FROM THE LIBRARY OF REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON, D. D. BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO THE LIBRARY OF PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY /oo I :x^ 1 !l 1 i I'll •'i Hey. Professor Heroa, D.D. A notable figure has uassed away 1 fram the ministiy of the irlsh Presby- terian Church and the public lifo of Belfast in the person of the Rev. James Heron, ' D.I)., Emeritus Professor of Church History in the Assembly's Col- lege, Belfast. In figure and appearance, as well as in Evangelical fervour, he strongly resembkd the late Rev. Charles Haddon Spurgeon. He v/as not what might be called a Churchman or ecclesiastic, as he but seldom appeared on the platform of the Genea.*al Assem- bly, but when he did do so his words had always tremendous weight, for he put his points with marvellous clear- ness, force, and conviction. He was born in Co. Down in 1836, and ordained in Muckamore on December 16, 1861, After servnig m the eongregations of Kilrea and Dundela, Belfast^ he _ was unanimously appointed to the Chair of Church History in the Assembly's Col- lege in 1889, and for tAventy-eight years he faithfully discharged the duties of that important cliair. In 1901 he was Moderator of the Creneral Assembly, Six years ago he was presented with a valuable poi-trait on the occasion of his ministerial jubilee. His publishec* works, "The Church of the Sub-Apo tolic Age," and "The Celtic ChuTch i Ii-eland,'' are masterpieces, and a re' and i>ermanent contribution to tL„ study of these periods, .He was one of tiie most kindly and obliging of men, gentle as a child, and a real father and friend to all his students. He kept severely aloof from "^Jl political contro- versies, although he held strong and in many cases very advanced views on the (jurront questions of the day. if--ir^%jr .<\p^ OF pp.njf FEB i9 193 THE CHURCH ^<^mi±i0S THE SUB- APOSTOLIC AGE: ITS LIFE, WORSHIP, AXD ORGANIZATION, IN THE LIGHT OF " THE TEACHING OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES. BY THE ^\^ REV. JAMES HERON, B.A. HODDER AND STOUGHTON, 27, PATERNOSTER ROW. MDCCCLXXXVIII. \^All rights resoTcd.'] Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London. PREFACE. NOTWITHSTANDING the proverb qui s excuse s' accuse, a word must be said by way of justi- fying the publication of this book. Though several works of various dimensions have appeared on the Didache in this country, there seemed not only abun- dant room but occasion and need for such treatment of it as is here attempted. Some short treatises had been published dealing with special aspects of that ancient writing, such as Professor J. Rendel Harris's work, The Teaching of the Apostles and the Sibylline Books, and that of Dr. Taylor supplying illustrations from the Talmud ; both most valuable for their pur- pose, but confined to limited departments of the subject. Canon Spence s book is more general, but less thorough than those just named, and much progress has been made in the exposition of the Didache since it was written. The most comprehen- sive discussion available to English readers is that PREFACE. by Dr. Scliaff, entitled The Oldest Church Manual. Containing as it does, along with translations, the Greek text of the Teaching and of the related documents, embodying also an exhaustive analysis of the style and vocabulary, and being especially copious on the bibliography of the manual, Dr. Schaff's book is both useful and interesting. I would fain hope, however, that the present w^ork, which has grown out of an independent study of the early literature, which has kept in view the most recent discussions on the Teaching, and which differs from any I am acquainted with in entering more fully into the questions touched and illustrated by that old writing, which are indeed all the important and in- teresting questions of the early Church, will be found to have a sufficiently distinct purpose and raison d'etre of its own. The closing chapter on Church Organization has been prepared with much care, with a regard solely to the facts and what seemed the truest solution of them, and with the latest dis- cussions on that topic constantly in view. In order to deal thoroughly and satisfactorily with the data which the early literature presents on this question, I have found it necessary to examine and test the theories by which it has been sought to explain and harmonize them, — the theories associated with the PREFACE. names of Bishop Lightfoot, Dr. Hatch, Dr. Harnack, and Canon Liddon. The most recent hypothesis with respect to the origin of the Christian ministry is that put forward by Professor MilHgan in The Expositor for November, to the effect that the term "presbyter " did not signify office, but was. Hive " Reverend^' a general term of hon- our applied to religious officers. This view, however, seems distinctly at variance with the history of the genesis of the Christian office-bearers, and of their nomenclature as given in the Acts of the Apostles. Paul and Barnabas find a body of Christian adminis- trators, called "elders," at Jerusalem (Acts xi. 30), and who, there can be no doubt, were mainly a transcript of the Jewish eldership. Shortly after having been in intercourse with " the elders " of the mother Church, these brethren have office-bearers called " elders " elected and solemnly appointed in all the Churches of Asia Minor hitherto founded by them (Acts xiv. 23). They are thus, according to the writer of the Acts, not only officials, but their official title, and as yet the only title by which they are known, is " elders." This is the title by which these office-bearers, whether at Jerusalem or in Asia Minor, are habitually called in the Acts. It is employed to designate them ten times, while the term ''bishop" vi PREFACE. occurs only once (Acts xx. 28), and then as another name for the " elders," and as descriptive of their functions. Nothing could be more manifest than that, in the terminology of the writer, the primary official title is "elder," and that of bishop only secon- dary, and descriptive of work. When it is recognised, further, that the primary official title of the members of the Jewish Synedrion was " elders " ; that (as is pointed out in the following pages) these same Jewish elders were also, in a secondary way, called both " shepherds " and " bishops " or " overseers " ; and that precisely the same qualifications were required in the Jewish elder as those which, in his epistles to Timothy and Titus, the apostle demands in the Christian "elder" or "bishop" — as, that he should be the husband of one wife, blameless, having his children in subjection under him, while his election depended on the suffrages of the members of the synagogue — it is impossible to resist the conclusion that the Jewish was the original and archetype of the Christian functionary, and that the true history of the nomenclature is that indicated above. The use of the titles in the subsequent literature is in perfect harmony with the foregoing history. It is true that in I Tim. iii., and in Phil. i. i, the designation em- ployed is "bishop," showing that by this time it, too, PREFACE. has become a familiar official title for these function- aries ; but in Tit. i. 5-9 it still occurs as secondary to that of "elder"; and in i Pet. v. i, 2, it appears, just as in Acts xx. 28, as descriptive of the work of those immediately before called "elders." In the Epistle of Clement of Rome the persons who have been thrust out of the episcopate are uniformly called "elders" — "duly-appointed elders "—while the title "bishop" occurs only once in the whole letter. In Polycarps Epistle these officers are known only as "elders," and are by this very title officially dis- tinguished from the " deacons," who are here asso- ciated with the presbyters, as elsewhere they are associated with the bishops. And, finally, when one of the presbyters rises above the others, and monopo- lises the title " bishop," those from among whom he emerges continue to be known by the official title of " presbyters." The advice of Mephistopheles to the Student of Theology, in Goethe's Faust, is to be indifferent to thoughts and things, and to make words his chief concern. " Words, words alone are your best hope ! " There is some danger of the discussion on the minis- try in the early Church degenerating into a mere strife about words. It is therefore necessary to recall attention to the fact that, by whatever name or PREFACE. names they may have been designated — whether they were called bishops or presbyters, or both — there was a plurality of these office-bearers in each congregation, and they were elected by the free choice of the Christian people. DuNDELA Manse, Belfast, December, 1887. CONTENTS. Introductory PAGE I PART I. THE DID AC HE. CHAPTER I. Translation of the "Didache" ' . . . • 15 CHAPTER II. The Discovery of the "Didache" .... 34 CHAPTER III. The Design and Character of the "Didache" . 41 CHAPTER IV. The "Didache" in the Early Church ... 47 CHAPTER V. The Age of the " Didache " 11) CONTENTS. PART II. CHURCH QUESTIONS ILLUSTRATED BY THE DID ACHE. CHAPTER I. The New Testament Canon CHAPTER II, Family and Social Life CHAPTER III. Christian Unity and Charity . CHAPTER IV. Baptism CHAPTER V. The Eucharis'] The Lord's Day CHAPTER VI. CHAPTER VII. Church Organization . A. The Itinerant Ministry i. Teachers ii. Apostles iii. Prophets 87 105 117 129 146 163 190 193 193 195 iq8 CONTENTS. VAC.E I). The Local Ministry . . • .200 I. The Natural History of the Local Officers 201 (.7) The " Elder " . • • .204 (^) The '^Bishop" . • • -206 (Dr. Hatch's view examined) II. Were "Presbyter" and "Bishop" names of the same office-bearers ? 218 (Dr. Harnack's view examined) III. Was Monarchical Episcopacy set up by the Apostles ? . . . • 238 (Bishop Lightfoot's view ex- amined) IV. Apostolical Succession . . • 266 (Canon Liddon's view examined) V. Sacerdotalism 285 VI. Ministerial Support . . . .291 VII. The Diaconate 294 INTRODUCTORY. IT is told of the late Isaac Taylor that, when he was a young man, his mother, observing him one day leaning^ pensively against the^ ,. . ^ fc> r y & Corruption of mantelpiece, inquired what he was troubled Primitive about. He replied that he was thinking ^^^'^^^^^^"^^^ 5 of the many evils which had come upon Christianity. As his mind matured, and his researches , ' borne witness in Primitive Church history became more to by extended and profound, he saw no reason ^^^^^ Taylor; to alter his opinion, or to regard the changes which were made on Apostolic Christianity as other than corruptions. In fact, no thoughtful person, with open mind, can look at the simple, spiritual religion of the New Testament, so little burthened with ceremonial trappings, so full of buoyant life and aggressive energy, so free and so expansive, and then contem- plate the elaborate system of rigid sacerdotalism into which it was afterwards transformed, and perceive that, in being so modified, it was losing much of its early virtue as a regenerating and reforming power in society, without being impressed and saddened with the contrast. On such a question, at any rate, Renan may be accepted as an unprejudiced witness ; and Renan describes the change as "the most profound transformation in history." B THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. At once the calmest and the most comprehensive survey of the moral influence of Christianity that we ijy possess, is probably that given by Mr. Mr. Lecky. Lecky in his " History of European Morals from Augustus to Charlemagne." Standing, as he does, outside the different Church parties, and look- ing at the facts, not with the eye of an ecclesiastic, but through the dry light of philosophy, no writer could be more free from ecclesiastical leanings. What is his verdict in the case t " There can be little doubt," he says, *' that for nearly two hundred years after its establishment in Europe, the Christian community exhibited a moral purity, which, if it has been equalled, has never for any long period been surpassed." "In the first two centuries of the Christian Church the moral elevation was extremely high. In the century before Constan- tine a marked depression was already manifest. The two centuries after Constantine are universally re- presented by the Fathers as a period of general and scandalous vice." He shows that the very period It. d t ■■ - ^'^^^"S which Catholicism was so supreme, ation under was one " of the most contemptible in ''''Empire^'' ^^^ The new Byzantine Empire, founded by Constantine, the first Christian emperor, — an empire which derived all its ethics from Catholic sources, and continued for i,ioo years, — he characterizes as " the most thoroughly base and des- picable form that civilization has yet assumed." It was the age of treachery. Its vices were the vices of men who had ceased to be brave without learning to be virtuous. Its history is a monotonous story of the intrigues of priests, eunuchs, and women, of INTRODUCTORY. poisonings, of conspiracies, of uniform ingratitude, of perpetual fratricide. The condition of the Western Empire was different externally, but morally not dissimilar. Not and in the a century after Constantine, Rome was ^^^^t. captured by Alaric, Roman society was dissolved, and the barbarians who adopted the Christian faith be- came a virgin soil for Catholicity to work on. She exercised for many centuries an almost absolute supremacy over the thoughts and actions of mankind, and created a civilization which was permeated in every part by ecclesiastical influence. But the age of Catholic ascendency " ranks immeasurably below the best Pagan civilizations in civic and patriotic virtues, in the love of liberty, in the number and splendour of the great characters they produced, in the dignity and beauty of the type of character they formed." Boundless intolerance of all divergence of opinion was united with a boundless toleration of falsehood and fraud, which debauched the conscience