There is a second kind of unity today which can be found throughout the world, and it is called “spiritual” unity. What is the definition of this spiritual unity, and from where does it originate?
Originally, Roman Catholicism was the state religion of the Roman Empire. The term state religion has a very interesting definition: It means the religion of a nation. The nation, the king, or the emperor ordains such a religion for its people. In other words, once a person is born as a subject of a nation, he becomes a member of the religion of that nation. If a person is a Roman citizen, he automatically joins the Roman religion. Either a person has no nationality and therefore has no membership in any nation’s religion, or he is born a citizen of a nation and consequently is a member of the religion of that nation. Whether or not he is willing, he must take part in that religion. This is not a matter that is left up to him to decide; it has been decided by the emperor. If he depends upon the nation for his living, he must take part in the nation’s religion.
After the Roman Empire accepted Roman Catholicism as the state religion, the membership of the Roman Catholic Church became the same as the population of the Roman Empire. Formerly, the members of the church only equaled the number of those who through repentance had been regenerated and baptized. Now, however, no one needed to join the church per se. As long as one was born in the country and his father was a Roman, he was qualified to become a member of the Roman religion. There was no need for him to experience regeneration. My father is Chinese, and I was born of my father. It is unnecessary for me to be naturalized in order for me to become a Chinese, because I am Chinese by birth. This was the situation in the Roman Catholic Church; once one was born a Roman, he was a member of the Roman Catholic Church. One who was born of the flesh could now become a “child” of God. This completely changed the word in John 1:12-13. It became unnecessary to be born of God or to receive the Lord Jesus. Instead, being born of blood, of the will of the flesh, and of the will of man was all that was necessary. As long as one was a Roman, he was a member of the Roman Catholic Church. This was the Roman Catholic Church.
At the beginning of the Protestant movement, Martin Luther only wanted to reform the Roman Catholic Church; he did not expect to form a new church. The formation of a new church was not due to religious reasons, but to political ones. Because the Roman pope ruled over the whole world, even the emperor was afraid of him. According to the pope, emperors ruled over the human body, while he ruled over the human soul. Even though the pope’s body was ruled over by the emperor, the emperor’s soul was ruled over by the pope. The Kaiser could have been the greatest imperialist, but he could do nothing against the pope; the pope ruled over him. If the pope closed the door to the heavenly kingdom, no one could enter in, not even a king. In effect, the pope ruled over the whole world. Thus, the kings of all the nations were very afraid of him. They were kings, yet someone ruled over them. They were kings, yet someone above them was their king. The pope was the supreme ruler of the whole world.
When Luther rose up to reform the church, these kings realized that there was a way for them to separate themselves from Rome. They did not want the pope to rule over their souls; they wanted to rule themselves. They wanted a different church, one not ruled over by the pope. In certain things the commandments they gave could be altered by the pope. The pope could just issue another commandment, and the people dared not disobey, because disobedience to the pope meant that their souls would go to hell. Luther rose up and took advantage of this opportunity. He preached justification by faith, that is, the right of every man to go to God. There were many kings and princes who waited for Luther to go ahead and who were willing to support him with force. The pope tried to quell the reformers by force. In response, the kings seized the opportunity to send out armies to battle, and the fighting was fierce. Afterwards, not only was there a separation of doctrine but also a separation from the Roman Catholic Church. What was the result? Those who followed Luther’s teaching became part of the Church of Germany in Germany, the Church of Holland in Holland, and the Church of England in England. Originally, the Roman Empire encompassed the whole world. Germany, Holland, and England were smaller kingdoms within it. Now Germany had its own Lutheran Church, Holland had its own Dutch Reformed Church, and England had its own Anglican Church. These were also state churches, only they were smaller than the Roman Church.
Anyone born of British parents becomes a member of the Anglican Church. The moment one comes out of the womb of his mother, he is automatically a member of the Anglican Church. This is the reason behind infant baptism. It is necessary to have an infant registered in the church. Since he is British, he is automatically a member of the Anglican Church. It is unnecessary to believe. It is only a matter of registration. If he is registered, he is a member. One can be born an Englishman and a Christian at the same time. Later, when private churches were raised up, the members had to leave the Anglican Church. Members of these private churches were called “dissenters,” which means that they dissented from the state church. They were originally in the state church, but when they wanted to come out they first had to leave the state church in order to join another. If a person wanted to join the Wesleyan Church, he first had to leave the Anglican Church. They were dissenters; otherwise, they would not have come out.
Home | First | Prev | Next