall come down. There is a Catholic Reformation afoot, and Christians of all kinds are not going to want to miss out. It is true that St. Paul promises that there will always be heresies (I Cor. 11?), but it doesn’t mean they have to be so very prominent!

 

[RoryMcKenzie56]

I think it might be valuable to define what unity means. As for me, I see remarkable unity among Christians, from high church to low church, in essential core doctrine. That is a relatively new phenomenon, one for which we can stand assured that there is the truth in those doctrines.

Not speaking for everyone else. What I said isn’t about invisible, interior unity. Unity means going to church together, reciting the same creeds, adhering to the same disciplines, acknowledging the same visible officers as appointed by Christ for our benefit.

 

[Hoops]

Not speaking for everyone else. What I said isn’t about invisible, interior unity. Unity means going to church together, reciting the same creeds, adhering to the same disciplines, acknowledging the same visible officers as appointed by Christ for our benefit.

Okay, that’s fine. I’m not convinced that that is what God means by unity and I’m not convinced that your idea of unity is a good thing. Catholicism and, let’s say, Asemblies of God churches both bring something to the table that the other does not, perhaps can not.

I say this knowing that Catholicism regards Protestants generally and AoG specifically as daughter churches, thereby not fully reaching maturity - AoG would disagree of course.

 

[DavidMark]

This inextinguishable hope stems from words such as these from the Pen of Bahá’u’lláh: “This is the Day in which God’s most excellent favours have been poured out upon men, the Day in which His most mighty grace has been infused into all created things.” May all who strive, often against great odds, to uphold principles of justice and concord be encouraged by these assurances.

9
In reflecting on the years of effort invested in this daunting project, we are moved to express to the people of Haifa the warmth of the feeling in our hearts. Their city will for all time be extolled by the Bahá’ís everywhere as the place in which the mortal remains of the youthful Prophet-Herald of their Faith finally found refuge, and this after half a century of having to be secretly moved for protection from one place to another in His native land. The patience and cordiality shown towards the Bahá’ís throughout the most difficult years of the construction work exemplify the spirit of goodwill in which so much of the world stands so greatly in need. Haifa is providentially situated on Mount Carmel, with its immortal associations with saintly visionaries, whose concern throughout the ages was largely focused on the promise of peace. May Haifa achieve wide renown not just as a place of natural beauty but more especially as the city of peace.
Let the word go forth, then, from this sacred spot, from this Mountain of the Lord, that the unity and peace of the world are not only possible but inevitable. Their time has come.

(The Universal House of Justice, 2001 May 22, Statement on the Opening of the Terraces, in Haifa, Israel) media.bahai.org/subjects/locations/holy_places_hai/terraces