Christis


	Contents page \| Christis archive \| Submissions \| Advertising \| Links page \| Meet the team \| Cartoons \| Subscribe \| Christis timetable \| Search Christis

Christian Unity

Tom Ryder looks at the meaning of unity and its practical application

Christian Unity (broadly meaning the acceptance of non-essential differences between Christians as individuals or churches in a variety of ways, and working together effectively) is a large issue, and there are many valid points of view on it, often approaching the same thing from different directions. For the purposes of initiating discussion on what I believe to be an important issue I will try to give a few of my own views, whilst acknowledging that I cannot cover everything.

I find Christian Unity, or the lack thereof, interesting. I am not going to deal with some of the more extreme groups, for example Jehovah’s Witnesses — I am going to assume that people all fall into the ‘main’ denominations, e.g. Orthodox, Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, URC, Free Church. This is because the more extreme groups have different rules applying to them — I’ll get to this very shortly.

Between the main denominations, beliefs vary surprisingly little on an everyday ‘human’ level. When I say that these beliefs vary little, I mean that differences in beliefs fall in to two categories, those that are essential, and those that are not. My most basic way of thinking about things places the different beliefs of, for example, the Jehovah’s Witnesses in the ‘essential differences’ category — in denying the divinity of Jesus Christ and hence The Trinity, I believe that they are missing an absolutely non-negotiable part of Christianity.

So we are left with the ‘less essential’ differences between Christian beliefs. Let me give an example. I personally very strongly believe in adult baptism as being a better approach than infant baptism. However, the reason that I believe that this is the best thing is probably the product of a Baptist Church at an early age, and the views of my parents. It is something that I believe very strongly, but in no part of the Bible that I am aware of, did Jesus say that babies must not be baptised. A reason that the mainstream churches disagree on such issues is that they are not absolutely clear-cut.

Whilst I believe that adult baptism is the best approach, I would be lying to say that I know this to be the case. I like the arguments in favour of it, but in the end it comes down to my belief, and the beliefs of those of like mind. There is a lot of equally well argued opposition. I do not believe that my infant baptising friends are going to burn in hell because of what they believe. I believe that the adult baptism approach is better, but at the end of the day, I may even be wrong. This is important.

If I may be wrong in what I believe, then I must accept the validity of other beliefs (within the framework of the ‘less essential’ beliefs), and must therefore consider the people of opposing views also to be ‘proper’ Christians.

To approach the problem from a slightly different angle, let me ask the question “What did Jesus want us to do, when he walked on this Earth and taught people things that would eventually make up the New Testament?” Effectively, what was he getting at? I have only one answer, Love. We should love God with our whole hearts, and our neighbours as ourselves. We should accept Jesus as our saviour, and try to lead Christ-like lives. We will not be perfect, and therefore we must repent, which involves both apologising, and more importantly, making a concerted effort to change our behaviour for the better. On a very basic level, this is the point of being a Christian. Therefore, we should love one another, or try to. Unfortunately, this is often not how we act, especially towards other Christians, who have slightly different views.

When our priority should be love, we allow our feelings and actions to become contempt and hate, we look down on those with slightly different views. We allow these differences to defeat the one commandment Jesus gave, to love God and one another.

Okay, enough of that. What I am trying to do is to get you to ask yourself whether you are really so sure of yourself, whether you ever expect your views to change. Are you absolutely correct on every issue all of the time, or may other people’s views also have a degree of validity? Last night, a good friend said to me that a lot of the inter-denominational differences are probably fairly irrelevant to how Christians should lead their lives. She also added that maybe we all have it wrong. I have to agree with her.

So what am I suggesting? I think that denominations are all well and good — they cater for people with different views and tastes, and provide the church with a rich tapestry of experience to draw on. It is also healthy that the differences in views get worked on, so that we may be balanced as a church. What I would like to suggest is that having looked at ourselves, seeing our own faults, and maybe admitting that it is remotely possible that we may be a little off the bull’s eye on a few issues, we view our other denominations as a strength, a valued diversity. Yes, I believe that for example the Anglicans are mistaken, when they support infant baptism, but I know that I may myself be wrong, and that regardless, they are every bit as Christian as me. As Christians, rather than Methodists, Catholics, or whatever, we should work for the benefit of the whole Church of Christ, and not ignore portions that make us feel uncomfortable.

I’ve probably said enough now, so please write in to Christis about this, because the more such issues get aired, hopefully the more balanced all of our views on Christian Unity, my own included, should become.

Tom Ryder is a third year Chemistry student, but that’s not his fault.

Last modified: 25th November 2005