With all the division among us politically, it’s too bad that it’s even hard to find true unity spiritually.
I’m no expert in other religions, but the Christian religion has been afflicted by a great split and a great splintering. Were one to open the yellow pages or the internet looking for a church, it would be very easy to believe there are many Christian religions instead of one.
The great split occurred in 1054, and while there were a number of factors, an important one was disagreement over whether or not to add one Latin work to the Nicene Creed. The sad thing is, those who wanted to add it could have still accepted the earlier version, but those who did not want to had a conscience issue. This divided east from west in the one catholic Christian church.
Then came 1521, and a great splintering began in the Western church. There was a great renewal of interest in justification by faith. But again, sadly, some insisted on adding the word “alone,” justification by faith alone, while others objected because true faith produces good works. Instead of one split, this eventually splintered into a myriad of denominations.
Is there any solution? Unite around the original Nicene Creed, and agree to disagree on everything else. It’s a bold step, but we’ve done it in Franklin for a year and five months. If more people have an interest, we’ll continue.
Walter Bjorck
Franklin