The Scandal of Christianity: Why so many kinds of Churches, and all worshiping the same God?

by Peter Ainslie

A plea for an end to denominationalism and the pursuit of Christian unity by a Disciples of Christ minister and ecumenist. From the dust jacket -- "He sees with the eyes of coming generations -- looking back, as it were, upon the senselessness, the stupidity, the shame of a divided Christianity. The fruit of his life's work is set forth in this book with an earnestness of zeal that should stir the most complacent denominationalist to conscience stricken thought and then to action."

223 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1929

Reviews

[Robert D. Cornwall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Ainslie was a leading advocate of Christian unity among Disciples early in the 20th century. He was the founder of the Association for the Propagation of Christian Unity, which became the Disciples' Council on Christian Unity. As seen in the title he believed that Christianity had before them a scandal, and that scandal was denominationalism. He believed strongly that the witness of the Christian faith was hindered by denominational divisions. His vision of unity was broad, including Catholic to Unitarian.

I am in agreement with the vision, though I sense that it is not all achievable. In addition, there is a vision of conquering the world for Christ that is problematic today. Nevertheless the observation that the church's witness is hindered by our divisions is truly apparent.

To him, the churches today (he was wrting in 1929) were not truly Christian.

It may be dated, but there is still much of value to be found here, especially for those of us in the Disciples ranks.