Controversy in the Church

In 1949, the Orthodox Fr. Alexander Schmemann had some wise words for all of us Christians -- Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox, and so forth -- caught up in serious church controversies:

When controversies are ignited and flare up in the Church, which happens and has happened often, alas, we inevitably hear appeals from Church circles to cease these controversies in the name of peace and love.

Now, this would be cause for great joy, if only in these appeals there were no unmistakably different overtones: "Your controversy is not important. It is of interest to no one: only ‘specialists’ and ‘scholars’ can understand it, so all this argument leads only to seduction and harm."

And here we must point out to these accusers something very important which they have apparently forgotten. They have forgotten that peace and concord in the Church are inseparable from the Truth.

Read the whole thing here.