One Church, one God................ (Jesus, Creator, choice, hell, churches)

[michel]

Why not ? - that is how it was meant to be.........

What a great shame that politics, different languages, and different cultures have contributed to us all slitting up in groups.......

What way can any of you see in uniting Churches (maybe smaller groups to start with), and then the "big stuff" .

[NoahideHiker]

Originally Posted by michel

Why not ? - that is how it was meant to be.........

What a great shame that politics, different languages, and different cultures have contributed to us all slitting up in groups.......

What way can any of you see in uniting Churches (maybe smaller groups to start with), and then the "big stuff" .

Sounds great but were we really meant to be all one church? If so, which one and why? Who decides? How about we find the things we do agree on, focus on those things, bless each other and stay who we are. Sound good?

[michel]

Originally Posted by NoahideHiker

Sounds great but were we really meant to be all one church? If so, which one and why? Who decides? How about we find the things we do agree on, focus on those things, bless each other and stay who we are. Sound good?

The bible says that we need to believe in "the Catholic Church" - meaning, of course, a universal one.

I know that many different Abrahamic faiths have grown (I should imagine), from different interpretations from different cultures (and also because of the different living conditions), but the message is still the same; One God (be he Allah, God..etc) the differences in detail may vary a lot, but the main message is still the same:-

God = creator (however you wish to understand that) Man=sin Man dies and has a choice (depending on his behaviour) of where he will end up.

[arthra]

Hello Michel..

Since you're Gnostic have you noticed how "united" Gnostics are?...

Some years ago I was moderator on a gnostic forum and found that for at the time such a relatively few number on that forum they were more polarized than many others. Has that changed that much?

History chronicles are repleat with the polarization and division and sometimes wars that result.. In time I think we see the great religions tend to become divided and split apart...

- Art

[Dunemeister]

There will be one church. It will take a lot of hard work, some of which is occurring now in fits and starts with the ecumenical movement (which has its problems, of course). To make it actually work, all the churches need to see others as equally valid expressions without qualification. Unfortunately, many churches have stricter standards than that which appear in scripture for what counts as a Christian. On a Christian point of view, when Jesus returns, this gets all sorted, but the task is ongoing.

[NoahideHiker]

Originally Posted by michel

The bible says that we need to believe in "the Catholic Church" - meaning, of course, a universal one.

I know that many different Abrahamic faiths have grown (I should imagine), from different interpretations from different cultures (and also because of the different living conditions), but the message is still the same; One God (be he Allah, God..etc) the differences in detail may vary a lot, but the main message is still the same:-

God = creator (however you wish to understand that) Man=sin Man dies and has a choice (depending on his behaviour) of where he will end up.

I know that christianity and Islam both have a message of one world religion and unity but in looking back at the roots of both those faiths (Judaism) we can not find anywhere where it points to a single religion as being the "right one".

If G-d were to split us all up and scatter us all over the planet with differing tongues and cultures would He really expect us to follow the exact same religion in exactly the same way? Even sects within religions differ around the world.

Personally I think "One G-d, different ways" is the best path to unity.

[Victor]

I'm a firm believer that one thing that must be in place is something that can put a stop to various interpretations/relativism. This is a huge contributer to disunity.

Sin of course contributes to it as well, but people aren't expecting a perfect Church when it's full of sinners. Someone is bound to do something stupid.

[Dunemeister]

Originally Posted by Victor

I'm a firm believer that one thing that must be in place is something that can put a stop to various interpretations/relativism. This is a huge contributer to disunity.

It would also help if there were a greater latitude permitted for what counts as orthodoxy and orthopraxy. Both sides gotta move on this one.