Pertaining to or based upon the Covenant of Works (Gentlemanhood) and the Covenant of Grace (Sainthood). A theological system based on the Doctrine of Covenants made by God with Adam as representing Mankind, and with Christ as representing the Church.
Federal Head or Covenant Head, applied to Adam and Christ.
Also, constituting or expressing a Covenant entered into by an Individual with God (i.e., Abraham-like, Solo Monotheist).
There is no earthly power, Ecclesia or otherwise, that can intervene between the individual and God. In the Sight of God all people are equal, yet the Faithful do acknowledge the Hierarchy of Grace. For the Universe of the Monotheist, or God's Creation, is a Hierarchy of Service and Sacrifice.
Faith in God is at once a religion and a total way of life. It orients the individual human being towards the Sacred Order of the Universe/God's Creation on all levels (physical, emotional, mental, and psychological).
The Community of the Faithful is unified across the boundaries of space and time by its conscious acceptance of the Oneness of God and its dedication to the Divine Life.
Hence these terms are synonymous: Federation, Community of the Faithful, Nation of Priests, Mystical Corpus, Homonoia (Greek), The Common of Enlil (Sumerian), and other terms which can be fetched from all the stages of history.
Usages of Federal from OED:
In 1645, USSHER Body Div. (1647) 418.
"There is a Federall Sanctity, or Externall and Visible Holinesse, at least in Children of Believing (Faithful) Parents."
In 1649, JER. TAYLOR Gt. Exemp. II. viii. 71.
"Our Restitution and Accesse to the First Federall Condition."
In 1673, True Worsh. God 30.
"The Sacrament of Christ's Body and Blood .. Being a Faederal Banquet."
In 1737, WATERLAND Eucharist 424.
"The Service of the Holy Communion carries in it something of a Federal Nature, is a kind of Covenanting or Stipulating Act."
In 1800, COWPER On Milton's P.L. Wks. 1837 XV. 339.
"Christ becomes the Federal Head of his Church."
In 1878, Encycl. Brit. (ed. 9) VI. 91.
"As one of the leading exponents of 'Federal' Theology, he [Cocceius] spiritualized the Hebrew Scriptures to such an extent that ..."
