organization of the whole church on earth under one visible head, such as the pope and papal hierarchy; and finally, that it did not consist in absolute unanimity of religious sentiment; it remains for us to inquire into the positive elements which did compose it whilst each congregation transacted its ordinary business of government and discipline for itself, and constituted as it were one member of the body of Christ, what were the ties by which these several members were united together, and by which the spirit of brotherly love was preserved among them?

We here presuppose the prevalence among the primitive Christians of that unity of spirit, which gave life and value to all the external forms of union. Without this, the church, even if externally bound together by a bond of iron, would be a lifeless trunk destitute of that pervading spirit that gives interest and animation to the whole. But on this subject we are not permitted to cherish a moment's doubt. We are expressly told by Luke in his Acts of the Apostles: "And the multitude of them that believed, were of one heart and of one soul." Then it was that the disciples continued "with one accord, breaking bread from house to house, and did eat their meat with gladness and with singleness of heart, praising God and having favor with the people." It is this unity of spirit, this undissembled brotherly love, cherished in their bosoms and manifested in their conduct towards each other, which invested the example of the primitive church with such an omnipotence of moral power, and extorted from the surrounding heathen themselves the exclamation: "See how these Christians love one another." But our object at this time is to ascertain, what were the principal external means of manifesting and perpetuating this unity of spirit among the primitive christian churches.

I. The first means of union was entire unity of name; that is, the careful avoidance of all names, which implied difference or division. In the apostolic age, the followers of the Redeemer were technically called Christians, and only Christians. The churches in different places were distinguished by geographical designations, and by these alone. We read of the church at Jerusalem, the church at Corinth, the church at Rome, etc. but not of the Pauline or Apolline or Cephine church, nor of a church named after any other person but him, who bought • Acts 4: 32. + Acts 2: 46.

the church-not a part of the church, but the whole church, with his blood. Let it not be supposed, that this is an unimportant feature of christian union. Paul the apostle did not thus regard it, when he so promptly met and repelled the attempt of those at Corinth, who adopted such sectarian names, saying "I am of Paul and I am of Apollas and I am of Cephas.' He expressly forbade their adoption of such names, declaring that by so doing they implied, that their adopted leaders had died for them, and that they had been baptized into their names. The sentiments of the church, during the earlier centuries, may be learned from the declaration of Lactantius at the commencement of the fourth century: "The Montanists, Novatians, Valentians or whatever else they may call themselves, have ceased to be Christians, because they have renounced the name of Christians, and called themselves by the names of men." (Instit. div. I. IV. c. 30). This estimate of the importance of unity of name, is doubtless overwrought; yet the influence of different names is far from being unimportant at present. "Names are things" said that distinguished and laborious servant of Christ, the Rev. Dr. A. Green, when on assuming the editorial chair of "The Presbyterian Magazine," he changed its title to Christian Advocate. His reasons for this alteration he thus assigns: "We usually form some judgment of a publication from its title; and indeed, it is for this very purpose that a title is given. Now on hearing of a Presbyterian Magazine, some, it appears, have set it down at once as a sectarian work, of which the main and ultimate design would be to diffuse and defend the doctrines and opinions which are peculiar to the Presbyterians, and on this account they have resolved to give it no encouragement." What is here acknowledged of the term Presbyterian, is equally true of every other sectarian name of christian churches. Whilst it is conceded that the substitution of geographical for sectarian names could not remove the whole difficulty; it is equally certain that it would not be without its influence. Even Celsus, the bitter foe of Christians, when charging on them as criminal their differences on nonessentials which prevailed among them in his day, was compelled to acknowledge as one bond of union among them, their unity of name. Thousands of enlightened, true Christians of different denominations differ only in name. And thousands there are among the more ignorant, who exhibit much acerbity against other sects and prepossessions for their own, and yet

are ignorant of all the points of distinction between them except the name.

The second bond of union among the primitive churches, was unity of opinion on all fundamental doctrines, that is, the profession of a creed of fundamentals. That the primitive Christians, notwithstanding their minor differences, did agree on all fundamental doctrines, is evident, because they possessed either the oral instruction of the apostles, or the same sacred records of them which have produced such unity in fundamentals among modern Christians. It is presupposed by the apostle's injunction " earnestly to contend for the faith once delivered to the saints;" for, before they could contend for the faith, they must have a general understanding among them at least as to what the fundamentals of that faith are, for they were also commanded to abstain from "doubtful disputations," and not "to judge❞ their brethren for minor differences. It is finally proved by the fact, that they required of every candidate for baptism a profession of his creed of faith prior to the administration of the ordinance: "If thou believest" (said Philip to the eunuch) "with all thine heart, thou mayest be baptized. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." The custom of requiring of all applicants for baptism a confession of their faith in the fundamentals of the gospel, seems to have been general throughout the whole church. For among the earliest documents of christian antiquity that have reached us, there is one which by the universal testimony of the christian fathers, is an authentic collection of the several points of doctrine to which this assent was required from the days of the apostles, we mean the so called Apostles' Creed. This creed is highly interesting and important, especially to modern Christians; first, because it shows what the primitive church universally understood the Scriptures to teach; and secondly, because it incontestibly establishes the fact, that the primitive church, when guided by the inspired apostles, and soon after, deemed it lawful to require unanimity only in fundamental doctrines in order to the unity of the church. This creed, let it further be remembered, was the only one which was adopted in the church of Christ until the fourth century, in which the council of Nice adopted one of the same import, and of but little greater length. Some small variations are found in

