Christianity unity possibly in our lifeline

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The unity of Christendom, would be a great thing. However total unity in my opinion would be impossible without apparent divine direction. However a reparation of some of the division is certainly possible, both with the traditionalist anglicans, and with the Orthodox (not without merit considering several brief reunifications after the great schism)
 
It is Jesus Who sustains us and is the source of unity…something that is very fragile considering human nature.

I think Ba’hai uses beautiful imagery…but I think when growing up, I was drawn to the beautiful compassion of Jesus, His Holy Spirit, but as you get older, you deal with harsher realities, more of the Cross, living in faith in God’s will.
 
If you were a tad bit more informed of the 40 year ministry of Baha’u’lllah you would see that sam compassion. Imagine, we have come to love divine compassion shown by Jesus during a 3 year ministry 2000 years ago, while we have so much more to compare with in this new ministry. Test the spirits, test the fruits, You SHALL know them by their fruits.

**Arise and, armed with the power of faith, shatter to pieces the gods of your vain imaginings, the sowers of dissension amongst you. Cleave unto that which draweth you together and uniteth you. This, verily, is the most exalted Word which the Mother Book hath sent down and revealed unto you. To this beareth witness the Tongue of Grandeur from His habitation of glory. **(GWB, p. 217)
 
Mannyfit75 said:
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)
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Not a hope 🙂 Nice idea - but so is teleportation.​

 
VARC said:
I don’t believe pinning down whose 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.
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It is not a matter of assembling the right litany. It requires the unassailable appearance of the Real Unifier,through the Will of God. THis has already happened, but the Will does not include forcing anyone to do anything. Faith is not through coercion --they have to see with their spiritual insight that such a path is good for mankind.

Say: He Who is the Unconditioned is come, in the clouds of light, that He may quicken all created things with the breezes of His Name, the Most Merciful, and unify the world, and gather all men around this Table which hath been sent down from heaven. (Bahá’u’lláh, ESW, p. 46)

Revile ye not one another. We, verily, have come to unite and weld together all that dwell on earth. (Bahá’u’lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 24)

…God hath purposed to bind hearts together, albeit through both earthly and heavenly means. Beware lest the desires of the flesh and of a corrupt inclination provoke divisions among you.
Be ye as the fingers of one hand, the members of one body. Thus counselleth you the Pen of Revelation, if ye be of them that believe. (Bahá’u’lláh, Kitab-i-Aqdas, #57 & #58)
**
Through the power of the words He hath uttered the whole of the human race can be illumined with the light of unity, and the remembrance of His Name is able to set on fire the hearts of all men, and burn away the veils that intervene between them and His glory.**(Bahá’u’lláh, GWB, 286)
 
DavidMark,

Your sharings on Ba’Hai gives me – the impression – I know very little about it, that on one hand you are waiting for the Messiah, you affirm good fruits, but on the other it appears more philosophical or even poetic.

However, the whole movement, albeit benevolent, is bypassing concrete, incarnated (meaning God working through human flesh) means – the Church – instituted by Christ, that has been with us for 2,000 years.

Christ said He will never leave us. He remains with us through His Word Made Flesh in the Eucharist. We have both sacramental and spiritual communion with Him. And this belief supports people in all walks of life, from the poor to wealthy, to those who objectively have businesses, deal with the up’s and down’s of the market, their employees, the sick and the dying.

The Church members are not perfect, and that is only achieved when we are in heaven and we have no more inclination to sin.

It is so human to expect too much from people. And when they fall or betray us, it doesn’t mean the Church itself falls or betrays. But once you get over that depending on other people’s faith to help you, everything falls into place.

It would be good to have a thread that teaches and explains the nature and mission of the Church. I am approaching retirement, and the more I learn about my Church and persevere in my faith, the more I see the Church as a source of nourishment and guidance towards heaven – but not to look at it for its own sake. Because if you do, it will some day fail.

A bishop told me, after our diocese finally settled down after a number of years of controversy, that unity is very fragile. We may have it for a number of years, a new issue comes up, alot of turmoil and misunderstandings and misapplications ensue, then it has to be straightened out taking so many more years…We have to keep our eyes on Christ, His sacraments, go to Mass as frequently as we can, and learn and remain what is the Apostolic transmission of faith from the very people who knew Jesus and were His disciples.
 
Dear KathleeGee: I appreciate you responding to me and the testimony you gave.
Vatican II encourages a more inclusive approach, but the Day of Prayer in 2002 showed we still need to pray together, if we are all created by the same God.
Global consciousness has not quite gotten to that point. That’s why I love interfaith work.
Be the very best Catholic you can be! I’m trying to be the very best Baha’i.

For us, progressive revelation is continuous. We shouldn’t be waiting for the Messiah because He has already come and provided us with the guidance we need. We should be trying to inculcate it into our lives. When one Dispensation closes, another opens. I see this in the parable of the workers the land-owner sent out at different times of the day.

O thou who art waiting, tarry no longer, for He is come.
Behold His Tabernacle and His Glory dwelling therein.
It is the Ancient Glory, with a new Manifestation.
– BAHÁ’U’LLÁH.
 
The only thing that separates us is a lack of love for each other. Jesus said love one another as I have loved you, by this all men will know that you are my disciples.

It just seems that all men do not recognise us as disciples of Jesus, which suggests a lack of love for each other.

blessings

Eric
 
VARC said:
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.
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One possibility is the conscious adoption of a model of overlapping unities in different spheres, such as doctrinal, church discipline and liturgical: a community in unity can be enlarged in each sphere, without expecting that these communities will all have the same membership. One group of churches may be a community in unity doctrinally, another liturgically, another in terms of authority and discipline. Therefore a church or individual who feels unable to enter full communion in one respect (say doctrinal), may still feel part of the united liturgical and disciplinary communities; someone who does not accept the authority of the Pope over the church, may still assent to the Nicene creed and share in worship with the united liturgical community. Naturally the tent would also have to be very broad in each of these communities with overlapping memberships.

I get this idea from the Bahai community, which actually has “full” unity (99% at least of Bahais consider themselves members of the one community). The Bahais have something quite unique in religios history, as far as I know: doctrine and discipline and worship are embodied in three separate institutions, the Guardianship, the House of Justice and the House of Worship. It’s comparable to the idea of dividing absolute monarchy into legislative, judicial and executive branches. Perhaps a similar approach might also be a path towards achieving greater Christian unity.
 
It is the Unifier who does the unifying, and He can make the untied nations truly united.
 
DavidMark,
Jesus said His kingdom will come…one heart at a time through conversion…

People with addictions in the 12 step program, who have remained faithful through the years, when they are finally able to reconnect to their real selves, the world around them is opened up as well.

They identify with Lazarus who was raised from the dead.

I think Christ is here with us, but He also said to pick up His cross and follow Him…and become the humble servant…the way to endure to enter true salvation with Him in heaven…no true happiness in this world.

Just some thoughts,
Kathleen
 
It would be a great thing in the middle east for Orthodox and Catholic to be re-united. Coptic with Maronite with Melkite with Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic etc, etc.
 
I couldn’t agree with you more Kathleen, The Kingdom does grow one heart at a time, so each one should teach each one. And I admit it would be a great thing for Christianity to have one face, but all are created by God on this one planet, and if He can unite Christians, He can unite the limbs of mankind into one body. I believe this is prophesied.

When Jesus spoke to the Jews
John 5:46 **For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me.**5:47 **But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? **

[This is a very important passage, because it shows that God sent both Moses and Jesus. Jesus did not start a new religion, He renewed the ancient one. If the Jews rejected Jesus, they rejected Moses. And it also verifies that the Pentateuch originated with Moses. Jesus uses similar language to tell of the future divine Manifestation]:

John10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

Zechariah 14:9 And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

Zephaniah 3:9 For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the LORD, to serve him with one consent.

❤️
 
Nominefili said:
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.
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Not after the Apostolic Council.
 
Mannyfit75 said:
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)
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If we open our heart wider than the ocean, we will see so many similarities among the Christian branches which would unify us. On the other hand, if we are narrow-minded, we will see so many differences unsettled, even within a single parish. BTW, I surely do hope the same thing you do, Manny.
 
That really depends on what you mean by unity. For the Orthodox Christian unity means that first we believe the same things and then we come into communion together. Recently on another forum an Orthodox Christian gave a good list of things that would have to happen for there to be unity between Latins and Orthodox. I don’t see very many of these things being resolved any time soon. Orthodox won’t consent to an administrative unity without theological agreement. Read this thread if you really want to understand why this is.

orthodoxforum.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=518
 
Parascheva1014 said:
That really depends on what you mean by unity. For the Orthodox Christian unity means that first we believe the same things and then we come into communion together. Recently on another forum an Orthodox Christian gave a good list of things that would have to happen for there to be unity between Latins and Orthodox. I don’t see very many of these things being resolved any time soon. Orthodox won’t consent to an administrative unity without theological agreement. Read this thread if you really want to understand why this is.

orthodoxforum.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=518
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You are basically correct, though. I am not expecting unity in the form of having a single superbig international church with a single organization in it, or a mega Catholic Church if you would rather say. For instance, such as me, being a Catholic, joining your communion and considered as having a Eucharest (and vice versa), is enough already. No need to have the entire Eastern Ortodox Church merging with the Roman Catholic Church to form a single Catholic Church (whatever the name will be).
 
I was only able to have time on the link to why Orthodox disagree with the Latins.

About Filoque, Jesus also spoke of help of Someone coming after Him…and that in the Old Testament – I will have to look up the exact place – of the image of a prophet seeing 3 men walking, representing the Holy Spirit – a reference brought up several times as symbolizing the Holy Trinity.

About Original Sin, when you look at evolution, and they still haven’t found the original man with ongoing discoveries, inheriting our ancesters’ fallen nature ‘jives’ with me, but also Jesus as Atonement for sin, when you look at the Abraham and Isaac, and the whole symbolic nature of ancient Jewish worship and the daily sacrifice.

We have had good popes and bad popes…come back later…but will reread the posts again.
Thanks.
 
**Say: He Who is the Unconditioned is come, in the clouds of light, that He may quicken all created things with the breezes of His Name, the Most Merciful, and unify the world, and gather all men around this Table which hath been sent down from heaven.
Beware that ye deny not the favor of God after it hath been sent down unto you.
Better is this for you than that which ye possess; for that which is yours perisheth, whilst that which is with God endureth. He, in truth, ordaineth what He pleaseth.
Verily, the breezes of forgiveness have been wafted from the direction of your Lord, the God of Mercy; whoso turneth thereunto, shall be cleansed of his sins, and of all pain and sickness. Happy the man that hath turned towards them, and woe betide him that hath turned aside. **(Baha’u’llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 46)

They read the Evangel and yet refuse to acknowledge the All-Glorious Lord, notwithstanding that He hath come through the potency of His exalted, His mighty and gracious dominion. We, verily, have come for your sakes, and have borne the misfortunes of the world for your salvation. Flee ye the One Who hath sacrificed His life that ye may be quickened? Fear God, O followers of the Spirit, and walk not in the footsteps of every divine that hath gone far astray.(Tablets of Baha’u’llah, p. 10)
 
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