the nature of the church

7/30/2019 The Nature of the Church

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THE NATURE OF THE CHURCH

PETER DUANE BAUGH

pic poetry has no place in Baptist history. This in contrast to the

claim of Roy Mason that John Milton, author of Paradise Lost,was a

Baptist.1 John Milton, in reality, rejected the diety of Jesus Christ,E


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identifying him instead, as the first created being.2 This doctrinal view calls into

question Miltons very salvation itself, completely condemning whateverbaptism he

may have received. If Milton was a Baptist, he was such a Baptist as Harry Emerson

Fosdick or Henry Vedder, that is, an apostate Baptist. Whatever the case, Mason fails

to include the details about Milton's Christology when he makes his claims.

Of course, the purpose of this article does not lie in disputing every particular

of every claim made by Mason in his error-filled book, The Church That Jesus Built.

The book is not entirelyvoid of redeeming qualities. His claims to Baptist perpetuity

are good. The chief problem of his book, and one, quite frankly, as unscholarly as his

claim that Milton was a Baptist, is his denial of the doctrine of the Universal or

Spiritual Church.

It should be recognized early in this article that Mason's Baptist-bride theology

has successfully achieved an influence of epidemic proportions. It is taught by

numerous Baptist institutions of higher learning. As a result, many good, Godly men,

innocently accepting the doctrine taught wherever they trained for the ministry, have

mistakenly embraced the views set forth by Mason. The purpose of this work lies not

in any effort to attack or degrade such men. Undoubtedly, they take their position

with the best of intentions, sincerely desiring to align themselves with Gods Word

and Gods truth. The whole contention rather, is that denial of the Spiritual Church

has its roots in poor scholarship, both in relation to the Greek language and our


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Baptist history, and that Mason's Baptist-bride theology is entirely devoid of merit,

either Scriptural, linguistic, historic, logical or otherwise.

Moreover, an additional concern relates to the authority of our preserved,

Authorized Version of the Scripture, its clarity, accuracy, and sufficiency for those

church members who know nothing of Greek, having never studied that language.

Can they rightly understand the mind of God on this important subject, having only a

King James Bible? Or must they learn Greek in order to truly grasp their Bible

doctrine?

Neo-orthodox theologian Karl Barth taught that the word ecclesiareferred to a

localized assembly rather than a universal spiritual body. In his Credohe wrote,

Ecclesia is a gathering assembled by a summons It derives from the stem to which,

e.g., the Latin terms circa, circum, circare, circulus, etc. also belong. It thus denotes

a definite, restricted, and to this extent emphatic place.3 This is the view advanced

by Roy Mason in The Church That Jesus Built,and the view held by numerous

independent Baptists today. This view is usually described in terms something like

this: The word ecclesiameans a called-out assembly. The Universal Church has

never assembled. Therefore it does not exist.

It intrigues me that no one ever says, Lets read our preserved Authorized

Version in English and see what it teaches. Instead, the constant appeal is made to

the Greek language, a language which few truly understand and which fewer have the


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genuine credentials to debate over. The definitive and most authoritative translation

in the English language, the Bible which has provided the standard for English-

speaking Christians, backed by the scholarship of brilliant minds such as Lancelot

Andrews and John Reynolds is completely by-passed. The unspoken message then is

that the King James Version of Scripture is ultimately either inaccurate or

insufficient, and that the lay-people in our churches cannot properly know Gods

mind on the doctrine of the church because they cannot read Greek.

I.ECCLESIA IN THE GREEK LANGUAGE

A. THE ETYMOLOGY OF ECCLESIA

However, lest we ourselves be charged with poor scholarship, let us begin with

the Greek language. The Greek word ecclesiacomes from the Greek verb kaleo,

which means, I call,4or I am calling.5 Compounded with the preposition ekwhich

means, from out of, out from, from,6 it means, a calling out.7 As may be plainly

seen, the word assemblyis not in the etymology of the Greek word ecclesia.

B. THE CULTURAL USAGE OF ECCLESIA

How then does the word assemblyend up in the definition of ecclesia? The

answer lies in its common cultural usage. Mason sets this forth early on in The Church

That Jesus Built. On page 28, he cites Dr. George W. McDaniel as writing, Both with

the Greeks and the Jews, the word denoted an assembly of the people Among the


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Greeks ecclesia was the assembly of the citizens of a free city-state gathered by a

herald blaring a horn through the streets of the town.8 Dr. Jesse B. Thomas is also

quoted as saying, It was the organized assembly of the authorized voters of the local

community to transact business of common concern. It corresponded to the town

meeting of New England of later days.9 Next, Liddell and Scotts Greek lexicon is

called to testify, and defines ecclesia as: An assembly of citizens summoned by the

crier, the legislative assembly.10 Finally, Dr. B. H. Carroll takes the witness stand,

writing, The primary meaning is: An organized assembly, where members have been

properly called out from private homes for business to attend public affairs.11

To

these we could add the definition given in Thayers Greek-English lexicon of the New

Testament: A gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public

place; an assembly.12

We see then that defining ecclesiaas a called out assemblydevelops out of a

prior knowledge of its common, cultural usage during the first century. The leading

linguistic authorities acknowledge that in those days, it was commonly understood to

refer to an assembled body of citizens and related to the transaction of government

business. This fact is well known.

