Origen believes that the unity of the Church is built on the basis of her one faith, her one order and framework. Although diversity of cultures exists and the impact of such diversity on some rituals such as iconography and hymnology, the Church bears one theological and spiritual thought. It is the one kingdom of Christ on earth. The Lord Christ Himself declared this oneness by saying, “And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd” (John 10:16). He affirms this by saying that He is the “true vine” (John 15:1). He also says, “that they all may be one … as We are one” (John 17:21–22).
He also says: “The whole sacrifice (the Passover lamb) is eaten in one house, and no meat is taken from it outside. This means that one house receives salvation in Christ, that is, the Church throughout the world. She who was foreign to God, now has a unique affinity with Him. The Church accepted the apostles of the Lord Jesus, just as the house of ‘Rahab the harlot’ accepted Joshua’s spies and he was the only house that was saved from the destruction of Jericho. Although the Hebrews had many houses, they were equivalent to one house and in the same way, the churches at the level of the city and the state, no matter how many, constitute one church. For Christ is one in all, the perfect, indivisible Christ. Therefore, in every house the sacrifice was complete and was not divided over many houses. In this, St. Paul says, we are all one in Christ, who is ‘one Lord, one faith, one baptism’ (Eph. 4:5).”938 The unity of the Church is also built on her continuity in the faith. Origen summarizes the apostolic continuity in the confession of faith as follows: “There is one God, who created and arranged all things, the God of the Apostles and the Old and New Testaments.”939
The Apostle Paul presented the unity of the Church in two ways:
He referred to the Church as the body of Christ, saying, “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually” (1 Cor. 12:27); “for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12), emphasizing the unity among the members of the Church as the body is connected to the head. Origen says, “If we are the body of Christ, God has arranged for the members to care for each other and to be in harmony with one other. When one member suffers, all the members suffer with him and when one member is honored, the other members rejoice with him. We must have this tenderness that
938 An anonymous Paschal homily in the tradition of Origen; Thomas Halton, The Church (Message of the Fathers of the Church, vol. 4) (Wilmington, Del.: M. Glazier, 1985): p. 87.
939 Origen, De Principiis (On First Principles) Preface (ANF 4 :240).
springs from this divine melody so that when we gather together in the name of Christ, the Word of God, His wisdom, and power will be in our midst.”940
The Apostle Paul calls the Church the house of God (1 Tim. 3:15), and the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16), as the Spirit of God dwells in it. He also describes Christ as the living stone and the believers as the living stones being built up a spiritual house (1 Pet. 2:4–5).
This unity of faith is reflected in the unity in worship. Even though the Church is spread throughout the world, the Church still believes in one baptism and one Eucharist for all these local churches. All the believers have one mother, as everyone is born from one baptism, and they eat one food (the Body of the One Lord).
The unity of faith provides the unity of education, unity of worship, and the belief in the one divine truth. St. Paul says, “that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ — from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love” (Eph. 4:14–16).