How far, then, did all this lead to the establish- ment of one organic unity, or of a higher unity of organization than the city-Church? We find, in- deed, in a sense, an organic unity embracing the whole Church in the earliest period. In the Church of Jerus., and esp. in the apostles, is to be seen a centralization of government stretching over all the existinj^ Church, viz. Judaea, Samaria, Galilee, and the district around Antioch, i.e. Syria and CUicia (cf. Ac 8" y» 11'- »• ^). This condition of things continued nominally until the time of the conference at Jerus. (Ac 15-'). But St. Paul's visit to Jerus. on this occasion (which must be taken as identical with that described in Gal 2'-'"), beyond establishin" the freedom of the Gi ntiles from circumcision, led to a further very important result. Now that a purely Gentile Church was possible, St. Paul saw that not only the separation of diiitance, but also in a greater degree the vast difference cf life and thought, between the Pal. Jew and the ordinary Greek or Roman, made it impolitic tliat the centralization of power in the Church of Jerus. should continue. And the 'pillar' apostles, after convincin{j themselves of his authority and ability, resigned to him the care of the Gentiles, while they contented themselves with the management of the Jewish Churches (Gal 2""'). The partition of authority here described wa.s not regarded by either side as a rigid separa- tion of spheres. Tlie main work of the Apostle of the Gentiles was witli Gentiles, while that of the pillax apostles was with Jews. Thus it was the
practice of St. Paul to preach to the Jews first when breaking up new ground (see Ac 13-end, passim), and he occasionally, though very rarely, addressed himself to Jews in his epistles (e.^. Ro 2"). Again we find St. Peter active at Antioch (Gal 2"), Corinth (?) (I Co 1"), and Rome. St. James addressed his Epistle to the Jews of the Dispersion, 1' ; and 1 P is addressed, not only to Jews, out also to Gentiles throuj^hout Asia Minor (cf. I' 4') at a time when St. Paul was probably still living. Nor was the separation accompanied by any bit- terness in the relations between the two parties. The pillar apostles gave to St. Paul and Barnabas the ' right hand of fellowship.' These promised in turn to remember the poor of Judaea, and we know that the promise was faithfully kept. St. Paul always speaks with deep affection and respect of the Juda;an Christians {e.g. 1 Th 2", Ro 15"). The momentary break with St. Peter (Gal 2"), and the efforts of some to exaggerate and prolong its efl'ects (1 Co 1'^ 3='), did not impede his recognition of the deeper truth, that all differences found their unity in Christ (3").
Within these two great divisions, each of which had something of an organic unity in its common rule, resulting to a large extent in common prac- tice {e.g. 1 Co li" 14^), appear smaller divisions, according to the Roman provinces. Such are the Churches of Judaea (Gal 1^, 1 Th 2"), Galatia (Gal V, 1 Co 161), Macedonia (2 Co 8'), Achaia (Ro 15» 2 Co 1' 9=), Asia (1 Co 16"), Syria and Cilicia (Ac J52S.4I) This grouping was also something more than a mere form of speech. The Churches of Galatia (1 Co 16'), Macedonia (2 Co 8'»), and Achaia (1 Co 16^ 2 Co 8-9) each formed a separate whole for the purposes of gathering and delivering to Jerus. the collection for the poor of Judsea. Officers were appointed by each province to act for and re- present the province in tnis respect (1 Co 16', 2 Co &"• ^). St. Paul particularly notes the close and affectionate relationship which bound together the Macedonian Churches (1 Th 4'").
These provincial Churches (it is to be noted that 4KK\ri(rta is never used of the Church of a province, but always ^(cxXijcrfai, ' the Churches ') had their natural centre in the capital city {e.g. Corinth, 2 Co 1' ; Ephesus, Ac 19'° ; cf. Rev 2' where it comes first in the list of the seven Churches). At a later period these districts were in some cases temporarily put under the authority of an apostolic delegate, e.g. Timothy in Asia (1 Ti 1"), Titus in Crete (Tit P). At the end of the apostolic age we find the Churches of Asia under the guidance of St. John (Rev P).
The extent of the apostolic Church included Palestine, Phoenicia (Ac 15'), Syria (the region around Antioch), Asia Minor (1 P 1'), Macedonia, Achaia,'Illyricum (Ro 15'», 2 Ti 4»), Italy (Ac 28"), Crete, and Cyprus. Thus much we know from certain evidence in NT. But there were doubtless many other Churches which are not mentioned, and which, nevertheless, were founded before the close of the NT period. It is quite probable that St. Paul himself preached in Spain (cf. Ko 15^- * ; Clem. Rom. ad Cor. 5 ; Murat. Fragment, 1. 38). The Church of Alexandria ascribed its foundation to St. Mark (Eus. HE ii. 16, 24 ; Epiph. Hocr. li. 6 ; Jer. de vir. illust. 8 ; Nicephorus, HE ii. 43 ; Acta Bamabm). And without setting any value on the traditions {e.q. in Eus. HE i. 13, iii. 1) current in the later Church, we may well refrain from drawing any arguments from the silence of NT in this respect.