Pastor’s Column

Apart from the Church

First Presbyterian Church

This is what the church once taught: Extra ecclesiam nulla salus, “apart from the church there is no salvation” (the phrase was first used by Cyprian and later much modified by Augustine in his De Baptismo contra Donatistas, book 4, chapter 17, section 24). Before you dismiss this claim as the height of ecclesiastical arrogance—“ We’re in and you’re out; sorry about you”—please think about this carefully.