The Catholic Church is all about Christian unity, 1 faith, 1 united Church. Isn't this what Jesus also wanted?

Question

How many non-Catholic Christians sincerely want unity among all Christians with one united and undivided faith, one perfectly united Church without watering down the faith?

The only way I see it possible is for all Christians to come home to the oldest Church, the Catholic Church.

What is your plan for making this happen?

Answer 1

You sir are correct!

Let me strengthen your argument a bit. When Jesus prays "Let them be one, like you and I are one", this is not a pray of something that Jesus would like to happen, but rather this is a statement of fact. Remember that the Father hears all that the Son prays for and the Son only does what the Father wills. The prayers of Christ are affectious prayers, meaning that they create the outcome. So the Church is in fact one as the Father and the Son are one. How are the Father and the Son one? "They share the same Spirit" is a classical answer. If we meditate on that while doing Lectio Divinia we can reach a very strong understanding of how the Church is one. I will leave that task to each individual on the board as it is often better to come to a large truth by walking there one's self.

Protestantism, if one studies its history and look at the direction that things head, over time unties itself on two fronts, one being a complete ahistorical non-doctrinal progressive group, and the other being one that tries to re-create the early Church but eventual jumps ship and goes back to the Faith once they realize that the ship wasn’t lost. When you look at ever split in Protestantism it is either towards a historical understanding of the faith or away from it. It is not really possible to say that there is hope within Protestantism, that is Protestantism being any sort of unifying force (besides of course from the "we hate Rome" stchk) because the beliefs are just too diverse at fundamental points.

The Orthodox, though, that is were real unity lies. Protestants jump and swim the Tiber. Protestant organizations at the institutional level cannot join the Catholic Church because they lack the marks of being a Church. Rather individuals have to convert. The Orthodox are Churches, and though there are sticky highly detailed theological issues to workout, their can be agreement and a consensus of thought. What is even better is that the Orthodox do not need to convert! The Eastern Catholic Churches hold 99.9% of the same beliefs as their Orthodox counterparts. So it is just a process of normalizing relations and unifying the scope of accepted belief. However, there is huge cultural tension between the east and the west so there is a problem with the animosity that the people in the pews feel towards Rome.

The best thing that I can do personal is to know the traditions of the East so that when I talk about Catholicism I can give the WHOLE picture and not just the western picture. This also can help with Protestants because instead of saying Rome did this and believed this, you can talk about how the East did this and that and believed along side Rome. Too often people in American only see things in terms of "Roman" Catholicism, when that is only a part of the totality of Catholicism. Eastern Catholic are Catholic too and they have great resources. And as a bonus, Protestant polemics hasn't dealt with Eastern thought and terminology so they are not ready for it and you can shock them into thinking outside of their box.

Answer 2

All that needs to happen is for people to earnestly seek the truth. Not their version of the truth, but God's absolute truth. Anyone willing to do the honest research will come to the conclusion that the only place God's whole, precise, undiluted truth subsists is in the sacred deposit of faith, which has always belonged and has always been entrusted to the only church that was personally established by Christ and constantly guided by the Holy Spirit, the Catholic Church. There's a lot to understand here. Much more than I can give you in this limited format. I specialize in answering people's questions about God, using all the best references and resources available. The service is free. There's no obligation. No gimmicks. Nobody will ask you for anything. Go to www.askmeaboutgod.org and post your question. You'll receive a complete, personal, private response via email in a day or so. If you want to talk to someone, include your phone number. Cheers! Doug

Answer 3

Perhaps unity will best be accomplished after everyone has become a Christian. In the mean time, public conflicts between different congregations tends to turn off many non-Christians from exploring Christianity. Yes, it would be wonderful if all Christians had the right answers and all were unified as one church, but for now, we should accept C.S. Lewis' idea that Christianity is like a big house with many rooms. Each room has meals and fireplaces and rules, and each person that enters this house will eventually want to select a room where that person feels most at home. But a Christian who has selected his room should not criticise someone else for selecting a different room. Instead, I think we should all pray that we will one day be unified in Christ.

Answer 4

As much as I would love to see all Christians unify under the first and true Church, I don't see it happening any time soon. The Protestants broke away from the Catholic Church because they had trouble following the traditions handed down by Jesus and the Apostles. I just don't see Protestants been tolerant enough to come back to the Catholic Church. But we can always hope!

Answer 5

You don't need Catholicism or any other religion. If God is a perfect being, he is without pride or prejudice and is filled with love and compassion for his children. Any loving father wants you to be good to each other.

The bible (and other texts) were written by men, each flawed and biased. Anything these people couldn't explain due to their lack of scientific knowledge they attributed to God or other supernatural forces. That is what primitive people do. That is what children do. Some of you used to believe in Santa Claus, but you know better now. Your reality is determined by your knowledge and the source of you information. People used to be told the world was flat and was the center of the universe, so that was their reality.

The bible has some good stories and lessons in it. I particularly enjoy Matthew Chapter 7. Ask yourself this question, If I was born to another set of parents or born in a different part of the world would I still have the same religion? Take off the religions blinders and see the world in its entirety. If God is everywhere, he's not just your local church.

BTW, I checked my bible notes and I'm pretty sure Jesus' overall message was that of love, compassion, tolerance, and understanding. I'm also 90/10 on the existence of a God and my family is Catholic.

Answer 6

It won't happen. I wouldn't join the parade for these reason which don't agree with the Bible.
1. Mary without sin - Only Jesus was without sin.
2. Idolizing Mary - forbidden by the Ten Commandments.
3. Confessionals - only God can forgive your sins, not priests.
4. Tradition. Catholicism endorses tradition on equal status wht God's word. The Bible is the final authority.
5. Purgatory - Unscriptural. Once to die and then judgment. No middle ground, no prayers for the "not so good" brother in law.
These are not Biblical beliefs. These were installed by the Catholic popes and diocese.

Answer 7

As a Catholic, I would certainly like to see all of Christianity united under the Catholic Church once again(though it is highly unlikely it will happen in my life time).

I believe ecunumical(sp.)relations will help bring back lost Christian unity.

Answer 8

A major step forward would be merging the Catholic Church and the Greek Orthodox Church, since we are very close in our beliefs. I could see that happening in the next 50 years or so (it would probably take that long).

Response ton n9wff below: your points 2. and 3. are wrong. We do not idolize Mary. We do not worship her in any way. Priests AND God forgive our sins (people can forgive - wouldn't you forgive someone if they accidentally bumped into you?). The priest acts as the "middle man" in a sense. Please read this about confession:
http://www.catholic.com/library/Confession.asp
They quote the Bible often in the article:
"As the Father has sent me, even so I send you. . . . Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:21–23).

And Miss1040 below, who said anything about worshiping anyone other than Jesus or God?

Answer 9

I have no plan of "going home" to the Catholic church. They are the ones that "watered down" and changed Jesus Christ's teachings.

Answer 10

I would like unity, but not at the cost of the truth. In other words, unity is important, but I cannot believe and promote a lie in the name of unity. If we are to unite, let’s unite on the teachings of the Bible and no the errors of dead bishops, cardinals, and popes.