Quote:
Originally Posted by Igzy
While I appreciate your concession to good sense, I still cannot agree with you, because of Acts 9:31.
"So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase."..
|
Some of the bible versions say Church for that verse, indicating the universal church.
The King James Version says churches:
Acts 9:31 "Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied."
I suspect if I repeat the study with different Bible versions, we will arrive at different conclusions.
So now we are getting into the realm of which Bible version is correct.
The fact that no where does the Bible say "churches in Jerusalem" and "churches in Corinth" is telling. In fact, Paul's instructions to the church in Corinth about not being divided etc, would not make sense, if there was more than one church in that city.
There are two ways to look at practicality - one from a human perspective and the other from God's perspective .
We could say that multiple churches are practical, convenient even. This is about practicality in terms of achieving man's desires and purpose for the church (as a place to meet and gather and give and receive some spiritual benefit)
But practicality from God's point of view is about not being in division. This is about practicality in terms of achieving God's goals and purpose for the church (in terms of a single entity which shines His one light to the world, and one visible presence of the one Christ).
Thinking about this logically, if there is one Christ (Head) there is only one Body. If one Body, then only one expression of that Body in each locality.