1. On spiritually greener grass

   Michael Spencer writes of Thomas Merton’s and his own struggle with the desire to leave for greener grass.

   Despite his seemingly endless desire to move away, change his vocation, start over or run away, Merton remained at Gethsemani throughout his monastic life until the last few weeks of his life when a new abbot allowed him the freedom to travel. His superiors did not believe it was God’s will for Merton to move or change, and they kept him close by, allowing him a hermit’s life for most of the day, but also bringing him together with the community for worship and other concerns. From that imposed stability came the Merton we know and read today. I doubt we would have known the same one if he’d been allowed to take off everytime he wanted.

2. Miroslav Volf on church allegiance and violent conflict
3. Thoughts on unity and God’s purposes for his Church

   In June, Alistair of Adversaria was blogging on denominations, church union and reunion. So far, there are 3 posts (1, 2, 3). The most common way of looking at these issues is probably through a “doctrinal correctness” lens. Alastair shifts the perspective–fruitfully–to “what was God doing with his people when he permitted his church to split?” Here are two quotes, the second one extended:

   In the OT we see God directing the flow of history for the purpose of maturing His covenant people. He moulds and transforms His people through a number of powerful events and experiences. He builds up His people and then breaks them down, in order that they might be refashioned into something newer and more mature.

   Through the Reformation God created a very new order within the Church. Whatever our convictions regarding the biblical character of the claims made by the Reformers, if we truly believe that God continues to form His people through His providential guidance of the course of history, we must wrestle with the question of why God saw fit to split His Church at the Reformation.

   While many Protestants will claim that the split at the Reformation was purely a matter of God separating His true people from a false church and delivering them from a Babylonian captivity, I am not so sure that it is that simple. On the Roman Catholic side there are those who will insist that there has to be only one Church and that Protestants have left this Church by rejecting the authority of the pope over them. Once again, I think that the reality is more complex than this.

   As in the case of the split of Israel, I don’t think that God straightforwardly supports either side’s ecclesial claims against the other. The subsequent history of Israel and Judah shows that splits in the government of the people of God do not necessarily destroy the oneness of the people of God in other respects. The people of God remain one by virtue of their covenant relationship with Him, even if they are scattered among many different church structures. Against Roman Catholic claims, the unity of the people of God is not ultimately dependent upon being under the Pope. The unity of the Church is found in its relationship to Christ.None of this is to deny the desideratum of visible and even institutional unity. My point is rather that such institutional and governmental unity is not absolutely essential to the unity of the Church. Just as in the case of Israel and Judah, the essential unity of the people of God is found in their relationship to Him. The two nations continued to be related to each other by virtue of this fact.

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