{"id":7519,"date":"2021-03-19T10:18:38","date_gmt":"2021-03-19T15:18:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/?p=7519"},"modified":"2021-03-19T10:18:38","modified_gmt":"2021-03-19T15:18:38","slug":"when-is-division-among-christians-justified","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/2021\/03\/when-is-division-among-christians-justified\/","title":{"rendered":"When Is Division among Christians Justified?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

When Is Division among Christians Justified?<\/p>\n

\"What<\/p>\n

We, American Christians (and I\u2019m sure others) have become used to divisions among Christians. Rarely do we question it. And yet Christ said that he wished for his followers to be one\u2014even as he and the Father are one. Throughout the ages of Christianity visible and institutional unity<\/em> among Christians have always been an ideal. Rarely has it been realized.<\/p>\n

One of the first real schisms among Christians came about in the middle of the second century when followers of the self-proclaimed prophet Montanus established the New Prophecy network of churches\u2014outside of and apart from the bishops who claimed to be successors of the apostles. Who was to blame for the schism is still being debated, but it was a schism, a \u201cbreak\u201d among Christians. Unless, of course, one wants to say that Montanus and his followers were not Christians.<\/p>\n

After that schism or division, separation, there have been too many to count. And I\u2019m not including here (in my own mind or in what I say to you) obviously heretical groups like the various Gnostic sects, the Albigensians, the Cathars, the Polish Brethren, Unitarians, Latter Day Saints, Christian Scientists, et al. (I consider those heretical sects but, of course, they did not and do not consider themselves that. My opinion is shared by most Christian of, for example, the World Council of Churches.)<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be clear about terminology. Nobody thinks they started a \u201cschism\u201d within Christendom. The language of exiles from the Southern Baptist Convention and the so-called \u201cBaptist wars\u201d of the 1980s and 1990s always say \u201cI did not leave the SBC; it left me.\u201d That is what almost all \u201cschismatics\u201d have believed about the churches, denominations, from which they separated or were excommunicated.<\/p>\n

There are so many questions surrounding this question (in the title of this blog essay). For example: Is it true that \u201cvisible and institutional unity of the church\u201d is the ideal\u2014such that separation and division is always<\/em> scandalous and a sign of sin? Some groups of Christians believe that their denomination or network (or whatever they call it) is the only group of true Christians or some say they are \u201cChristians only but not the only Christians.\u201d And on and on it goes.<\/p>\n

I also think we need to make distinctions here\u2014between dividing, separating, being expelled, and just plain leaving. For example, Martin Luther never intended to divide the church; he was excommunicated. Only then did he start up a separate church that he called \u201cEvangelical\u201d (although most people came to call it \u201cLutheran\u201d).<\/p>\n

When I was growing up Pentecostal\/Full Gospel I often heard leaders of our \u201cmovement\u201d say that they (or their spiritual ancestors who founded the movement) did not \u201cleave\u201d anything but were expelled from churches and had to start their own, new denominations.<\/p>\n

This, I think, is a cause of much misunderstanding\u2014among people who say that divisions among Christians are the faults of those who separated themselves from some formerly existing denomination. More often than not, that is not quite the case\u2014at least not as they see things.<\/p>\n

*Sidebar: The opinions expressed here are my own (or those of the guest writer); I do not speak for any other person, group or organization; nor do I imply that the opinions expressed here reflect those of any other person, group or organization unless I say so specifically. Before commenting read the entire post and the \u201cNote to commenters\u201d at its end.*<\/em><\/p>\n

But let\u2019s focus attention on separations, divisions that are conscious, willful and unapologetic. For example, I know of one relatively new Baptist group that consists mostly of ministers and members of a larger, longer-existing Baptist denomination. They organized themselves into a network and left the denomination, taking many churches, almost a whole region, with them\u2014out of and away from their \u201cparent\u201d denomination (convention, conference, whatever). Again, I\u2019m sure they would say \u201cWe didn\u2019t leave the denomination; it left us\u201d\u2014meaning the denomination had changed so much that they had to leave it in order to satisfy their consciences.<\/p>\n

This has happened hundreds of times in American religious history. The result is at least 250 distinct Christian denominations in the United States\u2014many of them orthodox in most ways but differing from other orthodox Christians over some particular interpretation of the Bible or doctrine or practice not directly related to orthodoxy.<\/p>\n

(Here I am using something like the Nicene Creed as the standard of orthodoxy. Many, many denominations say they are \u201cnon-creedal\u201d but actually do believe and teach the basic doctrines embedded in that creed. I call those \u201corthodox.\u201d)<\/p>\n

