"Our goal must be community and not conformity. The only unity possible for finite beings is unity in diversity. Harmony is not essential to fellowship but acknowledgement of fellowship is essential to achievement of harmony.'1
"There is no room for difference about Christ Jesus or in the implementation of that faith which brings us into the family relationship. But in Christ Jesus there is room for differences. We are in different states of spiritual growth and development. Under the rule of our King we can receive no one whom he has not received, but we must receive all whom he has received.2 "An opinion is the result of a purely intellectual process. All human reasoning must be based upon experience, and since experiences, environments, and backgrounds of men are variant and divergent, their modes of reasoning will differ. We can only reason from the known to the unknown, and since no two persons on earth have exactly the same degree of knowledge in all fields, the inferences drawn or conclusions reached, will be as different from each other as the persons themselves are different. We can no more think alike than we can look alike. Therefore any arbitrary pronouncement of an opinion or set of opinions, as a basis of fellowship, will only destroy that state it was intended to create."3 "It is not our varied concepts which have divided us but our attitude toward Jesus and each other. There will always be divergencies of viewpoint. We must choose whether we shall emphasize these, or Jesus. Every generaton must make this choice. The tragic history of the choice in the past is all too obvious.'4 "One may be wrong about many things, as all of us are, but if he is right about Jesus, the grace of God can be exercised in his behalf. On the other hand, one may be right about many things, but if he is wrong about Jesus, nothing avails.'"5 "My body is a perfect example of unity in diversity. No one comes up to me and says, 1 understand that one of your ears is having trouble with the other organs and is thinking of dropping off and starting another body.'6 "Every child of God is morally bound by his relationship to Jesus to accept all truth as he becomes aware of it but the relationship we sustain to each other does not convey the right to formally bind our interpretations upon each other. "7 "In reality, the party recognizes no room for honest differences of opinion. The scriptures are so plain and they have the explanations so detailed and pat that anyone who does not concur with the party presentation is dishonest and insincere."8 "Although it is a common thing to attempt to condition fellowship upon attainment to a certain degree of knowledge this is both unscriptural and impossible. . . "All knowledge is relative but when we accept knowledge as the ground of fellowship we always use our own knowledge as the criterion. This means that we always have an imperfect standard to which we demand perfect adherence of others. This actually amounts to 'playing God' with our fellows."9 "If we attempt to maintain union based upon uniformity of degree in knowledge, division is inevitable as soon as one learns more than another. If we attempt it based upon conformity in opinion, it is impossible."10 "To differ with brethren is not a sin, to divide the family is a sin."11 "Diversity of opinion does not cause division. It is dogmatism which produces schism."12 "We can recognize our differences as legitimate subjects for exploration but not occasions for division."13 "Only the densely ignorant or grossly prejudiced boast they have made no changes with the passing of decades."14 "We do not seek to iron out our differences in order to become brethren, but, by being brethren, we seek to eliminate our differences in love and respect for each other."15 "The restoration of fellowship will not remove our differences but it will make it possible for us to correctly evaluate them and to labor toward more harmonious relationship."16 "One may be wrong about a lot of things and not be either a heretic or an apostate."17 "We are not one in opinion, we are one in Christ! It is not that we are reconciled to all the views of each other, but that all of us have been reconciled to God that makes us one body."18 "A dogmatic demand for conformity in areas where God has never required it, combined with a disregard for the fundamental and essential truths of the first magnitude, has made of sacred scriptures a partisan battering ram to buffet and browbeat honest hearts and wreak havoc upon the unity of the Spirit as well as severing the bond of peace."19 "If it be true that all who have accepted Jesus as God's Son, and have been immersed by his authority, are children of God, and by this fact constitute a brotherhood, we can regard each other as brethren while we discuss our differences in humility, and seek a solution to our problems. We lose nothing by being kind, considerate and courteous toward those who disagree with us."20 "Our real problem lies in the fact that while every faction and sect among us overlooks a great many differences within its own ranks, they all insist upon unanimity of opinion in the one issue which they have exalted because it gives them their partisan status."21 "Free men will always differ and the only way to eliminate differences is to surrender freedom to the rule of a dictator who can through coercion and fear make men outwardly conform."22 "Not every person who differs with us on some point of controversy has apostatized. No person who is in Christ Jesus, who loves the Lord and seeks to do his will out of a pure fervent heart is an apostate. To call him such a name is to reveal not only a sad lack of love but a considerable degree of ignorance."23 "They were in one body not because they were all alike but because they were all baptized. They remained in one body not because they agreed upon everything but because they all drank of the same Spirit."24 "Any system purposing to secure unity based upon conformity in opinion or equal attainment of knowledge is doomed at its inception. It proposes to accomplish what is, by nature, impossible. Yet it is upon these two postulates virtually every attempt at unity has been made in the past. '"25| 1Jan., 1967, p.7 | 14Sept., 1961, p. 9 | ||
| 2April, 1963, p. 56 | 15Jan., 1961, p. 11 | ||
| 3Nov., 1960, p. 11 | 16Sept., 1964, p. 136 | ||
| 4Mar. 1960, p. 8 | 17Jan., 1960, p. 7 | ||
| 5April, 1960, p. 13 | 18Mar., 1960, p. 7 | ||
| 6Mar., 1972, p. 41 | 19Mar., 1960, p. 3 | ||
| 7Aug., 1961, p. 7 | 20Nov., 1958, p. 2 | ||
| 8Aug., 1961, p. 11 | 21Sept., 1968, p. 142 | ||
| 9July., 1962, p. 3 | 22Sept., 1963, p. 132 | ||
| 10Nov., 1960, p. 1 | 23July, 1961, p. 10 | ||
| 11July, 1965, p. 105 | 24April, 1961, p. 5 | ||
| 12July, 1962, p. 7 | 25Nov., 1960, p. 12 | ||
| 13Jan., 1962, p. 9 |