Article April 9, 1910 Issue

FROM OUR EXCHANGES

R. J. Campbell

[Outlook.]

The supreme word which describes the Christian and the Christian church is not organization, however ancient, nor ritual, however beautiful and helpful, nor creed, however adequate in vision and love; but life. The church is the unbroken company of witnesses to the resurrection of Christ,—not those who have seen him in the flesh, nor those who believe the most exact statements about him, nor those who worship him most fittingly; but those whose lives bear witness to the mighty power of a living Christ, and who show in spirit, word, and deed his presence until he come again. A historic church may be and often has been a living church, but the test of its authority to speak for Christ lies not in its unbroken tradition but in its victorious and fruitful life. A historic church may cumber the ground with its splendid temples, its beautiful altars, its treasures of noble memories; while the living church may be an obscure and scattered remnant. A church ought to be a sublime revelation of a living God to living men; if its soul is supreme and glowing in its body, the body cannot be too gloriously appareled.

[Christian Register.]

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS