THE SIN OF SCHISM 



" T~\ENOMINATION " is a modern con- 

 JL^ ception. The word does not occur 

 in the New Testament, nor is the thought 

 there to be voiced by any other word. In the 

 sacred oracles " Church " is the great idea. 

 Jesus Christ declared that he would found 

 a church, and that the powers of hell 

 should not prevail against it. The apostles 

 seconded him in this aim, ever and every- 

 where toiling to add size and beauty to 

 that divine body, the Church, whereof 

 Christ was Head. 



In New Testament conception the 

 Church is no mere assemblage of churches, 

 as has been sometimes imagined, as if the 

 local church were primary and Church in 

 the general sense secondary. The relation 

 is precisely the reverse. The Church 

 Catholic is always the foremost notion ; 

 so that when the church at Antioch, for 

 instance, is spoken of, or the church at 



