Chapter XIII (5)

[473:4] Thus he says--"Giving to His disciples the power of _regeneration unto God_, He said to them--Go and teach all nations, _baptizing_ them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."--Book iii. c. xvii. § 1. Thus, too, he speaks of the heretics using certain rites "to the rejection of _baptism, which is regeneration unto God_."--Book i. c. xxi. § 1. Irenaeus here apparently means that baptism _typically_ is regeneration, in the same way as the bread and wine in the Eucharist are _typically_ the body and blood of Christ.

[474:1] That infant baptism was now practised at Alexandria is apparent also from the testimony of Clemens Alexandrinus, who, in allusion to this rite, speaks of "the children that are _drawn up out of the water_."--Paedag. iii. c. 11.

[474:2] Hom. xiv. in "Lucam." Opera, iii. 948. See also Opera, ii. 230. Hom. viii. in "Leviticum."

[474:3] Comment. in "Epist. ad Roman," lib. v. Opera, iv. 565.

[475:1] "De Baptismo," c. 18.

[475:2] Acts ii. 41.

[475:3] Acts viii. 37, 38; xvi. 31-33.

[476:1] "_Parents_ were commonly _sponsors for their own children_ ... and the extraordinary cases in which they were presented by others, were commonly such cases, where the parent could not, or would not, do that kind office for them; as when slaves were presented to baptism by their masters, or children whose parents were dead, were brought, by the charity of any who would shew mercy on them; or children exposed by their parents, which were sometimes taken up by the holy virgins of the Church, and by them presented unto baptism. These are _the only cases_ mentioned by St Austin in which children seem to have had other sponsors."--_Bingham_, iii. 552.

[476:2] Mark x. 14.

[476:3] Compare Mark x. 13-16 with Luke xviii. 15, 16.

[477:1] See Acts xvi. 15.

[477:2] "De Baptismo," c. viii. xvi.

[477:3] "It would be thought by many a cruelty to place a person _without his own consent_, and in unconscious infancy, in a situation, so far, much more disadvantageous than that of those brought up pagans, that if he did ever--suppose at the age of fifteen or twenty--fall into any sin, he must remain for the rest of his life--perhaps for above half a century--deprived of all hope, or at least of all confident hope, of restoration to the divine favour; shut out from all that cheering prospect which, if his baptism in infancy _had been omitted_, might have lain before him."--_Archbishop Whately's Scripture Doctrine concerning the Sacraments_, p. 11, note.

[478:1] Acts ii. 38, 39.

[478:2] Gen. xvii. 12; Lev. xii. 3.

[479:1] Epist. lix. pp. 211, 212.

[479:2] Laurentius, a Roman deacon, who flourished about the middle of the third century, is represented as baptizing one Romanus, a soldier, in a pitcher of water, and another individual, named Lucillus, by pouring water upon his head. See Bingham, iii. 599.

[480:1] Here the validity of the ordinance is made to depend upon the personal character of the administrator.

[480:2] Epist. lxxvi. p. 321.

[480:3] Epist. lxxiv. p. 295.

[480:4] Epist. lxxvi. p. 317. In like manner Clement of Alexandria says--"Our transgressions are remitted by one sovereign medicine, the baptism according to the Word." See Kaye's "Clement," p. 437.

[480:5] Epist. lxx. p. 269.

[480:6] Tertullian, "De Baptismo," c. 1.

[480:7] Cyprian, "Con. Carthag." pp. 600, 602.

[480:8] See Kaye's "Clement of Alexandria," p. 441, and Tertullian, "De Corona," c. 3.

[480:9] Tertullian, "De Baptismo," c. 7.

[480:10] Tertullian, "De Baptismo," c. 8.

[481:1] "De Resurrectione Carnis," c. 8.

[481:2] "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."--Matt, xxviii. 19.

[481:3] Bingham, iii. 377.

[483:1] Rev. xxii. 18, 19.

[484:1] "Apol." ii. Opera, pp. 97, 98.

[485:1] In an article on the Roman Catacombs, in the "Edinburgh Review" for January 1859, the writer observes--"It is apparent from all the paintings of Christian feasts, whether of the Agapae, or the burial feasts of the dead, or the Communion of the Holy Sacrament, that they were celebrated by the early Christians _sitting round a table_."

[485:2] This calumny created much prejudice against them in the second century. See Justin Martyr's "Dialogue with Trypho," § 10; and the "Apology of Athenagoras," § 3. If Pliny refers to the Eucharist when he speaks of the early Christians as partaking of food together, it is obvious that they must then have communicated sitting, or in the posture in which they partook of their ordinary meals.

[485:3] Tertullian, "De Oratione," c. 14.

[485:4] See Euseb. vii. 9.

[485:5] Justin Martyr, "Apol." ii. 98; and Tertullian's "Apol." c. 39.

[486:1] Epist. lxiii. "To Caecilius," Opera, p. 229.

[486:2] Larroque's "History of the Eucharist," p. 35. London, 1684.

[486:3] Cyprian, "De Lapsis," Opera, pp. 375, 381. This was probably the result of carrying to excess a protest against the Montanist opposition to infant baptism. Such a reaction often occurs. It was now maintained that the Lord's Supper, as well as Baptism, should be administered to infants.

[486:4] At an earlier period it was dispensed in presence of the catechumens. See Bingham, iii. p. 380.

[486:5] "De Oratione Dominica," Opera, p. 421.

[487:1] See Kaye's "Tertullian," p. 357.

[487:2] See Gieseler's "Text Book of Ecclesiastical History," by Cunningham ii. 331, note 3.

[487:3] "Dialogue with Trypho," Opera, pp. 296, 297.

[487:4] See Kaye's "Clement of Alexandria," p. 445.

[487:5] [Greek: akeraioterôn], Opera, in. p. 498.

[488:1] In Mat. tom. xi. Opera, iii. 499, 500.

[488:2] Epist. lxiii. "To Caecilius," Opera, p. 225.

[488:3] Epist. lxiii. Opera, 228.

[488:4] Matt, xviii. 20.

[489:1] Irenaeus, "Contra Haereses," v. c. 2, § 3. Clement of Alexandria says that "to drink the blood of Jesus is to partake of the incorruption of the Lord."--_Paedagogue_, book ii.

[489:2] "Contra Haereses," iv. c. 18, § 5.

[489:3] This feeling prevailed in the time of Tertullian. "Calicis aut panis etiam nostri aliquid decuti in terram auxie patimur."--_De Corona_, c. 3.

[489:4] Hom. xiii. in "Exod." Opera, ii. 176.

[489:5] Ps. xii. 6.

[490:1] See Kaye's "Justin Martyr," p. 94. Irenaeus, iv. o. 17, § 5. Tertullian, "De Oratione," c. 14.

[490:2] "Nonne solemnior erit statio tua, si et ad aram Dei steteris?" Tertullian, "De Oratione," c. 14, or, according to Oehler, c. 19.

[491:1] Matt. iii. 5, 6.

[491:2] Acts xix. 17, 18.

[493:1] Acts xvi. 33.

[493:2] "Apol." ii. Opera, p. 93, 94.

[493:1] "De Paenitentia," c. ix.

[493:2] Joshua vii. 6; Esther iv. 1; Isaiah lviii. 5; Ezek. xxvii. 30.

[494:1] See a "Memorial concerning Personal and Family Fasting," by the pious Thomas Boston. Edinburgh, 1849.

[494:2] Matt. ix. 15.

