“Christ’s church HAS NEVER BEEN a body of invisible people. “
It has ALWAYS been a body of visible and invisible people.
Jesus said, "If he will not listen to the church, treat him as a pagan or tax collector."
Jesus could have said, "If he will not listen to Me," but He didn't. He directed his followers to "the church," to settle disagreements.
Several logical conclusions necessarily follow.
- There is ONE Church, since Christ refers to "the church."
- The Church teaches with the same authority as Jesus, since Jesus could have directed people to Him, to settle disagreements.
- This Church is VISIBLE, since it is impossible to "take" disagreements to an invisible church.
If we correlate these logically necessary conclusions with other passages in Scripture, we must conclude that this Church is Christ's Church, the Church which "the gates of hell" would not prevail against.
If Christ instituted a visible Church, against which the gates of hell would not prevail, then Christ's visible Church must exist today, and must trace Its origin to Christ.
"To be deep in history is to cease to be Protestant." --Cardinal Newman.