A Divided Church—How Bad Is It?
“LIKE a large and startled family, living in a ramshackle old house whose front wall has suddenly collapsed, there seems to be a row going on in practically every room—with tambourine-bashing Jesus children screaming at elegant Anglo-Catholic homosexuals in black silk suits.”—The Sunday Times, London, April 11, 1993.
This family is the Church of England. The row is about admitting women to the priesthood. The graphic description of deep disunity applies just as well to all Christendom. With the patriarchs of the Orthodox Church and the pope condemning the decision to allow women to be priests, the overall result, one report concludes, is that “the dream of reunification with the rest of Christendom is farther away than ever.”
How Divided Is the Church?
As we read at Matthew 7:21, Jesus Christ said that many would profess faith in him as Lord but still fail to ‘do the will of his Father.’ Maclean’s magazine observes: “Readers of Matthew seeking salvation could be excused for confusion about what exactly the will of God is, when Christians, and their churches, differ so profoundly on the question.” Following a poll among Canadians, it concluded that there is “tremendous diversity in Canadian Christians’ beliefs and practices—more diversity among members of any given denomination, in fact, than between the denominations themselves.”
According to its survey, 91 percent of Catholics agree with the use of artificial birth control even though their church condemns it; 78 percent think women should be allowed to become priests; and 41 percent accept abortion “in certain circumstances.” Disagreement within the different denominations on “a host of theological questions,” Maclean’s says, “underscores the divisions tearing at the seams of the mainstream churches.”
Double Standards
Double standards as well as conflicting standards exist on morals. Some profess to uphold the Bible’s principles, but others flout them. Was the “marriage” ceremony performed for two Lesbians in the Metropolitan Church of Toronto, for example, in keeping with God’s will? The participants evidently thought so. “We want to celebrate our love publicly and before God,” they said.
One columnist asked how it was that “a Catholic archbishop with whom complaint after complaint had been filed, moved pedophiliac priests to a different set of altar boys.” Priest Andrew Greeley suggests that from 2,000 to 4,000 priests may have abused 100,000 underage victims, oftentimes with little done about it.
A disunited church produces disunited people. In the Balkans, both Serbian and Croat “Christians” feel that Christ is with them in their “just” war. Many wear crucifixes in battle; one, it is reported, “always held his crucifix in his mouth when the fighting was fiercest.”
“There Should Not Be Divisions Among You”
True, the Bible leaves some matters to conscience, but this should not leave room for such division. The apostle Paul clearly states: “You should all speak [and act] in agreement, and . . . there should not be divisions among you.”—1 Corinthians 1:10; Ephesians 4:15, 16.
An honest look at “Christianity” some two thousand years after the apostle Paul wrote those words raises some very serious questions. Why are “Christians” so divided? Can such a divided church survive? Will there ever be a united Christendom? The next article will consider these questions.
[Picture on page 3]
Demonstration by priests against abortion
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Cover and above: Eleftherios/Sipa Press