"...the sect system...brings all sorts of impure motives into play, and encourages the use of unfair, or at least questionable means for the promotion of its ends. It nourishes party spirit and passion, envy, selfishness, and bigotry. It changes the peaceful kingdom of God into a battle-field, where brother fights brother, not, of course, with sword and bayonet, yet with loveless harshness and all manner of detraction, and too often subordinates the interests of the church universal to those of his own party. It tears to pieces the beautiful body of Jesus Christ, and continually throws in among its members the fire-brands of jealousy and discord, instead of making them work together harmoniously for the same high and holy end. It should not be forgotten, that Christianity aims not merely to save individual souls, and then leave them to themselves, but to unite them with God and therefore also with one another. It is essentially love, and tends towards association; and the church is and ought to become more and more the one body of Jesus Christ, the fullness of Him who filleth all in all. If, therefore, the observer start with the conception of the church as an organic communion of saints, making unity and universality its indispensable marks, and duly weighing the many exhortations of Holy Scripture to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bod of peace; he cannot possibly be satisfied with the sect system, but must ever come out against it with the warnings of Paul against the divisions and parties in the Corinthian church." Philip Schaff, America, p. 99
Further Reading
“To the dogs with the Head”: The Anti-inellectualism of Charles Finney
8 Gnostic Myths You May Have Imbibed
The Problem of Mediation in the First Great Awakening
Religion of the People, by the People, for the People
Recovering the Protestant Affirmation of Life
Finney and the New Measures
Gender, Morality and Modesty
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1 comment:
Great quote. I am collecting all sorts. After being pragmatic in the past about church growth and Mega-church, now with the non-denom's and auto-denoms sprouting like mushrooms among the decay of a dying forest, I've now had to repent. I'm working on "Why be Anglican?" I have it categorized under 1. One; 2. Holy; 3. Catholic; 4. Apostolic; and without these 4 things we don't have church. We have a parachurch, we have a club of very interesting like-minded and like-devoted people but not church. What needs to be explored is the segregation going on - worse than racial. From the Baby-boom we created bodies self-selecting to associate with only one primary gift. Now we have self-selecting bodies of sameness - 20 somethings, young, increasingly tolerant of things we have no business tolerating, afraid of offending others (how can we be "church" if we are afraid of offending - we are offensive by definition?), willing to let me go on doing whatever I'm doing so we can continually build that essential bridge of relationship but as soon as someone tries to cross that bridge is burned!
What part of Christ's church did Shaff belong? He looks like an Anglican but that would be too good if he was!
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