Beyond Denominations: Rediscovering the Biblical Church
Archbishop D. E. Chase, Ph.D., OSP
Presiding Archbishop
The Original Design: Examining the Unity of Christ’s Church
The Church was intended from its inception to be one body, a mirror of the unity of the Triune God, and a demonstration of the transforming presence of the Gospel. Jesus Christ, the Head of the Church, instituted a model of cooperation at the heart of what He preached and did. And in the prayer of John 17:21, Jesus prayed that his followers would become one: “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” The theological and missional significance of unity is made clear in this prayer: unity was an injunction of God and a declaration to the world.
Yet, the modern Christian world is fractured, with thousands of denominations and doctrinal disputes dividing the open Church. These schisms raise serious concerns: Does this broken condition align with Christ’s original plan for His Church? What does Scripture, early Church doctrines and theology tell us about the solidarity of the Church? Most importantly, how might Christians in the present endeavor to restore the unity that is representative of Christ’s will?
This work, “Beyond Denominations: Rediscovering the Biblical Church” attempts to answer these questions by exploring the biblical, historical, and theological roots of Church unity. Beginning in the Word, we will study the doctrine of Jesus and the apostles who envisioned the Church as one body of faith, purpose, and work. Then it will look at the history of the Church, its initial inability to stay together, and what gave rise to schisms in the future. Finally, it will reflect on the theological significance of unity – what it expresses about God’s character, its need for witnessing, and its place in the eschatological promise of the Kingdom of God.
With the world more divided across cultural, social and religious polarities than ever, there is no greater call for Church unity. It’s an exploration designed to ask believers to return to the original blueprint of Christ’s Church, to understand unity as a call from God, and to work cross-denominationally to become the oneness that makes God glorious and changes the world.
Scripture and Background: The Church’s Unity
This notion of the Church as one and the same body is solidly scriptural. Throughout the New Testament, Jesus and His apostles stress the centrality of believers in Christ’s oneness: the Church is not an assortment of rival movements but a unified entity under Christ’s sovereign authority.
Jesus’ Instruction on the Congruence of the Church.
Jesus himself sets out the central point for the unity of the Church in the Gospels. Jesus wrote in Matthew 16:18: “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” The singular usage of ‘church’ (Greek: ekklesia) is a reminder of unity as a body. Christ’s goal was not different autonomous congregations, but a single Christian community.
Jesus also points out the necessity of congregational solidarity in His high priestly prayer. In John 17:20-23, He prays:
“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one.”
Jesus links the Church’s unity here with the unity of the Father and the Son. This prayer teaches us that the physical communion of believers is a mark of Christ’s divine calling.
Paul’s Writings on the Church’s Oneness
The Apostle Paul repeatedly reinforces the singular nature of the Church. In Ephesians 4:4-6, he writes:
“There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”
Paul’s emphasis on “one” speaks to the unity that ought to exist in the Church. Reformed believers are of one body, united by one Spirit, one faith, and one baptism, possessed by the authority of one God.
In 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, Paul relates the Church to a body, in which its different aspects belong and depend on one another:
“For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.”
This metaphor of the body demonstrates that the Church’s unity is not a uniformity but a harmonious interconnection where each member contributes to the whole.
Unity in the Book of Acts and Apostolic Tradition
The early Church is a paradigm for this unity. Acts 2:42-47 describes believers who devote themselves to the apostles’ discourse, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. They brought each other their goods and came together every day “in one voice” in the temple. It is a shared life, the one and only that was the early Christian community, based on common practice and religion.
The apostolic tradition also affirms unity in the Church. Jude 1:3 implores believers to “reverently struggle for the faith that was once delivered unto the saints.” That “faith once delivered” is singular and not ripe for splitting up or reinterpreting in a denominational fashion.
In Summation
The scriptural basis for the Church’s unity is obvious and unified. In Jesus’ teaching and the writings of the apostles, the ideal of a single body under Christ’s command is apparent. Such coherence is not a transcendental spiritual vision but a visibly and materially realized reality that aims to express God’s character and carry out His purpose in the world. The challenge for modern Christianity is to recover this biblical vision and strive toward the cohesion that Christ prayed for.
