Benefits of scriptural communion, IX. LETTERS ON MINISTER'S SALARIES, ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF UNITED STATES UPON THE 355 - 371 381 INGTON, - 393 FUNERAL ORATION ON THE DEATH OF GENERAL HAMIL ΤΟΝ, - 417 CHURCH OF GOD. No. I. It is our intention to lay before our readers in a series of numbers, a detailed but succinct account of the Church of God, embracing the chief questions concerning its nature, members, officers, order, worship, and the points directly connected with them. As we shall proceed upon a regular plan, the reader is requested not to form his judgment of the whole from an inspection of a part; and not to disjoin in his reflections those parts, which precede from those which follow; but to recur to the former as he meets with the latter, that the series of thought may be preserved unbroken in his mind; and that he may not accuse us hereafter with being superficial or negligent, when the blame ought possibly to be attached to his own memory. For having proved a point once, we shall not repeat the proof afterwards, unless for very particular reasons, and in a very summary way. We begin with An inquiry into the meaning of the term CHURCH. A community which has subsisted for ages, must always possess a number of usages and terms peculiar to itself. And although their origin may be remote, and their force unknown to many of its members, they suggest general ideas which serve the purposes of common conversation and common life. The fact may appear extraordinary, but it is nevertheless true; for the proportion of men in any society who analyze the words and phrases which they have been accustomed to utter ever since they were able to speak, is comparatively small. The reader can bring this matter to an easy test by interrogating himself concerning expressions which are coeval with his earliest recollection; and he will probably be surprised to find that, in thousands of instances, they have passed and repassed through his mind without his attempting to arrest them long enough to satisfy himself as to their appropriate sense. This 'want of precision is accompanied with no bad effect, till something occur to touch an institution, a privilege, or an observance, when the inconvenience may be sensibly felt. A popular notion is often overturned by the interpretation of a word; and the multitude are astonished either at their own mistake, or at the effrontery of those who charge them with committing it. That which happens to all other durable com binations of men, must happen to the Christian Society. We need go no further for an example than its very name. "Church," "Christian Church," "Church of God," are familiar to the mouths of millions. They talk of "the Church" upon all occasions, without suspecting that perhaps they understand not what they say. They possibly never asked what is the Church? Possibly, they may think it too plain to deserve an answer. Possibly, also, the more they revolve it, the more they may be puzzled. Try the experiment. Put the question successively to several decent, intclligent men, and their replies, various as their previous religious habits, will convince you that their acquaintance with the subject is slight indeed. It is therefore necessary to go to first principles. The word "Church," derived from the Greek xugiaxov, signifies "the house of the Lord;" and κυριακὸν, marks the property which he has in it. But the original words which it is employed to translate, signify a different thing. The Hebrew words Sp (cahal) and ny (gheda) in the Old Testament; and the corresponding one ¿xxλnoα (ecclesia) in the New, all signify an assembly, especially one convened by invitation or appointment. That this is their generic sense, no scholar will deny ; nor that their particular applications are ultimately resolvable into it. Hence it is evident, that from the terms themselves nothing can be concluded as to the nature or extent of the assembly which they denote. Whenever either of the two former occurs in the Old Testament, or the other in the New, you are sure of an assembly, but of nothing more. What that assembly is, and whom it comprehends, you must learn from the connexion of the term, and the subject of the writer. A few instances will exemplify the remark. In the Old Testament, (cahal) is applied. To the whole mass of the people, Ex. xii. 6. To a portion of the people, who came upon Hezekiah's invitation to keep the passover. To the particular company of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Numb. xvi. 16. To the assembly of the just, as opposed to the wicked.. To the judicatory, before which crimes were Numb. xxxv. 12. 24 ; tried. compared with Deut. xix. 12. 17. 18. Psal. i. 5. In like manner xxxndía, (ecclesia) rendered "Church," is applied ἐκκλησία, To the whole body of the redeemed. Ephes. v. 24. 27. |