Ecclesiology: A Treatise On The Church And Kingdom Of God On Earth (1885)

THE folIowing pages contain a condensed strrnmnry of a series of Lectures delivered during the past seventeen rears to the students of this Instituticm, in this department of Christian Doctrine. In the effort to prepare a succinct treatise, available for practical uwe, rather than an elaborate diseertiition, it lins been dcerneil dcsir ble to omit a11 extended discussion of controverted points, sutl simply to incor poratc, with the briefest tate nci o l f t grounds a r eas d on s, 5uch conclusions m have justified themael es to t11c author after careful inres tigntion. llrirlor divisions i nd noti tiuns, employed in the class-room, have for the rrlust part bee11 orniitcd only such autlloritics n j arc easily accessible, are rnentionecl by way of reference. Prepared origindIy for the benefit of theological stu lcnts, this lrief vol rrne-the fruit of Inany hnpp studies in this interesting field--is uo v, mitt1 some hesitation, sent forth from its seclusio I ic re, in tllc hope that it may provc useful in nidcr cirolcs. Thc fact that thelc is in present circulalion, I zlrdly any worlr of the s imc ela-S, and cov crin. the same ground, seems in part at least to justify such hope. And if the perusal of this twatise should hdl any single m i dill to clearer, broader, more irenic conceptions of the Church, or bkiould contribute in t l csl ightest mcasurc bvard the harmonizing of opinion and action among Christian men xronnd this ono cliyiue Institutiorl on whose growth ancl efficiency the interests of spiritun1 Cllristiznity, the world over, secnl now so vitally dependent, that hope will h a e ga ined its largcst realization.