Page:The Net of Faith.pdf/461

126* situation, being poor servants, mistreated by their lords, tortured and killed. :)

It is ridiculous therefore to say that the original Church of Christ was in a perfect condition in the days of the apostles and other disciples... On the contrary, the Church of Christ became perfect when it accepted temporal power from the Emperor.

(:Paul answers saying that it is wrong to measure the perfection of the Church of God by the standards of perfection of temporal authority.:)

For the priest, this was like drinking sour wine from a goblet.

(:Paul goes on to say that in gaining temporal security the Church lost spiritual perfection.

The lovers of the world repose under the shadow of the authoritarian Church; and secular power protects those things which they love.:)

And in doing this, they build not on a rock, but on earthly considerations weak as sand.

2-Cor. 3:5.