"Why would God allow his true church to split?"

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I’m trying to explain the reformation to my protestant friend. In my journey in converting friends back to Christ’s true church, I have never been asked this question before… until now.

What is the best way to answer something like that?

“Why would God allow his true church to split?”

He’s talking about the falling off of protestants from Catholicism, or generally, from Christ’s church. What should I say?
 
God gave us all the gift of free will. Some folks have simply used that free will to leave the Church. God doesn’t force people to stay in His Church.
 
Actually, His true church has not split.

His true church is still doing what it’s been doing since Pentecost.

The liturgies are still joining to those in heaven, the sacraments are still blessing us in abundance, the church is still teaching the Truth as it is revealed to Her and all of Jesus’ blessings are still being poured out upon us, just as He set them all in motion two millenia ago when He spoke to Peter.

What flakes off and splinters away is not His church.
 
^ True. I wasn’t sure how else to phrase the question.

Anyone else have an answer/opinions?
 
Well like it was said before, the church didn’t split. It is still one true church. And there have always been splinter groups since the beggining with the Circumsicers. God gave us free will. God always gives us two choices. To follow him and not to follow him. Some people follow some don’t. Lets just try and make the right decision. And try to aviod Adam and Eves blunders.
 
CatHicks said:
^ True. I wasn’t sure how else to phrase the question.

Anyone else have an answer/opinions?
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I would reread the parables of the sower, there are 2 of them.

The other is to go through the prophets of the old testament and see the analogous situations that are common to them with regards those who go their own way. God protected the remnants who remained faithful and marched through history to bring about the Christ. God didn’t abandon those who left, they abandoned God. The remnants stayed true and on course.

In the current age it really hasn’t changed. God protects the church while it continually marches towards the end of the age while people go their own way. As God didn’t abandon the faithful of Isreal, He also doesn’t abandon the faithful of the church.

Man is still man. Suppose that protestantism never occurred, would the church be perfect? The answer is no. In the parable of the sower the world has traditionally been seen as the church. The church is attacked from without and within, a man sews bad seed (from without) among the good. They grow up together (from within) Verse 41 says that Christ will gather out of his kingdom all those who sin and are evildoers. V38 says the good seed are the sons of the kingdom. As v41 says the evil will be gathered out of the kingdom and the kingdom is the good seed, that means there will be evil that attacks from within.

People who have the perfect panacea picture of the people of the church aren’t hearing what Christ said, they are thinking wordly. That church (meaning only good people would be in it) never existed, and was never promised, even the apostolic epistles attest to this. It is naive to believe otherwise. But the worse sin is schism. Istead of being part of the faithful remnant, they leave. (A lot of catholics though, inside, are in for a big surprise when Christ comes too.)

(This typically adresses those who abandon the faith, not those who through ignorance don’t know any better. In other words those who were brought up under the umbrella of error aren’t responsible for the errors of their fathers. This is a whole other area though: availing or not of graces, contrition etc.)

The perfect example of the parable is the 12 apostles. Judas would be considered a weed in the church. He was attacked from outside (Satan) yet so was Peter, but Peter saught forgiveness.

Just my 2 cents.

Peace and God Bless
Nicene
 
Why did God allow Adam and Eve to touch the forbidden fruit?
 
CatHicks,

One of the things that impressed me once upon a time when I was reading about it in the Bible was God’s great humility in allowing His Temple to be overrun by pagans and destroyed. Allowing His Church to be split may fall under the same category.
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