Now, how to proceed? Are there differences between the doctrine of say, a Roman Catholic and the Reformed end of the Presbyterian Church?
Absolutely. They are significant.
So why does this blog quote so frequently from Mundabor, Zippy Catholic and the Orthosphere? Why did the now dormant blog Traditional Catholic have women from the Pentecostals, the Historic Black Church, and some Catholics so crunchy that diamonds are blunt by comparison?
Because there is a fundamental unity among those who take their faith seriously. Imperfectly. With errors. In part. Struggling to make it work.
Final Instructions and Greetings
I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Timothy, my fellow worker, greets you; so do Lucius and Jason and Sosipater, my kinsmen.
I Tertius, who wrote this letter, greet you in the Lord.
Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you. Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus, greet you.
Doxology
Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith—to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.
(Romans 16:17-27 ESV)
There is a balance here. We need to name and confront errors within the church. We need to take the doctrine of the church seriously. That means that there will be conflict. We will argue.
It may be that this argument is essential.
But we must not use our doctrinal differences to make enemies of each other. Yes, some Popes are AntiChrists. But many Presbyterian Ministers have also taught heresy, and the Antichrists have almost destroyed the Anglican Church.
Know your scripture, folks. Anyone who denies Jesus is the Christ is an Antichrist, regardless of branding.
It is a fearful thing to lead. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hand of the living God. We should be extremely careful in discussing doctrine. Because in these times of persecution, we will need to defend and pray for the Papist who is under pressure, and the Papist will have to pray for the Pentecostal or the Reformed. It is not our churches that offend the world, but Christ himself.
Is this blog post in reference to some squabble elsewhere between members of the two traditions?
Just wondering; I didn’t see any such thing wherever I’ve been; perhaps I’ve not been at the right place(s)…
I’ve been arguing with some of my fellow Reformed on some Reformed blogs; some of such people have distressing quietist inclinations, not wanting to join in the culture war – as if we weren’t under attack, and being forced to fight back.
Frankly, I see that as the opposite ditch to neo-connery; wanting so much to distinguish themselves from those folks, that they end up effectively saying ‘whatever’ to Christians being forced to do business with people they don’t want to, and pooh-poohing those of us calling to arms to fight back. It’s sad.
No, the issue has been ongoing fignts with Left fascists: particularly on Twitter. I find that I agree with the Catholics a lot because the Romans understand that the church is universal, and though it is unwise to legislate that all are holy, it is important to influence society.
There is an attraction to pietism, I must confess… but even if you are not interested in the state, the state is definately interested in you. If we do not back our Christian brothers and sisters in the Ukraine, in Syria, in Iraq and in the USA or Canada when the trolls such as that asshat Warman (who sued Kathy Shadie) attack, they will come for us
Chris, you are one of the few bloggers I’m reading who regularly reports on matters of Christian persecution. The images of the crucified Christians in Mosul that you captured from Twitter were disturbing. As I expected, no issuance from the pulpit this past Sunday on these matters.
But, also, no mention of Pope Francis and what he thinks about life, the universe, and everything. So there’s that, praise God.
This lack of mention, of the real-life suffering and murder of Christians because Christian, frustrates me. I am glad there are Christians like you who take up the burden of shouting at the wind. There are some who hear you, and repeat what you say.
This is not a time to let matters of doctrinal correctness tie up our feet. Thanks for this blog.