ABSTRACT
The image in terms of which the Laodicean church is called to repentance is that of light or a candlestick which raises a candle so that it can give light. 'Ecclesia' is used to designate not only the new Israel but also a localized community; the geographically scattered churches, however, are seen as local embodiments of the whole household of God. The Apostles speak, or have always been supposed to speak, of a Church, as established, or about to be established, on this earth. Where they bear on the Church, T. S. Eliot's prose writings are hardly at the impressive intellectual and spiritual level of Michael Ramsey and Charles Williams. A. D. Moody's curious claim that 'The Hippopotamus' explodes the cliches upon which the established Church rests' suggests that it may be worth excavating behind them, for it is remarkably difficult to give a coherent and accurate account of the Church that is faithful to all the orthodox requirements.