[494:3] Lev. xxiii. 27.

[494:4] The text Matt. ix. 15 was urged in support of this observance. See Tertullian, "De Jejun." c. ii.

[494:5] "Wednesday being selected because on that day the Jews took counsel to destroy Christ, and Friday because that was the day of His crucifixion."--_Kaye's Tertullian_, p. 418. As Wednesday was dedicated to Mercury and Friday to Venus, this fasting, according to Clement, signified to the more advanced disciple, that he was to renounce the love of gain and the love of pleasure. Kaye's "Clement," p. 454.

[495:1] These Xerophagiae, or Dry Food Days, were even now objected to by some of the more enlightened Christians on the ground that they were an import from heathenism. Tertullian, "De Jejun." c. ii.

[495:2] Col. ii. 23.

[495:3] Thus Cyprian, Epist. liii. p. 169, speaks of a penance of three years' duration.

[496:1] Socrates, v. c. 19.

[497:1] See canon xi. of the Council of Nice.

[497:2] See Cyprian, Epist. xl., p. 53, and "ad Demetrianum," p. 442.

[497:3] See p. 419, note §.

[497:4] See p. 460.

[498:1] Rom. iii. 28.

[498:2] Matt. iii. 8.

[498:3] Isa. lviii. 6-8.

[499:1] Period II. sec. iii. chap. i. pp. 465, 466.

[499:2] 1 Tim. v. 17.

[500:1] Apost. Constit. ii. c. 17.

[500:2] Phil. iv. 3.

[500:3] No less than five persons are mentioned as having preceded Polycarp in the see of Smyrna, viz., Aristo, Strataeas, another Aristo, Apelles, and Bucolus. See Jacobson's "Patres Apostolici," ii. 564, 565, note. It is not at all probable that he became the senior presbyter long before the middle of the second century. Irenaeus, indeed, tells us that he was constituted bishop of Smyrna _by the apostles_ (lib. iii. c. 3, § 4)--a statement which implies that _at least two_ of the inspired heralds of the gospel were concerned in his designation to the ministry; but as he was still only a boy of nineteen when the last survivor of the twelve died in extreme old age, the words cannot mean that he was actually ordained by those to whom our Lord originally entrusted the organization of the Church. The language was probably designed simply to import that John and perhaps Philip had announced his future eminence when he was yet a child, and that thus, like Timothy, he was invested with the pastoral commission "according to the prophecies" which they had previously delivered. See 1 Tim. i. 18; iv. 14.

[501:1] Sec. 74.

[502:1] Sec. 54.

[502:2] Sec. 44.

[502:3] Sec. 44. All these quotations attest the late date of the Epistle. Tillemont places it in A.D. 97. Eusebius had evidently no doubt as to its late date. See his "History," iii. 16.

[502:4] Sec. 57.

[502:5] For many centuries it was considered lost. At length in the reign of Charles I. a copy of it was discovered appended to a very ancient manuscript containing the Septuagint and Greek Testament--the manuscript now known as the Codex Alexandrinus.

[502:6] Euseb. iii. 16; iv. 23.

[503:1] See the Romish Breviary under the 23d of November, where a number of absurd stories are told concerning him.

[503:2] Sec. 42.

[503:3] They continued to be so used when the Peshito version of the New Testament was made. That version is assigned by the best authorities to the former half of the second century. See p. 421, note.

[503:4] It is probably of nearly the same date as the first Apology of Justin Martyr.

[504:1] [Greek: hoi sun autoi presbuteroi]--evidently equivalent to [Greek: sumpresbuteroi]. See 1 Pet. v. i.

[504:2] Phil. i. 1.

[504:3] Sec. 5.

[504:4] Sec. 6.

[504:5] Jerome, "Comment. in Tit."

[504:6] 1 Cor. xiv. 40.

[505:1] As in Acts xiv. 23.

[505:2] I make no apology for employing a word which, even the Benedictine Editor of Origen has adopted. Thus he speaks of the "senatores et _moderatores_ ecclesiae Dei."--_Contra Celsum._ iii. 30, Opera, i. 466.

[505:3] Such as Acts xxi. 18; Gal. ii. 12.

[506:1] "At Antioch some, as Origen and Eusebius, make Ignatius to succeed Peter. Jerome makes him the third bishop, and placeth Evodius before him. Others, therefore, to solve that, make them contemporary bishops; the one, of the Church of the Jews; the other, of the Gentiles.... Come we to Rome, and here the succession is as muddy as the Tiber itself; for here Tertullian, Rufinus, and several others, place Clement next to Peter. Irenaeus and Eusebius set Anacletus before him; Epiphanius and Optatus both Anacletus and Cletus; Augustinus and Damasus, with others, make Anacletus, Cletus, and Linus all to precede him. What way shall we find to extricate ourselves out of this labyrinth?"--_Stillingfleet's Irenicum_, part ii. ch. 7. p. 321.

[506:2] "Polycarp, and the elders who are with him, to the Church of God which is at Philippi."

[506:3] A Roman deacon of the fourth century. His works are commonly appended to those of Ambrose.

[507:1] "Primum presbyteri episcopi appellabantur, ut, recedente uno, sequens ei succederet."--_Comment. in Eph._ iv.

[507:2] "Ut omnis episcopus presbyter sit, non omnis presbyter episcopus; hic enim episcopus est, qui inter presbyteros primus est."--_Comment. in 1 Tim_. iii. According to a learned writer this arrangement extended farther. "Ita, uti videtur, comparatum fuit, ut defuncto presbytero, primus ordine diaconus locum occuparet ultimum presbyterorum, novusque in locum novissimum substitueretur diaconus; decedente vero episcopo, primus ordine presbyter in ejus locum sufficeretur, et primus in ordine diaconorum novissimam presbyterii sedem capesseret."--_Thomae Brunonis Judicium de auctore Can. et Const. quae apost. dicuntur_. Cotelerius, ii. Ap. p. 179.

[507:3] 1 Pet. v. 5. It is a curious and striking fact, arguing strongly in favour of the antiquity of their Church polity, that among the Vaudois Barbs of old the claims of seniority were distinctly acknowledged. The following rule of discipline is taken from one of their ancient MSS. "He that is received the last (into the ministry by imposition of hands) ought to do nothing without the permission of him that was received before him."--_Moreland, History of the Evang. Ch. of the Valleys of Piedmont_, p. 74.

[507:4] He is speaking immediately before of presbyters. See 1 Pet. v. 1-4.

[507:5] Matt. x. 2, "_The first_, Simon, who is called Peter." Mark iii. 16; Luke vi. 14; Acts i. 13.

[507:6] Jerome in "Jovin," i. 14.

[508:1] Savigny's "History of the Roman Law," by Cathcart, i. pp. 62, 63, 75.

[508:2] Euseb. iii. 23. [Greek: ho presbutês].

[508:3] In Africa the senior bishop or metropolitan was called _father_. See Bingham, i. 200. In the second century we find the name given to the Roman bishop. See Routh's "Reliquiae," i. 287. According to Eutychius, his predecessor in the see of Alexandria in the early part of the third century was called "Baba (Papa), that is, grandfather."

[509:1] Euseb. v. 1.

[509:2] He was one hundred and sixteen years of age in A.D. 212 (Euseb. vi. 11), so that in A.D. 196, or about the time of the Palestinian Synod at which he presided (Euseb. v. 23), he was a century old.

[509:3] Etheridge's "Syrian Churches," pp. 9, 10.

