Chapter Twenty. The Reality Of The Unified Church

Abstract

There is something problematic in church unity. This chapter argues that the church is, in reality, unified. The further argument is that the problem lies not in unity, but in the perception and behavior of the members of the body. If we are to enact the reality of the unity of the church, then the church body must align itself with that reality. The arguments to support these claims reflect on the work by Dietrich Bonhoeffer's, Sanctorum Communio . Bonhoeffer says that understanding the church as revelation is where evaluation of the church breaks down. He gives two examples of approaches to the church: values and the church as a social community. Bonhoeffer fought not for the purity of the church as a divisive exclusivity that included only true believers; he fought for the purity of the church as the visible representation of Christ that proclaimed to the world their redemption. Keywords: church unity; Dietrich Bonhoeffer; Sanctorum Communio