Journal Number One - Autumn 1994 Ancient and Modern How it is one, the Church nowhere defines; but the faith is kept alive by prayer more than by definitions. Yet, whatever duties may follow upon the Unity of the Church, it is plain that no harmony of men's wills can constitute a supernatural and Divine Unity. Unity, in part, is the direct gift of God; in part, it is the fruit of that gift in the mutual love of the members of the Church. In part, it is a spiritual oneness wrought by God the Holy Ghost; in part, it is a grace, to be exercised by man, a consequence and fruit of that gift. Christ our Lord, God and Man, binds us to Him by the indwelling of His Spirit, by the gift of His Sacraments, administered by those to whom He gave the commission so to do, by the right faith in Himself. We are bound to one another, in that we are members of Him, and by the love which he sheds abroad in our hearts through the Spirit which he giveth us, and by common acts of worship and intercommunion. Of these, the highest and chief is that which binds us to Christ Himself. Our highest union with one another is an organic union with one another through union with Him. It is not chiefly an union of will, or of mind, or of love, although these ought to be the fruits of it in its most perfect state, but an union through His indwelling Spirit... This oneness, then, is an actual mystical oneness, inwrought by Christ our Head, uniting the whole Church together in one with Himself in His Body; an actual oneness produced by grace, corresponding to the Oneness of the Father and the Son by nature... For Christ is the Bond of oneness, being, in One, both God and Man. From E.B. Pusey, An Eirenicon (Oxford: Parker, 1865), 45-48. John Bauerschmidt is Rector of Christ Church, Albemarle, NC. He is our editorial contributor for Ancient and Modern. Return to The Anglican Catholic Table Of Contents Return to Affirming Anglican Catholicism in the US Visit our sister organization, Affirming Catholicism in the UK Back to the www.AffirmingCatholicism.org home page Affirming Catholicism is an educational charity involved in various initiatives: publications, seminars, shared worship, retreats, pilgrimages, conferences. Most dioceses have their own local groups to undertake similar projects themselves. Address: St Giles Church, No. 4 The Postern, Wood Street, Barbican, London EC2Y 8BJ. Telephone enquiries to+44 [0]171-638 1980; fax: +44 [0]171-638 1997. Registered Charity No. 1007291