I have made the study of American Christian (orthodox and non-orthodox) denominations a big part of my life. I basically wrote the 14th<\/sup> edition of the Handbook of Denominations in the United States<\/em> published by Abingdon Press (the United Methodist Publishing House). Receiving that commission was a dream come true. (I want to give credit to previous authors and editors of the Handbook; I built on their work while re-writing most of it.)<\/p>\n

Among orthodox denominations in America I can distinguish between three kinds\u2014as to their separate origins. First, there are those whose origins are somewhat shrouded in mystery or at least strongly debated. Some of these claim to be the \u201coriginal\u201d and \u201ctrue\u201d Christian church. They can make a somewhat justified claim that they never separated from anyone or anything but all others separated from them. Among these would be Eastern Orthodox (canonical) and Roman Catholic.<\/p>\n

Second, there are those whose origins we know and they began when their founders were expelled or excommunicated by their \u201cparent\u201d churches\/denominations over some relatively minor disagreement about doctrine or practice. By \u201crelatively minor\u201d I mean \u201cin the overall scheme of orthodoxy.\u201d Of course, these groups do not<\/em> consider their reasons for being expelled \u201cminor.\u201d I mentioned earlier Pentecostals. Nobody that I know ever set out to establish a Pentecostal denomination; all of them grew out of perception<\/em> of being excluded by their parent denominations because they did not agree with the emphasis on speaking in tongues<\/a>, etc. I could name both\u2014the parent denominations and the Pentecostal denominations that grew out of them by expulsion of the latters\u2019 founders.<\/p>\n

Third, there are those whose origins we know and they began when their founders consciously, willfully, broke away from their parent denominations over perceived<\/em> real differences of doctrine and practice. These are the ones often labeled \u201cschisms.\u201d When I interview their leaders, however, they always<\/em> point to their perception that the denomination they left, taking ministers and members with them, had wandered away from their true foundations and had changed so radically that a restoration of the denomination\u2019s roots was needed. These people always say \u201cWe are the true\u2026\u201d even though organizationally<\/em> they are newer. An example would be the Presbyterian Church of America which was, at its founding, made up of minister and members of the United Presbyterian Church. Many of these separated churches left their denominations at the point of or shortly after a merger<\/em> with which they were not happy. For example, the United Methodist Church is a merger of two previously existing denominations\u2014the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Evangelical United Brethren. Many EUB churches did not want to join the merger and stepped out and started their own separate denomination that they considered the true EUB denomination (but with a separate name).<\/p>\n

So what is my point here? ONLY that I think people need to be cautious about assigning blame when churches divide, separate, leave. \u201cSchismatic\u2019 is a pejorative term and nobody likes it\u2014of themselves. Almost always, new churches, denominations say<\/em> one of two things<\/em> to justify their separate existence: 1) We didn\u2019t leave, our denomination left us; or 2) Our denomination changed so radically that we could no longer stay with it. Whether that is true or not, is always a matter of perspective.<\/p>\n

So, to illustrate, I am a proud member of a Baptist church that was sometime in the past a chartered member of the Southern Baptist Convention. I don\u2019t know exactly when it left the SBC or how but I\u2019m sure a \u201cnail in the coffin\u201d or \u201cstraw on the camel\u2019s back\u201d was the 2000 SBC revision of the Baptist Faith and Message. Already in place was the 1963 BFM. Many SBC churches, like my own, felt that the revision was wrong. I won\u2019t go into all the reasons but only say that I agree that it was wrong. The changes were a mistake. My church joined a group of former SBC churches called the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) and has always belonged to the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT) which holds firmly to the 1963 BFM. Is my church \u201cschismatic?\u201d I don\u2019t think so. The SBC changed. My church is more like the SBC of the past than of the present.<\/p>\n

All this is leading up to one major issue facing most mainline Protestant denominations now. Is the issue of ordination of practicing homosexuals and gay marriage (the two almost always go together) significant enough to justify division? As I look at this, what I think is that the real, underlying issue is not<\/em> the one on the surface that everyone talks about. It\u2019s a long-simmering issue of theology. For most who identify this issue as justified cause for division, it is simply the most recent (and crucial) evidence of their denomination\u2019s long-time deviation from orthodoxy\u2014usually allowing<\/em> non-orthodox, truly liberal, basically unitarian ministers to pastor churches. Most of those arguing that the time has come for these denominations to divide over the issues of ordination of practicing homosexuals and gay marriage will argue that this is just the straw that breaks the proverbial camel\u2019s back. They have long been dissatisfied with the theological pluralism<\/em> within their denominations.<\/p>\n

