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Million Book Collection - The Fishers of Men Ministries

Million Book Collection - The Fishers of Men Ministries

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THE THIRD AGE OF THE MARTYR CHURCH.345Peter He repeats or rather continues His visibleHeadship on earth..But spiritual jurisdiction is the expression <strong>of</strong>Christ's sovereignty on earth, and in the orderjust described it is linked with His Person asstrictly as the worship exercised by means <strong>of</strong>His Priesthood, and the spiritual character whichevery one <strong>of</strong> His children bears. Surely no kingdomhas ever been so contained in its king, n<strong>of</strong>amily in its father, no worship in its object, as theChristian kingdom, family, and worship, which togetheris the Church. Is it, then, any wonder thatall Christian hearts from the first were filled withthe blessing <strong>of</strong> beloii2;in£ to such a creation asCf O Othis, in which to them their Eedeemer lived andreigned, penetrated them with His own life, andgathered them in His kingdom ? Are not the words<strong>of</strong> S. Cyprian just what we should expect thoseto utter who overflowed with this conviction ? Atthe same time that Cyprian was. so writing, Diony-sius, the Archbishop <strong>of</strong> Alexandria, addressed No-vatian the antipope in these words: u It was betterto suffer any extremity in order not to divide theChurch <strong>of</strong> God. And martyrdom endured to pre-vent schism were not less glorious than that enduredto refuse idolatry, but in my opinion moreso. For in the one case a man suffers martyrdomfor his own single soul, but in the other for thewhole Church."2222_S. Dionys. Alex. Ep. 2. Gallandi, iii. 512.

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