The terms must first be opened. 1. By a church is meant a society of christians as such. And it is sometimes taken narrowly, for the body or members as distinct from the head, as the word kingdom is taken for the subjects only as distinct from the king; and sometimes more fully and properly for the whole political society, as constituted of its head and body, or the pars imperans et pars subdita.
2. The word church thus taken, signifieth sometimes the universal church called catholic, which consisteth of Christ and his body politic, or mystical; and sometimes some part only of the universal church. And so it is taken either for a subordinate, political part, or for a community, or a part considered as consociate, but not political; or as many particular, political churches agreeing and holding concord and communion without any common head, save the universal Head.
3. Such political churches are either of divine constitution and policy, or only of human.
2. By christians, I mean such as profess the essentials of the christian religion. For we speak of the church as visible.
3. By true, may be meant, either reality of essence, opposite to that which is not really a church in this univocal acception; or else sound and orthodox, in the integrals, as opposite to erroneous and defiled with much enormity. And now I thus decide that question.
Prop. I. The true catholic church consisteth of Christ the Head, and all christians as his body, or the members. As the kingdom consisteth of the king and his subjects.[206]
Prop. II. As all the sincere heart-covenanters make up the church as regenerate, and mystical or invisible; so all that are christened, that is, baptized, and profess consent to all the essentials of the baptismal covenant, not having apostatized, nor being by lawful power excommunicated, are christians, and make up the church as visible.[207]
Prop. III. Therefore there is but one universal church, because it containeth all christians; and so leaveth out none to be the matter of another.[208]
Prop. IV. It is not ignorance or error about the mere integrals of christianity, which maketh them no christians who hold the essentials, that is, the baptismal covenant.[209]
Prop. V. That the baptismal covenant might be rightly understood and professed, the churches have still used the creed as the explication of the covenant, in point of faith; and taken it for the symbol of the christian belief. And no further profession of faith was or is to be required, as necessary to the being of christianity.[210]