Posted on 12/07/2005 4:43:44 PM PST by sionnsar
It's a sad but necessary reality that some denominational splits are justified.
A Christianity Today editorial
December 2005, Vol. 49, No. 12, Page 27
A third-century critic of Christianity named Celsus mocked Christians because they were divided into competing sects. He was referring mainly to the divisions between Gnostic and orthodox Christians. The great defender of Christianity, Origen, wondered what was Celsus' problem. These divisions were not over "small and trivial things," he argued, but about "the most important matters," and thus, as any philosopher would agree, a mark of intellectual seriousness.
Origen's point seems lost today as many observers criticize the breakup of a number of venerable denominations. The latest statistics for the Episcopal Church (USA) show a loss of 100 members per day in 2003—and this before the major defections following the 2003 General Convention that made a bishop of a man who had left his wife and children for a gay lover. We would not place our bets against a worldwide fissure in Anglicanism, the third-largest Christian body on the planet.
Continue reading "Intelligent Church Redesign"
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams. This is false irenicism, of course. There is no such thing as "Mere Christianity."
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