Historical Perspectives: The Development and Challenges of Church Unity
The idea of the Church as a single, unified being lay at the heart of Jesus and the apostles and underlay much of early Christianity. The history of the church shows how committed they were to unity, and how they were confronted with problems when religion spread across cultures, geographies and generations.
The Apostolic Church and Early Unity
The early Church, as recorded in Acts, functioned in unmistakable doctrine, worship and authority. The Holy Spirit commanded the apostles to be the head of the Church, and they would teach the word of Christ. In Acts 15, the Council of Jerusalem provides a clear example of the early Church’s attempts to preserve doctrinal and practical coherence in a context of increasing pluralism. Confronted with whether Gentile converts should follow Mosaic law or not, the apostles and elders met to discuss and issue a joint ruling, protecting the integrity of the faith while adjusting to cultural differences.
The message of unity can also be found in early Christian texts. The early 2nd-century author Ignatius of Antioch frequently stressed the need for church unity under the authority of the bishop. In his epistle to the Smyrnaeans, Ignatius wrote:
“Wherever the bishop shall appear, there let the multitude also be; even as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.”
This passage shows the early Church’s vision of unity as being centrally linked to apostolic authority and orthodox doctrine.
The Development of Creeds and Councils
Theological conflict erupted with the dissemination of Christianity and threatened the unity of the Church. In response to these dilemmas, the early Church held ecumenical councils to define doctrine and keep the Church in order.
The Nicene Creed, established at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, is a basic statement of Christian faith and the unified character of the Church:
“We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.”
This declaration reinforced the Church’s unity of its singularity – its universality (catholic) and continuity with the apostles.
Later councils – for instance, those at Constantinople (381 AD) and Chalcedon (451 AD) – also worked out doctrinal differences and worked to keep the Church single. These activities show the early Church’s prioritization of unity as crucial to witness and mission.
Schisms and Divisions
The Church fractured over time even as it tried to keep its core together. The Great Schism of 1054 formalized the separation of the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches by theological, liturgical and political disagreements. This split dissolved the external unity of the Church, but did not erode the unity of one holy, catholic and apostolic Church reflected in the creeds.
Further fragmentation was wrought by the 16th-century Protestant Reformation, in which reformers such as Martin Luther, John Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli contested many practices and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. As the Reformation sought to put the church back on biblical ground, it also produced denominations, each purporting to embody the genuine Church of Christ.
Efforts Toward Unity in the Modern Era
For the past few centuries, Christian movements have attempted to regain the apparent Church’s unity. The 20th-century Ecumenical Movement is a movement that tries to create contact and alliance between Christian traditions. Organizations like the World Council of Churches and campaigns like the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity are examples of today’s attempts to heal divisions and to achieve the unity Christ envisaged.
The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) of the Roman Catholic Church also underlined the significance of coherence. In its document Unitatis Redintegratio, the Council declared:
“The restoration of unity among all Christians is one of the principal concerns of the Second Vatican Council.”
This statement underscores the ongoing recognition that unity is both a theological imperative and a practical necessity for the Church’s witness throughout the world.
Taking Everything Into Account
Since the very beginning, the Church was always commanded to be together, a commandment given by Christ and the apostles. Although disagreements have developed, the persistent efforts to settle theological tensions, define shared values, and facilitate reconciliation attest to the persistence of the Church’s unity. These historical insights should give Christian believers today a sense of why unity is important not just as an abstract principle but as a testament to the unity of God.
Theological Implications: Unity as a Reflection of God’s Nature and Mission
The unity of the Church isn’t a purely organizational, practical goal; it’s a deeply theological truth about God himself and his redemptive purposes for humankind. If we can grasp the theological meaning of the Church’s unity, then we know why Jesus prayed for it, why the apostles emphasized it, and why its maintenance remains vital to the mission of the Church in the world.
Unity as a Reflection of the Triune God
The unity of the Church reflects the unity within the Trinity. Jesus’ high priestly prayer asked His followers to become united, “even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us” (John 17:21). Such a summons associates Church unity with the relational unity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
The theologian Jürgen Moltmann points out that the Trinitarian unity is not a uniformity but a relation of love and intercourse (perichoresis). As the body of Christ, the Church should be a mirror of this relational coherence in which the members of our diverse diversity are unified in love and mission. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.”
