One Faith

mgn2010 · #1 Mar 25, '12, 4:55 pm

In John's Gospel, Jesus in prayer to the Father prays that we all may be one. The implication of this prayer seems to allude that it is possible that when He does return, we in fact would not be of one faith. With all the differentiations within religious faiths, it does seem unlikely that we would all be in one accord. How is it possible to see that this could occur? The Holy Spirit is the cohesive force behind this coming together, but if individuals are not receptive to its promptings then not much can be expected, no?

erikd · #2 Mar 26, '12, 3:47 am

I believe that you're referring to St. John's Gospel, chapter 17, verse 21. The Haydock Bible Commentary addresses this verse by quoting St. John Chrysostom:

"Christ does pray that his disciples may be one, as he and his heavenly Father are one; not that the unity may resemble the unity of persons in the divinity, by a perfect and exact likeness; but only as far as it is possible for men to imitate the perfections of God, as when he says, "Be ye merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful." (St. Chrysostom, hom. lxxxi. in Joan.)"
http://haydock1859.tripod.com/id110.html

Crumpy · #3 Mar 26, '12, 4:29 am

Not to disagree with anything said here:

It just struck me how connected this is to the Shema of Dt. 6:4ff and Mk 12:28ff.

Hear O Israel the Lord our God is one God.
Hear O Israel the Lord is our God, the Lord is one God.

The Jews view the last part as eschatalogical, when all believers are united together with God.

( Having said this, I see that The Jewish Annotated New Testament (Oxford Press, 2011)makes no special comment about John 17:21. In its more enlightened moments, TJANT expresses Jesus' Jewishness. )
(Thanks for the link to the Haydock commentary.)