[509:4] See 1 Tim. iv. 12.

[509:5] That is, Anacletus, Evaristus, Alexander, Sixtus, Telesphorus, and Hyginus; but some consider Anacletus the same as Cletus, who is supposed to have died before Clement.

[510:1] Pearson has noticed this fact, and has endeavoured to erect upon it an argument against the current chronology. See his "Minor Works," ii. 527. It would appear that the names of the three bishops of Smyrna next after Polycarp were Thraseas, Papirius, and Camerius. At least two of these had passed away a considerable time before the Paschal controversy. See Greswell's "Dissertations," iv. part ii. p. 600, note.

[510:2] Hist. iv. 5.

[510:3] According to Eusebius his appointment took place _after_ the destruction of Jerusalem, or about A.D. 71. He was, therefore, at the head of the Church forty-five years, as his martyrdom occurred in A.D. 116. According to this reckoning he was in his seventy-fifth year when made president.

[510:4] This explanation of the matter approximates to that given by Tillemont. "Cela peut etre venu de ce qu'on les choisissoit entre les plus agez du Clergé pour les faire Evesques: car on ne voit pas qu'ils ayent esté plus persecutez que d'autres."--_Mém. pour servir à l'Histoire Ecclesiastique_, tom. ii. part ii. p. 40. It would appear from Eusebius (iii. 32), that at the time of the death of Simeon there were still living a number of very old persons who were relatives of our Lord. Some of these were, probably, elders in the Church of Jerusalem.

[511:1] He is said in the "Chronicon" of Eusebius to have presided sixteen years.

[511:2] Euseb. v. 12.

[512:1] In the tenth century, the darkest and most revolting period in the history of the Popedom, there were _twenty-four_ bishops of Rome. Some of these reigned only a few days; at least one of them was strangled; several of them died in prison; and several others were driven from the see or deposed. There have been only twenty-four Popes in the last two hundred and fifty years.

[512:2] There have been only twenty-eight Archbishops of Canterbury since 1454.

[512:3] In the middle of the third century we find Firmilian appealing to it as a witness against the Church of Home. Cyprian, Epist. lxxv. Opera, p. 303.

[512:4] "Hist." vi. 20.

[513:1] "Hist." iv. 5; v. 12.

[513:2] Such as, after the death of the aged Simeon, when Justus, at the age of fivescore and ten, was advanced to the presidential chair.

[514:1] Irenaeus, iii. 2. Tertullian, "De Praescrip. Haeret." § 25.

[514:2] "Ad eam iterum traditionem, quae est ab apostolis, quae _per successiones presbyterorum_ in ecclesiis custoditur, provocamus eos."--Irenaeus, iii. 2.

[514:3] Irenaeus here speaks in the language of his own times, and refers to the presidents, or senior ministers, of the presbyteries. In like manner Hilary says that the change in the mode of appointing the president of the presbytery was made by the decision of many _priests_ (multorum _sacerdotum_ judicio), though the title _priest_ was not given to a Christian minister when the alteration was originally proposed.

[514:4] Irenaeus, iii. 3.

[515:1] Period II. sec. i. chap. iv.; and Period II. sect. iii. chap. vii.

[515:2] According to a very ancient canon, no one under fifty years of age could be made a bishop. See Bunsen's "Hippolytus," iii. 56. Even in the time of Cyprian much stress was still laid upon age. See Cyprian, Epist. lii. p. 156.

[515:3] Sec Period II. sect. iii. chap. xi. See also Bingham, i. 198.

[515:4] Münter's "Primordia Ecclesiae Africanae," p. 49. See also Bingham, vi. 377-379.

[516:1] Bingham, i. 201.

[516:2] Binius, i. 5. Fourth Council of Toledo, canon 4.

[516:3] Bingham, i. 204.

[517:1] Bunsen dates it about A.D. 200. "Hippolytus and his Age," p. 114. The recently discovered treatise of Hippolytus against all heresies shews that Noetus must have appeared much earlier than most modern ecclesiastical historians have reckoned.

[517:2] Routh, "Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Opuscula," tom. i. pp. 49, 50. Oxon, 1858. This extract proves that the Church of Smyrna continued under presbyterial government long after the time of Polycarp. Other Churches about this time were in the same position. See Eusebius, v. 16.

[518:1] During the Paschal controversy the Churches of Jerusalem, Caesarea, and others sided with Rome, and then probably adopted her ecclesiastical regimen. It had, perhaps, been generally adopted in Asia Minor during the Montanist agitation.

[518:2] Chapter vii. of this section.

[519:1] The word _catholic_ came now into use. The minister of the Word was called a _priest_, and the communion table, an _altar_.

[519:2] Euseb. v. 12.

[519:3] Euseb. vi. 10. The word [Greek: cheirotonian] here employed is indicative of a popular choice. See also the "Chronicon" of Eusebius.

[519:4] Münter's "Primordia Eccles. Afric.," pp. 25, 26.

[520:1] Acts x. 1, 45-48; xxi. 8.

[520:2] "Hist." v. 22.

[520:3] "Hist." v. 23; v. 25; vi. 19; vi. 23; vi. 46; vii. 14, &c, &c.

[520:4] "Annal." p. 332.

[520:5] See Lardner's Works, vii. 99. Edit. London, 1838.

[521:1] Eusebius, vi. 26. Towards the close of his episcopate Demetrius held several synods in Alexandria, at which a considerable number of bishops were present.

[523:1] It would appear that the "Ecclesiastical History" of Eusebius was published shortly after Constantine first publicly recognized Christianity. That event took place in A.D. 324, and with that year the history terminates.

[523:2] "Vita Malchi," Opera, iv. pp. 90, 91. Edit. Paris, 1706.

[524:1] "Antequam _Diaboli instinctu_, studia in religione fierent, et diceretur in populis, Ego sum Pauli, ego Apollo, ego autem Cephae, communi presbyterorum consilio ecclesiae gubernabantur. Postquam vero unusquisque eos quos baptizaverat suos putabat esse, non Christi, in toto orbe decretum est, ut unus de presbyteris, electus superponeretur caeteris, ad quem omnis ecclesiae cura pertineret, et _schismatum semina tollerentur_."--_Comment. in Titum._ The language here used bears a strong resemblance to that employed by Lactantius long before when treating of the same subject--"Multae haereses extiterunt, et _instinctibus daemonum_ populus Dei _scissus est_."--_Instit. Divin._, lib. iv. c. 30.

[525:1] 1 Cor. i. 12.

[525:2] "Hic locus vel maxime adversum Haereticos facit qui pacis vinculo dissipato atque corrupto, putant se tenere Spiritus unitatem; quum unitas Spiritus in pacis vinculo conservetur. Quando enim non idipsum omnes loquimur, et alius dicit _Ego sum Pauli, Ego Apollo, Ego Cephae_, dividimus Spiritus unitatem, et eam in partes ac membra discerpimus."-_Comment, in Ephes._, lib. ii. cap. 4. Again, we find him saying-"Neonon et dissensiones opera carnis sunt, quum quis nequaquam perfectus, eodem sensu, et eadem sententia dicit. _Ego sum Pauli, et ego Apollo, et ego Cephae, et ego Christi._ ...Nonnumquam evenit, ut et in expositionibus Scripturarum oriatur dissensio, _e quibus haereses quoque quae nunc in carnis opere ponuntur_, ebulliunt."--_Comment, in Epist. ad Galat._, cap. 5.

