ne body. They must grasp, and give practical effect
to, the principle that "there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither bond nor
free, neither male nor female, for all are one in Christ Jesus[2]."

For that society, or organism, into which Jewish and Gentile believers
were alike brought, a name was found; it was that of _Ecclesia,_
translated _Church_. It will be worth our while to spend a few moments
on the use of this name and its significance. We find mention in the New
Testament of "the Church" and of "Churches." What is the relation
between the singular term and the plural historically, and what did the
distinction import? The sublime passages concerning the Church as the
Body of Christ and the Bride of Christ occur in the Epp. to the
Colossians and Ephesians[3], which are not among the early Pauline
Epistles. Nevertheless in comparatively early Epistles, the authorship
of which by St Paul himself is rarely disputed, there are expressions
which seem plainly to shew that he thought of the Church as a single
body to which all who had been baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ
belonged. In the Epp. to the Galatians and 1 Corinthians[4] he refers
to the fact that he persecuted the "Church of God," and his persecution
was not confined to believers in Jerusalem or even in Judaea, but
extended to adjacent regions. He might have spoken of "the Churches of
Syria," as he does elsewhere (using the plural) of those of Judaea,
Galatia, Asia, Macedonia[5]. But he prefers to speak of the Church, and
he describes it as "the Church of God." The impiety of his action thus
appeared in its true light. He had not merely attacked certain local
associations, but that sacred body--"the Church of God." Again, it is
evident that he is thinking of a society embracing believers everywhere
when he writes to the Corinthians concerning different forms of
ministry, "God placed some in the Church, first Apostles, secondarily
prophets" and so forth[6]. Again, when he bids the Corinthians, "Give no
occasion of stumbling, either to Jews or to Greeks, or to the Church of
God[7]," or asks them whether they "despise the Church of God[8],"
although it was their conduct to brethren among whom they lived that was
especially in question, it is evident that, as in the case of his own
action as a persecutor, the gravity of the fault can in his view only be
truly measured when it is realised that each individual Church is a
representative of the Church Universal. Th