"Christians should try to overcome their differences ad unite." Do you agree? Give reasons to support your answer to show you have thought about different points of view.

A reason why I disagree with the statement is because the different Christian groups have many different opinions about certain issues. For example some Christian groups do not agree with the belief of transubstantiation. This is the belief that the bread and wine change into the body and blood of Jesus Christ when the priest says a certain blessing over them. During a Roman Catholic mass the Catholics believe that when the priest blesses the bread and wine they actually turn into Jesus' body and blood. Whereas Protestants (church of England) believe that the bread and wine are just symbols of Jesus. Other religious groups like the Orthodox Church also believe in transubstantiation but others do not.

Another example of a group of Christians who do not believe in transubstantiation is the Salvationists. Salvationists believe that the last supper was a symbolic shared meal between Jesus and his disciples, they do not think there was any other meaning to it. Catholics on the other hand believe that it was something more than a shared meal and commemorate it during mass by taking part in Holy Communion. This shows how different groups have different ways of interpreting bible texts; this would cause disputes if Christians were to unite.

A big difference between the Roman Catholic Church and other Christian groups is the belief that Mary was the mother of God and the deepest respect and honour Catholics pay to Mary. Other Churches don't respect Mary as much as this. Other Churches also don't believe that Mary was a Virgin and that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, unlike Roman Catholics who believe this.

Another reason why uniting would not work is because of sacraments. The Catholic Church has seven sacraments while most other Christian churches only have two, the Salvation Army doesn't have any sacraments. If Christians were to unite arguments would occur because church groups believe their sacraments are very important and would not be willing to change. They would be unwilling to "forget their differences."

Lots of Christian groups have been putting their beliefs into practice for a long time and therefore would be unwilling to change what they believe. For example Salvationists have been putting their beliefs into practice since the late 1800s. If Christians united they might have to change their ways and may not agree with this. This would cause arguments and disputes.

However some Christians may argue that because all Christians believe in Jesus they should "forget their differences and try to unite." However I think that this would not work because the past has proved this. In 1050 the Catholic and Orthodox Churches split because the Orthodox Church did not believe in the authority of the pope. This would be a problem today if Christians tried to unite because the pope is still the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church.

Many Christians have been trying hard to keep the peace. The community of Corrymeela has been trying to keep the peace between the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches. This is because of the religious conflicts in Northern Ireland. The community has been successful and are committed to the healing of social, religious and political divisions

Although the community of Corrymeela has been successful I do not think that Christians will unite as there are so many Christian groups who are against it (because they want to worship God in their own way) Also, the community of Corrymeela is only a small part of the population who are committed to Christian unity.

Other reasons against unity are the fact that not all Christians believe in martyrs and do not respect them. Women priests are another example because Catholics only allow men to be priests. Also there are lots of different interpretations of the bible - these differences of opinion would definitely cause disputes.

Some churches also allow abortion in certain cases and contraception. The Catholic Church do not agree with these at all (except for natural methods of contraception.) These differences of opinion could cause disputes if Christians tried to unite.

However, although I disagree with the statement I am aware that some Christians think unity would be a good thing. They may think that uniting would be a real challenge to secularism especially in this day and age. They also believe that all Christians love Jesus so they should love one another because they believe that Jesus is in every one of us. All Christians believe in Christ and his teachings, they all believe in basically the same thing apart from a few disagreements. Christians agree on ore things than they disagree on. All Church denominations are taught that Christians should love one another so therefore the different groups should be united rather than separated.

Also, Jesus founded only one church, he wanted there to be only one church. He didn't want it to split up and he didn't want lots of disputes ad arguments, I know this because Jesus prayed to his father asking that his followers would be united. He appointed Peter to be the head of the church, one church, but now there are so many and Jesus didn't want this. So I do understand why some people might want all of the churches to be united once more.

Other reasons are that unity would be good for Ecumenical movement and also that unity would make Christianity grow and go from strength to strength.

However regardless of this, I still disagree with the statement because unity would cause for too many unnecessary disputes. Because there are too many differences of opinion and belief the past would be likely to repeat itself as a result.