[525:3] Philip, i. 1, 2.

[526:1] Acts xx. 17, 28.

[526:2] Our translators, as it would appear acting under instructions from James I., here render the word "overseers."

[526:3] The Church of Rome, of which Jerome was a presbyter, long hesitated to receive the Epistle to the Hebrews. Its opposition to ritualism seems, in the third and fourth centuries, to have been offensive to the ecclesiastical leaders in the Western metropolis. In the first century no such doubts respecting it existed among the Roman Christians. See Period I. sec. ii. chap. i. p. 183.

[526:4] Heb. xiii. 17. The reading of Jerome, here, as well as in the case of other texts quoted, differs somewhat from that of our authorized version. He seems to have often quoted from memory.

[527:1] 1 Pet. v. l, 2.

[527:2] It may suffice to give in the original only the conclusion of this long quotation. "Paulatim vero, ut dissensionum plantaria evellerentur, ad unum omnem solicitudinem esse delatam. Sicut ergo presbyteri sciunt se ex ecclesiae consuetudine ei qui sibi praepositus fuerit esse subjectos; ita episcopi noverint se magis consuetudine quam dispositionis dominicae veritate presbyteris esse majores."--_Comment, in Titum_.

[527:3] See Period I. sec. i. chap. 10. p. 157.

[527:4] Thus Dr Burton says that "the Epistles of St John were composed in the _latter part_ of Domitian's reign."--_Lectures_, i. 382. Jerome was evidently of this opinion, for he says that, in his First Epistle, he refers to Cerinthus and Ebion, who appeared towards the close of the first century. "Jam tunc haereticorum semina pullularent Cerinthi, Ebionis, et caeterorum qui negant Christum in carne venisse, quos et ipse in Epistola sua Antichristos vocat."--_Proleg. in Comment, super Matthaeum_.

[528:1] 2 John 1.

[528:2] 3 John 1.

[528:3] Epist. ci. "Ad Evangelum."

[528:4] Period II. sec. iii. chap. 5. p. 500.

[528:5] Sec. 1.

[528:6] The reader may find the quotations in the preceding chapter, pp. 501, 502.

[528:7] Thus Milner says that "so far as one may judge by Clement's Epistle," the Church of Corinth, when the letter was written, had Church governors "_only of two ranks_," presbyters and deacons.--_Hist. of the Church_, cent. ii. chap. 1.

[528:8] As the letter supplies no trace whatever of the existence of a bishop in the Church to which it is addressed, Pearson is sadly puzzled by its testimony, and gravely advances the supposition that _the bishop of Philippi must have been dead_ when Polycarp wrote! "Vindiciae Ignatianae," pars ii. cap. 13. Rothe is equally perplexed by the Epistle of Clement. He says that "in the whole Epistle there is never any reference to a bishop of the Corinthian community," and he admits that, when the letter was written, "the Corinthian community had no bishop at all;" but, to support his favourite theory, he contends, like Pearson, that the bishop of Corinth must also have been dead! "Die Anfange der Christlichen Kirche," pp. 403, 404. Strange that the bishop of Corinth and the bishop of Philippi both happened to be dead at the only time that their existence would have been of any historical value, and that _no reference_ is made either to them or their successors!

[529:1] See Euseb. iv. c. 11.

[529:2] Euseb. in. 32, and iv. 22.

[529:3] Euseb. iii. 32. It was probably immediately after the election of Marcus, as bishop of Jerusalem, that Thebuthis became a heretic. See Euseb. iv. 22. About that time the sect of the Nazarenes originated.

[530:1] Origen, "Contra Celsum," iii. § 10, Opera, i. 453, 454.

[530:2] "Dialogue with Trypho," Opera, p. 253.

[530:3] "Contra Haeres." i. 27, § 1.

[530:4] "Strom." p. 764.

[530:5] Epist. lxxiv. Opera, p. 293. The ancient writers speak of all the early schismatics as heretics. Thus Novatian, though sound in the faith, is so described. Cyprian, Epist. lxxvi. p. 315. When, therefore, Jerome speaks of the early schismatics he obviously refers to the heretics. Irenaeus says of them--"_Scindunt_ et separant unitatem ecclesiae."--Lib. iv. c. xxvi. § 2. In like manner Cyprian represents "heresies and schisms" as making their appearance after the apostolic age, and as inseparably connected. "Cum haereses et schismata postmodum nata sint, dum conventicula sibi diversa constituunt."--_De Unitate Eccles._, Opera, p. 400.

[531:1] The existence of heresy in Gaul in the second century is established by the fact that Irenaeus spent so much time in its refutation. Had he not been annoyed by it, he never would have thought of writing his treatise "Contra Haereses."

[531:2] Valentine himself seems to have been a presbyter. He at one time expected to be made bishop.

[532:1] Such is the statement of Hilary--"Immutata est ratio, prospiciente concilio, ut non ordo sed meritum crearet episcopum, multorum sacerdotum judicio constitutum, ne indignus temere usurparet, et esset multis scandalum."--_Comment. in Eph_. iv.

[532:2] See Period II. sec. i. chap. iv. pp. 333, 334, 349.

[533:1] At an early period, out of three elders nominated by the presbytery, one was chosen by lot; subsequently, out of three elders chosen by lot, one was elected by the people. See pp. 333, 349.

[533:2] "Collocatum."

[533:3] Epist. ci. "Ad Evangelum."

[534:1] A few passages of the letter may here be given in the original. "Manifestissime comprobatur eundem esse episcopum atque presbyterum.... Quod autem _postea_ unus electus est, qui cicteris praeponeretur, in schismatic remedium factum est, ne unusquisque ad se trahens Christi ecclesiam rumperet. Nam et Alexandriae à Marco Evangelista usque ad Heraclam et Dionysium Episcopos, presbyteri semper unum ex se electum in excelsiori gradu collocatum episcopum nominabant."-Epist. ci. ad Evangelum.

[535:1] Matt. xx. 26, 27.

[535:2] The view here taken is sustained by the verdict of learned and candid episcopalians. "When elders were ordained by the apostles in every Church, through every city, to feed the flock of Christ, whereof the Holy Ghost had made them overseers: they, to the intent that they might the better do it by common counsel and consent, did use to assemble themselves and meet together. In the which meetings, for the more orderly handling and concluding of things pertaining to their charge, they chose one amongst them to be the president of their company and moderator of their actions."--_The Judgment of Doctor Rainoldes touching the Original of Episcopacy more largely confirmed out of Antiquity, by James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh._ Ussher's Works, vii. p. 75.

[537:1] Pearson has endeavoured to destroy the credit of this chronology, and has urged against it the authority of the "Annals of Eutychius!" "De Successione prim. Rom. Episc." He had before laboured to prove that the testimony of these "Annals" is worthless. "Vindic. Ignat." pars i. c. xi.

[537:2] The chronology of Eusebius, as arranged by Bower in his "Lives of the Popes," stands thus:--

Evaristus, A.D. 100 to A.D. 109. Alexander, A.D. 109 to A.D. 119. Sixtus (or Xystus), A.D. 119 to A.D. 128. Telesphorus, A.D. 128 to A.D. 139. Hyginus, A.D. 139 to A.D. 142. Pius, A.D. 142 to A.D. 157. Anicetus, A.D. 157 to A.D. 168. Soter, A.D. 168 to A.D. 176. Eleutherius, A.D. 176 to A.D. 192. Victor, A.D. 192 to A.D. 201.