*Note to commenters:<\/em> This blog is not a discussion board; please respond with a question or comment only to me. If you do not share my evangelical Christian perspective (very broadly defined), feel free to ask a question for clarification, but know that this is not a space for debating incommensurate perspectives\/worldviews. In any case, know that there is no guarantee that your question or comment will be posted by the moderator or answered by the writer. If you hope for your question or comment to appear here and be answered or responded to, make sure it is civil, respectful, and \u201con topic.\u201d Do not comment if you have not read the entire post and do not misrepresent what it says. Keep any comment (including questions) to minimal length; do not post essays, sermons or testimonies here. Do not post links to internet sites here. This is a space for expressions of the blogger\u2019s (or guest writers\u2019) opinions and constructive dialogue among evangelical Christians (very broadly defined).<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Is Division among Christians Justified? We, American Christians (and I\u2019m sure others) have become used to divisions among Christians. Rarely do we question it. And yet Christ said that he wished for his followers to be one\u2014even as he and the Father are one. Throughout the ages of Christianity visible and institutional unity among […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen Is Division among Christians Justified?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When Is Division among Christians Justified? We, American Christians (and I\u2019m sure others) have become used to divisions among Christians. Rarely do we\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/2021\/03\/when-is-division-among-christians-justified\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When Is Division among Christians Justified?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When Is Division among Christians Justified? We, American Christians (and I\u2019m sure others) have become used to divisions among Christians. Rarely do we\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/2021\/03\/when-is-division-among-christians-justified\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Roger E. Olson\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-19T15:18:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/qph.fs.quoracdn.net\/main-qimg-9eadbf4dc36e473da826253b6a91aac5\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Roger E. Olson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Roger E. Olson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/2021\/03\/when-is-division-among-christians-justified\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/2021\/03\/when-is-division-among-christians-justified\/\",\"name\":\"When Is Division among Christians Justified?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-19T15:18:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-03-19T15:18:38+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/#\/schema\/person\/84d70594b349147e27843d59d5db8cca\"},\"description\":\"When Is Division among Christians Justified? We, American Christians (and I\u2019m sure others) have become used to divisions among Christians. Rarely do we\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/2021\/03\/when-is-division-among-christians-justified\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/2021\/03\/when-is-division-among-christians-justified\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/2021\/03\/when-is-division-among-christians-justified\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"When Is Division among Christians Justified?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/\",\"name\":\"Roger E. Olson\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/#\/schema\/person\/84d70594b349147e27843d59d5db8cca\",\"name\":\"Roger E. Olson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6fe30530b483e239a4ca15ef464a5902?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6fe30530b483e239a4ca15ef464a5902?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Roger E. Olson\"},\"description\":\"Roger E. Olson is Emeritus Professor of Christian Theology at Baylor University where he held the Foy Valentine Chair in Christian Ethics and taught Christian Theology from 1999 to 2021. He is the author of over twenty book including The Story of Christian Theology and The Journey of Modern Theology (both published by InterVarsity Press).\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/author\/rogereolson\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"When Is Division among Christians Justified?","description":"When Is Division among Christians Justified? We, American Christians (and I\u2019m sure others) have become used to divisions among Christians. Rarely do we","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/2021\/03\/when-is-division-among-christians-justified\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"When Is Division among Christians Justified?","og_description":"When Is Division among Christians Justified? We, American Christians (and I\u2019m sure others) have become used to divisions among Christians. Rarely do we","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/2021\/03\/when-is-division-among-christians-justified\/","og_site_name":"Roger E. Olson","article_published_time":"2021-03-19T15:18:38+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/qph.fs.quoracdn.net\/main-qimg-9eadbf4dc36e473da826253b6a91aac5"}],"author":"Roger E. Olson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Roger E. Olson","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/2021\/03\/when-is-division-among-christians-justified\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/2021\/03\/when-is-division-among-christians-justified\/","name":"When Is Division among Christians Justified?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-03-19T15:18:38+00:00","dateModified":"2021-03-19T15:18:38+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/#\/schema\/person\/84d70594b349147e27843d59d5db8cca"},"description":"When Is Division among Christians Justified? We, American Christians (and I\u2019m sure others) have become used to divisions among Christians. Rarely do we","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/2021\/03\/when-is-division-among-christians-justified\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/2021\/03\/when-is-division-among-christians-justified\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/2021\/03\/when-is-division-among-christians-justified\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"When Is Division among Christians Justified?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/","name":"Roger E. Olson","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/#\/schema\/person\/84d70594b349147e27843d59d5db8cca","name":"Roger E. Olson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6fe30530b483e239a4ca15ef464a5902?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6fe30530b483e239a4ca15ef464a5902?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Roger E. Olson"},"description":"Roger E. Olson is Emeritus Professor of Christian Theology at Baylor University where he held the Foy Valentine Chair in Christian Ethics and taught Christian Theology from 1999 to 2021. He is the author of over twenty book including The Story of Christian Theology and The Journey of Modern Theology (both published by InterVarsity Press).","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/author\/rogereolson\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7519\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/rogereolson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}