"We Are Not Divided, All One Body We"--Or Are We?

This is the first column in a two part series on the divisions that have plagued the church ever since its inception. This week I will briefly list just four of the major divisions. Each one has generated enough books to fill a library, so I will do little more than just name them. Next week I will focus on the division currently facing the church in the United States.

1. REGARDING GENTILES

Within a generation of its existence there arose a serious argument as to whether the church was to be made up of Jews and those non-Jews who conformed to Jewish rites, or would it welcome uncircumcised Gentiles (Galatians 2:11): “When Cephas (Peter) came to Antioch, I (Paul) opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.” Peter represented the exclusion of Gentiles, and Paul their inclusion. In a few years Gentiles were not only welcomed, but the church became a Greek speaking, non-Jewish institution.

2.CHRISTOLOGY

In 325 the Emperor Constantine called a meeting of Christian bishops to settle questions concerning the nature of Christ. A majority held that Jesus Christ was God in every respect, and a minority that he was like God. The conflict hinged over a single letter in the spelling of a Greek word. It so happened that the split also revealed the impending geographic division between Constantinople and Rome. The theological outcome was a creedal statement aimed at resolving the conflict.

3. GREEK ORTHODOXY versus LATIN CATHOLICISM

In 1054 the division between East and West reached its climax. Part of the conflict was theological. Does the Holy Spirit proceed from the Father and Son or just from the Father? Most of the struggle, however, really involved whether the Greek-speaking East or the Latin-speaking West would predominate. Would all truth and authority flow from Constantinople or from Rome? To this date the division persists.

4. THE REFORMATION

In 1517 Martin Luther nailed on a church door a list of issues to be debated. Among other religious matters was the right of the Pope to grant forgiveness to the departed---depending on receiving certain monetary gifts. In addition, Luther was concerned with increased Roman Catholic political control of the German states. The Reformation continued with John Calvin in Geneva and John Knox in Scotland. It came to a head in England when Henry VIII declared himself to be head of the English church. The Pope had refused to allow the king to remarry following his divorce, so Henry took the papal bull by the horns. In subsequent years Protestantism and Catholicism vied for control of both the church and the English realm. In the long run Henry’s rebellion prevailed and he became “Defender of the Faith.” While the four I have listed amounted to major divisions within the Christian family, throughout Christian history there have been hundreds of lesser conflicts. Each of these divisions, as well as scores of lesser conflicts, had a basis in theological arguments, but were these the real issues, or were they used to obscure the underlying social and political conflicts?

Here is an illustration of a very minor issue that divided one American denomination.

The Disciples of Christ suffered a split in 1906 over the use of musical instruments, basically pipe organs, in worship services. A sizable minority held that nowhere did the New Testament authorize their use. The result was a new denomination called the Churches of Christ. While the argument focused on that issue, was it the real cause of the division? The denomination had proudly affirmed that it refused to divide over slavery and abolition as had other denominations. But the great majority of the anti-musical instrument congregations were in slave-holding states. So was slavery the real reason for the split? What is more, Southern congregations unable to afford pipe organs departed from the main body of wealthier northern churches. .

My conclusion: While the issue seemed to focus on the New Testament and its authorization of musical instruments, I suspect that the real issues causing the split had more to do with slavery and economics. What this minor debate was really about is just an example of how social issues underlay each of the four major ruptures I have identified.