[538:1] The following is the chronology of Pearson:--

Clement died A.D. 83. Evaristus, A.D. 83 to A.D. 91. Alexander, A.D. 91 to A.D. 101. Xystus, A.D. 101 to A.D. 111. Telesphorus, A.D. 111 to A.D. 122. Hyginus, A.D. 122 to A.D. 126. Pius, A.D. 127 to A.D. 142. Anicetus, A.D. 142 to A.D. 161. Soter, A.D. 161 to A.D. 170. Eleutherius, A.D. 170 to A.D. 185. Victor, A.D. 185 to A.D. 197.

--"Minor Works," ii. pp. 570; 571.

[539:1] I have endeavoured, from the records of the late Synod of Ulster, to estimate the medium length of the incumbency of a moderator for life, being the senior minister of a presbytery of from ten to fifteen members, and have found that the average of thirty-six successions amounted to between eight and nine years. In these presbyteries young ministers generally constituted a considerable portion of the members. Had they all been persons advanced in life, the average must have been greatly reduced.

[539:2] During that part of the second century which terminated with the death of Hyginus, the average duration of the life of a Roman bishop very little exceeded eight years; whereas, during the remainder of the century, it amounted to nearly twelve years. According to the chronology of Pearson the disproportion is still greater, being as eight years and a fraction to fourteen years. If we insert the episcopate of Anacletus, it will be nearly as seven to fourteen.

[539:3] In the verses erroneously attributed to Tertullian, the Church of Rome is represented as in a flourishing state when visited by Cerdo.

"Advenit Romam Cerdo, nova vulnera gestans
Detectus, quoniam voces et verba veneni
Spargebat furtim; quapropter ab agmine pulsus,
Sacrilegum genus hoc genuit spirante dracone.
Constabat pietate vigens Ecclesia Romae
Composita a Petro, cujus successor et ipse
Jamque loco nono cathedram suscepit Hyginus."

[540:1] Euseb. iv. 11. Irenaeus says that Valentine, the most famous and formidable of the Gnostic teachers, "came to Rome under Hyginus, was in his prime under Pius, and lived until the time of Anicetus."--_Contra Haeres._, iii. 4. § 3. Cyprian speaks of "the more _grievous pestilences of heresy breaking forth_ when Marcion the Pontian emerged from Pontus, whose master Cerdo came to Rome _during the episcopate of Hyginus_."--_Epist_. lxxiv. He adds--"But it is acknowledged that heresies _afterwards became more numerous and worse_."--_Epist_. lxxiv. Opera, pp. 293, 294.

[540:2] Euseb. iv. 11. See also a fragment attributed to Irenaeus in Stieren's edition, i. 938.

[540:3] See Mosheim, "Commentaries," by Vidal, ii. 266.

[541:1] Hieronymus, "Comment, in Titum."

[541:2] Ibid.

[541:3] "Tamen postquam in omnibus locis ecclesiae sunt constitutae, et officia ordinata, aliter composita res est, quam coeperat."--_Comment. in Epist. ad Ephes._ cap. 4.

[541:4] "Ideo non per omnia conveniunt scripta apostoli ordinationi, quae nunc in ecclesia est; quia haec _inter ipsa primordia_ sunt scripta."--Ibid.

[541:5] "Ut non ordo, sed meritum crearet episcopum."--_Ibid._ Hilary appears to have believed with Jerome that the Church was originally governed "by the common council of the presbyters," but that, meanwhile, _with their sanction_, or under peculiar circumstances, deacons might preach and even laymen baptize. Such, too, seems to have been the opinion of Tertullian. See Kaye's "Tertullian," pp. 226, 448. Hilary, however, maintained that this arrangement was soon abrogated. "Coepit alio ordine et providentia gubernari ecclesia; quia si omnes eadem possent, irrationabile esset, et vulgaris res, et vilissima videretur."

[543:1] Irenaeus, iii. 3, § 3.

[544:1] See Period II. sec. 1. chap. iv. pp. 334-336.

[544:2] Irenaeus, i. 24, § 1; i. 28, § 1.

[544:3] Thus, Valentine travelled from Alexandria to Rome, and afterwards settled in Cyprus. Marcion, who was originally connected with Pontus, and who taught in Rome, is said to have also travelled in Egypt and the East.

[545:1] "Blondelli Apologia pro Sententia Hieronymi," p. 18. Blondel makes the vacancy of four years' continuance.

[545:2] Pearson's "Minor Works," ii. p. 571.

[546:1] Epiphanius, "Haeres." 42, Opera, tom. i. p. 302.

[546:2] See Burton's "Lectures," ii. 98.

[546:3] "Speraverat episcopatum Valentinus, quia et ingenio poterat et eloquio. Sed alium ex martyrii praerogativa loci potitum indignatus de ecclesia authenticae regulae abrupit."--_Adv. Valent._ c. iv.

[546:4] Tertullian states that Valentine at first believed the doctrine of the Catholics _in the Church of Rome_. "Be Praescrip." c. 30. When he came to the city he was admitted to communion. He set up a distinct sect after Pius was made bishop. It is impossible, therefore, to avoid the inference that he was mortified because he was not himself chosen. Tertullian here confounds Eleutherius and Hyginus.

[547:1] The unwillingness even of Tertullian to say anything to its prejudice has been often remarked. See Neander on a passage in the tract "De Virg. Veland." in his "Antignostikos," appended to his "History of the Planting and Training of the Christian Church," in Bohn's edition, ii. 420. See also the same, p. 429. See also "De Pudicitia," c. 1.

[547:2] They are quoted as genuine by Binius, Baronius, Bona, Thorndike, Bingham, Salmasius, and many others. Bishop Beveridge speaks of one of them as of undoubted authority. "In _indubitata_ illius epistola."--_Annot. in Can. Ap._ See Cotelerius, i. 459. Pearson rejects them as spurious, whilst contending so valiantly for the Ignatian Epistles.

[547:3] Such as _Missa_ and _Titulus_. But that Pastor really did erect a place in which the Christians assembled for worship, as stated in one of these letters, is not improbable. See Routh's "Reliquiae," i. 430. Pearson objects to them on the ground that Eleutherius is spoken of in one of them as a _presbyter_, whereas Hegesippus describes him as _deacon_ afterwards in the time of Anicetus. See Euseb. iv. 22. But it is not clear that Hegesippus here uses the word deacon in its strictly technical sense. He may mean by it _minister_ or _manager_, and may design to indicate that Eleutherius was the most _prominent official personage_ under Anicetus, occupying the position afterwards held by the _archdeacon_.

[548:1] "Presbyteri et Diaconi, non ut majorem, sed ut ministrum Christi te observent."

[549:1] That, in the time of Marcion, there were Roman presbyters who had been disciples of the apostles, see Tillemont, "Mémoires," tom. ii. sec. par. p. 215. Edit. Brussels, 1695.

[550:1] "Presbyteri illi qui ab apostolis educati usque ad nos pervenerunt, cum quibus simul verbum fidei partiti sumus, a Domino vocati in cubilibus aeternis clausi tenentur."

