Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue
Deuteronomy 16:20
Deuteronomy 16:20
A recent question on our Facebook page raised an issue that often comes up in our work. We hear it a lot. I'll paraphrase:
Since this page is dedicated to the pursuit of unity among Christians—especially between Catholics and evangelicals—why are you always talking about racism, immigration and so many other issues of life, dignity, justice and care for creation?
It's an extremely important question. One of the issues with unity is that people have different ideas of what it means. The very definition of "unity" itself has disunity!
If you ask someone who is an Orthodox Christian, they will probably hope your vision for Christian unity includes standing with them against the religious persecution and
genocide in the Middle East that is currently devastating their churches. What kind of unity doesn't protect their very survival?
If talk to someone who is African-American, they will probably hope your vision for Christian unity includes healing the ongoing sins of racism that continues to fracture our churches and
our society and leaves black bodies dead in the streets, rotting in prisons or suffering in near-perpetual poverty. What kind of unity doesn't advocate for their lives, dignity and equality?
The desperately poor people immigrating to the U.S. from Latin America are almost all Evangelical, Pentecostal or Roman Catholic Christians. If an asylum seeker is denied entry and is doomed to die on the
other side of the border, then some statement resolving theological differences
may not mean a whole lot to them—they aren't going to feel any warm fuzzies over church unity as they will only feel cold exclusion from (most likely) their fellow Christians. The group that steers this page is comprised of Evangelicals, Protestants and Catholics. Therefore, these are our sisters and brothers in the faith whose lives are at stake at the border. That means something.
So that is why this page and many other unity-seeking
organizations eventually find that we have to be a voice for these other
issues that exclude so many. The above is not an all-inclusive list, as there are definitely other issues that relate just as strongly.
We know from history that so many of the major splits in Christianity were related to—and were often a direct result of—serious differences in doctrine and theology. But what we often fail to recognize is that there have just as often been cultural, racial, ethnic, national and political reasons that have also undergirded so many official and unofficial splits over the centuries.
I'll even take it a step father: I will go on record as to say that few splits—if any—have ever been purely theological. Every split is probably a combination of at least two of more of these factors.
Well, they say never say never, right? Given the thousands and thousands of Christian denominations, I can't say for sure that there has never been a split which hasn't been based entirely on theological grounds. However, I would suspect that even if it seemed like there were, there were also probably cultural or generational differences dovetailed into the mix somehow. Even some of the most famous splits, such as between Catholics and Lutherans in the 16th century Reformation or between the Churches of the East and West over the Chalcedonian Creed in the 5th century, may have been driven as much by different cultural approaches to language and inflection that could very well have factored heavily into what seemed like theological differences. In other words, it was like both groups were looking at the same coin, but one was describing the front and the other the back. What seemed like irreconcilable differences were perhaps more a difference in perspective rather than content. Again, I'm not suggesting that this accounts for every point of disagreement, but it has been suggested that this could be a factor—and even a major factor.]
So which are the church-dividing issues that matter most to you? We'd love to hear your input and feedback! Leave comments here or on our Facebook page.
I'll even take it a step father: I will go on record as to say that few splits—if any—have ever been purely theological. Every split is probably a combination of at least two of more of these factors.
Well, they say never say never, right? Given the thousands and thousands of Christian denominations, I can't say for sure that there has never been a split which hasn't been based entirely on theological grounds. However, I would suspect that even if it seemed like there were, there were also probably cultural or generational differences dovetailed into the mix somehow. Even some of the most famous splits, such as between Catholics and Lutherans in the 16th century Reformation or between the Churches of the East and West over the Chalcedonian Creed in the 5th century, may have been driven as much by different cultural approaches to language and inflection that could very well have factored heavily into what seemed like theological differences. In other words, it was like both groups were looking at the same coin, but one was describing the front and the other the back. What seemed like irreconcilable differences were perhaps more a difference in perspective rather than content. Again, I'm not suggesting that this accounts for every point of disagreement, but it has been suggested that this could be a factor—and even a major factor.]
So which are the church-dividing issues that matter most to you? We'd love to hear your input and feedback! Leave comments here or on our Facebook page.
From what I learned when studying Lutheranism in depth years ago, Martin Luther acted purely on his understanding that the Catholic Church was violating Scripture and God's intent for all humanity. The Catholic Church acted based on its desire for power and its slavish devotion to traditional religion. I don't see any other influence in my studies of this historical split. It seems to me the fundamentalist churches of today are similarly choosing more recent traditional understandings of Scripture over the most in depth, time-honored learning and understanding of God's will toward the LGBT+ community, causing another split. This is based on theology, not culture. It seems to me that differences in theological understanding CAUSE the cultural differences and misunderstandings, and sheer stubbornness based on early theological teaching in people's lives engenders entrenched attitudes, more than culture or language differences and misunderstanding. But I'm speaking from the viewpoint sheerly of an American.
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