Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!snorkelwacker!usc!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: jmoon@lehi3b15.csee.lehigh.edu (Jonggu Moon [890911]) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Why so many kinds of Christians ? Message-ID: Date: 19 Dec 89 06:41:46 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: CSEE Dept. Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA Lines: 71 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu Over here in old L.U., there are more than one Christian Fellowships. There's Lehigh Christian Fellowship of IVCF, Navigators, the Fellowship of Christian Atheletes and the Roman Catholic Newman Center. And we pretty much ignore each other. Why are there so many different Christian Groups on Earth ? If the God described in the Bible exists, why are the Presbyterians keeping their distance from the Baptists ? What are the Protestants and the Roman Catholics at each other's throats in Ireland ? Are the people who believe in one of these interpretations going to heaven while the rest go to hell ? Of all things, this area causes the greatest doubt in me regarding the validity of Christ. We have been commanded to make disciples of all nations by creating envy in them for our way of life. But here we are, literaly brother against brother, shouting from the mountain tops not necessarily God's word, but our conflicting interpretations of His word. Why would an omnipotent and loving God allow his "wife" to splinter and scatter into into miriads of conflicting pieces ? Excuse my melodramatic prose. But this topic hit home today. One of my friends feels that come the day when his family is blessed with children, it would be better if he stayed home while his wife (who has the higher salary) went to work. After all, he is the better cook and someone has to stay home to give a Christian environment to raise the children in. Apon this announcement ( far in the future since the baby won't be due for years ) another friend raised concerns that this reasoning is contrary to the word of God as expressed in Paul's writings to the churches. Now there is ill feeling between the two which looks like it will escalate to mutual alienation based on the belief that the other has it sorrowfully wrong. Now they are praying that the other's heart be softened so that he may see the "truth". Where is the holy spirit in cases like these ? Someone please enlighten me. Stuggling to know his will, Jon ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ [For better or worse, the Holy Spirit does not give us unanimity in doctrine. If I were managing the Universe, I'd see to it that my Church spoke with one voice. That God has not chosen to do that may say that his values are different than mine. Perhaps he is trying to teach us humility. My theory is that it's a judgement on the Church, like the judgement described in the Tower of Babel story. The medieval church was very proud of being a single organization. So proud that it managed to confuse the organization with God. (I say this without intended to condemn modern Catholics. The medieval church was the spiritual ancestor of all of us. I see no reason to think that Presbyterians would be any more immune to institutional pride than Catholics.) God took steps to see that this would never happen again. But the problem that remains is how to deal with each other in so that we realize we are one body of Christ, but do not paper over the differences between us. It should be possible to disagree with another Christian without compromising our judgement on truth, but still retain him as a brother. This it seems to me is more the issue than the many denominations. The denominations in and of themselves aren't really that much of a problem. Sure, one has a bishop and another has a congregational polity. But nobody (I hope) confuses our rules of order with the Gospel. (Indeed perhaps that's one reason that there *are* so many -- to make sure that no one makes that confusion.) The more significant issues do not necessarily follow denominational lines: inerrancy, the role of women, abortion, etc. Some denominations have made one or another of these issues a matter of church discipline, and thus are unanimous. But generally they cut across denominational boundaries. Maybe God is trying to create a kind of unity based entirely in him. The Church is not a political party. Its unity does not consist in adopting a unified platform. Its unity consists in being members of one Lord. At least that's the only sense *I* can make out of things... --clh]