Today's Wall Street Journal has an interesting and instructive review of church schism, prompted by recent doings in the Episcopal church-- Their Separate Ways by Philip Jenkins, author of The Lost History of Christianity. (This week the ECUSA's triennial convention ended the ban on gay candidates serving in ordained ministry. Meanwhile, earlier this summer conservatives organized a rival church, the Anglican Church in North America, and essentially withdrew.)
Jenkins gives a good brief summary of the history of schisms in the church--some successful, some not so much, and some failures. Presbyterians, like Episcopalians, were born in schism from the Roman Catholic Church. Is it really surprising that churches born of schism continue to be subject to schism?
3 comments:
thank you for the link to the Jenkin's article - very well said indeed.
It makes me wonder, this schism thing. It resembles the biological drive of our cellular make-up. In order to continue living, our cells must divide. In order for our species to continue, new ones of us start as one cell that divides and divides.. The old meiosis and mitosis.
This compelling process of biological division communicates into our interactions, I honestly believe.
But then I've had one cup of coffee too many this morning.
I think I see where you are going, PG. Is schism the death of a denomination or is it the resurrection? Or both?
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