the weblog of Alan Knox

Unity. Real or Ideal?

Posted by on Aug 28, 2006 in church history, community, definition, unity | 1 comment

In this week’s ecclesiology seminar, we will discuss patristic ecclesiology. The patristic writers (especially Cyprian and Augustine) focused on the unity of the church. They believed that this unity was real, not ideal. This reading raised several questions for me:

  • Is the unity of the church real, or is it an ideal that we can only know in eternity?
  • If the unity of the church is real, how do we live in the unity of the church today?
  • What reasons does the Bible give for separating (breaking unity) with other believers?

Related posts:

  1. Real Unity – Is it possible?
  2. Unity: Based on What?
  3. Kuiper on Unity…
  4. Replay: Seeing your community through the “ideal” filter

One Comment

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  1. 8-29-2006
    David Rogers says:

    As you know, if you read my blog with any regularity, I have been dealing with a lot of these very same issues.

    I will be very interested to hear what conclusions you gather from your patristic studies on this.