by ordination,1 and these are the only particulars in which they differed from them.

The deacons (orázovor), who constituted the third order of the hierarchy of the Church instituted by our Lord, are the successors to the seven blameless men to whom the Apostles intrusted the care of the poor and the distribution of alms.2 Being "filled with the Holy Ghost and with truth," and allowed to preach and baptize, their office gave them a preeminence in dignity which raised them far above the other faithful.3

As bishops are the rightful inheritors of the authority of the Apostles, and the continuators of their office and work, so the Primacy, vested in Peter, has come down through his successors, and may be traced through history up to the very days of the Apostles themselves.

Pope Clement, a Father of the Apostolic age, and the third successor to St. Peter at Rome (A. D. 92–101), exercised his authority to put an end to the discord which had broken out at Corinth, though this church was not within his immediate episcopal jurisdiction. He went so far as to say that he would be guilty of a grievous offense should he, for the sake of pleasing them, depose priests of blameless lives and faithful ministry. And Ignatius, also an Apostolic Father, calls the Roman Church, by way of distinction, the fostering mistress of charity (poza quévy tys àɣánys, i. e., a Christian bond of love.")

Ignat. 'Εκείνη βεβαία εὐχαριστία ἡγεῖσθω, ἡ ὑπὸ τὸν ἐπίσκοπον οὖσα, ἢ ᾧ αὐτὸς ἐπιτρέψη. Οὐκ ἐξόν ἐστιν χωρὶς τοῦ ἐπισκόπου οὔτε βαπτίζειν οὔτε ἀγάπην ποιεῖν.—That Eucharist must be deemed unquestionable, which is celebrated under the bishop or by one to whom he has given permission. Neither is it lawful to baptize or to make a love-feast without the bishop's authority.

2 Acts vi. 1 sq.

3 Conf. Acts. vii. and viii. 12, 38, 40; conf. 1 Tim. iii. 8. Mention is also made in the N. T. of diaconesses and presbyteresses to whom was committed the care of the sick and the instruction of young persons of their own sex. (Rom. xvi. 1, ý diákovos; Tit. ii. 3, ý πрeoßútɩs.) They were generally widows, not virgins; cf. 1 Tim. v. 9. They performed no ecclesiastical functions; cf. 1 Cor. xiv. 34: Mulieres taceant in ecclesia. Conf. Pankowsky, de diaconissis commentatio. Ratisbon, 1866.

4 Ep. 1 ad Corinth., c. 44. Cf. Tillemont, T. I., p. 149-166. Grabe, Spicile. gium, T. I., p. 254-305. Ignat. ep. ad Rom., especially in the form of salutation.

The word "hierarchy" (iepà dpi, sacer principatus), used to designate the various gradations of rank and authority among the clergy, seems to have been first used by PseudoDionysius the Areopagite, at the close of the fifth or beginning of the sixth century; but the classification itself of the clergy into distinct orders is coeval with Christ, and is implied in the very appellation he gave His Church, viz., Baochsia tov deo, regnum Dei, regnum coeleste. The royal dignity and authority was so prominent a feature of His Kingdom that when asked by Pilate if He were a king, He answered without hesitancy, "Thou sayest I am a king." Christ, in transmitting all power to the Apostles, made no exception of this, which, unlike the material power of this world's kings, is something sacred (ispd), and hence the exercise of it must be characterized by mildness, consideration, and kindness, for it is written "the kingdom of Christ is not of this world." And hence Holy Scripture says whoever will be greater among you let him be your minister,2 and not lord it over your faith."

§ 54. The Teachings of St. Paul relative to the Organization of the Church.

From the moment the Church came into existence, false teachers have ever been at work striving to destroy her peace and harmony.

4

The epistles of St. Paul are filled with warnings admonishing the faithful to beware of false teachers who come under pretense of superior knowledge (pevdávvμos võσs),* and to keep clear of fables and genealogies. These were the first symptoms of what was afterward known as Gnosticism. He was particular to guard them against a return to Judaism, and was careful to keep the distinction between it and Christianity clear before their minds; spoke in severe terms to the Corinthians, who showed personal preference for one