And this is exactly where we must raise an objection. We notice that every

single scholar quoted above, most of them quoted by Mason himself, speaks of the

common cultural usage of the word ecclesiaas referring to apoliticalbody. In each

definition cited, we find that the assembly is defined as one of apoliticalnature


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gathered together forpoliticalpurposes. Liddell and Scott very specifically define it

as the legislative assembly. Kittels Theological Dictionary of the New Testament

quotes Peterson as writing that the secular ecclesia of antiquity is acknowledged to

be an institution of the city.13 One footnote in Kittels dictionary states very clearly

that Christians appropriated what was originally a political relationship.14

Therefore, the effort made to eliminate the doctrine of the Spiritual Church

based upon the common cultural usage of the Greek word ecclesiafalls to pieces

when we develop a fuller knowledge and understanding of how Greek culture actually

employed the term. Indeed it was a local assembly, but to deny the doctrine of the

Spiritual Church on those grounds, while seeking to support a local-church-only

position, is to base the whole argument upon a half-truth. This is either poor

scholarship or outright dishonesty. The Greek word ecclesiaas used in the first

century did not have the idea of a religious assembly at all, but rather, of apolitical

gathering.

Kittels Theological Dictionary of the New Testamentdoes raise the subject of

religious elements within the ecclesia. Specifically, it states that prayers were

offered before the assembly, and that each individual speaker15afterwards also

offered prayer at the beginning of his speech. This, however, does not establish the

ecclesiaas a religious body any more than a public prayer made before the House of

Representatives, Congress, or the Senate turns our national legislative branch into a

church. It will also be remembered that in those days there existed no such idea as


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separation of church and state. This doctrine would not be given to the world until

the establishment of the United States Constitution, and was introduced through the

influence of Baptists in the state of Virginia who had strong ties with James Madison.16

Therefore, the best defense that can be made of the local-church-only position on

the grounds that ecclesiamust be interpreted as an assembly due to common

cultural usage during the time of the apostles is the fact that the Greeks employed a

state-church system and used the word ecclesiainvolving it, though only in the sense

of ceremonial prayers being offered in preface to a political meeting. It should be

noted that this state-church system is the same system that led to the condemnation

and execution of Socrates in Athens by the Athenian Court of Justice through the

charge of Meletus that Socrates was an atheist.17 It is the same church-state system

that persecuted Baptists and other dissenters from the first century onward. To deny

the doctrine of the Spiritual Church based upon the common cultural usage of the

Greek wordecclesia during the first century is to identify the local church with the

state-church marriage which Baptistic peoples such as the Donatists have resisted

since the time of the apostles.18

Is this political body the church that we are to understand Scripture to refer to?

Surely any genuine Baptist would dismiss this idea immediately as an absurdity and an

impossibility. Clearly, Scripture does not seek to introduce, establish or teach any

sort of political institution such as that taught and practiced by Roman Catholicism

and early Protestantism. But how then shall we interpret the usage of ecclesia?


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C. THE HERMENEUTICS OF ECCLESIA

The question then becomes one of hermeneutics. We know the word. We

know its source. We know its etymology. We know its historic usage in the first

century. How shall we then interpret it in the context of our Bible?

1. HERMENEUTICAL HISTORY

Historically, two primary schools of biblical interpretation have existed just as

two families of manuscripts have existed. And just as the text issue is divided

between the Alexandrian text family and the Antiochan text family,19so interpretive

schools developed in relationship to these same two historic cities. From these two

sources developed the views of biblical interpretation that would develop into

allegorism and literalism respectively and influence the theology of the church for the

next several centuries.20

a. THE ALEXANDRIAN HERMENEUTIC

Out of Alexandria, Egypt, developed the allegorical method of interpretation.

It was at Alexandria that Clement set forth his theory which involved five possible

meanings in a Scriptural passage. Origen followed Clements example, but

established an approach that sought for four possible meanings to a passage. From

theologians and theories such as these sprang the allegorical system of Roman


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Catholicism21which obscured the clear light of Scriptural truth for the hundreds of

years that passed during the Dark Ages.

b. THE ANTIOCHENE HERMENEUTIC

In contrast to the Alexandrian school, which harbored doctrinal deviants such

as Clement and Origin, the school at Antioch enlisted in its ranks men such as Lucien,

Dorotheus, Diodorus, and Chrysostom. Its most capable and effective spokesman was

Theodore of Mopsuestia. In contrast to the elaborate and complex systems of

allegorism set forth at Alexandria, Egypt, the Antiochenes taught a simple and direct

reading of Scripture that understood passages in a literal sense.22 This great school

flourished until Roman Catholicism crushed it in the fifth century under the charge of

Nestorianism.23

Obviously, we reject the allegorism of Alexandria with all of its absurdities out

of hand. As with the text issue, we look instead to Antioch as the advocate of true

apostolic hermeneutics. We find there the hermeneutical approach taken by Baptists

in interpreting Scripture since the time of Christ.

As previously stated, the Antiochenes taught the simple, literal approach. This

simple literalism did not, however, represent a simple-mindedliteralism. It

recognized realities of language such as hyperbole, idiom, poetry, and figures of


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speech. Therefore, it divided literalistic interpretation of Scripture between the

plain-literalapproach and thefigurative-literalapproach.24

c. The Hermeneutic of Christ

This is in keeping with the approach of Christ himself. Throughout the gospels,

we find examples of Christ often taking a figurative-literal approach in his teachings.

