I would like to think that we all agree on the need for a local church.
But what about the distant one, that is the church hieracy.
Why do we need bishops, cardinals or even the pope.
most if not all churches are a part of a bigger organization. Whether its the Catholic church or the official state church, such as the Church of England, they are all a part of a bigger whole.
Is this a good thing and why.
To start the tread let me give my opinion.
Ignorance and lies are best bred in isolation. By grouping together we give ourselves some protection from missleading influences. This was perhabs more important in the old days when real isolation was easier, but even today it has considerable value as it is just as easy for a group to become socialy isolated.
On the other hand all group need a leader(s). If the leadership of a group becomes missled it will most likely drag most of the group down with it. This has happened much to often for us to just dismiss this as special cases. We are all avare of the largest cases, such as the Jehovas witnesess, but there must be many more smaller failings that we simply don't know about.
To become a proper theologian one must have training. To provide such training we must have organization. We simply can't become real theologians by ourselves. The best and easiest way to train theologians is though organized schools. All shools are, by their very nature, a part of a bigger whole.
if we in our local church totaly deny such organizations authority over our religious practices, we also deny yourself the understanding that it could bring to our congregation.
As was shown by the rise and fall of the monastic orders of the middle ages, the lure of selfprotection is strong. Only the very best of us are capable of resisting the desire not to get fired. The illusion of self-importance that we all share will get us in the end.
The best example is in politics. For most politicians its a calling. They really aren't in it for the power or the money. They really want to to good. It's just that on their way up the ladder they get blinded by their self importance. It's a rare politician that is willing to do what he thinks is right even if it will lose him an election. Saddly all big organizations suffer from this, even religious ones.
But what about the distant one, that is the church hieracy.
Why do we need bishops, cardinals or even the pope.
most if not all churches are a part of a bigger organization. Whether its the Catholic church or the official state church, such as the Church of England, they are all a part of a bigger whole.
Is this a good thing and why.
To start the tread let me give my opinion.
Ignorance and lies are best bred in isolation. By grouping together we give ourselves some protection from missleading influences. This was perhabs more important in the old days when real isolation was easier, but even today it has considerable value as it is just as easy for a group to become socialy isolated.
On the other hand all group need a leader(s). If the leadership of a group becomes missled it will most likely drag most of the group down with it. This has happened much to often for us to just dismiss this as special cases. We are all avare of the largest cases, such as the Jehovas witnesess, but there must be many more smaller failings that we simply don't know about.
To become a proper theologian one must have training. To provide such training we must have organization. We simply can't become real theologians by ourselves. The best and easiest way to train theologians is though organized schools. All shools are, by their very nature, a part of a bigger whole.
if we in our local church totaly deny such organizations authority over our religious practices, we also deny yourself the understanding that it could bring to our congregation.
As was shown by the rise and fall of the monastic orders of the middle ages, the lure of selfprotection is strong. Only the very best of us are capable of resisting the desire not to get fired. The illusion of self-importance that we all share will get us in the end.
The best example is in politics. For most politicians its a calling. They really aren't in it for the power or the money. They really want to to good. It's just that on their way up the ladder they get blinded by their self importance. It's a rare politician that is willing to do what he thinks is right even if it will lose him an election. Saddly all big organizations suffer from this, even religious ones.