Conformity of religious thought.

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I have seen the movement to unite all Christian churches and many think that would make Christianity stronger, but would it. A article by Walter J. Veith has some amazing insight into this and I wanted to share parts of it with you:

"We are living in a time where there is an unprecedented drive toward unity and conformity of religious thought. It is argued that all people serve the same God and thus tolerance for different viewpoints is an essential ingredient for peace amongst all peoples and nations of different persuasions. After all, Christ did pray for unity and it seems as if unity will have to come about before there can be any talk of real peace on this strife-torn planet of ours. When Jesus prayed in His High Priestly prayer:

And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one. John 17:22

What type of unity did He have in mind? Was it a unity of the world so that world peace could finally come about? Did He not say:
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. Matthew 10:34

Jesus never advocated physical violence, so the sword He had in mind was the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God:
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:17

The spiritual battle to be fought was to be the battle over the Word. With this in mind, we can take a fresh look at Christ’s prayer for unity. Firstly, Jesus is clearly not praying for world unity but for Word- based unity:
I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest Me out of the world; thine they were, and thou gavest them Me; and they have kept Thy word. I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given Me, for they are thine. I have given them thy Word, and the world hath hated them because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy Word is truth. John 17:6,9, 14,17

The true can only be separated from the spurious on the basis of the Word.
For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy, for I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him. 2 Corinthians 11:2-4

....Yet Protestantism seems blissfully unaware of the compromise of faith they will have to contend with if they accept papal authority and unity of churches and religions under his leadership. How far will the Protestant churches move towards this unity?"

 

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Ecumenical Relationships
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We believe that the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is called to seek unity with the whole body of Christ and all the people of God. We renew our commitment that to be Presbyterian is to be ecumenical. We confess our own brokenness in the PC(USA) and pledge to promote the quest for unity and reconciliation throughout our church and in the world.

Vision and Purpose
"The unity of the church is both God's real gift and God's effective calling. The source and the shape of the gift are proclaimed in Scripture:
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all (Eph. 4:4-6).
Thus, the one church of Jesus Christ, established by God in the power of the Holy Spirit, is called to break down dividing walls of hostility that separate churches from one another and to build up the fullness of communion that binds churches together in common faith and witness." (from the Ecumenical Vision Statement).

 

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Here is more from Teachinghearts:
Churches Unite (1990's) - Do not misunderstand me, unity is wonderful. But the Bible predicts that at the end people will unite while deliberately disobeying Him to secure this unity. This false union will then persecute those who want to obey God. So I reject any attempt at unity that minimizes important distinctive beliefs.

Church unity has been influenced by some significant trends and has created strange bed fellows. The most surprising is the alliance of conservative Protestant leaders with false messiahs and with a system that many privately believe is the antichrist. It seems as if the lure of public relations, popular opinion and good old fashioned money have succeeded where every prophetic warning has failed.

 

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Members of the Anglican church are being asked to accept that controversial Roman Catholic teachings regarding the Virgin Mary are "authentic expressions of Christian belief". The proposals, which came under immediate attack from senior evangelicals, come in a document agreed by leading theologians and prelates of both churches...."

http://www.virtueonline.org/portal/...ead&com_order=0&com_id=11605&com_rootid=11432

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/debate/letters/article524322.ece
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/debate/article523453.ece

http://titusonenine.classicalanglican.net/?m=20050516


http://aacblog.classicalanglican.net/archives/000642.html

"The reunification of the Anglican Church with the Catholic Church on issues of Marian dogma is a welcome step towards Christian unity, and a recognition of the key figure of Mary in the Gospels and as an example for all. In these days when reconciliation seems to be the key thing lacking from world politics, it's good to see the two Churches getting their act together - but there will always be grumpy theologians who beg to disagree. The important thing at this time is for Archbishop Rowan Williams to give the Anglican Church clear leadership and state where the church stands on Mary. John Thomason, Leicester"

"As there is no evidence for either of the two recent dogmas concerning Mary which have been announced by the papacy, most Anglicans prefer to give due honour to her, but decline to go beyond what the New Testament has to say about her. It is not a matter of choice for Roman Catholics, however: they are required to accept these assertions, as articles of faith. This is where the two churches inevitably part company, since one of the very foundational principles of Anglicanism is that articles of faith must be firmly grounded in biblical evidence. If compulsion is removed by the Holy See, then some progress may be possible. Vincent Coles, London"

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/debate/article523453.ece