Catholic Verses - 95 Bibles Passages That Confound Protestants?
CHRISTIANS OUGHT TO BE ONE AS JESUS AND HIS FATHER ARE ONE
Page 21: John 17:20-23: "'I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word, that they may all be one; even as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. The glory which thou hast given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one.'" The Catholic position on Christian unity is fully in accord with biblical texts like this one. We believe that doctrine should be unified and that all Christians should be of one mind and spirit. It is to uphold this biblical injunction that we believe in dogma, hierarchical authority, apostolic Tradition, and a papacy. One may think what he will about all that, but it cannot be denied that Catholicism has traditionally been highly concerned with oneness of doctrine and avoidance of sectarianism and division.
Note: Oneness in hierarchical authority, apostolic Tradition, the papacy, and slander of Protestants is not Christian dogma.
Ephesians 4:1-6 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were 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.
Pages 21-22: The presence of divisions and denominationalism is one aspect of Protestantism that is widely acknowledged by Protestants themselves (to their credit) as scandalous. Nonetheless, one notices a great reluctance to admit that the existence of such divisions casts any doubt upon the Protestant principles that arguably created this unfortunate state of affairs in the first place. Protestant apologists use various tactics to avoid the disturbing impact of a passage like John 17:20-23. A debate opponent once suggested to me that Jesus' prayer of unity in John 17 was not the "coerced" dogmatic unity of Catholicism, but rather a "oneness in love." I agreed that unity in love was part of the passage's meaning. But I refused to discount the implication of doctrinal oneness.
Note: Christian unity is spiritual resulting in love and is not referring to a visible legal entity based in Rome.
Ephesians 4:11-16 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.
Page 22: It is difficult to maintain that this unity could entail no doctrinal agreement. The Father and the Son do not differ on how one is saved, or on the true nature of the Eucharist or the Church. They would not have disagreements about how the Church is to be governed, or about baptism, or about Arminianism versus Calvinism, or about any number of disputed doctrines over which Protestants endlessly argue among themselves. They are completely one and in unity in all respects. No one who accepts the Bible as inspired can argue that point. So if we are commanded to have that kind of divine unity, it would seem very clear that denominationalism is completely ruled out.
Note: Christian unity is spiritual resulting in love and is evidence of obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Thessalonians 1:3-8 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other, so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure, which is manifest evidence of the righteous judgment of God, that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you also suffer; since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.