AMOS 3:3                                     CONFORMITY?


   "Can two walk together unless they be agreed? Do two people have to agree upon everything in the world before they can walk together? If so, no two people on earth will walk together, or ever have done so. Shall we interpret God's word to forbid and make absolutely impossible the unity it commands? But I am told that this does not mean they must be agreed upon every thing. This surrenders the whole argument. Either two people must agree upon everything in order to walk together or else two people can walk together who are not agreed, and you will need to find a new text for the ridiculous doctrine of unity based upon conformity." 1

   "I walk with many with whom I disagree on some matters of scriptural interpretation. If I did not, I would not walk with any, for I have yet to meet the person who sees everything as I do. There is not a congregation on earth in which all of the members agree, but many of them walk and work together in harmony".

   "The RSV correctly translates it, 'Do two walk together unless they have made an appointment?' " 2

   "If God can walk together with me while I am learning, seeking, searching and yearning to know more about His will, can I not walk with all others in Him who are in the same condition?" 3

   "In all of us, the powers of perception, retention, and rationalization differ. We can no more understand alike than we can all look alike. It is for this reason that knowledge can never be made a ground of fellowship any more than can physical stature or appearance." 4

   "If we conspire to take away the freedom of those in Christ who do not think, speak and act exactly as we do, we only prepare a Haman's gallows upon which we will some day be gibbeted.

   "He who grinds a party axe will some day feel its keen blade and cold steel upon the flesh of his own neck." 5


Amos 3:3        Conformity

1Nov. 1965, p. 163
2May 1963, p. 71
3April 1958, p. 7
4Dec. 1970, p. 180
5Sept. 1967, p. 141

CONTENTS

THE CHURCH