Unity as an Essential Attribute of the Church
The Church in classical Christian theology is “one, holy, catholic and apostolic.” Unity is its first quality. The unity of the Church is the result of the union with Christ, who is the head (Colossians 1:18), and the presence of the Holy Spirit, who constitutes believers as one body.
Such theological solidarity is not denominational. The real Church, according to St. Augustine, is bound not by geography or hierarchy but by the apostolic faith and life of the sacraments. Augustine insisted that schism – the indiscriminate fragmentation of the Church – was a terrible sin since it distorts the visible manifestation of the divine unity of the Church.
Unity and the Church’s Witness
The missional implications of Church unity are profound. Jesus prayed for the Church to be one, “so that the world might believe that thou hast sent me” (John 17:21). This evident unity of the saints is evidence of the Gospel’s truth. A disunited Church, meanwhile, stands at risk of losing its authority and effectiveness in proclaiming Christ.
The theologian Lesslie Newbigin today says that the Church’s solidarity reflects the imminent Kingdom of God. The way the Church can live together is a taste of the peace and harmony that God intends for his whole creation. This is the eschatological vision, and it is why we need to make unity part of the Church’s purpose.
Unity and Diversity in the Church
Theological concord does not rule out Church diversity. Paul, if we go to Ephesians 4:11-13, makes clear that the Church is only as rich as its range of gifts and talents:
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God.”
Such diversity is not a threat to unity but an act by which the Church matures and becomes a manifestation of God’s plurality (Ephesians 3:10).
Unity and the Sacraments
Our most concrete form of theological solidarity comes in the form of baptism and Eucharist. In Ephesians 4:4-5, believers are told there is “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” By baptism, Christians join the one body of Christ irrespective of their ethnic, cultural or social status (Galatians 3:28).
The Eucharist, in turn, is a deep act of communion. In 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, Paul writes:
“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.”
The shared participation in the body and blood of Christ unites believers in a profound spiritual and visible communion.
Unity and Reconciliation
Theologically, Church unity is a blessing and a duty. Unity is not just something that Jesus has given through His death and resurrection, but something that the church must embody and sustain. This is about reconciliation and forgiveness within the Church in remembrance of the reconciliatory action of Christ on the cross (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).
The Protestant theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his work Life Together, says that Christian communion is Christ-centered and nourished by humility, patience and love. According to Bonhoeffer, schisms in the Church are overcome, not by human power but by coming back to the cross where Christ reunites people with God and each other.
In Summary
The theological implications of the unity of the Church are deep. It speaks of God, it performs the Church’s function, and it is an anticipation of God’s final plan for creation. Unity is neither an optional feature of the Church nor a condition of its existence. Dissension has distorted this oneness, but the Church must strive to reconcile, live its diversity in solidarity, and act its unity as a witness to the world and expression of the Triune God.
The Call to Restore and Reflect the Unity of the Church
The Church is one, and it is neither a historic hope nor an intellectual theory: it is God’s mandate, the work of God and Christ. Jesus’ prayer in John 17:21 to His Church to be one is still a challenge for all believers, generations in and out, that unity is both the blessing of God and the duty of the Church.
Unity as the Church’s Witness to the World
The tangible unity of the Church is testimony to the Gospel. As Jesus prayed, this unity of believers proves to the world the reality of his mission and the Father’s love. A fractured Church can cloud this witness because Christians’ differences corrode the truth of their message. By contrast, a single Church expresses Christ’s reconciling work and his Kingdom, and brings hope to a polarized and splintered world.
Unity as a Reflection of God’s Nature
The Church’s theological unity reflects the Trinity’s relational unity. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are in complete unity, and the Church, the body of Christ, is called to live out this divine unity. It is not a unity that cries out for homogenization but one that praises plurality and promotes intense interdependence as Paul did with his metaphor of the body in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27.
Historical Lessons and Contemporary Challenges
It is the failures, as well as the successes, of maintaining ecumenism that church history has taught us. The councils and creeds of the early Church demonstrate an institutional fidelity to theological consistency and unity, despite their great peril. Yet divisions and denominationalism have fractured the outward Church over time. These separations, although sometimes based on valid concerns, have hampered the Church’s efforts to fulfill Christ’s prayer for unity.
Contemporary initiatives like the Ecumenical Movement and religious partnerships represent a new initiative for closing these divides. But more can be done as theological divisions, cultural resentments, and institutional imperatives continue to derail attempts at unity.
