The-papacy-its-history-dogmas-genius-and-prospects-wylie

;UNITY OF THE CHURCH OF ROME. 191CHAPTER IV.UNITY OF THE CHURCH OF ROilE.The Church is not the work of man : It is a special creationof God. Seeing it is wholly supernatural in its origin,we can look nowhere for information respecting its nature,its constitution, and its ends, but to the Bible. The NewTestament declares that the Church is a spiritual society,being composed of spiritual, that is, of regenerated menassociated under a spiritual head, the Lord Jesus Christheld together by spiritualbonds, which are faith and lovegoverned by spiritual laws, which are contained in theBible ; enjoying spiritual immunities and privileges, andentertaining spiritual hopes. This is the Church invisibleso called because its members, as such, cannot be discoveredby the world. The Church, in this sense, cannot bebounded by any geographicallimits, nor by any denominationalpeculiarities and distinctions. It is spread over theworld, and embraces all, in every place and of every name,who believe in the Lord Jesus, and are united to him astheir head, and to one another as members of the samebody, by the bond of the Spirit and of faith. " By onespirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we beJews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and havebeen all made to drink into one spirit." Protestants willinglyconcede to the Church of Home what, as we shall