of society. A deadly torpor sank upon the human mind, which, for many centuries, almost suspended its action ; and moral corruption, deep and wide-spread, prevailed. Why was it, Lecky asks, that a religion which was not more remarkable for the beauty of its moral teaching than for the power with which it acted upon mankind, and which had been so effective in the opening centuries, had proved itself unable to reform and elevate society ? He points out, that while Catholicism contained elements which proved efficient in abating infanticide, suppressing gladiatorial shows, and promoting charity and manumission of slaves, it had other elements which worked with a sinister and THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. evil influence. The tolerant Roman legislation was displaced by laws of the most minute and stringent intolerance, administered by an aggressive and des- potic priesthood, crushing and enfeebling both the intellectual and moral nature. In its conflicts with the paganism of the Empire, and with the barbarian hordes, Christianity underwent a profound modifica- tion, and was deeply adulterated and materialized. Pagan religions as well as Pagan worshippers had been baptized. Though apparently defeated, the old gods still retained, under a new faith, no small part of their influence over the world. The ascetic and monastic spirit, which became so dominant, threw ^, . . discredit on the domestic virtues and aff"ec- Thisview . . . . , , corroborated tions, weakened the social ties, extinguished by Miiman; ^|j public Spirit and patriotic feeling,^ with- drew from active life the moral enthusiasm which is the leaven of society, and made a sordid and emaciated maniac, without knowledge, without patriotism, with- out natural afl"ection, passing his life in a long routine of useless and atrocious self-torture, and quailing before the phantoms of his own delirious brain, the ideal of the nations. And this system, instead ot cutting off its votaries from the temptations of life and the pursuit of riches, drew towards them vast ac- cumulations of wealth, generated rapacity and avarice as characteristic vices of the monks, and bred immo- rality of the grossest character. Substantially the same sentence is pronounced by Hallam in his "View of the State of Europe durincf the Middle and Hallam. . j, o ^ i • , Ages. ~ On the matter just adverted to ^ See for further illustration Milman's " History of Latin Christianity," vol. ii. - See vol. ii. chap. vii. INTRODUCTORY. he says, "It would be easy to bring evidence from the writings of every successive century to the general viciousness of the regular clergy, whose memory it is sometimes the fashion to treat with respect." What a contrast when we turn from such a history to the little work before us ! It is like passing from an atmosphere fetid and Jj'j^^^^^g^g^. stifling with unwholesome vapours into a pie spiritual bracing mountain air. How entirely ^^'^- }^^^Dkiache, ferent the simple, spiritual faith which here expresses itself from the elaborate sacerdotal and ascetic system which afterwards prevailed ! What is here set forth is to all intents and purposes the religion of the New Testament, laying much stress on the spirit and the life, little on the form. And what strikes one most is the high moral tone which pervades it. It is pre-eminently ethical, and its ethics ,. .. are free from subtlety and casuistry, and pre-eminently strike directly and powerfully at the evils ethical, of the time. The thing which it primarily and per- emptorily demands is self-forgetting love, and purity of heart and life. As we contemplate the religion which it depicts — a religion at once simple, and severely pure, and lofty, and appealing to the better P'^'^^- and nobler feelings of our nature — and compare it with the development of a later age, adulterated by additions from Judaism on the one side and paganism on the other, ruthlessly mutilating and destroying nature by its asceticism, crushing and enslaving it by its priestly despotism, and appealing chiefly to the baser parts of man's being, we have no difficulty in understanding how, after the first two centuries, — that is, after the transformation referred to set in, — it THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. began to lose its virtue as a purifying and elevating force in the world. The seemingly growing antagonism between dif- To reconcile ferent classes and interests in our time, is the antagon- a common subject of remark. Wealth, society, we ^^i*^ ^^^ thosc advantages which wealth need the secures, tend, it is said, under our present brotherhood . , i • i i i this old book social System, to accumulate m the hands exhibits, of a Comparatively few, who are often charged by those less fortunate with selfishness and rapacity, and who retort by accusing their opponents of unwarrantable assaults upon the rights of property. The truth really is, that the upper and lower strata of our social fabric are kept asunder now by a much narrower gulf than that which separated classes in the early age of Christianity. But since political power has been getting more and more into the hands of the democracy, who are now more alive to their grievances, and more bent on redressing them, those on the other side, doubtless, have more reason to dread serious inroads on what they regard as their rights and interests. How are these antagonisms in the social body to be mitigated and allayed ? How are the conflicting interests of the classes and masses to be reconciled and harmonized ? Various nostrums have been advertised as infallible. We know of none so likely to succeed as that which, at the beginning of our era, drew men together over much wider gulfs of separation, and fused them into one. We refer to that spirit of brotherhood and love which lies not far from the heart and core of Christianity, which con- stituted such a real, living, unifying force in the Church of the early age ; which did not for a moment INTRODUCTORY. subvert the right or principle of personal property, but recognised and sanctioned it ; but which taught the individual to forget and deny himself, and to live in and for the community; which for the first time gave men the idea of a community ; which led them not only to toil and fast to procure the means of helping their poorer brethren, but inspired them often to put themselves in the place of prisoners or slaves, or those doomed to die, that the latter might go free. The spirit which our modern life needs is that enforced so earnestly and powerfully in this ancient Christian writing, and illustrated at length in the third chapter of the second part of this volume. Again, what serious person can avoid feeling that the power of modern Christianity is greatly r^^^ (.^^^^^j^ paralyzed by its division into innumerable polity it , r , 1 • i_ 1. prescribes. sects, which waste some of their best re- ^ sources in waging war and making reprisals upon one another .? Is there no hope of finding a healing and remedial measure? Is there no possibiHty of discovering a common meeting-ground in what is now generally acknowledged to have been the polity of the primitive Christians .? In its essence we under- stand it to have been government by a council or committee chosen by the people. This was the Jewish mode of government. As Dr. Hatch has shown, it was the form of self-government adopted by the countless clubs and associations which flourished in the opening centuries of our era over the Roman Empire. It is the method which obtains everywhere in all such associations to-day. It is the organ of self-management had recourse to in every free society of men. The spirit of this method, or, in other words, THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. the democratic spirit, is invading and being felt in Churches which have been hitherto most averse to it. Whether they will or no, they are being compelled to return more or less to the freer spirit of the Apostolic times. May we not discern in this the germ and basis, the promise and the potency of greater unity among the Churches of the future 1 Some progress had been made of late years to a better understanding of the polity of the Apostolic and Sub-apostolic age. But there was still considerable divergence of opinion. Over this region, darkened with the dust of many a controversy, our little book pours a flood of light, affording us clearer insight into the Church Organiza- tion of that time. I propose to make liberal use of the guidance which it offers, and to discuss somewhat in detail the Church arrangements of that period ; and my sincere desire is to look at the facts fairly, and without prejudice or bias. The tendency of the historian to read the peculiarities and features of his own denomination into the ancient records, has been the bane of Church history. The claims of truth should be supreme and paramount for every man ; but the Church historian especially needs to be on his guard against the " idols " both of " the den " and of " the theatre." One of the most determined assaults to which The Didache Christianity has ever been exposed, is that refutes the which has been aimed against it in recent hypoE. ^^"^^^ t>y what is known as the Tubingen school of critics. Their contention has been, that there is a breach of continuity in the his- tory in the first half of the second century ; that it was really during that period, which they call " the INTRODUCTORY. dark age " of Church history, that many of the New Testament writings were produced, and produced by way of an irenimm between Ebionism and Paulinism ; that the original form of Christianity, as taught by Christ and His apostles, was Ebionistic, and not Pauline. To clear up such matters more fully, and to enable us to trace up the New Testament writings nearer to their sources, more light was certainly desirable. The literature of the age referred to is far from being copious. The First Epistle of Clement of Rome, the Epistles of Barnabas and Polycarp, the letter to Diognetus, the Pastor of Hermas, the doubt- ful Epistles of Ignatius, a few fragments such as those of Papias, the Jewish-Christian *' Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs," and the Sibylline books, with some inscriptions and other memorial records, have been our only sources of information — stars few and far between to guide our footsteps through the history of those momentous formative years. It is true they were enough to enable scholars to make a satisfactory answer to the above-mentioned school of critics. At the same time, fuller information respecting the period in question was greatly to be welcomed. Nor has the wish for more light been altogether in vain. Within some years past several important works relating to those times, and making large accessions to our knowledge of them, have been brought to light; such as the " Philosophumena" of Hippolytus, which affords much insight into the heresies of the second century ; a complete MS. of the First Epistle of Clement of Rome — the only complete one exist- ing ; fragments of Tatian's " Diatessaron " ; and the texts of Barnabas and Hermas, in Greek ; not to lo THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. speak of various fragments and inscriptions. At the present time, historical researches and topographical explorations of an organized and thorough character are being carried forward in Asia Minor and in Egypt — labours which may yet yield valuable fruit. Two works oi the second century, quoted by Irenseus and Eusebius, works which would be of great interest and value, have hitherto escaped discovery — the " Exposition of the Oracles of our Lord," by Papias, a pupil of the Apostle John, and a friend of Polycarp ; and the " Chronicles " of Hegesippus, the earliest history of the Christian Church known to have been written, and belonging to the middle of the second century. The former still existed in MS. at Nismes in 12 1 8, in the MSS. collection of the Church there, and is also mentioned in the Library Catalogue of the Benedictine monastery of Christ Church, Canter- bury, in the Cotton MS. of the thirteenth or four- teenth century. The latter was extant in the sixteenth century. It is not at all unlikely that these books, as well as some works of a third and still more productive second century writer, Melito of Sardis, may yet be discovered in the still imperfectly ex- plored archives of ancient libraries. In the mean- time, the work discovered by Bryennios makes a material contribution to our knowledge of that period, and tends still further to discredit the Tiibingen hypothesis. It gives no indication of a protracted conflict between Paul and the rest of the apostles, but combines the Pauline and the Petrine types of thought ; and it seems, as we shall see, to point distinctly to the existence of written Gospels such as we possess, and of other New Testament writings. INTRODUCTORY. li A good deal of fresh light is thrown by our little treatise on Baptism and the Eucharist, ^^^^.^^^^ j.^^^j. and on other institutions and practices of on Baptism, the Primitive Church. We shall find its ^^^ ^uc^^^^t, statements on all these matters most in- structive and suggestive, and on the whole, thoroughly in keeping with the earliest post-apostolic literature we possess ; and, brief as the work is, we shall probably be surprised how much it enlarges, or at least clarifies and illumines our knowledge of all the main matters of interest connected with the life, worship, and or- ganization of the Sub-apostolic Church. PART I. THE DID ACHE, CHAPTER I. translation of the '' did ache: The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles.^ The TeacJiing of the Lord through the Twelve Apostles to the Gentiles. Chapter I. I. 'T^HERE are two ways, one of life, and one ot X death, and there is much difference between the two ways.