[Traugott]

One encounters ambiguities when reading the Bible, particularly the New Testament, as a way to guide one’s life and spiritual development. This would be true even if one were to ignore all but the red-letter instructions in an attempt to ‘follow Christ.’ By ‘ambiguities,’ I mean questions of how far we should take a certain instruction. For example, we are encouraged in the Gospels not to think for tomorrow because God will take care of us. Does this mean we are in sin because we plan our lives in terms of financing, etc.? Or is it just a maxim stating in strong terms that we should trust in God’s provision? Ideally, we would all be guided to the same conclusions on these questions, but we are not and are not likely to be anytime soon. As long as these differing ‘beliefs and guidlines’ persist, it would be difficult for one church to ‘unite all.’ People are fallible, and if strange or false doctrine presses us, we need somewhere else to go. Note that this does not mean that there can be no larger, catholic sense of ‘the church’ in that we acknowledge as Christians those who profess to the most important tenets. It’s just that a real ‘unity’ of people following differing doctrines would be meaningless.

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Name : Traugott, City : New Glarus, State : WI, Country : United States, 

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