[550:2] Pearson ("Vindiciae," par. ii. c. 13) has appealed to a letter from the Emperor Hadrian to the Consul Servianus as a proof that the terms _bishop_ and _presbyter_ had distinctive meanings as early as A.D. 134. The passage is as follows:--"Illi qui Serapim colunt, Christiani sunt; et devoti sunt Serapi, qui se Christi episcopos dicunt. Nemo illic Archisynagogus Judaeorum, nemo Samarites, nemo Christianorum Presbyter.... Ipse ille Patriarcha, quum Aegyptum venerit, ab aliis Serapidem adorare, ab aliis cogitur Christum." Such a testimony only shews that Pearson was sadly in want of evidence. This same letter has in fact often been adduced to prove that the terms bishop and presbyter were still used interchangeably, and such is certainly the more legitimate inference. See Lardner's remarks on this letter, Works, vol. vii. p. 99. Edit. London, 1838.

[550:3] "The Philippians appear to have continued to live under the same aristocratic constitution (of venerable elders) _about the middle of the second century_, when Polycarp addressed his Epistle to them."--_Bunsen's Hippolytus_, i. 369.

[551:1] [Greek: proestôs], Opera, pp. 97-99.

[551:2] "Episcopi, _id est, praesides ecclesiarum_."--Lib. iii. simil. ix. c. 27. There is a parallel passage to this in Tertullian, "De Baptismo," c. 17--"Summus sacerdos, _qui est episcopus_." This is, perhaps, the first instance on record in which a bishop is called the chief priest. Hence the necessity of the interpretation--"qui est episcopus." Pastor considered an explanation of the title "episcopus" equally necessary.

[551:3] Neander supposes this work to have been written A.D. 156. "General History," ii. 443.

[551:4] See Period II. sec. ii. chap. i. p. 368.

[552:1] So high indeed is its authority that many facts taken from it are recorded in the "Breviary." Even Bunsen appeals to it. See "Analecta Antenicaena," iii. 52, 53.

[552:2] Binius makes the following abortive attempt to explain the statement-"Quòd hierarchicus catholicae ecclesiaeae ordo, quo presbyteri episcopis, diaconi presbyteris, populus presbyteris et diaconis subditus est, ab Hygino compositus esse hic dicitur, _non aliter intelligi potest_, quâm quod Hyginus hierarchiae ecclesiasticae jam tempore apostolorum a Christo Domino constitutae, et a sanctis Patribus ipso antiquioribus comprobatae, quaedam duntaxat injuria temporum et scriptorum deperdita addiderit, vel eadem quae Divino jure instituta, et a patribus comprobata sunt, hac constitutione sua illustraverit." --_Concilia_, i. 65, 66.

[552:3] "Hic clerum composuit, et distribuit gradus."--_Binii Concil._ i. 65. Baronius, ad annum, 158.

[553:1] When referring to this statement Baronius says--"Porrò quod ad gradus cujusque ordinis in Ecclesia, quo ecclesiastica habetur composita hierarchia, jam a temporibus apostolorum haec facta esse, _Ignatio auctore_ et aliis, tomo primo Annalium demonstravimus; verum _aliqua antiquae formae ab Hyginio fuisse addita_, vel eadem illustrata, _aequum est aestimare_."

[554:1] See Kaye's "Tertullian," p. 414.

[555:1] 1 Tim. v. 17.

[555:2] Euseb. iv. 11; iv. 19. Dr Burton has well observed that Alexandria and Antioch were "the hotbeds from which nearly all the mischief arose, which, under the name of philosophy, inundated the Church in the second century."--_Lectures_, vol. ii. p. 103.

[556:1] Period II. sec. iii. chap. v. pp. 516, 517.

[556:2] "Quanquam sunt inter scriptores ecclesiasticos qui putaverint Polycarpum Romam venissè, ut quaereret de festo paschatis: ex his Irenaei verbis luco clarius elucet, _ob alias causas_ Ioannis apostoli discipulum Romam profectum esse."--_Stieren's Irenaeus_, i. p. 826, note.

[557:1] Euseb. v. 24.

[557:2] Stieren's "Irenaeus," i. 827.

[557:3] First, as his senior; and secondly, as a disciple of the apostles.

[557:4] It was a standing rule of the Church that a strange bishop should be thus treated. See "Didascalia," by Platt, p. 97.

[559:1] "_Paulatim_ vero, ut dissensionum plantaria evellerentur, ad unum omnem solicitudinem esse delatam."--_Comment. in Tit_.

[560:1] Period II. sec. iii. chap. 5, pp. 510, 512, 516, 520.

[560:2] But the presiding elders now began generally to be called bishops.

[560:3] Thus, though, as we may infer from the testimony of Tertullian, Christianity was planted in North Britain in the second century, the universal tradition is that originally there were no bishops in that country. According to an ancient MS. belonging to the former bishops of St Andrews, and to be found in the "Life of William Wishart," one of their number who lived in the thirteenth century, the first bishop created in Scotland was elected in A.D. 270. See Jamieson's "Culdees," pp. 101, 101.

[561:1] Song of Solomon, vi. 9; Ps. xlv. 9. "Sub Apostolis nemo Catholicus vocabatur.....Cum post Apostolos haereses extitissent, diversisque nominibus columbam Dei atque reginam lacerare per partes et scindere niterentur; nonno cognomen suum ecclesia postulabat, quae incorrupti populi distingueret unitatem?"

[562:1] Pacian, "Epist. to Sympronian," secs. 5 and 8. Pacian is said to have been bishop of Barcelona. He died A.D. 392.

[562:2] Epist. lxix. 265, 266.

[563:1] Justin Martyr, Opera, p. 99.

[563:2] According to the "Apostolic Constitutions" the deacons were not at liberty to baptize. Lib. viii. c. 28.

[563:3] "De Baptismo," c. 17.

[563:4] Tertullian thus corroborates the testimony of Jerome.

[563:5] "In the sixth century the clergy of Italy complained to Justinian that, _owing to the vacancy of sees_, 'an immense multitude of people died without baptism.' Even so late as the time of Hinemar (the ninth century) baptisms were still performed by the bishop, and _they alone were considered canonical_."--_Palmer's Episcopacy Vindicated_, p. 35, note.

[564:1] "It appears to have been the custom at Rome and other places to send from the cathedral church the bread consecrated to the several parish churches."--_Stillingfleet's Irenicum_, pp. 369, 370. "Thomassinus shown that in the fifth century the presbyters of Rome did not consecrate the Eucharist in their respective churches, but it was sent to them from the principal church."--_Palmer_, p. 35, note.

[564:2] Thus Rome is called the "principal Church" in regard to Carthage. Cyprian, Epist. lv. p. 183.

[564:3] Tertullian apparently refers to this when he says--"Una omnes probant unitate _communicatio pacis_ et appellatio fraternitatis, et contesseratio hospitalitatis."--_De Praescrip_. c. 20.

[564:4] "Ecclesiis apostolicis matricibus et originalibus fidei."

[565:1] "Cathedrae apostolorum suis locis praesident." These words clearly indicate that the Churches founded by the apostles were now recognized as centres of unity for the surrounding Christian communities.

[565:2] It is worthy of note that, in the second canonical epistle ever written by Paul, he warns this Church of the coming of the Man of Sin. (2 Thess. ii. 3.) It appears from the text that thus early it was identified with the system which resulted in the establishment of the Papacy. It is equally remarkable that the bishop of Thessalonica was the first _Papal Vicar_ ever appointed. See Bower's "History of the Popes," Damasus, thirty-sixth bishop; and Gieseler, i. 264.

[565:3] "De Praescrip." xxi., xxxvi.

