is nevertheless held together by a single center. This center is nothing other than the sphere of life and action created by the extension of the universal mission of Jesus. (And, according to our presuppositions, the sphere of the mission always coincides with the sphere of the personal “I” that is identical to it.) It is not necessary, therefore, to reject out of hand—as is often done today—the word “sphere”, which came into use as a result of the first thematic treatment of the formula by A. Deissmann.