§ 100. THE VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE CHURCH. 459
beyond the boundaries of the visible Church, and holds that the Spirit of God is not bound to the ordinary means of grace, but may work and save '■'■ Avhen, where, and how he pleases."! Zwingli first introduced both tern^. He meant by the " visible " Church the community of all who bear the Christian name, by the "invisible" Church the totality of true believers of all ages.^ And he included in the invisible Church all the pious heathen, and all infants dying in infancy, whether baptized or not. In this liberal view, however, he stood almost alone in his age and anticipated modern opinions.^
Calvin defines the distinction more clearly and fully than any of the Reformers, and his view passed into the Second Helvetic, the Scotch, the Westminster, and other Reformed Confessions.
" The Church," he says,* " is used in the sacred Scriptures in two senses. Sometimes when they mention ' the Church ' they intend that wliich is really such in the sight of God (qiue revera est coram Deo), into which none are received but those who by adoption and grace are the children of God, and by the sanctification of the Spirit are the true members of Christ. And then it
1 See Westminster Confession of Faith, ch. X. 3.
- Expos. Christ. Fidei (written in 1531, and published by BuUinger, 1536) : " Credimus et unam sanctam esse, h.e. universalein ecclesiam. Earn autem esse aut visibilem aut invisihilem. Invisibilis est,juxta Paidi verbum, quce caelo descendit, hoc est, quae Spiritu Sancto illustrante Deum cognoscit et amplectitur . De isla ecclesia sunt quotquot per universum orbem credunt. Vacatur autem invisibilis non quasi qui credunt sint invisibiles, sed quod humanis oculis non patet quinam ere d ant ; sunt enim Jideles soli Deo et sibi perspecti. Visibilis autem ecclesia non est Pontifex Romanus cum reliquis cidarim gestantibus, sed quotquot per universum orbem Christonomendederunt." Opera, IV. 58. Niemeyer, Co//. Co??/ess., p. 53. Zwingli teaches the same distinction, but without the terms, in his earlier Confession to Charles V. See Niemeyer, p. 22.
^ See above, pp. 95, 177, 211. Bullinger probably agreed with the liberal view of his revered teacher and friend, as we may infer from his unqualified commendation of the last Confession of Zwingli, in which he most emphatically teaches the salvation of the pious heathen. Bullinger published it five years after Zwingli's death, and said in the preface that in this book Zwingli surpassed himself ("hoc libello sese superans de vera fide nescio quid cygneum vicina morte cantavit ").
* Inst. bk. IV. ch. I. § 7.
460 THE REFORMATION IN FRENCH SWITZERLAND.
comprehends not only the saints at any one time resident on earth, but all the elect who have lived from the beginning of the world.
"But the word 'Church' is frequently used in the Scriptures to designate the whole multitude dispersed all over the world, who profess to worship one God and Jesus Ciirist, who are initiated into his faith by baptism, who testify their unity in true doctrine and charity by a participation of the sacred supper, who consent to the word of the Lord, and preserve the ministry which Christ has instituted for the purpose of preaching it. In this Church are included many hypocrites, who have nothing of Christ but the name and appearance ; many persons, ambitious, avaricious, envious, slanderous, and dissolute in their lives, who are tolerated for a time, either because they cannot be convicted by a legitimate process, or because discipline is not always maintained with sufficient vigor.
" As it is necessary therefore to believe that Church which is invisible to us, and known to God alone, so this Church, which is visible to men, we are commanded to honor, and to maintain communion with it."
Calvin does not go as far as Zwingli in extending the number of the elect, but there is nothing in his principles to forbid such extension. He makes salvation dependent upon God's sovereign grace, and not upon the visible means of grace. He expressly includes in the invisible Church " all the elect who have lived from the beginning of the world," and even those who had no historical knowledge of Christ. He says, in agreement with Augustin : " According to the secret predestination of God, there are many sheep ivithout the pale of the Churchy and many wolves within it. For God knows and seals those who know not either him or themselves. Of those who externally bear his seal, his eyes alone can discern who are unfeignedly holy, and will persevere to the end, which is the completion of salvation.*' But in the judgment of charity, he continues, we must acknowledge as members of the Church " all those who, by a confession of faith, an exemplary life, and a participation in the sacraments, profess the same God and Christ with ourselves." ^
1 Inst. IV. ch. I. § 10.