[565:4] The tendency of "Church principles" to terminate in the recognition of a universal bishop has appeared in modern as well as in ancient times. "What other step," says a noble author, "remains to stand between those who held those principles and Rome? _Only one:_ that the priesthood so constituted, invested with such powers, is organized under one head--a Pope....The space to be traversed in arriving at it is so narrow, and so unimpeded by any positive barrier, _either of logic or of feeling_, that the slightest influence of sentiment or imagination, of weakness or of superstition, is sufficient to draw men across."--_Letter from the Duke of Argyll to the Bishop of Oxford_, p. 23. London, Moxon, 1851.

[566:1] Tertullian says that John, as well as Peter and Paul, had been in Rome. "De Praescrip." xxxvi.

[567:1] "Contra Haeres." iii. c. iii. § 2.

[567:2] "Maximae et antiquissimae et omnibus cognitae, a gloriosissimis duobus apostolis Petro et Paulo Romae fundatae et constitutae ecclesiae."--_Irenaeus_, iii. c. iii. § 2.

[567:3] We find this designation in some of the early canons. See Bunsen's "Hippolytus," iii. 50.

[567:4] Euseb. v. 24.

[568:1] See the statement of Cyprian in the Council of Carthage, "Opera," p. 597; and Jerome, in his Epistle to Evangelus, "Opera," iv. secund. pars. p. 803.

[568:2] "Pontifex scilicet Maximus, quod est episcopus episcoporum, edicit: Ego et moechiae et fornicationis delicta poenitentia functis dimitto."--_Tertullian, De Pudicitia_, c. 1. "Neque enim quisquam nostrum episcopum se esse episcoporum constituit."--_Cyprian, Con. Car., Opera_, 597.

[569:1] "Ecclesiae catholicae radicem et matricem."--_Epist_. xlv. p. 133.

[569:2] "Navigare audent et ad Petri cathedram atque ad ecclesiam principalem unde unitas sacerdotalis exorta est."--_Epist_. lv. p. 183. "Nam Petro primum Dominus, super quem aedificavit ecclesiam, et unde unitatis originem instituit et ostendit, potestatem istam dedit."--_Epist_. lxxiii. p. 280. See also _Epist_. lxx.-"Una ecclesia a Christo Domino super Petrum origine unitatis et ratione fundata."

[570:1] The word _catholic_ first occurs in the Epistle of the Church of Smyrna giving an account of the martyrdom of Polycarp, but that letter was probably not written until at least twenty years after the event which it records. See Period II. sec. i. chap. iv. p. 337. It is remarkable that the word is not found in Irenaeus, or used by his Latin interpreter. The pastor of Lyons, however, recognizes the distinction indicated by the word catholic, for he speaks of the _ecclesiastici_ or churchmen, and of those "_qui sunt undique_." Stieren's "Irenaeus," i. 430, 502, note. The word catholic was obviously quite current in the time of Tertullian.

[570:2] Particularly Matt. xvi. 18. Clemens Alexandrinus says that our Lord baptized Peter only, and that Peter then baptized other apostles. See Kaye's "Clement," p. 442; and Bunsen's "Analecta Antenic." i. p. 317. See also Origen, "Opera," ii. 245; and Firmilian's "Epistle."

[571:1] Even Polycrates of Ephesus admits that he had been requested by Victor to convene a synod. Euseb. v. 24. About sixty years afterwards Cyprian writes to Stephen of Rome requesting him to send letters into Gaul that Marcianus the bishop, who had sided with Novatian, "being excommunicated, another may be substituted in his room."--_Cyprian, Epist_. lxvii. pp. 248, 249.

[572:1] Thus he says--"For neither did Peter, _whom the Lord chose first, and on whom He built His Church_, when Paul afterwards disputed with him about circumcision, claim or assume anything insolently and arrogantly to himself, so as _to say that he held the primacy_."--Epist. lxxi. p. 273.

[573:1] Gen. xi. 4.

[573:2] Book I. vision iii. § 3, &c.

[574:1] Rev. xiv. 6-8.

[575:1] 1 Tim. v. 17.

[576:1] See Bunsen's "Hippolytus," ii. 305, and iii. 35, 36.

[576:2] Bunsen's "Hippolytus," iii. 36.

[576:3] "Apost. Constit." ii. 57.

[576:4] [Greek: kai oute ho panu dunatos en logô tôn en tais ekklêsiais proestôtôn, hetera toutôn erei (oudeis gar huper ton didaskalon) oute ho asthenês en tô logo elattôsei tên paradosin].--_Contra Haereses_, i. c. 10. § 2.

[576:5] "Optatus adv. Donat." vii. 6.

[576:6] 1 Cor. xiv. 5, 24, 26, 31.

[577:1] Euseb. vi. 19. It is to be observed that these laymen, having the sanction of the ecclesiastical authorities, were thus virtually licensed to preach.

[577:2] "Apost. Constit." vii. 46. There was a Church at Cenchrea in the time of the apostles. Rom. xvi. 1. Strabo calls Cenchrea a village, lib. viii.

[577:3] See Bingham, iii. 129.

[577:4] Cyprian, "Council of Carthage." Girba, Mileum, Badias, and Carpi, the sees of these bishops, were all small places with, no doubt, a still smaller Christian population.

[578:1] Cyprian, "Council of Carthage."

[578:2] Euseb. vii. 30.

[578:3] See Sage's "Vindication of the Principles of the Cyprianic Age," p. 348. Edit., London, 1701.

[578:4] See Period II. sec. i. chap. v. pp. 355, 356.

[578:5] See Bingham, i. 41, 43.

[579:1] Bunsen's "Hippolytus," i. 129; and Wordsworth, p. 257. It would appear from Celsus that not a few of the Church teachers in the second century supported themselves by manual labour. See Origen, Opera, i. 484.

[579:2] "Adleguntur in ordinem ecclesiasticum artifices idolorum."--_De Idololatria_, c. vii. Malchion, one of the presbyters of Antioch in the time of Paul of Samosata, was the head-master of one of the principal schools in the place. Euseb. vii. 29.

[579:3] Cyprian, Epist. lxvi. p. 246. In after times the bishop himself was the grand-executor, having the charge of all the wills of his diocese!

[581:1] Council of Elvira, A.D. 305, 18th canon.

[581:2] Period II. sec. iii. chap. vi. p. 533.

[581:3] "Nam et Alexandria à Marco Evangelista usque ad Heraclam et Dionysium Episcopos, presbyteri semper unum ex se electum, in excelsiori gradu collocatum Episcopum nominabant; quomodo si exercitus Imperatorem faciat; aut Diaconi eligant de se quem industrium noverint, et Archidiaconum vocent."--_Epist. ad Evangelum_.

[581:1] Heraclas now succeeded him. The immediate successor of Heraclas was Dionysius.

[581:2] "_Apud nos_ quoque et _fere_ per provincias universas tenetur."--_Cyprian_, Epist. lxviii. p. 256. The arrangement of which Cyprian speaks was now, perhaps, pretty generally established in the West, but he may have understood, through his intercourse with Firmilian, that in some parts of the East a different usage still prevailed.

[581:3] "Nam _et_ Alexandriae."

[582:1] Eutychius, the celebrated patriarch of Alexandria who flourished in the beginning of the tenth century, makes this assertion. According to this writer there were originally twelve presbyters connected with the Alexandrian Church; and, when the patriarchate became vacant, they elected "one of the twelve presbyters, _on whose head the remaining eleven laid hands_, and blessed him and created him patriarch."--_See the original passage in Selden's Works_, ii. c. 421, 422; London, 1726. This passage furnishes a remarkable confirmation of the testimony of Jerome as to the fact that the Alexandrian presbyters originally made their bishops, but it is probably not very accurate as to the details. As to the laying on of hands it is not supported by Jerome.