- 2. The way of life, then, is this : First, thou shalt love God thy Maker; Secondly, thy neighbour as thy- self ; and all things whatsoever thou mayest wish not to be done to thee, do not thou to another. '"^ 3. And the teaching of these words is this : Bless them that curse you, and pray for your enemies, and fast for them that persecute you ; for what thanks can ye expect if ye love them that love you ? Do not even the Gentiles the same ? But do ye love them that hate you, and ye shall not have an enemy. ^ AiSa;^;) tqhv ScoSefca aTTOdrokfuv. For explanation of the title see Part I. chap. iii. of this book. The double title is found as above in the MS. discovered by Bryennios, 2 For an exposition of " the two ways" see Part II. chap. ii. p. 105, of this work. 2 wSee this negative form of the golden rule illustrated in Part II. chap. iii. p. ii7- 15 i6 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. 4. Abstain from fleshly and bodily lusts. If any one give thee a blow on the right cheek, turn to him the other also, and thou shalt be perfect.^ And if any one compel thee to go one mile, go with him twain. If any one take thy cloak, give him thy coat also. If any one take from thee what is thine, ask it not again; for neither canst thou. 5. To every one who asketh thee give, and ask not again ; for the Father wisheth men to give to all from their own private portion.^ Blessed is he who gives according to the commandment, for he is free from penalty. Woe to him that receiveth ; for if any one receiveth when he is in need, he shall be unpunished, but he who doth so when he is not in need shall give satisfaction concerning his purpose and end in receiving ; and, coming under discipline,-^ he shall be questioned about what he did ; and he shall not come out thence until he pay the last farthing. 6. But about this too it has been said, Let thine alms sweat into thine hands, until tJioit know to whom tJioii niayest give.^ ^ rfkeios. Cf. Matt. V. 48 ; xix. 21 ; Jas. i. 4. - CK 7u>v Idiiou xopto-juaro)!/, conveying the double idea that, though their goods are in a sense their own, they have been &ee/}' bestowed on them by God. ^ iv avvoxf] 5f yevonevos. Some render eV avvoxf], in distress., and some, /;/ prison. Prof. Rendal Harris, for example, sup- poses it to mean a real prison— not a Roman prison, but one which the Church itself kept for offenders. But there is no trace of such a thing in the early literature. Surely discipline is not only a legitimate rendering, but one that meets all the requirements of the passage. ■^ Dr. Taylor well shows this to mean that, the alms in their hands should be alms acquired by sweat or toil. See Part II. chap. iii. p. 117 of this volume. TRANSLATION OF THE DID ACHE. 17 Chapter II. 1 Second Commandment of the Teaching : 2 Thou shalt not kill ; thou shalt not commit adultery ; thou shalt not corrupt boys ; ^ thou shalt not commit fornication ; thou shalt not steal ; thou shalt not use enchantments ; thou shalt not practice sorcery ; thou shalt not kill a child by abortion, nor shalt thou put to death what has been born ; - thou shalt not covet what is thy neighbour's. 3 Thou shalt not swear falsely ; thou shalt not bear false witness ; thou shalt not slander ; thou shalt bear no malice. 4 Thou shalt not be double-minded, nor double- tongued, for a double tongue is a snare of death. 5 Thy word shall not be false nor empty, but fulfilled by deed.^ 6 Thou shalt not be covetous, nor grasping, nor a hypocrite, nor malicious, nor arrogant. Thou shalt not devise evil against thy neighbour. 7 Thou shalt not hate any man, but some thou shalt reprove, on behalf of some thou shalt pray, and some thou shalt love more than thy life. Chapter III. I My son, flee from every evil thing, and from every semblance of it.^ ^ 7rai8o(pdopr] meant, and have seen in this a sign of late workmanship. But eV eKKXrjala without the article occurs in the sense of congregation in i Cor. xi. 18 ; xiv. 19, 28,35, that is, in four places within a brief space in one of Paul's epistles. 22 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. cleaving to what is good, nor to righteous judgment, intent not upon what is good, but what is evil ; far from whom are meekness and patience ; loving vain things, seeking reward, not pitying the poor, not grieving with him who is in sore distress, not knowing their maker, murderers of children, destroyers of the image of God, turning away from the needy, vexing the afflicted, advocates of the rich, lawless judges of the poor, sinners in all things. May ye be delivered, children, from all these. Chapter VI. 1 See to it that no one lead thee astray from this way of the teaching, since he teacheth thee without God. 2 For if thou canst bear the whole yoke of the Lord thou shalt be perfect,^ but if thou art not able do what thou canst. 3 And concerning food, bear (the yoke) as far as thou art able ; and turn your mind away entirely from meat sacrificed to idols ; for it is serying dead gods. ^ By "the yoke of the Lord" here some understand very absurdly the ceremonial law, and others, as Harnack, asceti- cism, and especially celibacy. But there is not the least support for either view in the context. The " whole yoke of the Lord "' means obviously the precepts of the Lord, which have just been summarized in the first part of the Didachc, and which our Lord Himself expressly designates His yoke (Matt. xi. 29). In those precepts there is no reference either to Jewish ceremonial or to celibacy. But to observe just such precepts as are en- joined here is by Christ Himself represented as leading to perfection. Cf. Matt. v. 39-48 with Did. i. 4, and Matt. xix. 21 with Did. iv. 7, 8 ; v. 2 ; vi. 2. TRANSLATION OF THE DIDACH&. ' 23 Chapter VII. 1 And concerning baptism, baptize thus : Having first gone over all these instructions, baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, in living water.^ 2 But if thou hast not living water, baptize into other water, and if thou canst not in cold, then in warm. 3 But if thou hast neither, pour out water on the head thrice, into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 4 And before the baptism let the baptizer and him who is being baptized fast, and whoever else are able ; but thou shalt command him who is being baptized to fast one or two days before. Chapter VIII. 1 Let not your fasts be with the hypocrites, for they fast on the second day of the week and on the fifth, but fast ye on the fourth day and on the preparation.- 2 Neither pray ye as the hypocrites, but as the Lord commanded in His Gospel, after this manner pray ye : 1 " Living water," that is, the running water of a stream or fountain, prescribed on account both of its freshness and abundance. For commentary on this chapter, see the chapter on Baptism in this work, p. 129. - The Jews fasted on Monday and Thursday, because these were the days on which Moses was supposed to have ascended and descended from Mount Sinai. Christians fasted on Wednesday and Friday, as the days of our Lord's betrayal and crucifixion. " The preparation " (napaa-Kevrj) was the Jewish name for Friday, which was so called because it was the day of preparation for the Sabbath. 24 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. Our Fat her ^ which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name ; thy kingdom come ; thy ivlll be done on earth as it is in heaven ; give us this day our daily bread ; aiid forgive ns our debt as we forgive onr debtors ; and lead ns not into temptation, bnt deliver 21s from evil ; for thine is the poiver and the glory for ever} Thrice ^ a day pray after this manner. Chapter IX. 1 And concerning the Eucharist/ after this man- ner give thanks : 2 First, concerning the cup : * We thank thee, our ^ With slight variations the prayer is the same as in Matthew's Gospel : eV rw ovpava for iu rots ovpavois in the invocation ; €\6eT(o for cXdarco in the second petition ; Tr]v 6cfi€i\r]u for to. 6(f)€iKr)fj.aTa, and dcfiUpev for d(pf}Kafj.€u in the fifth ; and the omis- sion of 77 jBaa-iKeia (the kingdom) in the doxology. In the most ancient MSS. of the New Testament the doxology is wanting. It no doubt originated as a response, at the close of the prayer, on the part of the congregation, like Aifien. See i Cor. xiv. 6. "There can be little doubt" (say Westcott and Hort : Ne2u Test. App.) " that the doxology originated in liturgical use in Syria, and was thence adopted into the Greek and Syriac- Syrian texts of the New Testament." Hence the variations in the terms of it. - A continuation of the Jewish practice of praying three times a day. See Dan. vi. 10 ; Acts iii. i ; x. 9. Tertullian (de Orat., 25, and dc Jejini.., 10) and Clement of Alexandria refer to and justify this usage ; but Clement adds, " Yet the Gnostic prays throughout his whole life, endeavouring by prayer to have fellowship with God " {Strain., vii. 7). 3 Referring to the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper, " over which the thanksgiving is pronounced," Justin Martyr says : " This food is called among us the Eucharist {evxapia-Tia), of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who believes that the things which we teach are true " {Apol., i. 66). For further elucidation of the passage, see chap, v., Part II. of this treatise. ■* The mention of the cup before the bread as in Luke xxii. 17- 2o ; I Cor- x. 16, is probably due to the fact that as the Pass- TRANSLATION OF THE DIDACHt. 25 Father, for the holy vine ^ of David thy Son, which thou madest known to us through Jesus thy Son : ~ to thee be glory for ever. 3 And concerning the broken bread : We thank thee, our Father, for the life and knowledge which thou madest known to us through Jesus thy Son : to thee be the glory for ever. 4 As this broken bread was scattered abroad upon the mountains,^ and, when gathered together became over was combined with a feast, so was the Lord's Supper with a love-feast, in which there may have been some imitation of what took place at the first observance of the Supper as recorded in Luke xxii. 17-20. The " cup of blessing," answering to the third of the four Passover cups, came after the distribution ot the bread. 1 Christ calls Himself " the True Vine," and is called also "the Root and Offspring of David" (Rev. xxii. 16). It was natural enough for the Didache in giving thanks over " the fruit of the vine," which symbolized Christ's blood, to combine the two designations. Clement of Alexandria employs the phrase. He says : Jesus was " He who poured out for us the wine of the vine of David ; that is to say, His blood " {Quis div. salv., 29). He says again : " The vine produces wine, as the Word pro- duces blood, and each drink for health to men ; for the body, wine, and blood for the spirit " {Pced.^ i. 5). Clement in all likelihood learned the phrase from the Didache^ with which, we know by another quotation of his from it, he was familiar. 2 Tov TTutbos crov, which may be rendered " son " or " servant." The term is applied to both David and our Lord in the Acts (iii. 13, 26 ; iv. 25, 27, 30). ^ This prayer appears again in the pseudo-Athanasian iJe Virgi7iitate^ in which the virgin says in partaking of the bread : " We thank thee, O our Father, for Thy holy resurrection, that through Thy Child Jesus Thou didst make it known to us. And as this bread was once scattered that is upon this table, and being gathered together became one, so may Thy Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth unto Thy kingdom. For Thine is the power and the glory for ever. Amen." The substitution of table for moi(iitai7-is was no doubt made to suit the prayer for use in Egypt, and makes it almost certain that it originated elsewhere. 26 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. one, so let thy Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into thy kingdom ; for thine is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ for ever. 5 But let no one eat or drink of your Eucharist but those baptized into the name of the Lord ; for concerning this the Lord hath said, Give 7iot that zvhich is holy to the dogs} Chapter X. 1 And after being filled ^ give thanks after this manner : 2 We thank thee, Holy Father, for thy holy name^ which thou hast made to dwell in our hearts, and for the knowledge and faith and immortality which thou hast made known to us through Jesus thy Son : to thee be the glory for ever. 3 Thou, O Almighty Sovereign, didst create all things for thy name's sake, and thou gavest both food and drink to men for their enjoyment, that they might thank thee ; but to us thou freely gavest spiritual food and drink and life everlasting through thy Son. 4 Before all things we thank thee that thou art mighty : thine is the glory for ever. \ Here no doubt we have the origin of the formula, the repe- tition of which preceded the administration of the ordinance in the early Church : " Holy things to the holy." 2 An expression which shows that among those for whom the Didache was intended, the Eucharist was accompanied with the love-feast. When it is asked why the chagigaJi was eaten be- fore the Passover, the answer which the Talmud gives is, " It was eaten first, that the Passover might be eaten after being Hlled.^' See Taylors Two Lectures, p. 130. ' A Hebraism : "There shall be a place where the Lord your God shall choose, to cause His name to dwell there" (Deut. xii. 11). The name stands for God Himself. TRANSLATION OF THE DIDACHA. 27 5 Remember, O Lord,^ thy church to deliver her from all evil, and to perfect her in thy love ; and gather her together from the four winds, sanctified unto thy kingdom to which thou didst prepare for her ; for thine is the power and the glory for ever. 6 Let grace come and this world pass away. Hosanna to the God of David. If any one is holy let him come, if any one is not holy let him repent. Maranatha. Amen. 7 But allow the prophets to give thanks in such terms as they wish.^ Chapter XI. 1 Whosoever therefore cometh and teacheth you all these things aforesaid, him receive. 