The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1868-05-27

in outward form that invisible Church,
which is the real Spouse of Christ, aud
although now there are many lifeless
members in that visible body, in the con-
summation of all things these hfeless
portions shall be removed, and the visible
be identical with the invisible, in the
faultless Bride of the Lamb.
The Apostle presents this image with
great force in this passage in Ephesans.
Hestates first, that Christ gave his Church
a visible organization, with offices, such
as those of Apostle, Evangelist, Pastor,
&C., in order that individual saints might
be perfected, and that this Church might
not remain in state of childhood, but
grow up to one of maturity. This growth
was to take place by a process, which the
words speaking the truth in love, 7"
very indequately express, as we read the
phrase in the original. Indeed the words
aletheuonteS en- agape cannot BE literally
rendered in English, and can only be in
dicated by paraphrase. They express
the fact, that just as food is assimilated
into blood, and vitalizes the body, so
truth is asSimilated into love and vitalizes
the soul, and thus enables that soul to grow
up into Christ, to get higher and nearer
to him, the living Head, and have full
er tide of vital energy flowing through
it, and thus as each joint and member of
this cOmpacted body receives its measure
of life, and in turn imparts it to every
other by harmoniously working with it, so
the whole body grows in spiritual girth
and stature towards the perfect manhood
of Christ Jesus.
The topic then which we detach from
this passage for special consideration
is, the corporate life Of the Church, and
shall endeavor to show its nature, the use
made of it by the primitive Church, and
the use that may be made of it by us.
1. The Nature Of this Corporate Life
Of the Church.
One of the most potent agencies in
modern civilization is this principle of
corporate life, i e. the power that is
generated by the union of individuals in
corporation. The real power of this
principle has only been discovered of
late years, and the wonderful results of
its application to various ends have made
its use almost like the discovery of
new mechanical force Hence the mar
vellous multiplication of all kinds of cor
porasions, manufacturing, commercial,
banking, insurance, railway, &C., &c 1t
has been discovered that when men unite
in a corporate body there is generated
by this union an increase of power, great
ly beyond the mere arithmetical aggre-
gate of the parts working separately.
Hence one of the most striking features
of our modern civilization as compared
with that of the anclents, is the manifold
and increasing applications of this prin-
ciple of corporate power.
A fact of some interest has been
brought out by distinguished member
of the legal profession, who investigated
the subject with special reference to this
point. 1t is that corporations, as mat
ter of history, had their origin in reli-
gion. His words are: " the corporations
of England are derived from the Munich
pia, Universitates and Collegia of the
Romans. And there are municipal cor
porations which date back to the institu-
tions of the Western Empire. This is
said of the Municipal especially, But to
what do they owe their idea? have
no doubt that all, lay, civil, eleemosynary,
trace to the Ecclesia, and the Ecclesia to
the worship of God among the Jews, or
the gods among the heather, i. e. to
Religion. The Ecclesia was the "gene-
raj assembly" of Grecian history
They were of two kinds, Ecclesia and
Kataclesia. They had places, times of
meeting, Heads and Lexiarchs. These
usages among the Greeks can be traced
to the Egyptians The term Ecclesia was
transferred to the Church, and so remains.
The Colleges of the British Empire are
all doubtless traceable to the Ecclesia and
not to the Municipal. Thus it would seem
that municipal corporations were derived
from the Collegia and Ecclesia, and these
from ReligiO, (re-hgare, to bind fast
because from the first it caused these
companies or corporations of men, bind
ing them to each other, and to God, as
their Head. The Religious societies
would seem, therefore, in the " "Univer-
sitas sense, to have been the first COR
porations. The first corporation of gov
ernment itself was a TheOcracy, and
the second, of Kings by Divine ap-
pointment and Hierarchies have made
and unmade governments from that time
to this, out of which mere Municipal have
sprung" Thus according to this high
legal authority corporations from the be-
ginning took their rise in religion, and it
was not surprising thing that when Je-
sus established the final and perfect form
of religion, he should link with it this
great principle of corporate life, and that
the richest development of this law of
corporations should be in Christian lands.
This great idea of corporate life is an
essential element of New Testament
Christianity. Men are not converted
and saved merely as isolated units, but
as members of Christ's family, into which
they are born by thenew birth, and from
which they cannot rightfully segregate
themselves. This could be amply illus
trated in the gradual developments of
the idea which we find from its germ in
the Gospels, through its developments in
the epistles to its magnificent completion
in the Apocalvpse. when ''the holy city,