Examples of these are as follows:

I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this

bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I

will give for the life of the world. (John 6:51)25

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except yeeat the flesh of the Son of man,

and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and

drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. (John 6:53-55)26

Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the

Sadducees. (Matthew 16:6)27


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And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build

my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew

16:18)28

Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. (John 10:7)29

I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in

and out, and find pasture. (John 10:9)30

I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

(John 10:11)31

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. (John 15:1)32

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the

same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man

abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered; and men gather

them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. (John 15:5-6)33

Feed my lambs. (John 21:15)34

Feed my sheep. (John 21:16)35


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In every one of these passages, we find Christ employing afigurative-literal

sense rather than aplain-literalsense. In fact, at times, Christ even corrected those

who had interpreted his statements in a plain-literal sense.36 Therefore, the frequent

use of the figurative-literal method of hermeneutics employed by Christ confirms it as

a valid approach to understanding why the biblical use of the word ecclesiadiffers so

essentially and so radically from that commonly understood and used during the first

century.

d. THE APOSTOLIC HERMENEUTIC

The remainder of our New Testament only serves to confirm this truth.

Throughout its pages, we find this same hermeneutic employed, as Peter speaks of

the "milk of the Word"37and of feeding "the flock of God."38 Most telling of all, we

find the word for "pastor," "poimen," employed by the Apostle Paul in an entirely

different sense than that of its ordinary cultural usage.39 Poimen in its literal sense

meant "shepherd." Figuratively, it also had reference to the supreme governmental

authority, and even, in some instances, to the pagan gods.40 Yet the Apostle Paul

appropriates this word entirelywithout either comment or explanation and

transforms it into an institutional title for the leader, not of a civil government, but

of the local church.

And perhaps nothing startles us more than the remarkable totalityof Paul's

appropriation here. His seizure of this word, and its subsequent incorporation into


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the Christian vocabulary have resulted in the radical transformation of its very

identity. The word has become an entirely differentword, a word of startling new

dimensions, rich with a depth of spiritual meaning and implications entirely foreign to

its original "ordinary cultural usage." Its very relationship to humanity has changed.

Today when we use it or hear its English equivalent, "pastor," it is not the image of

the idyllic wandering herdsman that immediately floods our consciousness, but rather

that of a minister of the Gospel. Even when discussing the implications ofpoimen's

original meaning, it has become impossible to do so without reference to the

transformation that the word has undergone. That same original meaning merely

hovers in the background, the faded forerunner of what the word has now become,

pointing forward towards the servant of Christ in the local church and foreshadowing

his functions.

It is just the sort of transformation accomplished when the Lord Jesus Christ

seized the political term ecclesia. The identity of the word itself changed. When we

hear its English equivelant, "Church," no one thinks of the assembled body of Greek

citizens for the purpose of legislature. The word has become endued with new

spirituallife and implications, a new realm of meaningentirelyalien to it before the

ministry of Jesus Christ, and which we cannot possibly hope to divorce from the

collective psyche of a world and a body of believers which now understand and use it

in this entirely different manner. As withpoimen, we can no longer discuss it in its

pure original form apart from the acknowledgment that the word has undergone a

distinct change in its scope of meaning through its entire appropriation and


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redefinition by Christianity, without viewing that original form like the mere shell of a

seed now both germinated and developed into something immeasurably more

beautiful than the rotting husk ever promised.

e. THE HISTORIC BAPTIST HERMENEUTIC

Moreover, Baptists have carried on this hermeneutical approach to

understanding church doctrine ever since. Baptists have always rejected the bizarre

efforts of Roman Catholicism and Protestantism to view the Lords Supper in anything

like a plain-literal way. Baptists have always taught the figurative-literal doctrine

that the bread and grape juice used in the Lords Supper only symbo lize a Spiritual

truth. Therefore, we find justification, not only in the recorded words and teachings

of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, but also in Baptist churches and doctrine of

every century afterwards to believe that a figurative-literal approach to the doctrine

of the church and the Greek word ecclesiais a valid one, and that the childish theory

of Roy Mason, that seeks to subject ecclesiato the common cultural usage of the first

century, thereby defining the church as a political institution, may be reasonably

discarded as ridiculous and absurd.

Therefore, in summary of our discussion relating to the Greek language and

culture during the first century, we see and acknowledge that the figurative-literal

understanding of the Lords Supper always taught by Baptists throughout history in

every century since the time of Christ, may reasonably and justifiably be applied to

ecclesia. The New Testament does not establish the political body that ecclesia


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would imply in its ordinary cultural usage. It sets forth the local church with its

earthly shepherd and water baptism as the visible manifestation of the spiritual truth

of the Heavenly Good Shepherd and the baptism of the Holy Ghost which takes place

at salvation.

II. THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH IN THE LIGHT OF BAPTIST HISTORY

However, this simple assertion alone does not suffice. If true, it ought to find

support historically in the teaching of other Baptists over the centuries. Let us now

examine what our Baptist forefathers believed about the doctrine of the Spiritual

Church. Let us begin with the most current evidence and progress towards the

weightier arguments.

A. BAPTIST AND ANABAPTIST CONFESSIONS SINCE THE REFORMATION

Midwestern Baptist College, founded by Dr. Tom Malone Sr., makes the

following statement on their website:

"The Church Spiritual includes the whole company of believers

regardless of name, age or country, and is known only to the eye of

God."41


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The Constitution of Lickspring Baptist Churchof Trafalgar, Indiana,

dated October 9, 1970 contains the following:

We believe that the church is the body and bride of Christ who is the

bridegroom and is a spiritual organism made up of all born-again

persons of this present age. Jesus Christ is the head of this organism.

