"The one body is not composed of congregations joined together by mutual consent and recognition. It is composed of individuals who are united with Christ."1
"Just as the church is not composed of sects, so it is not composed of congregations. It is a fallacy to think that unity of the Spirit consists of getting all of the congregations of a given order to doing everything in exactly the same meticulous fashion."2 "Let us begin by looking at the word 'church'. It purports to be a translation of the Greek ekklesia. Of this word, Thayer says 'prop. a gathering of citizens called out from their homes into some public place; an assembly.' In the Christian usage, for at first it had a civil implication, he says, 'an assembly of Christians gathered for worship,' and again, 'the whole body of Christians scattered throughout the earth.'3 "The one church is composed now, as it has always been of the saved ones. It embraces within its membership every child of God on this earth."4 "We conclude that every person on this earth who sincerely believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and who is immersed upon that foundation of faith receives forgiveness of his sins, and the Spirit of God moves into his heart where Christ dwells by faith. Every such person is a member of the one body, regardless of nationality, social standing, or other natural or acquired differences."5 "The Christians are all in the same church by an act of God. They are all members of one body. I am sorry that a lot of them put themselves into something else where God did not place them, but I'll not help get them out by denying they are Christians."6 "I do not believe there is any such thing as either 'The Christian Church' or 'The Church of Christ'. There are religious parties designated by these titles, but there is only one church. There never was but one. There will never be another. The Christian Church' does not have all the Christians in it, and 'The Church of Christ' is not the church of Christ."7 "To talk about 'the Lord's church' as limited to a certain party, movement or segment, is to sectarianize the expresson and to reveal our ignorance. The Lord's church embraces everyone of the Lord's people and it is true that these are not all in the same partisan corral. The flock of God is still scattered over the sectarian hills."8 "So long as we are divided no faction is the faithful church. When one is in schism all are in schism. One can be in a faction without being factional. He can be in a sect without being sectarian. We urge no one to leave where he is except those who are out of Christ Jesus."9 "No faction among us today is 'the loyal church'. Not one is the church of God to the exclusion of all others. All of them are parties. They exist as monuments to our failure to keep the peace."10 "So far as I am concerned, none of our factions is 'the loyal church'. All of them have brethren within them who are as devoted to Jesus as they know how to be; all have some who are a disgrace to the Christian profession. I do not endorse any faction for I am opposed to factionalism as such, but I do recognize and regard as my brothers those who compose the various parties among us."11 "The church of Christ is unchanged and unchangeable. It is the body of God's dear Son, who is ageless and timeless. In every century that body on earth has included every saved person, every surrendered soul. The Restoration movement is fluid and changeable. It is an attempt of honest and sincere men to recapture the spirit and form of primitive Christianity, believing it is the hope of the survival of truth."12 "When we talk of restoration, we do not imply that the church disappeared or went out of existence. We use the term in the same sense that the art dealer does when talking about 'restoring' a painting. Through the years a beautiful work in oils accumulates deposits of foreign matter until the original luster is lost and the vision of the artist is only dimly seen. The work of the 'restorer' is not to create another picture, nor produce a new one, but remove the grime and dirt that has gathered until the original can be seen in its full glory."13| 1Sept. 1962, p. 13 | 9Nov. 1964, p. 167 | ||
| 2May 1964, p. 66 | 10Jan. 1962, p. 10 | ||
| 3Oct. 1960, pp. 4, 5 | 11Dec. 1964, p. 187 | ||
| 4Sept. 1958, p. 3 | 12Nov. 1959, p. 11 | ||
| 5Nov. 1960, p. 6 | 13March 1958, p. 16 | ||
| 6June 1961, p. 5 | |||
| 7Feb. 1963, p. 27 |