each Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will. The
one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, _supposing to add
affliction to my bonds_; but the other of love, knowing that I am set
for the defence of the gospel. What then? notwithstanding, every way,
whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do
rejoice, yea, and will rejoice." [261:3]

The preceding statements may enable us to appreciate the unity of the
Apostolic Church. This unity was not perfect; for there were false
brethren who stirred up strife, and false teachers who fomented
divisions. But these elements of discord no more disturbed the general
unity of the Church than the presence of a few empty or blasted ears of
corn affects the productiveness of an abundant harvest. As a body, the
disciples of Christ were never so united as in the first century. Heresy
had yet made little impression; schism was scarcely known; and charity,
exerting her gentle influence with the brotherhood, found it
comparatively easy to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace.
The members of the Church had "one Lord, one faith, one baptism." But
their unity was very different from uniformity. They had no canonical
hours, no clerical costume, no liturgies. The prayers of ministers and
people varied according to circumstances, and were dictated by their
hopes and fears, their wants and sympathies. When they met for worship,
the devotional exercises were conducted in a language intelligible to
all; when the Scriptures were read in their assemblies, every one heard
in his own tongue the wonderful works of God. The unity of the Apostolic
Church did not consist in its subordination to any one visible head or
supreme pontiff; for neither Peter nor Paul, James nor John pretended to
be the governor of the household of faith. Its unity was not like the
unity of a jail where all the prisoners must wear the same dress, and
receive the same rations, and dwell in cells of the same construction,
and submit to the orders of the same keeper; but like the unity of a
cluster of stalks of corn, all springing from one prolific grain, and
all rich with a golden produce. Or it may be likened to the unity of the
ocean, where all the parts are not of the same depth, or the same
colour, or the same temperature; but where all, pervaded by the same
saline preservative, ebb and flow according to the same heavenly laws,
and concur in bearing to the ends of the ea