[582:2] The case is different with the modern English archdeacon who is a presbyter.

[583:1] "A fratribus constitutus et colobio episcoporum vestitus."

[583:2] "Saluta _omne collegium fratrum_, qui tecum sunt in Domino."

[583:3] The practice seems to have continued longer at Alexandria than at Rome and various other places.

[583:4] The statement of Jerome is not inconsistent with the fact that the senior elder was originally the president or bishop, for he was recognized as such by mutual agreement. Neither is it at variance with the idea that the elders sometimes made a selection _by lot_ out of three of their number previously put in nomination. There are good grounds for believing that even after bishops begun to be elected by general suffrage, the people were in some places restricted to certain candidates chosen from among the elders by lot. Cyprian apparently refers to this circumstance when he says that he was chosen _by "the judgment of God"_ as well as by the vote of the people. Epist. xl. p. 119. The people of Alexandria, towards the close of the third and beginning of the fourth century, are said to have been restricted to certain candidates. See p. 333, Period II. sec. i. chap. iv. Cornelius of Rome is said to have been made bishop by "the judgment of God and of his Christ" and by the votes of the people. Cyprian, Epist. lii. pp. 150, 151.

[584:1] Euseb. v. 24.

[585:1] "Contra Haereses," iv. c. 26, secs. 2, 4. "Quapropter eis qui in ecclesia sunt, _presbyteris_ obaudire oportet, his qui successionem habent ab apostolis, sicut ostendimus; qui _cum episcopatus successione_ charisma veritatis certum secundum placitum Patris acceperunt; reliquos vero, qui absistunt a principali successione, et quocunque loco colligunt, suspectos habere vel quasi haereticos et malae sententiae.... Ab omnibus igitur talibus absistere oportet; adhaerere vero his qui et apostolorum, sicut praediximus, doctrinam custodiunt, et _cum presbyterii ordine_ sermonem sanum et conversationem sine offensa praestant."

[585:2] This was long the received doctrine. Thus, the author of the "Questions on the Old and New Testament" says--"Quid est episcopus nisi _primus presbyter_?"--_Aug. Quaest._ c. 101.

[585:3] "Onmis potestas et gratia in ecclesia constituta sit, ubi praesident majores natu, qui et baptizandi et manum imponendi et ordinandi possident potestatem."--_Firmilian, Epist. Cyprian_, Opera, p. 304.

[586:1] See Bunsen's "Hippolytus," ii. 351-357. See also Fabricius, "Biblioth. Graecae," liber v. p. 208. Hamburg, 1723.

[586:2] The earliest of these canons was probably framed only a few years before the middle of the third century. They were called apostolical perhaps because concocted by some of the bishops of the so-called apostolic Churches.

[586:3] The collection to which it belongs bears the designation of the "Canons of _Abulides_,"--the name of _Hippolytus in Abyssinian_, as their calendar shews. Bunsen, ii. 352. The canons edited by Hippolytus were, no doubt, at one time acknowledged by the Western Church.

[586:4] Bunsen's "Hippolytus," iii. 43, and "Analecta Antenicaena," iii. 415.

[587:1] Eutychius intimates that the Alexandrian presbyters continued to ordain their own bishop until the time of the Council of Nice. It is not improbable that, until then, some of them may have continued to take part in the ordination, and the statement of the Alexandrian patriarch may be so far correct.

[587:2] See Bunsen, iii. 45.

[587:3] Where the bishop, as in the case contemplated in a canon quoted in the text, had to depend for his official income on the contributions of twelve families, it is plain that the elders could expect no remuneration for their services. As the hierarchy advanced these ruling elders disappeared. Hence Hilary says--"The synagogue, and afterwards _the Church_, had elders, without whose counsel nothing was done in the Church, which, by what negligence _it grew into disuse_ I know not; unless, perhaps, by the sloth, or rather by the pride of the teachers, while they alone wished to appear something."--_Comment on 1 Tim._ v. 1. Some late writers have contended that these elders (_seniores_) were not ecclesiastical officers at all, but civil magistrates of municipal corporations peculiar to Africa. It must, however, be recollected that Hilary was a _Roman_ deacon of the fourth century, and that he speaks of them as belonging _to the Church_ before the civil establishment of Christianity.

[590:1] Thus, Firmilian speaks of "seniores et _praepositi_," and of the Church "ubi _praesident_ majores natu."--_Cyprian_, Opera, p. 302 and 304.

[590:2] Justin Martyr, Opera, p. 99.

[590:3] In the days of Origen the episcopal office was not unfrequently coveted for its wealth. Origen, Opera, iii. p. 501. See also Cyprian, Epist. lxiv. p. 240.

[591:1] Comment, in Matt., Opera, iii. p. 723.

[591:2] See Period II. sec. i. chap. v. p. 354.

[592:1] Euseb. vi. 43.

[592:2] Tertullian, "Praescrip. Haeret." c. 41. This office, even in the fourth century, was often committed to mere children--a sad proof that the importance of reading the Word effectively was not duly appreciated.

[592:3] Origen makes mention of them, Opera, ii. p. 453; and Firmilian, Cyprian, Epist. 1xxv. p. 306.

[592:4] Cyprian, Epist. lii. p. 150.

[592:5] As in the case of Fabian of Rome. Euseb. vi. 29.

[593:1] Bingham, i. 356, 359.

[593:2] Cyprian, Epist. lv. pp. 177, 178; xl. pp. 119, 120.

[593:3] Epist. xxxiii. p. 105.

[594:1] Epist. xxiv. pp. 79, 80.

[594:2] Epist. xxxiv. pp. 107, 108.

[594:3] Epist. xxxv. p. 111.

[595:1] Bishops and presbyters appear to have continued to ordain bishops in the time of Origen. His "Commentaries on Matthew," written according to his Benedictine editor in A.D. 245 (see Delarue's "Origen," iii. Praef.), speak of _bishops and presbyters_ "committing whole churches to unfit persons and _constituting incompetent governors_."--_Opera_, iii. p. 753.

[595:2] It would appear that the five presbyters who opposed Cyprian constituted the majority of the presbytery. Cyprian, Epist. xl. pp. 119, 120. See also Sage's "Vindication of the Principles of the Cyprianic Age," p. 348.

[595:3] Euseb. vi. 29.

[596:1] Cyprian, Epist. xxxi. pp. 99, 100.

[596:2] Cyprian, Epist. iv. p. 31.

[596:3] Cyprian, Epist. xxxiii. p. 106, xxxiv. p. 107, lviii. p. 207, lxxi. p. 271, lxxvii. p. 327. Euseb. vii. 5.

[596:4] Thus we find him going so far as to complain that his presbyters "with contempt and dishonour of the bishop arrogate sole authority to themselves."--_Epist._ ix. p. 48.

[596:5] Epist. xlix. p. 143. See Neander's "General History," i. 307, and Burton's "Lectures on the Ecc. Hist, of the First Three Centuries," ii. 331. Burton repudiates the attempts of Bingham and others to explain away this proceeding.

[597:1] They are called so for the first time in the Council of Ancyra. They had before always been called simply bishops. It has been remarked that we never find any _chorepiscopi_ among the African bishops, though many of them occupied as humble a position as those so designated elsewhere.