Chapter IX: The Church

The Church the final satisfaction of certain social instincts,
viz. the need of co-operation for life, for knowledge, and for
worship 365

These instincts are:--

(1) Universal 365-368

(2) Embodied in Judaism, and combined with the principle
of God's election of one people to be a source of
blessing to others 368-370

(3) Fulfilled in the Incarnation 370-372

I. The Church as the centre of spiritual life: offers its
blessings, without limitation, to all who are willing to
submit to spiritual discipline, and combines them in a
brotherhood of common service 372-375

Hence it is, of necessity:--

(1) A _visible_ body 375-377

(2) _One_, both in its spiritual life and in external
organization. This unity implied in the New Testament,
and explained in the second century, as centering in
the Episcopate. The Apostolical Succession is thus the
pledge of historic continuity, and has always been the
mark of the English Church. Loyalty to the Church is no
narrowing of true sympathy 377-384

II. The Church as the Teacher of Truth: primarily by bearing
witness to truths revealed to it; secondarily by
interpreting the relation of these truths to each other 384-387

Hence:--

(1) It witnesses to the reality of central spiritual truths
and teaches them authoritatively to its members 387

(2) It trains its members to a rational apprehension of
these truths 387-388

(3) It leaves great freedom on points not central 388-389

(4) It protects the truths themselves from decay 389-390

III. The Church the home of worship: worship the Godward
expression of its life: its highest expression in the
Eucharist: its priestly work earned out from the first by
a special class of ministers 390-393

Each aspect of the Church's work completed by the
co-operation of the Blessed Dead 394

Causes of the apparent failure of the Church 394-400

Need of its witness and work in modern times 400-402