the supposed exceptional constitution of PAGE III. Ordination was regarded sacramentally and conferred by laying-on of hands. IV. It was believed to impose an 'indelible character,' though V. The conception of the ministry from the first involved a Tertullian's statement to the contrary due to Mon- Notes.-On the episcopate as a distinct 'order' On the date of the pseudo-Clementine literature On the conception of the ministry in the Clementines On the 'seventy-two' apostles (cf. p. 198 n.) Notes.-On the history of the criticism of the Pastoral Epp. p. 224 On ministry of women in the earliest Church 225 CH. VI. THE MINISTRY IN THE SUBAPOSTOLIC AGE Links connecting this apostolic ministry with the episcopate of I. St. James originates the 'episcopate' in Jerusalem (a) a general ministry of 'apostles' and 'prophets' (6) a local ministry of 'bishops and deacons ' III. St. John (with other apostles) develops episcopacy' in Asia This is confirmed by the testimony of Ignatius to the threefold ministry of bishops, presbyters, and deacons The verdict of history as to (a) the Church; (b) sacerdotalism; (c) episcopal ordination is confirmed by the witness of (a) the Gospels (6) the apostolic and (c) subapostolic documents The cogency of the evidence: it can only be satisfied by the doctrine of the apostolic succession (b) recalls episcopal Churches to their true principles PAGE 298 300 303 304 307 APPENDED NOTES A. Dr. Lightfoot's Dissertation on 'The Christian Ministry'. B. The early history of the Alexandrian ministry: the evidence 311 F. The theory of the ministry held by Ambrosiaster, Jerome, etc. 335 G. The laying-on of hands: (i) the facts; (ii) their significance 340 349 I. Prophecy in the Christian Church 353 K. The origin of the titles 'bishop,' 'presbyter,' and 'deacon,' CHAPTER I THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH of this THE reader of the history of Christendom cannot The subject fail to be conscious, at each stage of his subject, of inquiry. the prominent position held in the Church by a Ministry, which is regarded as having a divine authority for its stewardship of Christian mysteries— an authority which is indeed limited in sphere by varying political and ecclesiastical arrangements, but which in itself is believed to be derived not from below but from above, and to represent and perpetuate, by due succession from the Apostles, the institution of Christ. It is this Christian ministry which is to be the subject of the present inquiry. We shall endeavour to ascertain its history, to trace it back through its series of changes to the fountain-head. More than this, we shall endeavour to investigate its authority and search into its title-deeds. Is this ministry, with its claim of an apostolic succession, the mere product of circumstances-valuable just so far as it is found spiritually convenient? As claiming to be a priesthood, does it represent a temporary accommodation of the Christian ideal, more or less necessitated by circumstances, to the Jewish or pagan. ideas amidst which the Church spread? Is it a temporary restriction of the free Christian spiritdangerous, however necessary? Or, on the contrary, is it an original portion of Christ's foundation? the episcopal succession, as it meets us in history, A |