"why are there thousands of Protestant denominations, all unable to agree?" Because we humans like to argue and make mountains out of molehills!! lol I think it is complicated to us humans. I don't think it's complicated to God! That's why I said I think He's up there laughing at all of us!! It says more about our human condition than some perceived complexity.
No, I don't think Christians are all united to the eye of the unbeliever and I think it's because of believers magnifying the importance of differences in the way we conduct our services. I DO believe we are united in status before the Lord as His "church" if we are born-again. I DO believe we are united in purpose -converting the unsaved.
Does this make sense? It's getting late and I'm getting tired so it may not!
No, I don't think Christians are all united to the eye of the unbeliever and I think it's because of believers magnifying the importance of differences in the way we conduct our services. I DO believe we are united in status before the Lord as His "church" if we are born-again. I DO believe we are united in purpose -converting the unsaved.
I wasn't asking if we are "united [in] the eye of the unbeliever". I was asking if you think we are [in actuality] as united as Christ prays for us to be in John 17.
Here's what the Apostle Paul says: "I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. (1 Cor 1:10)
You are a Baptist and I am a Catholic. Presumably, then, you do not believe the line the Nicene Creed: "We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins", since you think baptism is merely a symbol, and not actually efficacious for the forgiveness of sins. But the Catholic Church, from the very beginning has taught that our sins are forgiven in baptism. (See here.) So we are not "perfectly united in mind and thought", because we disagree about basic doctrine [the doctrine of baptism is just one example of the many doctrines about which we disagree].
We disagree about authority. I believe that your Baptist pastor does not have true authority, because he has no mandate from the Apostles (Acts 15:24; Romans 10:15); you [presumably] believe that the bishop of Rome has no true authority. So because we disagree about authority we are not "perfectly united in mind and thought".
We disagree about the sacraments. You think there are only two: baptism and the Lord's Supper. The Catholic Church teaches that there seven. You think [presumably] that the Lord's Supper is merely symbolic. The Catholic Church teaches (and has always taught) that bread and wine, when validly consecrated, actually become the Body and Blood of our Lord, such that we eat His flesh and drink His blood, as Jesus teaches in John 6, and Paul teaches in 1 Cor 11. And I have already pointed out how we disagree about baptism. So because we disagree about the sacraments, we are not "perfectly united in mind and thought".
And those are the three "bonds of unity": unity of faith [i.e. agreement on doctrine], unity of worship [i.e. agreement on the sacraments], and unity of ecclesial authority [i.e. agreement on who has ecclesial authority]. So long as we are disagreed in any one of those three areas, we are not "perfectly united in mind and thought", and not as united as Christ prays (in John 17) that we would be. And Rodney King style pleas neither eliminate these differences nor eliminate our obligation to seek to resolve these differences and become "perfectly united in mind and thought".
-A8