Christendom

John Kuhn Bleimaier

Christendom: the most inclusive and most exclusive human social grouping. It is extraordinarily diverse, yet absolutely monolithic. Christendom includes individuals of every ethnicity and appearance. Yet it absolutely excludes the millions of people who do not recognize Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the sole pathway to eternal life. Christians: individually, we know who we are. However, in the final analysis it is God who makes the call. The Shepherd knows His sheep. The citizens of Christendom are the saints who will respond to the trumpet’s last note and join their Savior for eternity. There is neither Jew nor Greek; neither bond nor free; neither male nor female. All are one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28.

While God knows us, it is expedient that we should recognize one another. We are commanded to love each other and by this mutual affection shall we be known in the world at large. John 13:34-5. Furthermore, we must provide brotherly and sisterly admonition to our fellow believers so that we help Christendom to stay on the straight and narrow path. 2 Thessalonians 3:15; Romans 15:14. Matthew 7:13-14. By the same token we must also steadfastly disassociate ourselves from those who espouse peculiar and false doctrine which is contrary to what God has taught us by way of the Scriptures. We are required to avoid those who promulgate falsehood and would create unwarranted dissension within God’s flock. Romans 16:17. We have been forewarned that there will be ravenous wolves, who will masquerade as prophets and teachers, but will preach false doctrine in contravention of the unequivocal Word of God. Matthew 7:15. We will recognize these minions of satan by their contrary message, by their corrupt fruit and by there evil works. Matthew 7:20.

Those, who read the Bible, particularly the message of God’s Son as enunciated in the New Testament, and who recognize it to be the inerrant Word of God, are well armed for the battle of wits with satan. Ephesians 6:11-18. Our intellectual sword is the Word of God. With truth, righteousness and faith Christendom can overcome her opponents and achieve the triumph of the Spirit to which we are foreordained. Those who affirm that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that His Word is unchallengeable Truth, these are the peaceable citizen soldiers of Christendom. 1 John 4:15. As recognized by Martin Luther, only the Scripture, sola Scriptura, is our infallible source of authority in spiritual life and in society at large. We do not need to look any further for guidance.

Historically the men and women of Christendom, who have come before us, have made significant contributions to our understanding of God’s Word and its application in society. The writings of Luther constitute a classic example. However, as Luther would be the first to acknowledge, only the Scriptures themselves are inerrant and authoritative. The writings of our fellow believers must be judged exclusively against the standards established in the Bible. Those who would have us disregard or twist Scripture are witting or unwitting agents of the great deceiver. Fortunately we are in possession of many inspired writings which are completely consistent with God’s Word and are useful to us in our everyday life. The Nicene Creed is a wonderful, compact summary of doctrine formulated by our spiritual predecessors. The Creed is a synopsis of some critical elements of the Christian faith. When we seek to delineate citizenship in Christendom it is logical to look to the statements of faith included in the Nicene Creed. Those who cannot confess the Creed without reservation fall short of the requirements for citizenship in Christendom, in my humble opinion.

In the 21st Century our wily adversary, the devil, has thought up new false doctrines, new heresies, which were beyond the contemplation of our fore-bearers and thus were not specifically addressed in the Nicene Creed. Among today’s ravenous wolves are churchmen and women who recite the Nicene Creed without flinching, yet they officiate at same sex marriage ceremonies and celebrate sodomy as an alternative lifestyle. Those who assembled for the Council of Nicaea in the 4th Century could not have conceived of the existence of so called clergy who would extol a sexual abomination and yet arrogate unto themselves the appellation, Christian. For this reason the intellectual life of Christendom represents an ongoing struggle. While the basis of our faith is absolutely unchanging and completely articulated in the Bible, contemporary explication must address contemporary perversion.

While we are completely armed by Scripture in order to successfully take on the devil and his daemons, we might contemplate the creation of a 21st Century appendix to the Nicene Creed. In our time we might add language to this effect: “I believe that God created man and woman in His image. I believe that God established the institution of marriage as the union of one man and one woman, who together become one flesh. I believe that it is an abomination for a man to lie with another man as he would with a woman. I believe that homo-eroticism in all its forms is a vile affection which is contrary to nature.”

Those of us who would be the citizens of Christendom must hold fast to the doctrine, which we find in the Scriptures until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We must actively resist all deceivableness of unrighteousness. 2 Thessalonians 2. Knowing that the apocalypse will someday arrive, we must nonetheless spread the Gospel and do good, without ceasing. And let us recollect the splendid quote which is attributed to Martin Luther: “If I knew that tomorrow was the end of the world, I would plant an apple tree today.”