GENERAL PRINCIPLES 13 



night of his betrayal, praying for a mere 

 invisible unity as consistent with visible 

 schism and conflict, would make that 

 solemn utterance either a truism or an al>- 

 surdity. Most distinctly He prayed, not 

 only that the oneness of all believers might 

 be as essential as that between the Father 

 and himself, but that it might be mani- 

 fested as demonstrative proof of his earthly 

 mission, — "that the world may know 

 that thou hast sent me." And not until 

 all sectarianism has disappeared from His 

 visible organized Church w r ill the prayer 

 be fulfilled. 



ORGANIC UNITY TAUGHT BY THE 

 APOSTLES 



In the second place, organic unity was 

 also inculcated by the apostles as founders 

 of the Church. By their official acts they 

 proceeded to give it the ecclesiastical 

 equipment of ministry, sacrament, scrip- 

 ture, and doctrine, and in their Epistles 

 they ever rebuked divisions as schisms and 

 magnified organic unity as essential in the 

 visible Church of Christ. Ecclesiastical 

 diversities, much less extreme than those 

 now known as Congregationalist, Presby- 



