null I I i!ii I liuK-h which have been commonly a . I : i. i I.I 11 I 111 early times, and have been em- bodied in the Creeds.
CHURCH
CHURCH
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1. Unity. — If the conclusion already reached about the origin of the Church is true, it is clear that it must be one society. The teaching of Christ on this point, as recorded in the Fourth Gospel, is very emphatic (Jn 17"'"^), and He bases tlie unity of the Church on the unity of God (of. Epli 4'''*). It is also to be a visible unity, for it is to be a sign to the world : ' that the world may believe.' It is, however, implied that it will be a progressive unity, not at once perfectly realized (Jn 17='' W). This is illustrated by St. Paul, who speaks of unity as a tiling to be gi-adually attained to (Eph 4'^). 'rhese three points may be taken in order.
{a) If the unity of the Church is based upon the unity of God, it follows that it is an essential and transcendental, and not an accidental unity ; i.e. it is not a merely political or voluntary association of men combining together witli a view to ettV-ii certain ends, nor is it merely occasioned by the social instincts of hunKiu iiiitnic. Thi'^e lowur kinds of unity are not, iiiilccd. cxrlu.liMl l.y the higher, but they are liy thenisrhc, ,iii iiiMilHrii'nt explanation. It lias been ninint.iiiird ihal iIm' i'Ic;i of the unity of the Church isaii .illri i IkhiljIiI . rimrd by the strong tendency to rpliuimiv ,, - ,,!i.>,. which prevailed in the Eiiipiii' in iIm of Christianity. Almnclant eviilcm-it :iliia.l\ (\i-i., and mori; is huin- :ir.uiniil.it.>d, of the existence of this t<MiM..n.\ ; iHii ri.iiii It should be shown that non-l'luisti;in .i,-.iri,iii(iiis influenced the manner in wliii-li tlic Cliristinn icinuiinnitv framed its ex- ternal life and tliat tln'v assist, -,1 its -lowtli, tliis would not in the least ilis|, I ii\ .■ iIh' I'ssiniinl \uiity of the Church. As far, Ihiw.mi, .i- inM'-tiL;atio'n has gone at present, it somis tliat tlic (J'imrch owed remarkably little to heathen precedents. The fact that from tlie earliest times there were some who more or less separated themselves and stood aloof, has been alleged as a proof that unity was not regarded as essential. But imperfection, as has already been noted, is a condition of the earthly state of the Church ; and the strong con- demnation with wliich separation is invariably spoken of in the NT and !iy all early writers, is very strong evidence of the belief of the Church that unity is one of its essential marks. The ex- istence from the tirst of tlie power of excommuni- cation (1 Co 5, etc.), is furtlier evidence to the same eflect.
The unity of the Church is, then, a theological unity, arising from tlie unity of Cod, from the fact that all members of the Cliuicli ,nv mcmljcrs of Christ and abi.lr in llin. as tin- l.r.-nirl„,s .abide in the vine, and from the ind^\(■llill,^ of the Holy Spirit. From this tlows a moral unity of thought and action among the lueinbers of the Church, who are bound together by the invisible bonds of faith, hope, and love.
(6) But this invisible unity will I'xi.ress it.self, as
earth, in an oiiiimnl lorm. 'I'li.ne has not un- naturally been a g I deal .if rontliet of ..pinion
throughout the greatei- |,,iit of Chnieh histcn-yas
to the precise nature of tl itw.ir.l fornL wliich is
necessary. Confining nniseh.', to tlie teaching of Christ upon the snl.ieri. the liist thing to be
noticed is tlia called sacraineni- of. Thenecessii, actions at onee , perform them, a social in their n: except in connexi next place, the
the visible actions lijeli lias been already spoken I |ieifoiniing certain outward iiiiini^hes those persons who tliev,. |i,'irticnlar actions are vf. and r.innoi lie performed nitli a xi~ilile society. In the inistration of sacraments ini-
isolation. For this Christ provided by the insti- tution of a ministry in the persons of the Apostles, to whom Ho expressly committed the sacraments. It follows that among the things wliich are neces- sary to their valid administration, the preservation of the order instituted by the Church under the direction of the Apostles must be reckoned. And while the Church has recogTiized all its members a.s- valid ministers of Baptism in case of necessity, the administration of the Eucharist has been confined amongst most Christians to those who have received .special Apostolic authority for the purpose.
It is furtlier lield hy a \ ery large number of Christians, that in addition to the external bonds of union formed by tfie sac-ia- mentsand the Apostolic ministry, the Church on earth, bciuK visible, must have a visible he.id, and that this bcadsliin was
IS borne out by the claims made from tlie earliest times by the liishops of Rome, and allowed or acquiesced in by the Church at large. It is argued, on the other side, that the passages in ques-
jilies discipline, for a certain amount of organiza- tion is necessary in order to enable a society to act, and social actions cannot be performed in
the subject are nienti
((•) These inward and outward bonds of union give a real numerical unity to the Church, so that it will be one in any one place, one throughout the world, and one in all time. Nothing less than this can satisfy the coiice]ition of unity ]Mit before us in the NT. But it must be noted, i"ii the third place, that unity may be real while it is still imperfect. The perfection of the ('linnli, in lespect of unity as well as of all other (■li.ii.nteiistirs, is possible only when all its memlieis are peifeit, ,an(l there- fore it cannot be fully lealize.l in this life. Any loo.sening of those homls wliiih have been men- tioned, whether ini\.-iid or onlward, must neces- .sarily impair unity. It is not m-iessary that there sliould be an outwaid lue.uli. A lack of charity, leading to party spirit, smli as existed at Corinth, was regarded by St, I'.nil ,is ini|iairing the unity of the Church altl'iough nmisilile severance had talcen place. A want of faith, or errors concerning the faith, must have the same effect. A departure from the faith of the Church on fundamental matters is called ' heresy,' and any great want of either charity or faith on the pait of a section of the Church commonly leads to .i Kiculi of the ex- ternal conditions of union, whieli is lalled ■ schism.' This again admits of diHi-ienI deuiers, and is of two principal kinds. A suspension or refusal of communion between two ]iarts of the ( lnirch un- doubtedly amounts to a schism, e\eii llionghboth parts retain the due administration of the sacra- ments and the .Apostolic ministry. Such a schism h.is aiiseii I.etw.iMi the Churches of the East and the West, and it was the work of centuries of gradual estrangement, so that it is impossible to say at what precise moment the want of inter- communion became such as to amount to a formal schism. There is a breach of a very similar char- acter between the Anglican Churches and those which adhere to the Eonian obedience. There is also another kind of schism, \\ liich is caused when bodies of baptized persons form new associations which do not claim to be connected with the Apos- tolic Church, or which reject the sacraments. There is no other cause for such breaches of out- ward communion than the imperfection of the faith and charity of the members of the Church. But if such imperfection iloes not in itself destroy the unity of the Church, the external con.sequences which naturally result from it do not necessarily do