Matt Kennedy+: Rhetoric, Empathy, and the Holiness of the Church

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Excerpt:
No level of empathy or mutual recognition of "good intent" can overcome or override the fact that if this new teaching is heresy then eternal souls are at risk. Simply writing that is considered bad form in some orthodox circles; impolite at best, demagogic at worse. If we are to get anywhere near resolving our issues and reconciling the church, some will say, then such rhetoric must be put away and a gentler tone adopted. The implicit assumption behind such objections, however, is that what divides us is less important than the fact that we are divided and that by employing a gentler tone, the serious but non-essential issues facing the church may be resolved or at least set within a larger context of mutual commitment to an ecclesial body. the rest image