2 But if he that teacheth, himself perverted, teach other teaching to the undoing thereof, do not hear him ; ^ but if to the advancement of righteousness and knowledge of the Lord, receive him as the Lord.4 1 Harnack has pointed out how the titles in which God is addressed in this prayer harmonize respectively with the several divisions of the prayer. When thanks are given for the bless- ings of redemption, He is addressed as " Holy Father" ; when the blessings of Creation are acknowledged, He is called " Almighty Sovereign " ; and when prayer is offered for the Church, He is addressed as " Lord." 2 evxapLarelv oaa deXovaiv, perhaps as vuich as they wish. According to Justin Martyr, the presiding minister, when the bread and wine are brought, " offers prayers and thanksgivmgs to the best of his ability" (oo-?/ 8vvafxis avrco). 3 2 John 10 : " If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed." ■* John xiii. 20: "Verily, verily I say unto you. He that receiveth whomsoever I send, receiveth me ; and he that re- ceiveth me, receiveth Him that sent me." 28 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. 3 And concerning the apostles and prophets, according to the ordinance of the Gospel, so do ye. 4 And let every apostle that cometh to you be received as the Lord. 5 And he shall not remain (beyond) one day ; but, if there be need, the next also ; but if he remain three days he is a false prophet. 6 And let the apostle, when going away, take nothing but bread to last him till he reach his next lodging-place ; and if he ask for money he is a false prophet. 7 And every prophet that speaketh in the Spirit,^ ye shall not try nor judge ; for every sin shall be for- given, but this sin shall not be forgiven.^ 8 Yet not every one that speaketh in the Spirit is a prophet, but only if he have the ways of the Lord. From their ways therefore shall the false prophet and the prophet be known. 9 And no prophet that appointeth a table,^ in the Spirit shall eat of it ; but if he do so he is a false prophet. 10 And every prophet that teacheth the truth, if he doeth not what he teacheth, is a false prophet. 11 And no prophet, approved and true, that doth any thing with a view to a worldly mystery of the Church,* but teacheth not others to do as he doeth, ^ Cf. I Cor. xii. 3 ; xiv. 2 ; Rev. i. 10. - Matt. xii. 31 : " Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men ; but the blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven." See also i Thess. v. 19, 20. ^ A "table" is here no doubt a love-feast. The prophet might be tempted to appoint such a " table " or feast for his own indulgence. '' This has been regarded by critics as the most obscure pas- sage—the crux—o{ the Didache. Among the many interpreta- TRANSLATION OF THE DID AC HE. 29 shall be judged by you, for his judgment is with God ; for in Hke manner also did the ancient prophets. 12 And should any one say in the Spirit, Give me money or some other thing, ye shall not hear him ; but if he tells you to give in behalf of others that are in want, let no one judge him. Chapter XII. I And let every one that cometh in the name of the Lord be received ; and then after ye have tested him, ye shall know him ; for ye shall have under- standing of right and left.^ tions that have been offered by far the most satisfactory is that given by Dr. Taylor. It seems to clear away all difficulty. " Worldly " or " cosmic " has much the same meaning as in Heb. ix. I. "As the cosmic sanctuary made with hands, was a pattern of the heavenly, so a cosmic mystery is an idea depicted in the world of sense by emblematic actions or material objects." It is teaching by symbolical objects or actions, as the prophets often did, that is referred to. But why is the prophet not to teach others to do as he himself doeth ? Dr. Taylor answers by quoting Barnabas, who says that " that very Moses who gave commandment, Ye shall have neither molten nor graven thing for a god unto you., himself maketh such that he may shew a type of Jesus. Moses then maketh a brazen serpent " (c. xii.). Moses made a graven image with reference to (ets) Jesus, though he says Cursed be the man that nmketh a molteii or graven image. So Justin Martyr says that under the old dispensation there was an element oi precept and action., which was commanded with reference to the mystery of Christ (ets fivo-Trjpiov Xpiarov) — (Dial. c. Tryph.^ 44). He too refers (c. 94) to Moses making the serpent of brass as a sign, though God had commanded that no image or likeness of any thing in heaven or earth should be made. But in doing this he was free from sin, because "he proclaimed the mystery by which He would break the power of the serpent" — Christ crucified. There is every indication that both Barnabas and Justin had this very passage of the Didache in view in their remarks on this subject. ^ The Apostolical Constitutions have in the corresponding 30 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. 2 If he that comes is a wayfarer, give him as much help as you can ; but he shall only remain with you two or three days, if there be necessity. 3 But if he be a craftsman, and wish to take up his abode with you, let him work and eat. 4 But if he have not a trade, provide according to your own discretion that he shall not Hve idle among you as a christian. 5 And if he is not disposed to do so he is a Christ- trafficker.^ Beware of such. Chapter XIII. 1 But every true prophet who wishes to take up his abode among you is worthy of his food.^ 2 In like manner a true teacher is also worthy, hke the workman, of his food. 3 All the first-fruit then of the produce of wine-vat and threshing floor, oxen and sheep, shalt thou take and give to the prophets ; for they are your chief priests.'^ 4 And if ye have not a prophet, give to the poor. 5 If thou makest a batch of bread, take the first- fruits, and ^\MQ according to the commandment.'^ 6 Likewise when thou hast opened a jar of wine or oil, take the first-fruits and give them to the prophets. 7 And of money, and raiment, and every possession, take the first-fruit as seemeth eood to thee, and eive fc>" according to the commandment. passage : " Ye are able to know the right hand from the left and to distinguish false teachers from true teachers " (vii. 28). ^ XpiarefxTTopos, one who makes gain of Christ. ■" T7]s Tpo(firjs aVTOV. 2 Cf. Num. xviii. 12, 13 ; Deut. xviii. 3, 4. * That is, according to the commandment indicated in the preceding note. TRANSLATION OF THE DID ACHE. 31 Chapter XIV. 1 And on the Lord's day ot the Lord, being assembled together, break bread and give thanks, after confession of your trespasses, that our sacrifice may be pure.^ 2 Let no one who has a dispute with his com- panion come with you till they are reconciled, that our sacrifice may not be defiled. 3 For this is that which was spoken by the Lord : /;/ every place and time offer unto me a pure sacrifice ; for I am a great King, saith the Lord, and my name is wonderful among the Gentiles P" Chapter XV. 1 Elect^ therefore for yourselves bishops and deacons worthy of the Lord, men meek, not avari- cious, and true and approved ; for they too minister to you the ministry"* of the prophets and teachers. 2 Disregard them not therefore ; for they are those of you that are honoured with the prophets and teachers. 3 And reprove one another, not in anger but in ^ The gifts brought by the Christian people by way of pro- viding for the Lord's Supper and the love-feast, and for the poor, etc., the thanksgiving prayers, and the dedication of them- selves to God in the ordinance, were all conceived in the early Church as a spiritual sacrifice offered up to God. Hence the use of the word "sacrifice" here. It contains no reference whatever to the Lord's Supper being a real repetition of the sacrifice of Calvary. - Mai. i. II. There is no reference to time in Malachi. The passage is habitually quoted in the early literature with reference to the Eucharist. 3 Etert—xftpoTovl](TaTe. Lit., to elect by s/taw of ha?ids, but then simply to elect. ^ Literally, liturgy the liliirgy—\(iTovpnvcTi ttjv XnTovpyiav. THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. peace, as ye have it in the Gospel ; and to any one that wrongs another, let no one speak, nor let him hear from you till he repent. 4 But so pray, and do all your alms and actions as ye have it in the Gospel of our Lord. Chapter XVI. 1 Watch for your life. Let not your lamps be quenched, and let not your loins be ungirt, but be ye ready ; for ye know not the hour in which our Lord Cometh. 2 And be ye often gathered together, seeking the things that concern your souls ; for the whole time of your faith shall not profit you, unless in the last season ye be made perfect. 3 For in the last days the false prophets and per- verters shall be multiplied, and the sheep shall be turned into wolves, and love into hatred. 4 For as lawlessness increaseth, they shall hate, persecute and betray one another, and then shall appear the world-deceiver as the Son of God, and shall work signs and wonders, and the earth shall be given over into his hands, and he shall work lawless deeds which have never been done from everlasting. 5 Then shall the work ^ of men come into the fire of trial, and many shall be offended, and shall perish, but those who have endured in their faith shall be saved by the curse itself.- J TjKTL(ri9, perhaps //le creation or race of men. - Saved by the curse. Taylor illustrates this from Barnabas who describes the goat, spit upon, and pierced, and cast out into tne wilderness, as "a type of Jesus set forth to the Church, signitying that whosoever would take up the scarlet wool must needs suffer many things, because the thorn is terrible, and TRANSLATION OF THE DIDACH± 33 6 And then shall appear the signs of the truth ; first the sign of an outspreading in heaven ; ^ then the sign of the voice of a trumpet ; and the third a resurrection of the dead ; 7 Not indeed of all, but as was said, the Lord shall come and all the saints with Him. 8 Then shall the world see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven. must by being afflicted master it. Thus (he saith) they that would see me, and lay hold of my kingdom, ifwst through affliction andsifferiiigobtai7i ine.^' Again with reference to the sacrifice of the red heifer : " Wherefore the wool withal and the hyssop ? Because in his kingdom there shall be days evil a?id corrupt ifi which we shall be saved; because he that aileth in the flesh is healed by the corruption of the hyssop''' ^ What is meant by " the sign of the outspreading in heaven ".? Archdeacon Edwin Palmer has shown that it means the out- spreading of the hands so as to form a c7-oss with the body. In Moses stretching out his hands, and enabling Israel to pre- vail over Amalek (Exod. xvii.), and in the words of Isaiah Ixv. 2, "All the day long have I spread out my hands ;" Barnabas and Justin Martyr see a foreshadowing of the cross, as do later patristic writers. Further illustrations are given by Prof. Rendel Harris in The Teachi?tg of the Apostles and the Sibylline Books. CHAPTER 11. THE DISCOVERY OF THE DID AC HE. A BRIEF account of the discovery of the manu- script of this early writing, which, after having disappeared for many centuries, has now at length been disinterred from the dust of ages, should be here put on record, and may interest the reader. The discoverer, Philotheos Bryennios, was born of poor parents at Constantinople, in 1833, discoverer, 3-^^^ received his elementary training in Phiiotheos the schools of Tatalila, a Greek suburb of ryennios. (^^Qj^s^antinople. Lutherlike, he provided the means of his early education by singing, and by conducting the music in a Greek church. By native His early talent and perseverance he pushed his way struggles, until, through the goodwill and patronage of a leading ecclesiastic, he gained admission into an important patriarchal college near Byzantium, called " The Theological School of Chalce." Having com- pleted his studies he was ordained a deacon, and appointed " Teacher of the Orthodox Theology." At this period, through the kindness and liberality of a Greek banker of Constantinople, he was enabled His studies to visit Germany, and to attend lectures in Germany. \^ ^he Universities of Leipzig, Berlin, and Munich. In 1861 he was summoned home to be 34 THE DISCOVERY OF THE DID ACHE. 35 appointed to the office of Professor of Ecclesiastical History in the Theological School of Chalce. Soon after this he became principal of the college, and a little later he was promoted to be master and professor of what is known as " The Great School of the Nation," over which he presided for seven years. He paid a second visit to Germany in 1875, when he attended the conference of Old Catholics in Bonn. It was here that the news reached him of his having been chosen Metropolitan of Serrse, in Macedonia. In 1877 he became Metropolitan of Nico- Becomes media, and next in rank to the Patriarch Metropolitan of Constantinople. He has proved himself °^ Nicomedia. to be a varied and accomplished scholar, especially well versed in early patristic literature. He is well known among European scholars, and the University of Edinburgh, at its tercentenary celebration in 1884, conferred on him the degree of doctor of divinity. Professor Edmund A. Grosvenor of Robert College, Constantinople, has had several interviews personal char- with Bryennios, of which he gives a graphic actenstics. account in the Centtiry magazine of May, 1885, with minute personal and domestic details. The colour of his hair, the condition of his beard, the peculiarities of his dress, and even the furniture and arrangements of his private apartments, are picturesquely described ! Suffice it to say, that Archbishop Bryennios seems to be a man of great force of character, remarkably intelligent and courteous, with exceptional conversa- tional gifts. When Professor Grosvenor visited him, his place of residence was in Phanar, the Greek quarter of Constantinople, where the Greek patriarch and 36 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH, several Greek bishops also reside, and where the great patriarchal church is situated. In the same quarter is the Jerusalem monastery of the Holy Sepulchre, adjoining which is the library of the Ms!