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'THE CHURCH STATES THAT CERTAIN THINGS ARE TRUE.'
Before we look more closely at this sentence, let us be quite clear about
one thing.
We are dealing with important matters;
quite literally matters of life and death.
We might say, with perfect accuracy, that scientists believe that the earth
is gradually cooling;
that this is either true or not true as a fact; and that in either case certain
consequences follow.
But we could not pretend that it is of vital importance to us in our daily
life whether this belief is true or not.
We can contentedly get on with our job and leave the scientist to his.
People got on very well for a long time believing that the earth was flat,
although this was not true in fact.
It did us no harm to act on the belief that Newton's theory of gravitation
was correct, until Einstein came along and upset (or 're-stated') it.
But the things that the Church is talking about are of real and practical importance
to you and to me.
They affect every action of our lives and (if the Church is right) our eternal
welfare.
We cannot afford to stand aside and trust to luck.
We may decide that the Church is right; or that the Church is wrong;
or that it is impossible to come to a conclusion either way.
But we cannot assert that the Church is talking about things that do not matter.
We must, therefore, come to some sort of decision, and in order to do so we
must be clear what these statements of the Church are.
The first difficulty, of course, is to say what we mean by ' the Church'.
In some countries this would not be a difficulty;
but in Britain we have a multitude of denominations and sects, and the plain
man has some excuse for demanding that the 'Churches' should first settle their
own differences and agree about what they mean, and he will then begin to listen
to them.
This sounds fine;
but it does not really help.
We are out for facts, and the facts are what they are.
An agreement by all the Churches on a particular formula would not make that
formula true if it had not been true all the time.
But equally, the failure of the Churches to agree on any one formula cannot
prevent a particular formula from being true if in fact it is true.
At the moment, however, our object is to find out whether there is any formula
that carries enough agreement to justify us in treating it as an authoritative
statement of Christian faith.
We know that there are disagreements amongst Christians.
Are they so deep that they give us a right to say that there is no such formula?
In politics we have in this country all sorts of people holding all sorts
of incompatible views on various subjects;
Persons who hold views which are not uniform in detail but have a basic measure
of agreement join together to form parties.
The parties oppose each other on various questions of more or less importance,
but in spite of their disagreements they are at one in loyalty to the Throne
and the constitution and to a whole framework of fundamental principles.
So, in times of national emergency, we find that after all we have a united
nation.
Outsiders who bank on our internal differences find, to their cost that they
have been badly let down.
So with the sectarian divisions of the Christian Church.
Many of the disagreements are about matters of detail and organization.
At a higher level there are important differences about the deductions to be
drawn from certain fundamental principles.
But about the fundamental principles themselves there is an overwhelming body
of agreement.
Just as in politics there are always extreme groups that play a lone band and
disagree even with the basic principles on which the nation is united, so in
religion.
But we do not accept the existence of the political freelance as entitling
anyone to say that the nation is not united.
In the same way we should not allow the existence of comparatively small minorities
to be made an excuse for disregarding the essential unity of the Christian
Church.
It should therefore be good enough for any reasonable person if we can produce
a formula, which is officially accepted as a statement of fact by at least the
following:
- The Roman Catholic Church, with over 330,000,000 adherents.
- The Church of England and the associated Churches of the Anglican Communion.
- The Orthodox Church, with over 140,000,000 adherents.
- The Methodist Church, with over 11,000,000 adherents.
- The Coptic Church, with 10,000,000 adherents.
- The Church of Scotland, with over 1,250,000 adherents, excluding the mission field.
[Figures taken from Whitaker.
I have been unable to obtain a comprehensive figure for the Anglican
Communion.
The number of communicants in England is over 2,000,000,
but the number of 'adherents' of course is much larger, and the number
of people al over the world in communion with Canterbury vastly greater.]
These denominations and figures are mentioned only for the special purpose
we have now in view.
Whether or not all these adherents of the different Churches live up to their
profession of faith, and whether or not members of other Churches accept the
same formula, are not relevant questions.
We are trying to attach a meaning to the sentence:
'The Church states that certain things are true.'
No reasonable person can refuse to agree that a formula officially adopted
by the Christian bodies listed above can fairly be regarded as a statement
of 'the Church'.
Such a formula can be produced.
There is no mystery about it.
It is called the APOSTLES' CREED, and here it is:
I BELIEVE in God the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth:And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
Born of the Virgin Mary,
Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, dead and buried:
He descended into hell;
The third day he rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven.
And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.I BELIEVE in the Holy Ghost;
The holy Catholick Church;
The Communion of Saints;
The Forgiveness of sins;
The Resurrection of the Body,
And the life everlasting.
And here it is,
chanted
by the Mirfield community in the liturgy. ... and WATCH THIS also.
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