Theological Hairsplitting

A former OCF priest of mine told me about the following exchange between a priest and a layman on the fine points of theology:

"Father, all these arguments...it's like they're all just splitting hairs"
"Well, you must understand, these are important hairs"

I understand if things that are subject to interpretation can be interpreted in different ways. However, what I can't say is that every interpretation has the same truth to it. Especially if I believe that God has revealed Himself in a particular way to His particular people, then I can't say that anything about His revelation is especially subjective.

For example either God exists as the Trinity or He does not. But He can't be both a Trinity and a strict Unity at the same time. Either the Blessed Virgin gave birth to Christ in His full divinity and His full humanity at the same time or she did not. The Eucharist is either the body and blood of our Savior or it is not. I'm sure there are scriptural supports for either side of any theological argument. However, since we are dealing with a real God and not simply a beautifully written work of fiction, we have no choice but to say that there can be only one truth about Him.

Lex orandi, lex credendi; our rule of prayer is determined by our rule of belief. Our theology has a direct bearing on our worship (at least for the Orthodox...that's why our Services keep going...). Even things we would consider hairsplitting will have a direct effect on the worship of the Church.

I am not throwing Ecumenism by the wayside. However I am saying that a healthy and edifying Christian Ecumenism is one that finds common theological grounds between the churches, studies the common heritage of the unbroken Church, and looks to articulate the true Faith of the apostles in a way that neither compromises a particular theological point nor avoids controversial issues of confict.

I have not personally been part of any such real Ecumenical movement. I have attended many ecumenical fellowships though, where Christians of various denominations get together to NOT do things; not venerate saints, not discuss liturgical heritage, not study the "touchy" parts of the Bible, not really deal with anything that would actually challenge the believer to think abstractly. However, I do believe that quality ecumenical groups do exist. I have become a huge fan of the apologetics of GK Chesterton and CS Lewis because I feel those two authors deal with the practical every day life truths of the Chrisitan Faith in a way that proclaims the gospel while also embracing Christian Tradition (read touchstonemag!)

There are a great many things that Christians can find common ground on, especially in the realm of the rape of Christian values (yeah...I went there) in secular progressive society. However, what I'm not willing to say is that theological differences between Christians don't matter at all. Division in search for the real truth is much better than a unity based on a compromise in which the truth is sacrificed for argument's sake.
- Steve K