^in in which Bryennios discovered the MS. the monastery of the long lost DidacJie. In this library ^Sepulchre! there are, it w^ould appear, " from four Constan- j-q six hundred manuscripts." Professor Grosvenor relates the incident of the actual discovery, as he learned it from Bryennios himself. In 1873 the bishop was engaged examining the MSS., when his eye fell on a volume he had not seen before — a small thick book covered with black leather, containing 120 leaves of vellum, or 240 pages. Taking it up indifferently to glance at its contents, he found embodied in it a number of MSS. in Greek, written by the same hand, and among which with great elation he observed the first and second Epistles of Clement of Rome, and the Epistle of Barnabas. He was so much interested in these, that he seems scarcely to have noticed another MS. which was em- braced in the volume, and immediately succeeding the two Epistles of Clement. His attention was meanwhile almost exclusively devoted to the MSS. of the Epistles of Clement, and in 1875 he published the text of these epistles with Prolegomena and notes. They were happily made public in time to be used by Dr. Lightfoot in his edition of that Father. In that first publication Bryennios simply announced the contents of the MS. volume discovered by him to be as follows : — I. A Synopsis of the Old and New Testaments in the order of Books by St. CJirysostom. The New Testa- THE DISCOVERY OF THE DID AC HE. 37 ment, however, is not given in it. In his edition of the Didach^ now before us, Bryennios gives r . t f at great length the variations upon the text the MS. previously published by Migne, as well as discovered. the portions which were wanting. 2. The Epistle of Barnabas. The first complete edition of Barnabas in Greek was that given by Tischendorf from the Codex Sinaiticiis published in 1862. The Bryennios MS., which is also complete, has new readings which have been used by Hilgenfeld, by Gebhardt and Harnack, and by Funk in their most recent editions of the Epistle of Barnabas. 3. The First Epistle of Clement of Rome to the Corinthians. The only other MS. which exists of this epistle is that contained in the Codex Alexafi- drimis in the British Museum, in which, however, portions are wanting at the end. The Bryennios MS. of Clement is the only complete one which we possess, and is therefore of great value. It has been used by Lightfoot in his edition of Clement. 4. The so-called Second Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians. The Bryennios MS. is also the only complete one extant of this work, which is now regarded as being not an epistle of Clement, but the earliest specimen of a post-apostolic sermon or Chris- tian homily which we possess, and which Lightfoot and others from internal evidence assign to the early part of the second century, anterior to 140 A.D. It is interesting also as being the first example of a read discourse which is on record. 5. The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles (AtSaxr] rwv ScoBeKa aTTocTToXwv). This is, with one exception, the briefest of all the works in the Bryennios coUec- 3S THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. tion, covering as it does less than ten pages of the original MS., but it is much the most important, and is none other than the long-lost book referred to by the early writers. 6. TJie Spurious Epistle of Mary of Cassoboli to Ignatitis of Antioch. It is of little or no value. 7. Twelve Pseudo-Ignatian Epistles in the longer Greek recension. The MS. containing these seven works has appended on the last page by the hand of the copyist the following subscription : — "Finished in the month of June on the nth, day When the 3^, Indiction 9, of the year 6564. By the MS. hand of Leon, notary and sinner." The was copied. ^^^^ ^^^^ j^ ^^^ Byzantine mode of reckoning is equivalent to 1056 of our era, that having been the year in which the MS. was com- pleted by the scribe Leon. It was not till 1880, seven years after the discovery. Publication that Bryennios resumed his perusal of that of the work, part of the MS. volume which contained the Didaehe, and began to realize its extraordinary value and importance. From that time forward he devoted every spare moment to the study of it; and at length in 1883 he gave it to the world, with scholarly Prolegomena and Notes, written in modern Greek. The title of his work as translated into English is : " Teaching of the Twelve Apostles from the Jeru- salem Manuscript, now first published with Prolego- mena and Notes, embracing both a Collation of the Synopsis of the Old Testament by John Chrysostom, and an unpublished portion from the same Manu- script. By Philotheos Bryennios, Metropolitan of Nicomedia." THE DISCOVERY OF THE DID ACHE. 39 Never before probably did the discovery of an early writing awaken an interest at once so interest immediate, so wide-spread, and so profound, excited by it. It was instantly seized upon with eager avidity by German scholars, early copies having been sent to those experts in patristic learning, Harnack, Hilgen- feld and Zahn. In the United States and in this country the interest excited by it was if possible still deeper and more general. There was hardly a review, scarcely even a newspaper in the three kingdoms and throughout the United States but contained some notice of it, and some recognition of its im- portance. The cause of its awakening such a deep and lively interest is not far to seek. The most ^, . ^ The interest cursory exammation is sufficient to con- awakened by vince the reader of the value which at- it accounted taches to it. It is exceedingly brief — not longer than the Epistle to the Galatians— and yet there is scarcely a debated question of importance connected with the sub-apostolic age on which it does not throw some rays of light. It is like the uprising of a new star to shine on regions which heretofore had been somewhat dark and shadowy. The discovery has been called an epoch-making event ; and, without doubt, it marks the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the early Church. " Its interest and importance," says Bishop Lightfoot,^ " have far exceeded our highest expectations. Its chief value consists in the light which it throws on the condition of the infant Church. ... Of the genuineness of this document there can be no shadow ^ Expositor {qx ]2.xiyid.x^^ 1885. 40 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. of doubt. No one could or would have forged it : it pleases nobody." "Remembering," he adds, "that the whole work occupies only a little more than six octavo pages, we are surprised at the amount of testimony — certainly much more than we had any right to expect — which it bears to the Canon of the New Testament." Canon Venables,^ describes it as " the most remarkable addition to our knowledge of the sub-apostolic age since the publication of the editio princeps of St. Clement in 1633, the value of which cannot be too highly estimated. If its reve- lations are startling and unexpected, such as are calculated to disturb pre-conceived views on some points of considerable importance, it all the more deserves, and we are sure will receive, patient investi- gation, and unprejudiced consideration from all who deserve the name of theologians and scholars." ^ British Quarterly Review, April, 1885. CHAPTER III. THE DESIGN AND CHARACTER OF THE DID AC HE. THE title, "The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles " [Aihayj] TMV ScoSeKa aTToaroXcov), or as it is in the longer form, " The Teaching of the The title Lord, through the Twelve Apostles, to the explained. Gentiles," does not mean, of course, that the work- came directly from the hands of the apostles, but only that it contains a summary of the teaching which they were wont to give. Their Divine Master had laid on them an obligation to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them, and " teaching them to observe all things whatsoever He had commanded them " (Matt, xxviii. 20). The New Testament makes fre- quent reference to a certain body of teaching which the apostles were wont to give to their converts ; which in course of time assumed a more or less definite form, easily distinguishable from the false teaching then rife ; which, before the Gospels and Epistles were written, was necessarily oral, and which must have continued current after they were written. Thus, we are informed (Acts ii. 42) that the early Christians continued stedfastly '^ in the apostles' teach- ing'' {rrj SiSaxfj rojv airoaroXcov). At Athens, Paul is taken to the Areopagus by the multitude, and pressed to tell them what " this new teaching " whereof he 42 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. had spoken is (Acts xvii. 19). He thanks God that the Romans had obeyed "that form of teaching which was delivered " to them (Rom. vi. 17). He refers to it repeatedly in his epistles to Timothy and Titus. John again exhorts his readers, if any one comes to them and brings not "this teaching," not to receive him into their house (2 John 10). It is a collection of such apostolic teaching, made, as the book itself informs us, for a specific purpose, that our DidacJic professes to offer to its readers. It naturally divides itself into two parts. The first part, comprising the first six chapters, treats Ways" treated of "the two ways. One of life and one of of in the first death." This mode of representing the life which a man may live under the figure of two ways, one or other of which he must pursue, is a very common one in ancient literature, sacred and secular. Moses says, " I have set before thee this A similar ^^Y ^^^^ ^"^ good, and death and evil," etc. representation (Deut. XXX. 1 5). Jeremiah says, "Thus saith the Lord, Behold I set before you the in Jeremiah ; way of life, and the way of death" (Jer. . xxi. 8). The Talmud has a similar repre- Talmud ; sentation. Prodicus in Xenophon's Me- morabilia represents the hero in his youth m. enopi n , ^^ standing between the way of pleasure and the way of virtue. And the parable of the narrow way and the broad, in the Sermon mon on the on the Mount is too familiar to need Mount; repetition. It appears from the Acts of in the Acts the Apostles that " the way " was a recog- of the nised and familiar designation of Christi- Apostles ; •. •. ir/ a . • anity itself (see Acts ix. 2; xix. 9, 23 ; xxn. THE DESIGN OF THE DID AC H A. 43 4; xxiv. 14,22). When thus used in the singular, it is no doubt meant to convey that it is the way of life, the way of light, the way of truth, the way of rigrhteousness. In 2 Pet. ii. 2, 15, it is . in 2 Peter • described as "the way of truth " and "the way of righteousness " in opposition to ^* the way of Balaam." As we shall see farther on, in the early Barnabas and Hermas, and other early Fathers; writers, repeat this parabolic teaching about the two ways. TJie Testaments of the Tzvelve Patriarchs, a Jewish-Christian work, be- "Testaments longing to the first half of the second^f the Twelve century, has not a little in common with our DidacJie, and among other things, this image ot the two ways : " God gave to the sons of men two ways, two counsels, and two lines of action, and two places and two ends . . . two ways, of good and evil." And, referring to the frequent use of the parable, Clement of Alexandria says : in clement of " The gospel proposes two ways, as do Alexandria, likewise the apostles, and all the prophets. They call the one narrow and circumscribed, which is hemmed in according to the commandments and prohibitions, and the opposite one which leads to destruction, broad and wrong, open to pleasures and to wrath." 1 In the Didache "the way of life " is described first. It is the way of love to God and man — The "Way the way of good works. This is first put of Life." positively in a brief summary of duties taken chiefly from the Sermon on the Mount ; and then negatively, in an expansion of the second table of the law — ^ Stromata, Book v. 44 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. "thou shalt not" do so and so — with against the inward feelings and desires, which might lead to an outward breach of the precepts. The negative prohibitions, however, under this head fre- quently pass into positive exhortations to duty. The fifth chapter, which describes " the way of The " Way death," consists chiefly of a list of sins of Death." such as we have enumerated in various parts of the New Testament, but with the gross and shameful immoralities of the heathen world around especially in view. We learn from the Didache itself that this first part ^. , , J of it was employed as a sort of text- First part used IIP . ^ as a text- Dook for the uistructiou of candidates for CatSme'ns. ^^P^^^"^ > ^o^ the second part opens thus : "Having first taught all these things, baptize," etc. The thing that strikes one most in it is the almost exclusively ethical character of the Why so teaching which this earliest Christian hand- ethicai? book embodies. This indeed should hardly surprise us : it was in keeping with the directions which had been given by our Lord Himself " Go ye, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them . . . teaching them to observe all tlmtgs whatsoever I have commanded you (Matt, xxviii. I9j. This is literally and exactly what our little manual does for those about to be baptized. It sets before them a summary of the commands of Christ adapted to their circumstances, and earnestly urges their observance. It implies, no doubt, a knowledge of the main facts of the gospel, or that these will be communicated by the teachers, but its own teaching is predominantly moral and practical. It warns against THE DESIGN OF THE DID ACHE. 45 prevailing evils, and exhorts to purity, quietness, meekness, self-denial, kindliness and charity. It was felt to be vital and essential that