Eph. 1:22-23, Eph. 5:25-27, I Cor. 12:12-14, II Cor. 11:2."42

The Report of the Committee on Statement of Baptist Faith and

Messageadapted by the Southern Baptist Convention in 1962 states:

A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is alocal body of

baptized believers who are associated by covenant in the faith and

fellowship of the gospel, observing the two ordinances of Christ,

committed to his teaching, exercising his gifts, rights, and privileges

incited in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the

ends of the earth. This church is an autonomous body, operating

through democratic processes under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. In

such a congregation members are equally responsible. The Scriptural

offices are pastors and deacons. The New Testament speaks also of the

church as the body of Christ which includes all of the redeemed of all

the ages. Matt. 16:15-19; 18:15-20; Acts 2:41-42, 47; 5:11-14; 6:3-6;

13:1-3; 14:23, 27; 15:1-30; 16:5; 20:28; Rom. 1:7; I Cor. 1:2; 3:16; 5:4-


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5; 7:17; 9:13-14; 12; Eph. 1:22-23; 2:19-22; 3:8-11, 21; 5:22- 32; Phil.

1:1; Col. 1:18; I Tim. 3:1-15; 4:14; I Peter 5:1-4; Rev. 2-3; 21:2-3.43

J. Dwight Pentecost, professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, published

the following in Things to Comein 1958:

"The true church is composed of all those in this age who have received

Jesus Christ as Saviour."44

Dr. John R. Rice, in his book, Twelve Tremendous Themes, first

published by Sword of the Lord Publishers in 1943 and reprinted by them

six times afterwards, made the following statement:

"The universal church, composed of all believers, the body and bride of

Christ, could not have been born at Pentecost because of its very

nature. First, that body of Christ is slowly building."45

Dr. Emery Bancroft, professor at Baptist Seminary of Clark Summit,

Pennsylvania published the following in Christian Theologyin 1925:

"The church comprises all true Christian believers taken out of all

nations, tribes, and tongues and united with their living Head, Jesus

Christ, during the age from Pentecost to the Rapture."46


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Charles Spurgeon, in his sermon entitled Regeneration said this:

"To see the kingdom of God on earth is to be a member of the mystical

church - it is to enjoy the liberty and privileges of the child of God."47

Charles Spurgeon, in his sermon, The Tabernacle of the Most High, made

the following statement:

"The church of God consisteth not of any one peculiar denomination of

men; the church of God consisteth of those whose names are written in

the book of God's eternal choice; the men who were purchased by Christ

upon the tree, the men who are called of God by his Holy Spirit and who

being quickened by that same Spirit, partake of the life of Christ, and

become members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. They are to

be found in every denomination among all sorts of Christians; some

stray ones where we little dreamed of them; here and there a member

of the church of God hidden in the midst of the darkness of accursed

Rome; now and then, as if by chance, a member of the church of Christ,

connected with no sect whatever, far away from all connection with his

brethren, having scarcely heard of their existence, yet still knowing

Christ, because the life of Christ is in him. Now this church of Christ,


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the people of God throughout the world, by whatever name they may

be known, are in my text compared to a building in which God dwells."

The Compend of Christian Doctrines Held by Baptists, by W.W. Everts,

D.D., published in 1866 contains the following:

Q. (14) What is the church of Christ?

A. His 'calling' or following taken collectively, or any number of thempersonally associated for his working and glory. I Cor. 1:2, Rev. 11:7;

Col. 1:18 - 24.48

TheAbstract of Principlesadapted by the Southern Baptist Theological

Seminary in 1858 contains the following:

The Lord Jesus is the Head of the Church, which is composed of all his

true disciples, and in Him is invested supremely all power for its

government. According to his commandment, Christians are to

associate themselves into particular societies or churches; and to each

of these churches he hath given needful authority for administering

that order, discipline and working which he hath appointed. The regular

officers of a Church are Bishops or Elders, and Deacons.49


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The Treatise of the Faith and Practices of the Free Will Baptists, dated

at 1848, contains the following:

A Christian Church is an organized body of believers in Christ whostatedly assemble to worship God, and who sustain the ordinances ofthe Gospel according to the Scriptures. Believers in Christ are admittedto this church on giving evidence of faith in Christ, obtaining consent ofthe body, being baptized, and receiving the right hand of fellowship.

The Church of God, or members of the body of Christ, is the whole bodyof Christians throughout the world, and none but the regenerate are itsmembers.50

The Baptist theologian John Gill, in his Body of Practical Divinitymade

the following statements:

"First, as a general assembly, called, 'The general assembly and churchof the firstborn, which are written in heaven,' (Heb. 12:23) and whichinclude all the elect of God, that have been, are, or shall be in theworld; and who will form the pure, holy, and undefiled Jerusalem

church state, in which none will be but those who are written in theLamb's book of life; and this consists of the redeemed of the Lamb, andis the 'church' which Christ has 'purchased' with his blood; and who makeup his spouse, the 'church' he has 'loved,' and given himself for, towash, and cleanse, and present to himself a glorious church, withoutspot or wrinkle; this is the 'body,' the church, of which Christ is the'head;' and in which he is the sole officer, being Prophet, Priest, andKing of it; it being, not the seat of human government, as a particularchurch is: and this church is but 'one,' though particular churches aremany: to this may be applied the words of Christ; 'My dove, myundefiled, is but one,' (Song 6:9) and this is what sometimes is called by

divines, the 'invisible' church; not but that the whole number of God'select is visible to him, and known by him; 'The Lord knows them thatare his;' and the election of particular persons may be known bythemselves, by the grace bestowed upon them; and, in a judgment ofcharity, may be concluded of others, that they are the chosen of God,and written in the book of life: but all the particular persons, and thenumber of them, were never yet seen and known; John had a sight ofthem in a visionary way, and they will be all really and actually seen,


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when the new Jerusalem shall descend from God out of heaven, as abride adorned for her husband; which will be at the second comingof Christ, and not before; till that time comes, this church will beinvisible. It is sometimes distinguished into the church 'triumphant andmilitant,' the whole family named of God in heaven and earth. The

church triumphant consists of the saints in glory, whom Christ has takento himself, to be with him where he is; and this is continuallyincreasing. The church militant consists of persons in the present state,which is said to be, 'as an army with banners,' (Song 6:4) this is made upof such who become volunteers in the day of Christ's power; who put onthe whole armour of God, and fight the good fight of faith; and in thisstate it will continue to the end of the world.

