Required reading
Discussions (Vol 2) by Robert L. Dabney (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read 'What is Christian Union'.
My summary
This week Dabney teaches us about unity in the Christian church.
Dabney discusses:
(i) Christian unity in church history;
(ii) the differences in the invisible and visible church;
(iii) reasons why organic unity cannot be compelled;
(iv) the harm in calls for unity;
(v) practical advice for denominations.
What grabbed me
I appreciated Dabney's clarity on reasons why there is always disunity in the visible church: 'These causes existing, the attempt to compel an organic unity only results in greater mischiefs. To evince this I only have to compare three facts. One is, that the church has among men no infallible expounder of that Bible which is its sole rule of faith and order. The second is, that God hath left the conscience of his people free from the doctrines and commandments of men, and requires of believers that conduct which is dictated by their own intelligent and conscientious convictions. And the third is, that men, being fallible, always have differed, and always will honestly differ in details. How vain is it to expect anything else, when we look soberly over the past history of opinion ; when we remember that the different races are reared under different climes, languages, political institutions, and social usages, all of which have an unavoidable effect upon their habitudes of thought ; when we consider the limitation and weakness of man's understanding ; and, above all, when we bear in mind that he is at best a sinner, imperfectly sanctified, with passions and prejudices still subsisting. Men cannot be made to think exactly alike, if they think honestly, and this simply because they are men. In those communions which enforce an external unity, the differences of belief are wider than between any two evangelical Christians in this hall, and if those divergencies are suppressed, it is only at the cost of a grievous tyranny over the conscience. '
Perfect unity means checking your brain at the door.
Next week's reading
Read 'Broad Churchism'.
Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
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