the members of the Church just emerging from heathenism, and still sur- rounded by it, should keep themselves free from its defilements. As Hatch points out strikingly in his Bampton Lecture,^ " moral purity was the very con- dition of their existence." If the salt had lost its savour wherewith was it to be salted } It was the holy lives of the early Christians which beyond aught else were like salt to the heathen world, and served pre-eminently to commend and propagate Chris- tianity. They were more powerful and convincing apologies than any ever written by Justin Martyr or by Tertullian. Stanley, the American traveller, who went to Africa in search of Livingstone, says that he went to him as prejudiced against religion as any atheist in London. But the sight of the solitary old man living there not for himself but for others, translating into life and action the teaching of Christ, he informs us, completely overcame his prejudice, and converted him to Christ, though Livingstone had not tried directly to do it. The occurrence related by Stanley enables us to understand the power of early Christianity. The second part of the Didache contains instruc- tions as to the manner of observing ^ T^ . T-. . -r. 1 T- 1 • oecond part : Baptism, Fastmg, Prayer, the Eucharist, a Directory ot and Love-feast, and also with res^ard to }yorship and iT'i i-r>i ri^i Government. the Teachers and Rulers of the Church, closing appropriately with an exhortation to watch- ^ The Organisatio7i of the Early Christ ia?i Churches^ Lecture III. 46 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. fulness, and preparation for the coming of the Lord. As the first part constituted a little manual for the religious and moral training of catechumens, so in this second part we have a Directory for the worship, government and discipline of the Church. I ought to mention that in the MS. discovered by Division into Bryennios, the work is not divided into B^^nnLs^ chapters and verses. It was Bryennios into verses by himself who divided the book into sixteen ^ Harnack. chapters. Professor Harnack has divided it into verses ; and, though his arrangement is in many respects unsatisfactory, I have adopted it for convenience of reference. CHAPTER IV. THE DID AC HE IN THE EARLY CHURCH. IN the introductory chapter, reference was made to two works which were well-known to early Chris- tian writers, but which are not now extant— the Expo- sition of the Oracles of our Lord by Papias, and the Chronicles of Hegesippus. Another book entitled The Teaching of the Apostles, or, in the plural form, The Teachings of the Apostles, is also mentioned by the early Fathers, and sometimes quoted by them. Thus, in his chapter, " Concerning the Sacred Scriptures acknowledged to be genuine Mentioned by and Those that are not," ^ Eusebius men- ^^^J^'^^'J^j^'^ tions " the Teachings of the Apostles " spurious among the latter. After referring to those Scriptures ; " acknowledged to be genuine," he proceeds to give the "disputed" Scriptures, and the ''spurious" iyoQai), and puts among the latter "the epistle bear- ing the name of Barnabas," and " what are called the Teachings of the Apostles " (twv airoaToKwv a'l \€y6/jL€vaL AtSaxal). Dr. Salmon thinks that the book whose title Eusebius quotes in the plural, is likely to have been that form of the " Teaching " which distributes the matter among the several apostles, that is, the "Ecclesiastical Canons" or "Church Ordi- ' HE., Book iii. c. 25. 47 48 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. nances" (as he calls the work).^ But we have no evidence that in that form it was ever called ** The Teaching " or " The Teachings." The work which appears to be substituted for '' The Teaching " of Athanasius in the list of Rufinus, and which Rufinus calls "the Two Ways, or the Judgment of Peter," is associated with only one of the apostles. The treatise which we now possess under the name of the Didache belongs manifestly to a very early date, not later even in its present form than the earlier part of the second century, and may have existed still earlier in a somewhat briefer text corresponding to the Latin version. This book contains evidence in itself of having been called " The Teaching of the Apostles," and we see no satisfactory reason to doubt its having been the work referred to by the early writers, whether under the title " Teaching " or " Teachings of the Apostles." The plural title applies appro- priately enough to our Didache. The second Pfaff Fragment, generally attributed to Irenaeus, but, as Zahn points out, pro- piobably by bably the work of some other writer, men- the Pfaff tions what it calls "The Second Ordinances i^ragment. r u a i jj /c^ / « » / of the Apostles {cevrepac t(ov aTroaroXcov BLaTd^€L., in the ^ Strom., vii. 5. 29. THE AGE OF THE DID AC HE, 8i sense of congregation (see i Cor. xi. i8 ; xiv. 19, 28, 35. The substance of our little book is in keeping with its style. " There is an archaic simplicity — I had almost said a childishness — in its the substance practical directions, which is only consis- of the ^ tent with the early infancy of a Church. ^ ^^^' Such is the test which it suggests of truth and false- hood. *A true apostle,' says the writer, * will only remain in a place a single day, or two at most ; if a man who sets up for an apostle stays a third, he is a false prophet.' "^ 6. Another evidence of early date appears in the manner in which the Gospels and other New Testament books are cited. The Apostolic ''^"^ ^^^ , ^ manner ot Fathers quote the Old Testament as Scrip- citing the ture, but, with one exception,- they never ^^n^g^f^^^" cite the Gospels or Epistles as such, or as written documents at all, the reason being twofold ; first, because the New Testament writings, though familiar to them, as we know by their references, and their reproduction of many statements from them, that they were ; and carrying, as they manifestly did in their view, quite exceptional authority, neverthe- less have not yet been consciously and formally put by them in the canon along with the Old Testament Scripture, though we can already see in reading them the beginning of the process ; and, secondly, because ^ Bishop Lightfoot, in Expositor iox January, 1885. 2 The exception is Barnabas {Ep. c. iv. 14) who quotes the words of Christ, " many are called, but few are chosen," with the formula, " it is written " ; another sign that the epistle was written later than the Didachc^ which never quotes the New Testament in this way. 82 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. those early Fathers, who either immediately succeeded the apostles, or had been in close intercourse with those who knew the apostles personally, naturally enough attached primary importance to the oral Gospel which they were able to trace back certainly and directly to apostolic teaching, and which enabled them thus to test the written Gospels and Epistles, and confirm their genuineness. So long as they were able to assure themselves by intercourse with those who had been in intimate fellowship with Peter, or Paul, or John, or James, that the Gospel which they pos- sessed was the same as that which had been taught by those apostles of our Lord, the writings which also contained this Gospel had only a secondary value for them. " On any occasion," says Papias,^ " when a person came in my way who had been a follower of the elders, I would inquire about the discourses of the elders — what was said by Andrew, or by Peter, or by Philip, or by Thomas or James, or by John or Matthew, or any other of the Lord's disciples, and what Aristion, and the elder John, the disciples of the Lord would say. For I did not think that I could get so much profit from the contents of books, as from the utterances of a living and abiding voice." It is manifest that books were already in existence and accessible. But I give the passage from Papias in order to point out that the Didachc accords exactly with the state of feeling prevalent in the sub-apostolic age. The Gospel is referred to as a whole, and in a way which I shall notice afterwards, and statements are evidently taken from several epistles, but no New Testament books are specified or cited as Scripture. ^ Eusebius, H.E.^ ill. 39. THE AGE OF THE DIDACH± %^ In view of all the considerations I have presented, I feel coerced to the conclusion that the Didache as- sumed the form with which Bryennios has made us familiar, not later than the opening of the second century, and it may have been a good deal earlier. PART II. CHURCH QUESTIONS ILLUSTRATED BY THE DIDACII^, 85 CHAPTER I. THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON. WHEN trying to ascertain the date of our docu- ment I had occasion to advert to the manner in which it quotes the Gospels and Epistles. It is a prior question, however, and one of still greater moment : Does it contain any evidence of the exis- tence of New Testament books at the time when it was written ? Let us now direct our attention to the facts which it offers in answer to this question. It makes repeated reference to what it calls " the Gospel," "His {i.e. our Lord's) Gospel," \vhat evi- and "the Gospel of our Lord," employingdence does it ^ , ,, . , . , , . afford of New the word "Gospel m the smgular ; and m Testament one place quoting certain words as some- writings? thing which our Lord " has said." In Did. viii. 2 we read : " Neither pray ye as the hypocrites ; but as the Lord commanded in His Gospel, so pray ye : * Our Father, which art in heaven,' " etc. Then we have the Lord's prayer as it appears in Matthew. Again, Did. ix. 5 : *' Let no one eat or drink of your Eucha- rist except those who have been baptized into the name of the Lord, for concerning this the Lord hath said. Give not that which is holy to the dogs!' The Gospel is not named here, but a saying of our Lord is given which is peculiar to Matthew. These two 87 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. references, it is true, might point to an oral Gospel current and familiar in the Church, but the fact that in the one case a saying, and in the other a form of the Lord's prayer is cited, which is found only in Matthew, combined with the further circumstance that this is only one among many instances in which the words of Matthew's Gospel are reproduced, makes it probable that the source from which our author drew was none other than the Gospel of Matthew as we have it. This probability is greatly heightened by the further references in our treatise. Thus : "Concerning the Apostles and Prophets, according to the ordinance of the Gospel, so do ye " {Did. xi. 3). The writer has in view evidently, as we may gather from the context, such ordinances as those in Matt. X. 5-12 and Luke ix. 1-6. Here our author refers to a particular ordinance of the Gospel (which he supposes his readers to be possessed of and familiar with), instructing them to act in accordance with it. He could hardly take it for granted that they knew of such a particular precept unless he knew that they had within reach the written Gospel which contained it. But this is not all. " Reprove one another, not in wrath, but in peace, as ye have it in the Gospel'' (w? exere ev tm evayyeXioj), says our author (Bid. xv. 3). And again: "Your prayers and alms and all your actions so perform as ye have it in the Gospel of our Lord." This appeal of the writer to a definite fixed Gospel which he knows them to have in their posses- sion, and which, he is also certain, embodies the details which he specifies, seems to carry us beyond a mere oral, traditionary Gospel, which would be more or less vague and fluctuating, and which could not be counted THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON. 89 on to embrace such particular details. It supposes and points to a written Gospel ; and has its parallel in such a statement as this in Clement of Alexandria: " We have not this saying in the four Gospels which have been handed down to us; it is found in the Gospel according to the Egyptians" {Strom, iii. 13). That our author himself had access to such a Gospel there can be little doubt. In this short work of his we have reproduced large portions of the Sermon on the Mount, and numerous other sayings of our Lord, some of them verbatim, and others substantially as they appear in Matthew— a fact all the more signifi- cant when it is remembered with what want of literal exactness the early Fathers are in the habit of quoting both Old Testament and New. It is, therefore, highly probable that the writer was familiar with, and knew that his readers were familiar with, a written Gospel the same as our Gospel of Matthew. But now another circumstance has to be noted. It is remarkable that in some places the writer follows Luke's version of the sayings rather than Matthew's, showing that he either knew Luke's ver- sion also, or the oral version which it represents ; while in the Eucharistic prayers we have distinct echoes of certain words of Christ in the sixth, fif- teenth, and seventeenth chapters of John. It is no valid argument against his using more Gospels than one that he so often employs the word " Gospel " in the singular number. Justin Martyr does the very same thing, though we know that he was acquainted with the four Gospels or " memoirs " (cf ApoL i. 66 with Dial. c. 10). And so does Irenaeus {Agaifist Heresies, iii. 1 1, 7, 8, 9). 