Unity as a Call to Action
Restoring and sustaining the unity involves humility, love, and a collective devotion to Christ as the Head of the Church. Unity is not achieved by hierarchical planning or glib contracting but by the return to the heart of the Gospel and the acknowledgment of Christ’s lordship. It is the work of the Spirit that draws the believer into unity, together in faith, baptism, and service (Ephesians 4:4-6).
Those who believe should strive for reconciliation, conversation and cooperation, what brings them together rather than what causes them apart. Unity is not a process of eliminating disparity but of managing differences to serve a common cause. This includes tolerance, listening, and prayer for the unity of the Church.
The Eschatological Hope of Unity
Ultimately, the unified Church reflects the eschatological truth of God’s Kingdom. In the book of Revelation, the saved are presented as a body of people from all nations, tribes, races and tongues assembled around the throne of God (Revelation 7:9-10). This heavenly unity provides an ideal and impetus for the worldly Church to aim for the unity Christ prayed for.
Final Reflection
The Church’s unity is a gift of God and an obligation of man. It represents God, moves the Church forward, and brings hope to a world divided. Disagreement and struggle continue, but the Church has to persevere in seeking reconciliation and conciliation and trust the Spirit to help her. As Christians answer Christ’s invitation to oneness, they bear witness to the gospel’s transforming message and the reconciling grace of God.
References:
Scriptural References
- The Holy Bible (King James Version):
- John 17:20–23 – Jesus’ prayer for unity among believers.
- Ephesians 4:1–6 – Paul’s exhortation to maintain the unity of the Spirit.
- 1 Corinthians 12:12–27 – The Church as one body with many members.
- Acts 2:42–47 – The early Church’s unity in fellowship and doctrine.
- Revelation 7:9–10 – The eschatological vision of unity in worship.
Early Church Writings
- Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Smyrnaeans:
- Ignatius emphasizes unity under the bishop and the Church as the visible body of Christ.
- Augustine of Hippo, On the Unity of the Church:
- Augustine critiques schisms and defends the Church as one body united in faith and sacraments.
- The Nicene Creed (325 AD):
- A declaration of faith affirming belief in “one holy catholic and apostolic Church.”
Modern Theological and Historical Works
- Moltmann, Jürgen. The Trinity and the Kingdom: The Doctrine of God.
- Explores the relational unity within the Trinity and its implications for Church unity.
- Newbigin, Lesslie. The Household of God: Lectures on the Nature of the Church.
- Discusses the Church’s unity as a sign of God’s Kingdom and a witness to the world.
- Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Life Together.
- Examines the practical and spiritual dimensions of unity in Christian communities.
- González, Justo L. The Story of Christianity: Volume 1.
- Provides an accessible overview of Church history, including the development and challenges of unity.
- Pelikan, Jaroslav. The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine.
- Chronicles the theological evolution of the Church, emphasizing unity in doctrine.
Scholarly Articles and Commentaries
- Fee, Gordon D. Paul’s Understanding of the Church: The Community of the Spirit.
- A detailed commentary on Paul’s ecclesiology and its implications for unity.
- Oden, Thomas C. The Rebirth of Orthodoxy: Signs of New Life in Christianity.
- Discusses contemporary movements toward unity within the global Church.
- McGrath, Alister E. Christian Theology: An Introduction.
- Offers a comprehensive overview of theological themes, including ecclesiology and unity.
Ecumenical Documents
- Second Vatican Council, Unitatis Redintegratio:
- A decree on ecumenism emphasizing the importance of restoring unity among Christians.
- World Council of Churches, Towards a Common Understanding and Vision of the World Council of Churches:
- An ecumenical perspective on unity, collaboration, and shared mission among denominations.
Additional Resources
- Schmemann, Alexander. For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy.
- Explores the sacramental basis of unity within the Church.
- Ware, Kallistos (Timothy). The Orthodox Church.
- Provides insights into the historical and theological perspectives of Eastern Orthodoxy on Church unity.
Online Resources
- The Catholic Encyclopedia (Online):
- Articles on ecumenism, the Nicene Creed, and the history of Church councils.
- The Center for Early Christian Studies (CECS):
- Access to early Church documents and scholarly commentary on historical Church unity.