Crazy old man with a ball
Well, well. I sought God for the answer to a thousand-year-old defect in the life of the church, he pointed me to a single verse in scripture that explains and solves the problem, and the answer was so simple that it took me a while to see it. He then pointed me to the echoes of that verse in the rest of scripture. Yes, it is official Christian doctrine that we are to love one another as Christ loves us. We don't, by and large.
Well, there is my answer to the question I took up some years ago, the question of why we have a disunified Christendom and what we can do about it. I am going to take this ball and run with it, make it a personal crusade to show my answer to the brethren, for it seems to be an answer that has eluded the wise and learned but is the right one.
Some, doubtless, are going to think me a crazy old man. While they may be right on other grounds, it is not crazy to say that the matter is in the scriptures, right there on the page, and our failures are obvious.
1. If we love one another as Christ loves us we shall have visible unity.
2. We do not have visible unity.
3. Therefore we do not love one another as Christ loves us. (1,2 modus tollens)
That bit in parentheses is for any lurking fanboys of scholasticism who happen by. (smiley face)
Some, too, will think me a troublemaker who is heedless of ecclesial tradition. I would not, though, say that I am precisely heedless. I know a bit about tradition, enough to know that past saints found many answers we do well to know and employ today. Tradition, though, is not a good thing to use as an excuse for our failures. It serves us better in the affirmative than the negative. "We have not been accustomed to doing things that way" is never a sound argument from tradition, for all that is traditional now was innovative at one time.
Some will say that what Christ is calling for here amounts to a counsel of perfection, not possible to rank and file Christians. That seems to be the most common excuse, but it does not accord with what the scriptures tell us about the early church's understanding of the matter or the intent of our Lord. He, and his apostles, give every appearance of thinking the new commandment real not imaginary guidance.
Well, there is my answer to the question I took up some years ago, the question of why we have a disunified Christendom and what we can do about it. I am going to take this ball and run with it, make it a personal crusade to show my answer to the brethren, for it seems to be an answer that has eluded the wise and learned but is the right one.
Some, doubtless, are going to think me a crazy old man. While they may be right on other grounds, it is not crazy to say that the matter is in the scriptures, right there on the page, and our failures are obvious.
1. If we love one another as Christ loves us we shall have visible unity.
2. We do not have visible unity.
3. Therefore we do not love one another as Christ loves us. (1,2 modus tollens)
That bit in parentheses is for any lurking fanboys of scholasticism who happen by. (smiley face)
Some, too, will think me a troublemaker who is heedless of ecclesial tradition. I would not, though, say that I am precisely heedless. I know a bit about tradition, enough to know that past saints found many answers we do well to know and employ today. Tradition, though, is not a good thing to use as an excuse for our failures. It serves us better in the affirmative than the negative. "We have not been accustomed to doing things that way" is never a sound argument from tradition, for all that is traditional now was innovative at one time.
Some will say that what Christ is calling for here amounts to a counsel of perfection, not possible to rank and file Christians. That seems to be the most common excuse, but it does not accord with what the scriptures tell us about the early church's understanding of the matter or the intent of our Lord. He, and his apostles, give every appearance of thinking the new commandment real not imaginary guidance.
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