90 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. There are also manifest citations and allusions in the Didache which indicate acquaintance with the Acts of the Apostles, First and Second Thessalonians, the Epistle to the Romans, the First Epistle to the Corinthians, and that to the Ephesians ; and there are reminiscences of John's First and Second Epistles, and of the Apocalypse. If I am correct in the view just presented, and in the conclusion already reached as to the date of our treatise, it contains the earliest testimony we possess to a written Gospel or Gospels, and is on that account peculiarly interesting. But in order to a proper appreciation of the testimony which it offers it will be necessary and, I think, not without interest and advantage, to give a brief and rapid resume of the first and second century evidence on this subject. Apart from the Didache, our earliest witnesses are , of course the Apostolic Fathers, those early Other early . , ^ , , , . evidence of writers who are supposed to have been m New Testa- personal communication with the Apostles; meat writings. *• . ^ ' and of these Clement of Rome is generally placed first. The date of his epistle is probably The testimony ^^°^^ 9^ A.D. Clement cites copiously of Clement from the Old Testament as Scripture, of Rome; ^vithout specifying the particular books from which his citations are taken. He embodies in his letter not a little from the New Testament writings also, though he never refers to these as " Scripture," as he does in the case of the Old Testament, because the idea of a New Testament canon had not yet taken formal shape. And his quotations are what have been called " silent," without any mention of the source ; only that the sayings of Christ are given THE NEW TESTAMENT CANOA. 91 as His thus : *' Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, for He said, Woe to that man : it were better for him that he had not been born, than," etc. Peter and Paul are spoken of as '* apostles " and " pillars." Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians is, as we might have expected in a letter to the Church of Corinth, expressly mentioned, and the writer manifests ac- quaintance not only with the Epistles of Paul, but with James and First Peter, and in particular with the Epistle to the Hebrews. Barnabas in like manner has sayings from the Gospels, the Epistles of Paul, First Peter, and the Apocalypse; and one of these, °^ ^"'""^"' ^ the saying, "many are called, but few are chosen" (Matt. xxii. 14), is introduced with the formula "as it is written." Here, then, we have the first express quotation from a written Gospel. For obvious reasons I pass over Ignatius, and come to Polycarp, who wrote from Smyrna to the Philippian Christians. Probably not much less than a quarter of a century has elapsed since the Epistles of Clement and Barnabas were written. And Poly- ° °>'^^^P- carp's letter has evident marks of progress ; for where- as Clement's citations from the Old Testament are far more numerous than those made by him from the New Testament writings, those of Polycarp from the latter are far more abundant than from the former. Indeed he hardly ever, if at all, refers to the Old Testament, except as it appears in the New. The authoritativeness of the New Testament books is more expressly recognised than by Clement, and the process is well-nigh complete which puts them for- mally in the category with Old Testament Scripture 92 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. Polycarp reproduces not a little from Matthew, Mark, and Luke's Gospels, the Acts, ten or eleven of Paul's Epistles, James and First John, and he is especially profuse in his use of First Peter. He quotes anony- mously like the others, but he makes express mention of Paul's Epistle to the Philippians, adding " neither I nor any other such one can come up to the wisdom of the blessed and glorified Paul." But perhaps the remark of his which is most noticeable in this connec- tion, is that in his seventh chapter, where he says, " Whosoever perverts the oracles of the Lord to his own lusts, and says there is neither a resurrection, nor a judgment, he is the first-born of Satan." We know from Irenaeus that Polycarp applied this very desig- nation, the *' first-born of Satan" to Marcion. Irenaeus informs us, that on the two happening to meet on one occasion, Marcion said to Polycarp, " Acknowledge (or salute) us," and that the latter replied, " I acknow- ledge the first-born of Satan." In other respects the description here given by Polycarp applies to Mar- cion. We know from other sources that he formed a collection of sacred books in keeping with his heretical views, his Gospel having been an adaptation of that of Luke, and his Apostolicon including the Epistles of Paul. It is with reference to him that Dionysius says, "Some have attempted to mutilate the dominical Scriptures." I am satisfied by Har- nack's argument as against Lightfoot, that it is Mar- cion to whom Polycarp refers in this place. There is no reason, therefore, to doubt that " the oracles of the Lord" to which Polycarp refers, were written oracles, which, though perverted by Marcion, were already well established and known in the Church. THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON. 93 With regard to the Apostolic Fathers generally, it should be observed that, though they make use of many sayings and passages which are found in our Gospels without informing us that they are taken from written documents, indeed without referring to any source at all, this is really no proof, no presumption even, that they did not use such documents ; for they do precisely the same thing in the case of other writ- ings — Paul's Epistles, for example— from which un- doubtedly, and as is generally admitted, they repro- duce not a little without any indication of the source, written or otherwise. But considering the brevity of the writings of the Apostolic Fathers, and that most of them were written in the form of letters to individuals or to Churches, it is remarkable that we discover in them traces of all the New Testament writings except Jude, 3 John, and 2 Peter. Our next witness is Papias, who is supposed by Lightfoot to have been born not later than ^j^g ^^^^j , 70 A.D., but whose work belongs to the mony ofj first quarter of the second century. He ^P^^^-- wrote a book entitled, " Exposition of Oracles of the Lord." The book itself has been lost, but valuable and interesting extracts from it have been preserved by Irenaeus and Eusebius. In the preface to his work Papias says, " I shall not hesitate also to add for your benefit along with my interpretations, such things as I formerly carefully learnt and carefully re- membered from the elders, guaranteeing their truth. For I did not, like many, take pleasure in those who have many things to say, but in those who teach the truth ; nor in those who relate strange commands, but in those (who relate) such as were given from the 94 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. Lord to the faith, and which came from the Truth it- self But if at any time any one came who had been a follower of the elders, I inquired what were the dis- courses of the elders — what was said by Andrew, or by Peter, or by Philip, or by Thomas, or by James, what John or Matthew or any other of the Lord's disciples said ; and what Aristion and the presbyter John, the disciples of the Lord, say. For I did not think that I could profit so much from the contents of books as from the utterances of a living and abid- ing voice." After stating that he understands Papias to refer in this passage to two persons called John, John the apostle and John the presbyter, Eusebius says, "Papias professes to have received the sayings of the apostles from those who had been their followers, but says that he himself was an immediate hearer of Aristion and the presbyter John. Certainly he often mentions them by name, and gives their traditions in his writings." Having referred to several traditions which Papias had recorded, Eusebius goes on : " He has also handed down in his writing other accounts of the before-mentioned Aristion of the sayings of the Lord, and traditions of the presbyter John ; to which referring those who desire to learn them, we shall now add to the extracts already given from him, a tradition which he sets forth concerning Mark, who wrote the Gospel, in the following words : — 'And this also the Presbyter said : Mark having become the interpreter of Peter, wrote down accurately whatever he remembered, not indeed in order, of what was either said or done by Christ. For neither did he hear the Lord, nor follow Him ; but afterwards, as I said, (he followed) Peter, who suited the instructions THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON. 95 to the needs (of those who heard him), but not so as to make a connected narrative of the oracles (or dis- courses) of the Lord. So that Mark committed no mistake in thus writing down some things as he re- membered them ; for to one thing he gave heed, to omit nothing of what he had heard, nor to falsify any- thing in them.' " Eusebius then proceeds : " these things, then, are told by Papias with regard to Mark. But concerning Matthew he has said this : ' Matthew, then, compiled the oracles in the Hebrew dialect, but each one interpreted them as he was able.' He also made use of testimonies from the First Epistle of John, and likewise from that of Peter." i Critics are not agreed on the point whether " the presbyter John " mentioned by Papias above is the same person as the John of the previous clause, the same, that is, as the apostle. Eusebius, as we have seen, distinguishes between them ; but Irencxus, who had the treatise of Papias before him, and who in addition as a pupil of Polycarp, an intimate friend of Papias, was likely to have been better informed as to the facts than Eusebius, seems to have no doubt on the subject. Iren^eus speaks of Papias as " a hearer of John [clearly meaning the apostle] and a companion of Polycarp." 2 But the point is immaterial for our purpose. What is worthy of notice is that the very object of Papias's book was to give *' an exposition of the dominical oracles." There is no reasonable ground to doubt that by this term he means the Gospels. He actually connects the word with Matthew, who he says, " compiled the oracles in the Hebrew- dialect ; " and he expressly mentions in the passage 1 Eus., H,E., iii. 39. " Ircn., v. y:,, 4. 96 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. cited from him by Eusebius, the Gospel of Mark, sup- plying us with interesting information as to the way in which Mark derived it from Peter. There is every probability that Papias in his book referred to the other Gospels, but it did not lie in the way of Eusebius, nor serve his object, to employ the references. Even in the brief fragments of his which have been pre- served, there are indications of his familiarity with both Luke and John, as well as the Acts of the Apostles. What is of special interest is that it is in Papias that we have the first express reference to any of the Gospels by name, and that their existence as written documents is implied at a period long ante- cedent to the date at which Papias wrote, that at the time when he was in intercourse with Aristion, and with the presbyter John, that is, probably, before the beginning of the second century, these writings were not only in existence, but recognised as genuine and authentic by immediate disciples of the Lord. A contemporary of Papias was Ouadratus, who The testi- ^d<^i^essed an Apology to Adrian. In an mony of extract from this given by Eusebius,^ Quadratus. Quadratus says, that " some of those [who had been healed and raised from the dead by Christ] have survived to our own times." Ouadratus must have been born, therefore, long before the close of the first century, probably as early as A.D. 70 or 80, or it may have been earlier still. This same Ouad- ratus and others Eusebius describes- as immediate disciples of the apostles, who built up the Churches whose foundations had been previously laid by the apostles, and who "afterwards, leaving their own ^ H.E.^ iv. 3. 2 H.E,, iii. c. yj- THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON. 97 country, performed the office of evangelists to those who had not yet heard the faith ; whilst, with a noble ambition to serve Christ, they also delivered to them the writing of the Divine Gospels." Eusebius gives as his authority the account preserved in the Memo- rials of apostolic teaching still extant, he says, when he wrote his history— referring, no doubt, to such books as that of Papias and the Memorials of Hege- sippus. There is not the slightest reason, then,^o doubt the thorough trustworthiness of the statement, that those immediate disciples of the apostles who became Evangelists to those who had not yet heard the faith, delivered to them also "the writing {ji^v rypacj)/p') of the Divine Gospels "—a most important testimony to the existence of written Gospels at a very early date, and as having been in the keeping of immediate disciples of the apostles, who, therefore, were in the best position to judge of their genuineness. It is singular that among the most conclusive and striking testimonies on behalf of the Gos- ^he test! pels and other New Testament writings monies of the are those borne by the heretics of tlittiJln;?;!;".,! time. Hippolytus, in his Philosophionciia, \aieiuinus. or Refutatwn of all Heresies, recently discovered and published in 1851, quotes largely from Basilidcs and Valentinus, Gnostic heretics who wrote, the former about A.D. 125, and the latter a {c\y years later. Basilides, who belonged to the reign of Hadrian (Clem. Alex., Strom, vii. i;), had a work in twenty- four books on "the Gospel." The important thing is that both he and Valentinus accept of the fout' Gospels as genuine, and quote them as well as Paul's Epistles freely, and particularly the Gospel of John. II THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. Basllides, for example, is represented by Hippolytus as saying-, " this is that which is spoken of in the Gos- pels : ' that was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.' " Here is John's Gospel, along with the others, accepted by the Gnostic heresiarchs at this early period. What does this fact — that these sacred writings are, in the first quarter of the second century, without question recog- nised as genuine by orthodox and heterodox alike — imply .? It implies that their genuineness must have been accepted and securely