When is unity broken between Christians to the point that they cannot remain in communion?

Question

It is difficult to answer this question without being judgmental. I will say that throughout Church history that what one might think is an insignificant difference can even cause schism. That would be the case of the schism of 1054AD when the churches of the East and the West discontinued communion. At the heart of their differences was a disagreement over an iota or just one Greek letter in the Creed. The fact is that small differences can be very significant. For instance, if you started to sail from New York to England but your compass was only of one degree you could end up in France instead. A small error could cause you to miss your mark. When we are speaking of salvation such an error can have eternal consequences. To most reasonable people this would be reason enough for caution, yet most of us are influenced by those having the appearance of righteousness.

Let us look at one false teacher in the Church who had all the appearances of a man of God. His name was Arius and he denied the divinity of Jesus. By all accounts Arius was well liked and known as an honorable and godly man yet he attempted to spread one of the most damaging blows to Christianity by saying that Jesus was not God. If he had won in the theological debate it would have meant the death of Christianity and a total destruction of the veracity of the Gospel. In this case, unity on the side of Arius would have been the destruction of the Christian faith but instead unity on the side of the Church protected the Gospel so that it would continue to be preached and continue bringing humanity to faith. In this case neither was denying Christ and both could claim unity in Christ but the difference would have had a profound effect on the testimony of the Church and the ministry of Christ. So my answer is no, unity in Christ may not be enough as in our belief we may each see a different Christ and a different Gospel.

(Rom 16:17 DRB) Now I beseech you, brethren, to mark them who make dissensions and offences contrary to the doctrine which you have learned and avoid them.

(Rom 16:18 DRB) For they that are such serve not Christ our Lord but their own belly: and by pleasing speeches and good words seduce the hearts of the innocent.

(Rom 16:19 DRB) For your obedience is published in every place. I rejoice therefore in you. But I would have you to be wise in good and simple in evil.

(Rom 16:20 DRB) And the God of peace crush Satan under your feet speedily. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

In Christ
Fr. Joseph

Answer 1

I do not believe you can have unity in Christ if each side sees a "different Christ." The divinity of Jesus is the crux of our belief. If we do not recognize Him as the Son of God, then how can we possibly put our hope for salvation in Him?

When we unite in Christ to the point that we recognize His divinity and His place as Lord & Savior, our only way to the Father, then we can say that we are truly united. Everything apart, from that is ancillary and, therefore, on a lower rung of importance. I don't mean they're not important, simply that they do not rank with the issue of who Christ is.

There are differences between denominations and differences between people of the same denomination. The former is unfortunate. The latter is natural as we are still human. These are the things that God would like us to resolve.

There cannot be unity when one of the people is in unrepentant sin (immorality of some sort). To remain in fellowship with this person after all attempts have been made to restore them, would be contrary to the Gospel and the Will of God. Paul made this clear in his letter to the church of Corinth when he spoke about the man who was sleeping with his stepmother. In such a case, after all restorative efforts have been attempted, it is right to remove them from fellowship for the purposes of discipline.

One of the things I appreciate about the Catholic church is that they make it very clear that those who claim to be Catholic, but engage continuously in sinful acts, by virtue of their actions, excommunicate themselves from the church. I have been happy to see some bishops and cardinals who have the courage to apply this to politicians who claim to be Catholic, but also declare themselves "pro-choice". The 2 stances are antithetical and cannot be abided by in joint existence.

Answer 2

In response to your main question, I'm not quite sure. It isn't over something as "petty" as a traditional law, that's for sure. But where to draw the line? That's a tricky question.

Yes, small things can make the most monumental of differences. But in terms of theology, things are not as clear cut as they are in your example. The philosophical rules of logic still apply, but I find that the problem is that in the beginning people aren't understanding what others mean.

Take the concept of "symbol" for example. Does it means to simply represent something, or does it mean that it actually *is* that thing? And then in what way is it that thing? Now we have to take a side trip into the field of ontology and really think about what it to say "X is Y." Language is a very fluid thing and in my (admittedly limitted) experience, many differences among Christians are rooted in a misunderstanding of the words used.

All this to say, I don't think the answer is simple enough to be contained in a response such as this. But it is an important question which should be thought over carefully and often.

Answer 3

Point made!
The heresy of Arius is still alive today in the way of books and movies such as "Da Vinci Code" etc.

Always working to draw men away from the divine nature of The Son of God.

Thank you for the History lesson. I was unaware of the split in 1054 AD.

I love church history.

Answer 4

Arianism is not in communion with Trinitarian Christianity

As a Catholic , I see accepting immorality and heresy as breaking any full Eucharistic communion.

Answer 5

let's condense all this to a couple of points...

1. sin separates us from God.
2. sin separates believers.