Reflective Questions on Christian Unity

Following are 30 questions that relate to Christian Unity that I would like you to reflect upon for your edification. In fact,, these questions could be used in your Bible class as you discuss Christian Unity, which is so much needed today. QUESTIONNAIRE ON "HOW TO DEAL WITH CHRISTIAN UNITY" A) AMONG CHURCHES THAT MOST PEOPLE CONSIDER CHRISTIAN 1- What do you think causes Christian Divisions? A) Is denominationalism (Christians dividing)a sin? 2- What is Christian Ecumenism and how do you feel about it? A) Do you believe for Christians to have complete spiritual unity, you need some sort of Church Organizational Unity? 3- How do you think we should proceed in our controversies over the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion? A) How would you interpret the Lord's Supper? B) Do you believe that in interpreting the Lord's Supper, we're really using different words to express the same thing, which, to a certain extent, will always remain an earthly mystery? C) Who do you believe should take Holy Communion? How often? And how important is the use of both elements (bread and wine) in Holy Communion? D) How essential is the Lord's Supper, Holy Communion or the Mass to Salvation? 4- How do you think we should proceed in controversies over Baptism? A) How would you interpret Baptism? B) Should Baptism be only for those who are capable of belief, for believers and infants of same, or not necessarily be an outward ceremonial act? C) How many Baptisms can you have, and is "Baptism of the Holy Spirit", where speaking in tongues is an essential manifestation, just another Baptism? 5- What is a sacrament, and how many activities do you recognize as such? Is this issue an important component in any ecumenical dialogue? 6- How does Free Will and Predestination fit into your over-all belief system? 7- What does it mean to be in the ordained ministry? A) Who do you believe can perform Priestly functions (Baptism, Holy Communion, etc.)? B) Do you feel that the ordination of Christians could eventually disappear because it divides Christians into two distinct classes? 8- How do you feel we should proceed in our controversies over the organizational structure of the various churches, if we're looking for organizational unity? A) Could you eventually accept the Pope as the head of the entire Christian Church? B) Do you believe that a United Organizational Church should be strongly controlled with limited diversity or loosely controlled with a wide variety of diversity? 9- Do you feel that the theory of Evolution can to some degree be compatible with God's Doctrine of Creation? To what extent? Why or why not? A) Is creation still taking place? 10- Do you believe that the Bible literally describes the end of time? Give some examples. What might be some other interpretations of these examples? 11- Is the debate among Christians over the beginnings and the future of life really that important; and should not our concentration be more on the present and how we can serve God now? 12- Do you believe that the Bible is the Word of God or contains the Word of God? Martin Luther once compared the Bible to a baby carriage with the baby inside. There can be errors in the carriage, but not with the baby. Does the Word of God go beyond what's included in the Bible? A) What is your interpretative approach to Scripture? Do you believe the Bible is infallible according to each word that's written, or the message it contains? B) What part does tradition play in your interpretation of Scripture? C) What part does experience play in your interpretation of Scripture? 13- Do the Christian conservatives (literalists) and Christian liberals (contextualists) need each other for the church to flourish? (see below) Conservative Emphasis 1) Scripture is authoritative 2) Creeds and Confessions are valuable and Vibrant Expressions of Faith 3)The Gospel changes lives 4)Personal Piety is a response to God's Grace without being legalistic 5)Stewardship is a Joyous Responsibility Liberal Emphasis 1)The Gospel must engage contemporary culture. 2)Christians must invite change in the non-essentials. 3)The Gosspel is a force for social change. 4)The Gifts of all Christians must be claimed by the Church. 5)Christians must be Ecumenical in Dialogue 14- What part does traditions play in your Belief System? 15- Do you think Priests should have the right to marry? 16- Could you accept a Pastor who is divorced and remarried? If so, under what circumstances? Due to the trend in increased divorces within society, do you feel an answer might be long-term comprehensive pre-marital counselling sessions?. If not, how do you feel we should deal with so many divorces? 17- How do you think we should proceed to dialogue with a Church that emphasizes Mariology and the Saints? A)What is a Saint according to the Bible? 18- How does Sanctification (making someone Holy or Good) and Justification by Faith rank in order of priority in your belief system? 19- Do you think organizational unity should be a major goal in order to achieve Spiritual unity within the Christian Church? What are the advantages or disadvantages of Christian organizational divisions? 20- What role do you feel women should have in a church organizational structure? I strongly feel that the future trend in churches will be churches that are Christian non denominational. What do you think? B) AMONG CHURCHES THAT MOST CHRISTIANS CONSIDER AS SECTS 1. How do you think we should proceed with those Christian Sects (Christians Scientists, Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, etc.) that deny the Trinity (one in three persons and three in one person) as we understand it? Do you believe in the trinity? A) Are there any other factors that determine whether a Christian Church is really a Christian Sect? 2. How do you feel we should proceed with an ecumenical dialogue with the Christian Scientists? 3. How do you feel we should proceed with a more active dialogue with the Jehovah Witnesses, especially when their belief dictates that Jesus, The Word, and God are completely separate beings, but in the Jehovah Witness's own Scripture it states in John 1:1a "In the beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God". As I understand it from my interpretation of their Scripture it seems to indicate that Jesus and God are one, but at the same time two separate beings as well, which contradicts the basic Jehovah Witness' doctrine. What do you think about this and other Jehovah Witness' doctrine?. 4. How do you feel we should proceed with a more active dialogue with the Mormons, especially when you realize that in the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price, one of the three books along with the Bible that has equal authoritative status, you find that God told Abraham to lie, which suggests that, if this were true and even though God could do anything He wants, He would be going against His very own nature? In the Bible, it only states that Abraham lied without God being involved at all (Gen 12:12-13). How do you deal with this latter concern and other Mormon doctrines. 5. Which Christian Sect would be most difficult to deal with? 6. What can we learn from the Christian Sects? What do you think they can learn from us? 7. Would a more effective way to create a more active dialogue with the Sects be to invite members of the Sects to a Christian discussion group, or a Bible study group? 8. Can you disagree with someone and still respect his or her opinion considering the fact that you probably are speaking from two different backgrounds? 9. What would your reaction be if someone said to you "Are you born again?"? A) How do you look upon Salvation? 10.How else might you enhance Christian Unity among the Christian Churches?