In the sixteen years I have served the Midland Unitarian Association, I have travelled many thousands of miles. I have criss-crossed the District in my car, visiting congregations and individuals, and attending meetings (this last far less often since 2020, when we all discovered Zoom!). And during my Presidential year, I drove even greater distances, all around England and into South Wales.
And my favourite way of beguiling the time is to listen; either to music, or to one of the Teaching Company's Great Courses. Over the years, I have built up a fine collection of the latter, owning most of their Religion and Theology and Writing courses. I've listened to all of them at least once, and to some of them repeatedly. Each course comprises between 12 and 36 half-hour lectures, the most common length being 24.
In recent weeks, I have been listening to one of my favourites, The History of Christian Theology, a comprehensive and erudite 36-lecture course, taught by Professor Philip Cary. He has the ability to explain the most intricate and abstruse aspects of Christian belief and doctrine with great clarity and objectivity. It has been a real education to listen to him explain the intricate ins and outs of complicated Christian doctrines like the Trinity, Incarnation and Grace. Because even before the Great Schism of 1054 or the Protestant Reformation of the early 16th century, there was still plenty of opportunity for debate, and fierce dissension within the so-called "Catholic" church (Catholic means 'universal').
The lectures cover the whole history and evolution of Christian theology, from the earliest days right up to the present - or at least, up to 2008, when the course was written. And the thing which has fascinated me the most is the central importance of orthodoxy "right belief" to Christians. Over the centuries, there have been endless arguments and fierce divisions over the minutiae of nuances in Christian beliefs and doctrine. Right from the mid-1st century CE, when Paul spent much of his time earnestly writing to his scattered flock about what they *ought* to believe. And getting exasperated when they didn't get it. For example, in the first chapter of his First Letter to the Corinthians, he writes, "I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought."
Professor Cary explains in his first lecture, "Christian theology is a tradition of critical reasoning about Christian doctrine, that is, about what should be taught in church about Jesus Christ and life in him. Christian theology focuses on doctrine rather than law, because Christianity is a faith more than a way of life, so the question of what people should be taught to believe is of the essence. Unlike other religions, Christianity is essentially a faith because it is not fundamentally about how to live but about the life of another person, Jesus Christ... In Christian theology, even the crucial theme of Jesus's own teaching, the Kingdom of God, is subordinated to teaching about who Jesus is - the Christ, which means the king in the Kingdom of God."
The consequences of differing beliefs between various factions have, on occasions, been world-changing. Heretics have been variously excommunicated, burned at the stake, or shunned, for theological disagreements over what I as a Unitarian (so probably an arch-heretic) see as almost frivolously minute differences in theology. In the mid-eleventh century, for example, the Great Schism between the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic churches happened on account of a single Latin word, filioque. As Professor Cary explains, this means "and of the Son" and is "from a clause in the Western version of the Nicene Creed saying that the Holy Spirit 'proceeds from the Father and the Son'. This doctrine of 'double procession' is rejected by the Eastern Orthodox and became the cause of the schism between the Eastern and Western churches in 1054, resulting in the formal separation of Eastern Orthodox from Roman Catholic." Okay, there was probably more to it than that, and the filioque issue was probably the "straw that broke the camel's back", but really?
Perhaps the most well-known and far-reaching example was, of course, Martin Luther, who famously nailed his 95 Theses to the door of Wittenberg Cathedral in October 1517. As Professor Cary explains, "He criticised the sale of indulgences because they detracted from true inward penance of the heart.... These criticisms were meant as an invitation for disputation." Luther originally had no idea of leading a secession from the Catholic Church - he was both a monk and a theology professor. Yet the upshot of his act was the Protestant Reformation. In the 500 years since then, countless denominations have sprung up, each convinced of the unique "rightness" of their own particular brand of Christianity.
So much bitter argument. So much self-righteous justification. So much persecution of those who did not / do not share your beliefs. So much willingness to pronounce that anyone who does not believe exactly as you do is bound for eternal damnation in the fires of Hell.
I cannot help wondering what Jesus, that first century Jewish rabbi, would have made of it all... The man who allegedly told his followers:
"Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat, do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven; give and it will be given to you."(Luke 6:27-38)
The difference between these teachings of Jesus and Christian theology are striking. Arguments over what to outsiders seem to be minor nuances in Christian doctrine have, over the centuries, involved thousands of people and whole countries (sometimes even the entire continent of Europe) in war and persecution and terror.
Even my own denomination, Unitarianism, which is supposed to be inclusive and tolerant and welcoming of people with diverse beliefs, has its factions and its politics; its bitter arguments and its disagreements...
I find it baffling. For me, right behaviour, such as Jesus tells us to do, trumps right belief every time...
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