The answer to this question shows the ground on which the essential Oneness of the Church is based. And it is clearly this. The Apostles and Bishops who founded the various Churches were all commissioned officers of one King—the King of “The Kingdom of Heaven”—and they were commissioned, not to found Churches bearing their own, names, independent one of another, but to extend the King’s dominion. And their authority and power to act were wholly dependent upon their acting in the King’s Name, and with His concurrence. For when the commission was given to the Apostles to “go into all the world and make disciples of all nations,” these words were added by the King, “And lo! I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (S. Matt. xxviii. 20). From which we see also that the continuance of the Unity was secured, in the same way, through the Apostles’ successors, after they themselves should be called to rest. And whilst the Apostles and Bishops were thus appointed as the agents to extend “The Kingdom of Heaven,” the King Himself was the actual bond of union, securing the essential unity of the Church, wherever subjects were brought in. One King over all held all together.
As time passed and various branches of the One Church were formed, there were also other ties which were felt to bind Christians one with another as one body. The Church was a spiritual Kingdom; and by one and the same Holy Spirit all had been moved to accept the King, and all had been new-born as the children of God. And as all had received the same Holy Spirit, so all looked forward to the same hope of eternal life; all having been called to enter the same state of salvation, in which the prize was within their reach. All had been taught the same articles of Faith. All had been baptized, with the same form, into the Name of the Blessed Trinity. And so S. Paul summed up their bonds of union in these words, “One Body and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one Hope of your calling; one Lord; one Faith; one Baptism; one God” (Ephes. iv. 4-6).
But the unity of a Kingdom depends, not merely upon having one Head and certain general laws and ordinances; but also upon the ready obedience of the subjects. “Every Kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation” (S. Matt. xii. 25). An earthly kingdom is strong only when the people are united together in loyally obeying the king, and the laws, and officers of the kingdom. It is weak when suspicion and factious opposition prevail; or when the subordinate princes exercise their authority without respect to the general good. And, if it does not fall altogether, it is an unhappy kingdom indeed, when these opposing interests break out into open rupture and civil war.
The case is exactly the same with “The Kingdom of Heaven.” It is strong only as a united Kingdom. And the last prayer of our Lord before His Passion shows how well the King knew beforehand wherein the weakness of His Kingdom would consist, which would hinder it from comprehending the whole world according to His loving design. The essential unity of the Kingdom was secured, as we have seen above. But still the strength of His Kingdom, as a united Kingdom, would depend upon the loyal obedience of His subjects. And He knew that His subjects would be as much exposed to the evil influence of false teachers, as the subjects of an earthly king are to the seductions of the misguided and seditious. And He prayed “That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be One in Us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me” (S. John xvii. 21).
An unhappy tendency to division was soon manifested in the Church. And S. Paul wrote to “the Church of God which is at Corinth,” to rebuke them for imagining that the founders of the Church were founding communities in their own names, forgetting that they were the mere ministers of the King. “While one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man” (1 Cor. i. 12; iii. 1-5).
The tendency to form divisions in the Church which so early appeared, increased rather than diminished as years went on; though it was checked, under the Providence of God, by the frequent persecutions which broke out against the Christians. The inevitable result followed. “The Kingdom of Heaven” was weak, and unable to maintain the conflict against the heathenism of the world around it, as it ought to have done. Christendom was divided against itself. The National Churches, which had been founded as Branches of one and the same Church, were engaged in contests between themselves. Then one Church usurped an authority over other Churches, provoking in course of time further disunion. And in our own days, after eighteen centuries have passed since the Church was founded, it is calculated that not one-third of the inhabitants of the earth profess the faith of Christ. So greatly have the unhappy divisions which prevail amongst Christians weakened the Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
But as Englishmen we are chiefly interested in the Church of our own country. Consequently, we must now come to the consideration of a question which, probably, has already troubled the minds of many readers of these pages—If the Church is one, what is the position of those who have separated from their own National Branch of this one Church, or Kingdom of Christ?
It is a question of much difficulty, because those who have been outwardly separated from their brethren have been brought into a position altogether different from any which is described in the New Testament. For the subjects of the Lord Jesus Christ are described therein as subjects of one Kingdom, bound together by the closest ties of loyalty to the King, and of brotherhood with one another. At the same time, the names by which Christians in this country are divided into Church-people and Dissenters, only add to the confusion. For to suppose, as these names suggest, that Dissenters do not belong in any sense to the Church of Christ, is an idea which is repugnant to the minds of all who know anything of their work. But though the difficulty of the question is so great, it is hoped that the previous chapters will have prepared the reader to see his way to the answer, which Holy Scripture enables us to form.
But first let us clear the way by calling to mind the origin of the present lamentable state of things. The difficulty has been created by the inevitable imperfection of all things with which man’s freewill is concerned. For God clearly intended that His Church should be one; and that it should work upon the world with the irresistible force of an united Kingdom. And inasmuch as we find, in our own days, that this intention has been frustrated, there can be no doubt but that it is our duty to do what we can to bring back the conditions of our life here into conformity with it. For Christian people cannot be content with a state of things which they find to be plainly contrary to God’s intention. Consequently, in considering this question, it seems that the right course to take is to give prominence to the bonds of union which still exist between the different bodies of Christians in this country; and instead of magnifying the causes and extent of disunion, to endeavour to draw men closer together.
Now it is clear from Holy Scripture, that the Church of Christ consists of those who have been made subjects of “The Kingdom of Heaven;” and we have already seen that our Lord explained that the form of admission into His Kingdom would be by Holy Baptism. Therefore, with respect to so-called Dissenters, we conclude, that all have been brought into the Church or Kingdom of Christ in this land, who have used the means which He ordained for that purpose, namely, Holy Baptism. And the names assumed by those who separate themselves from their brethren cannot destroy the effects of this great Sacrament. It appears also that they have become in some degree partakers with their brethren of those bonds of union mentioned by S. Paul, “One Body; one Spirit; one Hope; one Lord; one Faith; one Baptism; one God” (Ephes. iv. 4-6). Though, unhappily, their appreciation of some of these bonds of union is slight; and they are deprived (either by their deliberate will, or, more commonly, by the accidents of their birth) of the many privileges which they might enjoy, through communion with their brethren in the Ordinances of religion and in the common service of our Lord Jesus Christ[18].