Can't We All Just Get Along
Two unrelated but same themed articles today talking about the pros and cons of religous or Christian unity. Brian and Andrew are having an interesting discussion on the purpose of a "Common Ground Word" with our Muslim neighbors.
In another article Rod Dreher discusses orthopraxy vs orthodoxy and what gets lost when the church tries to be everything to everyone:
In another article Rod Dreher discusses orthopraxy vs orthodoxy and what gets lost when the church tries to be everything to everyone:
Doctrine itself cannot save anybody. Human beings are not
exclusively cerebral. Yes, we have brains, but we also have hearts. The
challenge to the church — every church — in each generation is to
figure out how to apply orthodox doctrine to the changing realities
across cultures. It's a difficult thing to do, and I don't know that
any church does it particularly well. If the doctrine officially
proclaimed by the church is not in turn taught in the parish, and if
there is no expectation among the people that they (we) should strive
to live out that doctrine in our lives ... well, the doctrine is as
good as dead. If there is no culture of orthopraxy, you can't expect
orthodoxy to thrive.
To be sure, I'm glad to live in a time in which Christians focus more on what unites us than what divides us. But surely this is a mixed blessing, because it seems to me that this semblance of unity has been purchased at the cost of jettisoning the idea of orthodoxy (small-o) and doctrinal distinctiveness. It's not just that many Christians can't tell you what people who identify with their religious tradition believe; it's that they don't understand why any of that matters.
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