A Study of Christianity as Organized: Its Ideas and Forms (Classic Reprint) - Softcover

John A. Kern

Softcover

ISBN 10: 133075378X ISBN 13: 9781330753781

Publisher: Forgotten Books, 2020

Synopsis

Excerpt from A Study of Christianity as Organized: Its Ideas and Forms Christianity, as it becomes a common faith and experience, will draw people together into congregations, or churches. Moreover, it will develop in these churches various offices of oversight and ministration. Thus it organizes itself for doing the work of Christ in the world. Church organization, therefore, so far as it bears the name worthily, is not something apart from Christian faith and experience. On the contrary, it is an outer form of the inner spiritual life. Most truly speaking, it is Christianity as organized. In a study of Christianity, however, organization would not be generally chosen as its most attractive aspect. It has too much the appearance of legal mechanism. Also, it has provoked a great deal of discreditable controversy - in this respect standing by no means alone - and may seem to tend practically to division rather than unity in the Christian world. No wonder, then, that certain sincere minds should be disposed to pass by such a theme with a very moderate amount of attention. Yet in point of fact it is full-laden with interest and significance. If the reader find it otherwise, the fault will be the writer's - or possibly his own. Not, indeed, that the structural forms of even so transcendent a truth as Christianity must need be interesting for their own sake and in themselves. They are nothing in themselves; but as an expression of the movements of a great and abundant life within, they do possess the power of exciting perpetual interest. This, to be sure, is true of everything: the inner is the real. The letters are not the word: the thing seen is not the reality. Out of the horror of burning a live human body to a hideous cinder there may go forth a universal inspiration to that which is true and good: but all because of the truth of self-sacrifice which the murdered martyr embodies. What measure of interest would be awakened by a human face but for the invisible soul t

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Product Description

Excerpt from A Study of Christianity as Organized: Its Ideas and Forms

In a study of Christianity, however, organization would not be generally chosen as its most attractive aspect. It has too much the appearance of legal mechanism. Also, it has provoked a great deal of discreditable controversy - ih this respect standing by no means alone - and may seem to tend practically to division rather than unity in the Christian world.

No wonder, then, that certain sincere minds should be dis posed to pass by such a theme with a very moderate amount of attention. Yet in point of fact it is full-laden with interest and significance. If the reader find it otherwise, the fault will be the writer's - or possibly his own.

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This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Edition details

• Publisher: Forgotten Books
• Publication date: 2020
• ISBN 10: 133075378X
• ISBN 13: 9781330753781
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 608