Q. In Eph. 1:2323Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Ephesians 1:23) the Church is said to be the body of Christ. Is it correct therefore to say the Church is in ruins? or is there a difference between the Church and the body? H. C. P.
A. While the Church is the body of Christ, it is also the house of God, and may have in this point of view vessels to dishonor within it, and be in the gravest disorder. If one spoke of the ruin of the body, (or even rending the body,) the language would be exceptionable. But the ruin of the Church is but a brief expression of a state predicted, and even begun, God's account of which is spread over a large part of the New Testament, especially the later Epistles and the Revelation.