There is another sense in which the church may be said to be 'catholic,'or 'general,' as it may consist of such in any age, and in each of the

parts of the world, who have true faith in Christ, and hold to him the

head, and are baptized by one Spirit into one body; have one Spirit, oneLord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all, and arecalled in one hope of their calling: and this takes in, not only such whomake a visible profession of Christ: but all such whoare truly partakers of his grace; though they have not made an open

profession of him in a formal manner; and this is the church whichPolycarp called, 'the whole catholic church throughout the world': andIrenaeus, 'The church scattered throughout the whole world to the endsof the earth:' and Origen, 'The church of God under heaven:' and this isthe church built on Christ the rock, against which the gates of hell shallnever prevail; such a church Christ has always had and will have; and

which may be, when there is no visible congregated church, ora particular church gathered according to gospel order; and of this theapostle seems to speak, when he says, 'Unto him be glory in the church,by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, world without end' (Eph. 3:21)."51

The Philadelphia Confession of 1742contains the following:

The catholic or universal church, which, with respect to the work of

the Spirit and truth of grace, may be called invisible, consists of the

whole number of the elect that have been, are, or shall be gathered

into one, under Christ, the head thereof; and is the spouse, the body,

the fullness of Him that filleth all in all.52


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The London Baptist Confession of Faith signed by Hanserd Knollys,

pastor of the Broken Wharf Baptist Church, William Kiffen, pastor of the

Devonshiresquare Baptist Church, and John Harris, pastor of Joiners Hall

Baptist Church, all major figures in Baptist history, as part of a greater

body of over 100 Baptist pastors who all signed the Confession,

representing the doctrinal view of the church held by over 100

autonomous Baptist churches contains the following:

The Catholic or universal church, which (with respect to the internal

work of the Spirit and truth of grace) may be called invisible, consists

of the whole number of the elect, that have been one, or shall be

gathered into one, under Christ, the head thereof; and is the

source, the body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. (Hebrews

12:23; Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 1:10, 22, 23; Ephesians 5:23, 27,

32)53

The 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faithweighs heavily in this discussion.

It represents not the views of a single church or individual but rather that of over 100

Baptist churches of its day. Moreover, the Preface states that it also represents the

same doctrinal views espoused in a previous London confession set forth by seven

autonomous congregations in the year 1643.54 Combined with the Short Confession of

Faith of 1610, and Benjamin Keachs Catechism of 1677, it reveals that in the

seventeenth century, when Baptists still suffered persecution at the hands of the


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various state churches, a belief in the doctrine of the Spiritual Church was widespread

among Baptists. Therefore, there can be no dispute that the doctrine of the Spiritual

Church has long-standing roots deep in Baptist heritage and has been shared by

Baptists of different varieties century after century.

The Catechism of Benjamin Keach, a major figure in Baptist history,

contains the following:

Q. 105. What is the visible church?

A. The visible church is the organized society of professing believers, inall ages and places, wherein the Gospel is truly preached and theordinances of Baptism and the Lords Supper rightly administered. (Acts2:42; 20:7; Acts 7:38; Eph. 4:11,12)

Q. 106. What is the invisible church?

A. The invisible church is the whole number of the elect, that havebeen, are, or shall be gathered into one under Christ the head. (Eph.1:10; 1:22, 23; John 10:16; 11:52)55

John Bunyan, in his work, Christian Behaviour, wrote the following:

"Take heed that thou do not neglect family duties among them thyself,

as, reading the word and prayer; if thou hast one in thy family that is

gracious, take encouragement; nay, if thou art alone, yet know that

thou hast both liberty to go to God through Christ, and also art at that

time in a capacity of having the universal church join with thee for the

whole number of those that shall be saved."56


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In The Martyr's Mirror, published in 1660, Anabaptist historian

Thieleman J. van Braght included the following in his affirmation of the

Apostle's Creed:

"I believe in a holy general Christian Church, the communion of

saints."57

The Propositions and Conclusions Concerning True Christian Religion,

published no later than 1614 contains the following:

"That the visible church is a mystical figure outwardly of the true,

spiritual invisible church, which consisteth of the spirits of the just and

perfect men only, that is of the regenerate (Rev. i. 20, compared with

Rev. xxi. 2, 23, 27."58

The Short Confession of Faithsigned by John Smyth and others in 1610

contains the following:

Such faithful, righteous people, scattered in several parts of the

world, being the true congregation of God, or the Church of Christ,

whom he saved, and for whom he gave himself, that he might sanctify

them, ye whom he hath cleansed by the washing of water in the word of

life: of all such is Jesus the Head, the Shepherd, the Leader, the Lord,


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the King, and Master. Now although among these there may be mingled

a company of seeming holy ones, or hypocrites; yet nevertheless, they

are and remain only the righteous, true members of the body of Christ,

according to the spirit and the truth, the heirs of the promises, truly

saved from the hypocrites the dissemblers.59

In 1537, the influential Anabaptist leader, Menno Simons, wrote the

following:

"You see, worthy reader, all those who are thus born of God withChrist, who thus conform their weak life to the Gospel, thus convertthemselves to follow the example of Christ, hear and believe His holyWord, follow His commandments which He in plain words commanded usin the holy Scriptures, these are the holy Christian Church which hasthe promise; the true children of God, brothers and sisters of Christ."60

In 1526, during his imprisonment in Zurich for his Anabaptist convictions,

the influential Anabaptist leader, Balthasar Hubmaier wrote the

following:

"I also believe and confess one holy universal Christian church, that is, acommunion of saints and a brotherhood of many righteous and believingmen, who unanimously confess one Lord, one God, one faith, and onebaptism, which is gathered, established, and governed on earth by the

one living divine Word."61


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B. WALDENSIAN CONFESSIONS OF FAITH

At his martyrdom in 1558, the Waldensian pastor Giaffredo Varaglia

included the following statement in his testimony to the spectators:

"I want you to know that I believe in the Holy Catholic Church; I have

received mediation from no person, but lean soley on God's Word."62

The Third Waldensian Confession, dated at 1544 A. D. contains the

following:

We believe that there is one holy church, comprising the whole

assembly of the elect and faithful, that have existed from the beginning

of the world, or that shall be to the end thereof. Of this church the

Lord Jesus Christ is the head it is governed by his word and guided by

the Holy Spirit. In the church it behooves all Christians to have

fellowship. For her He [Christ] prays incessantly, and his prayer for it is

most acceptable to God, without which indeed there could be no

salvation.63

The Catechism of the Waldensescontains the following:

"As it is considered substantially, by the holy catholic church is meantall the elect of God, from the beginning of the world to the end, by the


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grace of God through the merit of Christ, gathered together by the HolySpirit, and foreordained to eternal life; the number and names of whomare known to him who has elected them: and in this church remain nonewho are reprobate. But the church as it is considered according to thetruth of the ministry, is the company of the ministers of Christ,

together with the people committed to their charge, usingthe ministry of faith, hope and charity."64

The Confession of Faith of the Waldenses, dated at 1120 A. D. contains

the following:

We believe and firmly maintain all that is contained in the twelve

articles of the symbol, commonly called the apostles creed, and we

regard as heretical whatever is inconsistent with the said twelve

articles.65

The significance of this declaration, made long before the Protestant

Reformation, may not be immediately apparent to those unfamiliar with

the ApostlesCreed. The Apostles Creed corresponded basically to our

fundamentals of the faith, but was written in a creedal form. The

Received Form, dated at 390 A. D., reads as follows:

I believe in God the Father Almighty; and in Jesus Christ His only

(begotten) Son our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of

the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and

buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose from the dead; He


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ascended into heaven, and sitteth at 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 Church; the communion of

saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the

life everlasting. Amen.66

We see therefore that the Waldensians of the twelfth century confessed a

belief in the Spiritual Church, a full four centuries before Martin Luthers appearance

at the Diet of Worms, and denounced a refutation of this doctrine as heretical. This

completely eliminates the idea that Martin Luther invented the doctrine of the

Spiritual Church, or that it developed out of any Protestant influences upon Baptists,

because, obviously, Protestantism itself did not exist. The Confession of the

Waldenses, dated at 1120 A. D., therefore establishes beyond any shadow of a doubt

that the doctrine of the Spiritual Church has longstanding roots in our Baptist

heritage.

C. THE PAULICIAN KEY OF TRUTH

However, we have testimony of even greater antiquity. The Key of

Truth, a Paulician document originating no later than the ninth century

includes no less than seventeen clear and unmistakable references to

the Spiritual Church. Their new converts were instructed as follows:


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"Ye shall believe in the holy apostles and in all who are the Universal

Catholic Church, and are not Latins, Greeks, or Armenians."67

III. THE AUTHORIZED VERSION AND THE CHURCH

Regardless of whatever view one may take on the Greek word ecclesiaor

historic Baptist positions relating to the church, one fact is certain. The average

church member does not know much, if anything, about such materials, or the

discussions revolving around them. The average church member of an independent

Baptist Church knows little to nothing about the Greek language and little to nothing

about Baptist history. The average church member of an independent Baptist Church

has a King James Bible from which to read and to learn doctrine. The question then

becomes one of sufficiency. Is our Authorized Version sufficient to relate the doctrine

of the church without resorting to debates over a dead language? If it is, what does

our King James Bible say in plain, simple English?

Ephesians 4:4 says,

There is one body, and one Spirit even as ye are called in one hope of your

calling.68


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What then is this one body? Ephesians 1:22-23 states,

And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all

things to the church, Which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all.69

What do these passages say in plain, simple English to the average English-

speaking church member who knows nothing of Greek? It says that There is one

body and that one body is the church. The only things that could complicate this

plain, simple truth in English are the demons of hell or the perverted minds of men

lifted up in arrogance and denominational pride, and the only way that they can do

that is by perverting a dead language and culture understood by few to make it serve

their ends or, like Roy Mason, by using a corrupted Bible such as the Revised Version,

because the Authorized Version supports the doctrine of the Spiritual Church.70

What else does the Authorized Version say to English-speaking readers? It says

that we are seated together with Christ in heavenly places.71 Notice the present

time state-of-being verb. This does not refer to a future event. It speaks of a

present spiritual reality. If we would insist upon an assembly, may we not find one

here, gathered together in one, with Christ?

What else does our King James Bible say to English-speaking readers? It says

that we are come to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are

written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made


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perfect.72 Notice again the present-tense state-of-being verbs employed. If we

would insist upon an assembly, may we not find one here at the general assembly

and church of the firstborn, gathered together in one, with Christ?

IV. SOME OBJECTIONS ANSWERED

A. A PRETEXT FOR FORSAKING THE ASSEMBLY?

Some argue that if we accept the doctrine of the Spiritual Church, then people

have an excuse to neglect services at the local church.73 This is not true. It is an

unsubstantiated, weak and shallow argument, the argument of desperation. As stated

earlier, the New Testament gives us the local church with an earthly shepherd as a

symbolic representation of the Spiritual Church, the general assembly and church of

the firstborn with its Heavenly Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ. It gives us a balanced

equation, with the heavenly truth pictured by the earthly likeness. Throughout our

New Testament we find the Spiritual Church represented by earthly congregations

such as the Church at Rome, the Church at Corinth, the churches at Galatia, the

Church at Ephesus, the Church at Philippi, the Church at Colosse, the Church at

Smyrna, the Church at Pergamus, the Church at Babylon, the Church at Thyatira, the

Church at Sardis, the Church at Philadelphia, the Church at Laodicea, etc. Christians

were expected to gather together regularly for worship, instruction, communion, and

church business, as indicated by the epistles of our New Testament. Indeed, Hebrews

10:25 is both clear and authoritative. It states plainly,


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Not forsakingthe assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is;

but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Careful study of this verse and its context will rule out any idea that it relates

to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, the Spiritual Church, but rather

to the localcongregation.

B. A PRETEXT FOR ECUMENISM AND UNIVERSALISM?

Others object to the doctrine of the Spiritual Church on the grounds that it paves theway for Ecumenism and Universalism.74 In response to this argument, we need onlyconsider that the word ecclesiameans "a calling out." It demands division,separation, defining the very essence of the Church in terms of Separatism, andleaving no room whatsoever for the inclusive views of either Ecumenism orUniversalism. Simply put, the Church cannot "come out" and "move in" at the sametime. Bancroft stated it like this:

"It is not the aggregate of all the churches, constituted as they are at present of bothtrue and false professors, nor is it some particular church on earth, though somechurches have formed themselves into what they call a church of the whole, or a

catholic church; but it may be seen from the meaning of the word that if the churchshould ever embrace all the world and become universal, it would cease to be achurch or called-out company."75

C. CONFUSING?

Perhaps someone would bring up Mason's claim that the doctrine of the

Spiritual Church is confusing.76 Masons argument on this point is dubious, at best.

But a simple answer may be given through the following illustration. Imagine a close-

up photograph that is difficult to discern. One may distinguish some freckles, some

veins, some creases and wrinkles, and a few random hairs, but the actual subject of


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the photograph remains unclear. Then the image zooms out to view the big picture.

Suddenly, the subject becomes quite clear and we realize that we have been looking

at a picture of a mans hand.

So it is with the body of Christ, the church. We may not recognize how

everything fits together from our limited perspective. But God, who sees the big

picture, recognizes the whole body distinctly as he has joined it together in one.77

The fact that we cannot see the whole body as an organized organism does not mean

that the doctrine of the Spiritual Church as the body of Christ, as revealed by

inspiration in the book of Ephesians, teaches confusion, as Mason so dangerously

alleges.

CONCLUSION

The teaching that no Spiritual Church exists does not come from or agree with

the Word of God, Baptist history or any thorough and accurate Greek scholarship. It

comes from a half-truth interpretation of a Greek word which few know, and which

even fewer understand, or can debate over, and perhaps, worse than that, from a

spirit of denominational pride. It comes also from the use of corrupted versions of

Scripture based upon corrupted manuscripts by men like Roy Mason, who viewed our

Authorized Version of Scripture as an inferior translation. Therefore, to claim a

strong stand on the King James Bible, and then switch gears to the Greek language

and modern versions to defend a local-church-only position, is to confuse the


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people of our congregations, which, generally, do not know Greek. Let us therefore,

relegate Roy Masons book, The Church That Jesus Built, to its rightful place in the

wastebasket, and let us build our theology on the preserved Word of God in our King

James Bible, on an accurate understanding of the Greek language, and on the

examples of our Baptist forefathers who have gone before.

NOTES

1Roy Mason, The Church That Jesus Built, (Emmaus, PA: Challenge Press), 128.

2M.H. Abrams and Stephen Greenblatt, The Norton Anthology of English Literature, 7thed.(New York: W.W.

Norton & Co., 2001), 764-772.

3Gerhard Kittle, ed., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. III., ed. and trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley,

, by Karl Ludwig Schmidt, (Grand Rapids, MI: WM. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1965), 531.

4J. Gresham Machen,New Testament Greek for Beginners, (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1923), 262.

5Ray Summers,Essentials of New Testament Greek(Greenwood, IN: privately printed, 2003), 148.

6Ibid., 146.

7James Strong,A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament, (Nashville, TN: Thomas NelsonPublishers, 1990), 26.

8Mason, 28.

9Ibid.

10Ibid.

11Ibid.

12Joseph H. Thayer, Thayers Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson

Publishers, 2002), 196.

13Kittle, 514.

14Ibid., 530.

15Ibid., 514.

16Manda Cooper, ed., This Day in Baptist History, When Church and State Marry, Justice Will Miscarry, by

David L. Cummins, (Greenville, SC: Bob Jones University Press, 1993), 15.


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17Plato,Euthyphro, Apology, Credo, trans. F.J. Church, Indianapolis, IN: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc., 1956),

32.

18William Jones,History of the Christian Church, vol. 1, (London, Ontario: Bethel Baptist Printing Ministry, 2003),

301.

19David H. Sorenson, Touch Not the Unclean Thing, (Duluth, MN: Northstar Baptist Ministries, 2001), 40.

20Bernard Ramm,Protestant Biblical Interpretation, (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1970), 31, 32, 48-50.

21Ibid., 31, 32.

22Ibid, 49.

23Ibid., 48.

24Ibid., 49.

25John 6:51 KJV.

26John 6:53-55 KJV.

27Matthew 16:6 KJV.

28Matthew 16:18 KJV.

29John 10:7 KJV.

30John 10:9 KJV.

31John 10:11 KJV.

32John 15:1 KJV.

33John 15:5-6 KJV.

34John 21:15 KJV.

35John 21:16 KJV.

36Matthew 16; 6 - 12 KJV.37I Peter 2: 2 KJV.38I Peter 5: 2 KJV.39Ephesians 4: 11 KJV.40Gerhard Friedrich ed., Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, vol. VI., ed. and trans. Geoffrey W.

Bromiley, , , , by Joachim Jeremias, (Grand Rapids, MI: WM. B. Eerdmans PublishingCompany, 1965), 485 - 487.41Midwestern Baptist College Statement of Faith http://www.midwesternbaptistcollege.net/content.cfm?id=2004

(accessed 5 September 2012).42Constitution of Lickspring Baptist Church,(Trafalgar, IN, 1970).

43The Reformed Reader http://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/faithhand.htm (accessed 8 July 2009).

44J. Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1964), 199.
http://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/faithhand.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/faithhand.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/faithhand.htm


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45John R. Rice, Twelve Tremendous Themes, 7th ed. (Murfreesboro, TN: Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1943), 224 -

225.46Emery H. Bancroft, Christian Theology(Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976), 289.47Charles Spurgeon, Spurgeon's Sermons, 2d ed. (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publisher's Marketing, 2011), 217.48The Reformed Reader http://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/ccd.htm (accessed 8 July 2009).

49The Reformed Readerhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/aop/english.htm (accessed 8 July 2009).

50The Reformed Readerhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/tfwb.htm(accessed 8 July 2009).

51John Gill's Archive http://www.pbministries.org/books/gill/Practical_Divinity/Book_2/book2_01.htm (accessed 5

September 2012).52The Reformed Readerhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/pc27.htm(accessed 8 July 2009).

53The Reformed Readerhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/1689lbc/english/1689econtents.htm(accessed 8 July

2009).

54Ibid.

55The Reformed Readerhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/keachcat.htm(accessed 8 July 2009).

56John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress and Other Select Works(Green Forest, AZ: Master Books, 2005), 777.57Theileman J. van Braght, ed., The Martyr's Mirror, 2d English ed. (Scottsdale, PA: Herald Press, 2009), 27.58The Reformed Reader http://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/acof1612.htm (accessed 5 September 2012).59The Reformed Readerhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/scf1610.htm(accessed 8 July 2009).

60J. C. Wenger, ed., The Complete Writings of Menno Simons(Scottsdale, PA: Herald Press, 1984), 89 - 94.61H. Wayne Pipkin and John H. Yoder, ed., Classics of the Radical Reformation: Balthasar Hubmaier(Scottsdale,

PA: Herald Press, 1989), 234 - 238.62Giorgio Tourn et al., You Are My Witnesses: The Waldensians Across 800 Years(Torino, Italy: Claudiana

Editrice, 1989), 84.63Jones, 38.

64Jean Paul Perrin,History of the Old Albigensians Anterior to theReformation(Philadelphia, Penn.: Griffith &

Simon, 1847), 216.65Jones, 35.

66James Orr,Exposition of the Apostles Creed, by The Rev. James Dodds, D. D.

http://www.reformed.org/documents/apostles_creed_orr.html(accessed 26 July 2009).

67Fred C. Conybeare, The Key of Truth(London: Clarendon Press, 1898), 94.68Ephesians 4:4 KJV.

69Ephesians 1:22-23 KJV.

70

Mason, 39.

71Ephesians 2:6 KJV.

72Hebrews 12:23 KJV.

73Robert J. Sargent,Landmarks of Baptist Doctrine (Oak Harbor, WA: Bible Baptist Church Publications, 2010),

IV: 569 - 570.74Ibid, 570.75Bancroft, 289.
http://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/ccd.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/ccd.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/aop/english.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/aop/english.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/aop/english.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/tfwb.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/tfwb.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/tfwb.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/pc27.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/pc27.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/pc27.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/1689lbc/english/1689econtents.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/1689lbc/english/1689econtents.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/1689lbc/english/1689econtents.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/keachcat.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/keachcat.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/keachcat.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/scf1610.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/scf1610.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/scf1610.htmhttp://www.reformed.org/documents/apostles_creed_orr.htmlhttp://www.reformed.org/documents/apostles_creed_orr.htmlhttp://www.reformed.org/documents/apostles_creed_orr.htmlhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/scf1610.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/keachcat.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/1689lbc/english/1689econtents.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/pc27.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/tfwb.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/aop/english.htmhttp://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/ccd.htm


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76Mason, 24-41.

77Ephesians 4:1-16 KJV.

the nature of the church

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