Acts 8: 37. See also Rom. 12: 6. 2 Tim. 1: 14. Jude v. 3.

the earliest copies, but substantially it reads thus:* I believe in God the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth :

And in Jesus Christ, his only Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead and buried.—The third day he rose from the dead, he ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty, from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy catholic or universal church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

To this, some copies add the sentence "descended into hades, or the place of departed spirits ;" but it was not found in

* The earliest copies of this symbol are in the Latin language. There are several various readings extant, which probably originated in different Western churches, which used this symbol. We shall give the symbol, together with the various readings in parentheses, so that the reader may at one glance see the whole, and also perceive that even with the added variations, it was still a creed which all orthodox Protestants can subscribe :

I. Credo in (unum) Deum, Patrem omnipotentem creatorem coeli et terrae ("creatorem coeli et terrae" defuit in orient. et Rom. antiquo symbolo in Aquilejensi autem positum erat, “invisibilem et impassibilem.")

II. Et in Jesum Christum filium ejus unicum, Dominum nostrum, ("et in unum Dominum nostrum, Jesum Christum, filium ejus unigenitum," ita addendo et transponendo legit olim Ecclesia orientalis.) Qui conceptus est de Spiritu sancto; natus ex Maria virgine (“qui natus est de Spiritu sancto ex Maria virgine" communis olim lectio erat.) Passus sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixus, mortuus et sepultus, descendit ad inferna; ("crucifixus sub Poutio Pilato et sepultus" simpliciter olim multi legebant; Aquilejense tandem symbolum addidit "descendit ad inferna ;" ex quo symbolo Sec. VI. Romana ecclesia hanc appendicem suo symbolo inseruit) tertia die resurrexit a mortuis; ascendit ad coelos; sedet ad dextram Dei Patris omnipotentis. Inde venturus est judicare vivos et mortuos.

III. Credo in spiritum sanctum (" et in spiritum sanctum" olim), Sanctam (“ unam” orientales addiderunt) Ecclesiam Catholicam ; sanctorum communionem, (" catholicam, ex sanctorum communionem" ex Niceno forsan symbolo insertum, olim defuit), Remissionem peccatorum ; Carnis (hujus symb. Aquilej. addidit) resurrectionem ; et vitam aeternam. Amen. (" vitam aeternam" in plerisque olim symbolis desiderabatur). See Clemm's Einleitung in die Religion und Theologie, Vol. IV. p. 459.

the creed of the Latin churches, until the sixth century. Here then we have the series of doctrines, the belief of which was the bond of union in the church of Christ during three hundred years; and was regarded as sufficient for ecclesiastical union, without any inquiry as to differences on minor points. All who adopted these doctrines and adorned them by a consistent walk, were regarded as worthy members of the one, universal church of Christ, were every where admitted to sacramental communion by right. All professing these doctrines, and residing in the same place, were united into one church, and worshipped together; and different christian churches, occupying the same geographical ground, and distinguished from each other by dif ferences concerning doctrines not contained in this creed, had no existence in the church for several centuries: were totally unknown during the golden age of Christianity. To this summary of doctrine some few articles were added in after ages by different councils, to meet several fundamental heresies which arose. But the additions are few, and generally composed with studious brevity. In reference to these doctrines, which he had just before expressed in his own language, Irenaeus, a strenuous defender of the faith against various heretics, a disciple of Polycarp, the friend of the apostle John, makes the following remarks (which are equally applicable to the several orthodox Protestant churches though they are so lamentably divided): "This faith the church has received, and though dispersed over the whole world, assiduously preserves as if she inhabited a single house; and believes in these things as having but one heart and one soul and with perfect harmony proclaims, teaches, hands down these things, as though she had but one mouth. For though there are various and dissimilar languages in the world; yet the power of the faith transmitted is one and the same. Neither the churches in Germany, nor in Iberia, (Spain), nor among the Celtae (in France), nor in the East, nor in Egypt, nor in Lybia, nor in the middle regions of the world (Jerusalem and the adjacent districts) believe or teach any other doctrines. But as the sun is one and the same throughout the whole; so the preaching of the truth shines every where, and enlightens all men, who are willing to come to a knowledge of truth. Nor will the most powerful in speech among the governors of the churches say any thing more than these; (for no one can be above his master); nor the most feeble any thing less. For as there is but one faith, he that is