John 17:21 and Protestants

[amanda_nicole82]

But for Grace:

Joh 17:21 That they all may be one, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:22 And the glory which thou hast given me, I have given to them: that, they may be one, as we also are one. (Douay-Rheims Bible)

What is it that unites us as Christian? Is it a single church, or is it Christ?

 

[Atreyu]

What is it that unites us as Christian? Is it a single church, or is it Christ?

I don’t disagree that belief in Christ unites us, but like I said:

To sum up, all members of the invisible church [ie Christians] have unity by definition [in Christ], therefore it does not make sense for Jesus to pray that they should have this unity (as they already have it). Rather Jesus is praying that they will have organisational unity [ie they should all belong to the same church], so that the world can see that God has sent Jesus.

You asked a question, now I will ask one of you. How can the world see that God has sent Jesus by unity of Christians, when the only unity of Christians is in belief of Christ?

 

[FdeS2]

Jesus Christ established one Church on earth in order to show the world the way to Himself. He appointed Peter as the head (Pope). I can explain why we as Catholics believe this if you so request. Anyway, this one church was meant to stay unified. When the Reformation rolled around, some people saw the sins of individuals and even groups of people within the Catholic Church. They concluded that they had to split off because the Church was corrupt (when, in fact, it wasn’t the Church, but groups of people). For example, the sale of indulgences was condemned. I think that any Catholic that you talk to today would also see this as wrong. The only problem with splitting off because of this is that the Catholic Church never officially supported the sale of indulgences in the way that they were being used. There are many misconceptions and confusions that can be cleared up if only we calmly discuss our differences. Believe me, the Catholic Church has centuries of sources and writings. We didn’t just make our beliefs up.

 

[amanda_nicole82]

Atreyu:

You asked a question, now I will ask one of you. How can the world see that God has sent Jesus by unity of Christians, when the only unity of Christians is in belief of Christ?

You say that the only unity of Christians is the belief of Christ, as if that is not enough.
There does not need to be one united church for the world to see that God has sent Jesus. Look at all of the different denominations within Christianity and all the different people they reach individually. I’ve seen Baptist missionarys go to different parts of the world leading the lost to Christ, and I’ve heard of Catholic missionarys doing the same.