"The Holy Catholic Church"

"Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the

wife of the Lamb."

REV. 21: 9.

CHAPTER XII

THE AFFIRMATION OF THE CHURCH

We have here a theme of surpassing interest. We are to consider how the most splendid conception ever given to the mind of men, the conception which taxed and mastered the thought of Paul, which for John changed the glories of the setting sun into the glories of the New Jerusalem-how this conception of the Church as "the bride, the wife of the Lamb," as "his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all," the actualized kingdom of heaven on earth, has become the Church of to-day, broken into fragments, the disjected members of the Church of Jesus Christ, exalting half truths, and, in its divisions and strifes, dishonored and ashamed. Or rather, through the broken parts of the Church of to-day we are to look back upon the original conception, to convince ourselves that it still exists.

"The Holy Catholic Church" cannot mean any one body of believers, however large; because, as Principal Fairbairn has said, it is not "holy," for it contains many unworthy members; it is not "catholic," for at most it is Roman; and it is not "apostolic," for the

apostles left no successors; and any claim to succession that excludes other believers lacks the first essential of genuineness. Moreover, it has "exchanged the ministry of service for the functions of empire." When we say "I believe in the Holy Catholic Church," we seek to lift ourselves at once to consider something nowhere to be seen, for faith has to do with the unseen. Corrupted, torn, defiled, put to base uses, the Church has nevertheless been the living power of Christ in the hearts of men, molding and shaping the world as it has come under the dominion of Jesus Christ, as the soul molds and shapes the natural elements which go to make up the human body. What, then, do we mean when we speak, as the Church has always spoken in the past, of "the Holy Catholic Church"?

Our word Church is from the Greek, Kurios, Lord. It is suggestive of an earlier origin of our English Christianity than that coming from Rome, or, at least, of a strong stream of Christian influence early coming from the East, perhaps through central Europe, reaching the distant and savage English shores, and giving to us the name that, while forever defining the Church as a body of people belonging to the Lord, is also a memorial of Oriental missionary zeal.

The New Testament term is ecclesia. In Greek usage it was the name for the assembly of the en

franchised or qualified citizens met to transact the business of the city. In the Greek translations of the Old Testament, it was chosen to render the Hebrew term for the congregation of Israel. It was ready, therefore, for Matthew's rendering of our Lord's words, when, in the conversation with his disciples at Cæsarea Philippi, he says, "Upon this rock I will build my church." Jesus applies it to a local body of believers. In the few words he utters he says two or three very definite things concerning them. He says nothing of the sacraments, nothing of anything which shall divide them from any other believers of any age; but he speaks of the Church as a body of Christian people, his disciples and witnesses, in whom God's righteousness is to be revealed in pure and upright lives, and who represent on the earth his coming kingdom, which their labors and testimony shall bring in. To them he gave the keys of the kingdom.'

Here, then, we have what may be called the charter of the Church. Back of it, as a little group gathered about the person of the Lord, lay the larger conception of the kingdom of God for the world. In fact, that term is used in the Gospels one hundred and twelve times, while the term church is used only twice. The new idea that Jesus announced was of God as no longer tribal, but for the world-caring for all, and

1 See Note 1.

accessible to all, apart from their becoming Jews. This conception of God Jesus embodied in a new religion, and established it in a new society which realized the brotherhood of man no less than the fatherhood of God. This is the true meaning of the term "Catholic" as applied to the Church. It denotes a Church, in the fullest sense, for all men.'

As we follow the New Testament, we find that the ecclesia, or Church, unfolds along the lines that Jesus laid down. He defined it and its methods in the parables of the kingdom. It is as seed sown in all soils. It begins small; it grows intermingled with tares; it is to be sought as hid treasure; it is of heaven, not of earth-having standards of its own; it is present, and may be entered now; it is essentially moral and spiritual; it begins in doing the will of God on earth; it is open to men of all conditions; it encounters persecution, and fails often of appreciation; but God is in it, and it will bring great reward.

There is no emphasis upon official functions. There is diversity of gifts, and variety of opportunity. The pounds were one to each, but one gains ten, another five; and the talents are variously distributed at the beginning. There is emphasis only upon the fact of personal responsibility, and upon the obligation to bear much fruit. The kingdom has life

1 See Note 2.