Berkouwer on the Church (3)

In his discussion, “Visible and invisible church?” (The Church, pp. 37-39), Berkouwer understands the Reformation’s visible – invisible distinction thus: “The intention here was not to flee from visibility to invisibility, to a docetic, unearthly ecclesiology; rather, it was to remind us of the Church’s essence as the congregation of the faithful in the fellowship with Christ through the Spirit. The intention was definitely not to suggest that there are two churches” (p. 37).