The Heresy of Unionism

Every Christian denomination expresses its own view of Salvation. More often than not, the perspectives of different churches not only fail to align but directly contradict each other, becoming a point of contention and a stumbling block. For example, the Orthodox Church does not recognize the priesthood of Lutherans or Anglicans and does not allow their members to partake in Communion. Or, to give another example, Catholics receive Communion using unleavened hosts, while the Orthodox use leavened prosphora.

In the 20th century, we encountered the heresy of ecumenism, when various denominations and churches tried to find a way to stop arguing over doctrinal and canonical matters and to reach an agreement, fostering the idea that all who believe in Christ are brothers and sisters in the faith. Clearly, it is easier for Protestants to find common ground with other Protestants. However, canonical Orthodoxy and, for the most part, the Roman Catholic Church did not fully accept the neo-Protestants, and accepted classical Protestants only with reservations. In the end, joint worship and cooperation did not happen, and nothing truly progressed. Ecumenism failed.

Later, the concept of convergence appeared. Essentially, convergence is a stricter form of ecumenism, in which churches are expected to find points of agreement, define key issues on which all sides agree, and simply set aside the rest as “differentiating” matters. This approach is problematic because it is easier to find common ground within a single denomination among different churches than between churches of entirely different denominations. This is especially difficult when the issues at stake are fundamental to the tradition. For example, even though Lutherans and Catholics share common roots and have many points in common, convergence will never fully work, because Lutherans completely reject the dogma of papal primacy and do not believe in the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. Nevertheless, convergence is seen as the lesser evil, because it still allows for the main goal—Altar Fellowship and mutual recognition.

Within the Protestant context, a concept emerged known as unionism. It has been familiar to many in Europe since the 19th century and earlier, and it refers to attempts to merge different Christian denominations into one. The essence of it is this: if one tries to unite one church with another, both—or at least one—will lose its self-identity. This will happen regardless of who is right and who holds mistaken views.

We can see the results of such a process in the attempt to unite the Lutheran Church with the Reformed Church and the creation of the Formula of Concord, which resulted in many Lutheran churches being forced to accept foreign teachings on predestination and the absence of the real presence in the Sacrament, along with several other doctrines.

Ernest Eckhardt said that unionism is the union of truth with error. At its core, it is a false agreement mixed with disagreement. The purity of conscience of parishioners and clergy in such a church cannot be preserved. When errors from one tradition are added to the teaching of another, the only result is the loss of doctrinal purity, then of self-identity, and ultimately the loss of Grace.

Unionism could perhaps be compared to a half-truth. In part of the truth lies a part of falsehood, and as the saying goes, that is worse than any outright lie.

More about unionism can be found here:

Daniil Suvor

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