1 John xviii. 37.

2 Matt. xx. 26, 27, xxiii. 11; John xiii. 13–17.

32 Cor. i. 24; 1 Petr. v. 3.

41 Tim. vi. 20.

51 Tim. i. 4; Tit. iii. 9.

6 Epistles to the Galatians and Hebrews; Philip. iii. 2; Coloss. ii. 8 sq.

3

teacher above another, saying, "I am of Paul, and I am of Apollo, and I am of Cephas," and told them that they all were of Christ;1 defended the doctrine of the resurrection2 of the body against the heretics Hymenaeus and Philetus; and seeing that such tendencies would eventually divide the faithful and disturb the Church, explained, with that depth and reach of thought so peculiarly his own, the essentials of her characteristics, form of government, and principles of doctrine. He taught that the union of Christians, all working together as members of one common household, is based on a necessity of man's condition; for the human family is so constituted that one has need of another's assistance-one possesses what the other wants, and the needy are supplied from the abundance of the wealthy. Neither the individual nor society can reach a perfect development unless materially aided by each other, for perfection lies in the united strength and harmony of the collective forces of both. The individual, therefore, is an integral member of society, and can not be isolated from. it; he forms part of its organic unity.

St. Paul illustrates this idea by the analogy of the human body, whose members, though various and complex, all work in harmony under the guidance of one spirit (ev πνεῦμα, ἕν σῶμα). He transferred the analogy to the body of the faithful, animated by one spirit, the various members of which have their different offices according to the gifts and talents of each. The same principle gives rise in some measure to the diversity of ministry in the Church. Christ having called some to be Apostles and others Evangelists, some to be pastors and others doctors, that all may labor in, each in his own way, for the perfection of the saints and the building up of the mystic body of Christ.5

St. Paul, writing with special reference to the ministry of doctors and pastors (bishops and priests), exhorts the Ephesians to follow their teaching, and cease to be like children car

11 Cor. i. 12, iii. 3 sq.

21 Cor. xv.

32 Tim. ii. 17, 18.

41 Cor. xii.

5 Ephes. iv. 11, 12.

1

ried about by every wind of doctrine, and driven to and fro like ocean waves, the sport of every error. He also admonishes with great tenderness those whose duty it is to teach and govern others, to have a care of themselves, as well as the flocks. which have been committed to their charge by appointment of the Holy Ghost, who not only set them over their churches, but continually assists them, as the Apostles declared when assembled at the first Council of Jerusalem,3 presided over by St. Peter. They, in deciding an important doctrinal question, began their decision with the words, "It hath seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us." St. Paul, assured of this abiding presence of the Holy Ghost in the Church, calls her "the pillar and ground of truth.”

24

3 Conf. Schenz, Historico-exegetical Essay on the general Council of Jerusa lem, Ratisbon, 1869.

41 Tim. iii. 15.

CHAPTER IV.

-WORSHIP-ECCLESIASTICAL DISCIPLINE.

CHRISTIAN LIFE-WORSHIP

By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another. John xiii. 35.

§ 55. Christian Fellowship and Christian Life.

Conf. Pabst, Adam and Christ, being an Illustration of Matrimony, Vienna, 1835, p. 106 sq.

Baptism, or the immersion of the catechumen, to indicate a burial with Christ unto death and resurrection unto life,1 was, by divine precept,' the necessary condition of entrance into the Christian Church, after which the Apostles laid on hands as an authoritative token that the gifts of the Holy Ghost were conferred. Thus raised to the dignity of Christians, become Temples of the Holy Ghost, made worshipers and followers of Christ, the newly received members were obliged to renounce completely the sinful life of the Pagans, and prove by a thorough change of conduct in thought and sympathy, in word and act, that they had indeed entered upon a new life. The Christian Church, taking as her ideal the pattern of life left her by her Divine Founder, could not tolerate faithless children within her bosom. Her members should be holy (Error) and vessels of the Holy Ghost.*

5

Christ had taught that all men were equal before God, and hence should be united by the close and enduring bonds of fraternal love. The community of goods among the Christians. of the Church of Jerusalem was a beautiful and perfect example of this spirit. This practice, adopted in imitation of the complete union which existed between Christ and His Apostles, though only local and temporary, and not requiring

1Rom. vi. 4.

2 Matt. xxviii. 20.

3 Sacr. of Conf., Acts viii. 14-17, xix. 5, 6; Hebr. vi. 2; 2 Cor. i. 21, 22.

41 Cor. v. 9; cf. 2 Thess. iii. 6.

5 Acts ii. 44, iv. 32–37; v. 1–5.

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