In a 1984 article in the journal Mid-Stream , Leslie Newbigin insisted that the basis of the demand for church unity is “the triune nature and action of God.”
He gave this stirring explanation: “Because God the Father has given his Son tous, and in the incarnate Lord Jesus Christ he both freely declared his nature and effectedhis purpose, and because he continues by the work of the Spirit to disclosethat nature and effect that purpose from generation to generation, from race to race,by drawing men and women to him, we are under the obligation of love and faithfulnessto bring every thought, every activity, and every visible form or organizationinto subjection to him. There is one God and one mediator between God andhuman beings in whom he wills to reconcile all things to himself. Therefore thosewho are the bearers of his mission must themselves be reconciled” (4).
At the same time, he rejected any hint that this Trinitarian account of unity could be set against a Christocentric account: “It is only if Jesus is indeed supreme above every other name or power or principle orprogram that the unity of his people is really essential. He is, in simple fact, the onein whom the Father purposes to unite all people, all nations and all created beings,making peace by the blood of his Cross. Because this is so it is of the very essence ofthe Church that it should be onea sign and firstfruit and instrument of that unity” (5).
“The Basis and Forms of Unity,” Mid-Stream 23 (1984) 1-12.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
