Unity of the Church by Roswell F. Cottrell

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 18, 1870

Unity of the Church.

By Roswell F. Cottrell

“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that they may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.” John 17: 20-22.

“Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” 1 Cor. 1: 10.

“For I know this, that after my departure shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” Acts 20: 29, 30.

“Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.” Isa. 52: 8.

“Till we all come in the unity of the faith.” Eph. 4: 13.

Though many hold that the present divided state of Christianity is undoubtedly the best thing, since under these circumstances every class of minds can find a home somewhere in the midst of this confusion, yet there are others who are impressed with the thought that it would be even better should the Saviour’s prayer be answered, the apostle’s exhortation heeded, and the prediction of prophets verified. And this thought has inspired many devout hearts to pray with the Saviour for this object, to endeavor “to keep the unity of the Spirit,” and to believe the time will come when the watchmen shall see eye to eye, and all “the wise shall understand,” while none of the wicked do, and that the event will be realized at the appointed time, that is, in the “time of the end,” or “when the Lord shall bring again Zion;” at the “glorious appearing;” for “when the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.” Ps. 102: 16.

Now as the time draws near, we witness various efforts for unity, as though it were still the prevailing idea that unity is better than division. Passing by Spiritualism, which proposes “to unite mankind in one harmonious brotherhood, and convince skeptics of the immortality of the soul,” we observe that there are at the present time three great movements already inaugurated, having in view the special object of the unity of the Christian church.

1. The Roman church has called its Ecumenical Council, and declared the infallibility of the pope as the bond of union. In this, it must be admitted, they are consistent with themselves; for since they claim a head of the church on earth, it is proper that all the members of the body should be directed and controlled by that head, so that there shall be “no schism in the body.”

2. The Protestant Ecumenical Council has been called, and although its session has been postponed, yet its proposed scheme of union is before the people in the published programme. Of course there must be some principle of union adopted on which to form an “Independent American Catholic Church.” The bond of union that has been proposed is, “An open communion, and the recognition of one evangelical ministry, by the interchange of pulpits, thus to make visible the unity of the church.” A sermon is to be preached upon the occasion, “showing (as near as I can express it from memory) that denominational distinctions are not inconsistent with true Christian unity.” In other words, that one may be of Paul, another of Apollos, another of Cephas, and yet all of Christ. 1 Cor. 1: 13; 3: 3, 4. They can all agree upon certain unscriptural dogmas; but wherein they disagree on the revealed doctrines of the Bible, they can compromise these as things non-essential, agree to disagree, and so form a sort of union which perhaps I cannot characterize better than by the expression, harmonious jargon, or disjunctive conjunction. It amounts to about this: “I can fellowship whatever of Bible truth you hold, provided you will acknowledge my errors upon these subjects to be equally as good as the truth.” By such mutual concessions and compromises the “visible unity” of the church is to be effected.

3. The third movement for unity, which I mention, takes revealed truth for its basis, and proposes a perfect and heart-felt unity in faith and practice as far as the doctrines and duties revealed in the Bible are concerned. A unity that will answer the prayer of the Saviour, harmonize with the exhortation of apostles, and fulfill the predictions of prophets. No human council has been, or will be, called to lay the platform. It was laid by inspiration eighteen hundred years ago. “Other foundation can no man lay, than is laid.” Each plank in the “commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” is still sound. And the means to be used to bring the remnant of the people of God upon this platform are all provided, described and predicted by the Son of God, apostles and prophets. A special message has been described in prophecy (Rev. 14: 9-12), and the Spirit and providence of God now concur in its fulfillment. The scheme needs no human touch; it has God for its author, and he is pledged for its completion.

The papal scheme may unite Papists, and it may not. A class will go with him who claims to be the “Infallible One.” The plan of Protestants will doubtless succeed so far in uniting the scattered hosts of confusion as to attain its end, viz., to obtain civil legislation to enforce the doctrines and commandments of men. The divine plan will not fail to unite the class for whom it is intended—the remnant of the seed of the woman, “which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” This is certain; for those who do not heed the final gathering call, will be found with the enemies of God, and will certainly drink of “the wine of the wrath of God.”

When each scheme has gathered its proper class, the harvest of the earth will be ripe. Alas! who shall live when this point is reached?

R. F. COTTRELL.