established before the heresies and consequent separation originated. Had the writings in question, or any of them, appeared after the development of the Gnostic aberrations, it is not conceivable that they would have been received as apostolic by both, as indeed it is impossible to conceive their acceptance as apostolic writings by any within whose memory they had first become known ; supposing, that is to say, that they did not come from the apostles and their fellow-disciples, but were subsequently produced. We are thus able, by an- other line of evidence, to trace them back as accepted apostolic writings to a date prior to the close of the first century. Justin IMartyr wrote towards the middle of the rj.. , ,. second century, and was born not far from Tlie testi- -^ ' mony of" the beginning of it. He speaks of " the Justin Martyr, j-nemoirs composcd by the apostles, which are called Gospels," and says that when the Christians met on *' the day called Sunday," either these or the writings of the prophets were read as long as time permitted. He also makes such abundant and pecu- liar use of the four Gospels, including John (with THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON. c^c^ whose ideas and phrases his writings are impregnated) and other New Testament writings, as to leave no room for reasonable doubt that the sacred writings used by him were the same as those which we pos- sess. And Justin, who was born in the East, and had travelled and sojourned in the West, has no knowledge of any other state of things than that which he describes. The assured place held by these apostolic writings over the whole Church is the place which they have held so far back as his memory and knowledge reach. Let the reader again ask himself how long time it must have taken before they could have been thus established in the unquestioning faith and confidence of the Church. Justin had a pupil called Tatian, who after the death of his master became a heretic. ^„ ^ . -- , Ihetesti- Tatian made a harmony of the four Gos- mouy of pels, which he called " Diatcssarou " (a term ^^^^^"^^ > in music, which means here, doubtless, a concord of four), which began with the opening sentence of John's Gospel : '' In the beginning was the word " ; and which got into, and for centuries continued in, large use in the orthodox Churches. Ephraem Syrus, who died in 373, wrote a commentary on it, of which an Armenian translation exists. A Latin translation of the Armenian was published in 1876, and from this, with other aids, the original text of the Diatcssa- ron has been approximately reconstructed ; and puts it beyond doubt that Tatian's work was based on the four Gospels as we have them. Let it be remembered that Tatian was a pupil of Justin, and that the Gos- pels used by the pupil must have been the same as those employed by the master. loo THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. Theophilus of Antiocb, about i/O, quotes from the ofTheophiluspi-ologue of John's Gospel, ascribing it of Antioch; exprcssly to John, and representing it as inspired. ApoHinaris, about the same date, speaks ^f of " the teaching of the New Testament, Apoliinaiis; to which it is impossible that anything should be added or anything diminished from it." He describes some as " showing the Gospels to be at variance with one another " with regard to the time of the paschal observance, expressly names Matthew, and implies the existence of John. The date assigned to the Muratorian fragment on the canon Muratodan varies from 1 60 to the beginning of the fragment; ^hird century. In it we have the first formal list of the New Testament writings. The fragment begins with a broken sentence, after which the writer proceeds to speak of " the third book of the Gospel, that according to Luke," next of '' the fourth Gospel, that of John"; then of the Acts, of Paul's Epistles, and other New Testament books. There can be no doubt that immediately before the broken sentence with which the mutilated fragment begins, the writer had been referring to ^Matthew and Mark, for he speaks of "the several books of the Gospels," calling Luke the third and John the fourth Gospel. Irena::us, Bishop of Lyons, was born in Asia IMinor about 130, and had been a pupil of Poly- uf Ircmais. ^^^^^ of whose manner and teaching, he tells us, he had a very vivid recollection. A person called Florinus had in early Hfe, along with L'ena^us, sat at the feet of Polycarp. Plorinus, having subsequently im- bibed heretical opinions, is thus addressed by L-en.xus THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON. loi in a letter which has been preserved by Eusebius : — " These doctrines the presbyters before us, who also were disciples of the apostles, did not deliver to thee. For when I was yet a boy I saw thee in Lower Asia, with Polycarp, moving in splendour in the royal court, and endeavouring to secure his good will. For I remember the incidents of that time better than those of recent occurrence ; for the things we have learned in youth, growing with the mind, become united to it ; so that I can tell the very place where the blessed Polycarp was accustomed to sit and discourse, and his goings out and comings in, and his way of life, and his personal appearance, and the discourses which he addressed to the people, and how he described his intercourse with John, and with the rest who had seen the Lord, and how he rehearsed their words, and what he had heard from them about the Lord, and about His miracles, and about His teaching ; all these Polycarp, having received them from eyewitnesses of the Word of Life, would relate in accordance with the Scriptures." i That is, what Polycarp told them he had learned from John and others who had seen the Lord with regard to Christ and His miracles and teaching, was in accordance with the accounts recorded in the New Testament Scriptures. L'enaius was the younger contemporary and successor of Pothinus, who at the time of the per- secution of the Christians in Gaul was past the age of ninety, and who was, therefore, born eleven or twelve years before the death of John, and must have been intimate with some of our Lord's immediate disciples and with many disciples of the apostles. Thus, 102 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. through two different channels, through Polycarp and through Pothinus, Iren?eus has had the means of becoming thoroughly conversant with the real facts as regards the New Testament writings. But he has not a shadow of doubt respecting them. " We have learned," he says, " from none others the plan of our salvation, than from those through whom the Gospel has come down to us, which they did at one time proclaim in public, and, at a later period, by the will of God, handed down to us in the Scriptures, to be the ground and pillar of our faith. . . . Matthew issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome, and laying the foundations of the Church. After their departure, Mark, the disciple and inter- preter of Peter, also transmitted to us in writing what had been preached by Peter. Luke also, the companion of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel preached by him. Afterwards John, the disciple of the Lord, who also leaned upon His bosom, himself published a Gospel when residing at Ephesus in Asia." 1 Irenaeus refers at length to the four Gospels, and it is admitted on all hands that those known to him were the same as ours. He is also familiar with the other New Testament Scriptures. Nor is it doubted that the New Testament writings familiar to Clement of Alexandria are identical with those known to us. Here then we have an irrefragable chain of evi- ^, , . dence connecting these sacred writinfjs Conclusion. . , , . ,. , , , ^ With then' apostolic authors, and such as no other ancient literature can pretend to offer in ' \\Q,\\.^ Against Heresies, B. iii. c. i. THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON. 103 support of its genuineness. Is it not, to say the least, a singular Providence that has preserved for us such historical testimony ? And are not the facts adduced enough to show that, in supposing that the " Gospel " so often appealed to by the Didache as in possession of its readers was a written Gospel, we are making no unhistorical supposition, but one thoroughly sus- tained by the evidence of history ? But while the Didache bears early and valuable testimony in behalf of the Gospels and •^ 1 1 T i\\Q Didache other New Testament books, i may re- also refutes mark further, while on this part of our t^^^e Tubingen ' ,11 hypothesis. subject, that it unites with the other early literature to overthrow effectually what is known as the Tubingen hypothesis. It was contended by Baur and his disciples that Christianity at first was but a form of Judaism, or Ebionism ; that Jesus was Himself an Ebionite, and claimed to be nothing more than a man ; that it was in this form Christianity was preached, and continued to be preached by the original apostles ; that it was Paul who took the first great step beyond this and began a wide deviation from the Christianity of Christ Himself; that there was thus a deep and radical difference between Paul's gospel and that of the Twelve — a difference that con- tinued while they lived ; that in four of Paul's Epistles — the Epistles to the Romans and Galatians, and the two Epistles to the Corinthians (the only letters of Paul admitted to be genuine by Baur) — there are signs of this antagonism ; that in the famous Clementine writings (so-called) we sec an cxarnple of the Ebionite opposition to Paul, who is covertly assailed under the name of Simon Magus, and that in the Marcionites, I04 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. on the other hand, who refuse to recognise any of tlic apostles except Paul, we have the true Pauline party ; that the greater number of the New Testa- ment books, including the Gospels, were written late in the second centur}^, and mainly by way of an Eirenicon for the purpose of ^-epresenting that there was no real or deep variance between Paul and the Twelve, and in order to reconcile the contending factions ; and that in the Gospel of John we see the last result of the struggle between Paulinism and Ebionism — " a treaty of peace signed on the heights of Gnosticism " (Baur). The theory, however, is des- titute of any historical basis that can be called even plausible. The Ebionism of the Clementine books was held only by an insignificant faction, and has been shown to be a development of the second century of very limited dimensions, both historically and in its tenets quite distinct from the Judaizing Christianity which so much harassed Paul.^ Above all, neither in the work before us, nor in the Apostolic Fathers, nor in any of the genuine Christian literature of that time do we detect any sign of the alleged antagonism. On the contrary, the different types of Christian thought — the Pauline, the Petrine, and the Johannine — are combined and blended in one harmonious system. And by the stress of hard his- torical facts the survivors of this school have been gradually driven from the position which they had taken. ^ See Lightfoot's Dissertation on " St. Paul and the Three,"' in his " Epistle to the Galatians." CHAPTER II. FAMILY AND SOCIAL LIFE. IT Is only a glimpse of the Christian home life which the DidacJic affords, but it is exceedingly suggestive : — " Thou shalt not take away thy hand from tin- son, or from thy daughter, but from their youth up shalt teach them the fear of God. Thou shalt not in thy bitterness give orders to thy bondman or thy bond- woman, who hope in the same God, lest they should not fear the God who is over both ; for He doth not come to call according to outward appearance, but on lliose whom the Spirit hath prepared. And ye, bond- men, shall submit yourselves unto your masters, as to the image of God, in modesty and fear." Not much is said here, but enough is p^^^ran nimily said to speak volumes to any one \\\\o li^^'- knows what domestic life was among the surround- ing heathen at the period when our little book was written. Indeed we are quite unable to appreciate what Christianity did for the home unless we have some knowledge of the deplorable condition out of which it was lifted by the new religion, some idea of the evils incident to the pagan family life of that age. It is the dark background necessary to complete and set off the picture of the Christian household, and on io6 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. which, therefore, we must delay the reader for a moment. The head of the famil}^, whether as husband, as father, or as master, was, by Roman law, almost omnipotent within the domain of the household. He Inferior status l^^d almost unlimited control even over his of the wife, wife, who held a position of abject in- feriority, and was little better than his slave. She was, in the legal phrase of the time, in viami viariti, under the hand of her husband. His power over her was virtually absolute. Her legal relation to him was that of a child to the parent, and what that was we shall see immediately. She could hold no property. He might lend her to another man, or bequeath her to him by will. After marriage she was shut up for the most part with her slaves, in the seclusion of the gyiicscaiiiL Her education, and her opportunities of mixing with society being very limited, she usually lacked the intelligence and refinement which these conditions are needed to supply ; and her husband was not expected to find any profit or delight in her companionship. He rather looked for these in the Hetiuj'i^ — the courtesans of the period — who mixed freely with men, even with the noble and the edu- cated, and to increase their charms sedulously culti- vated both mind and manners. It was in this class that the Augustan poets found their Lesbias, their Delias, and their Cynthias. Nor was it expected that the husband should be faithful. The marriage tie, at the time I speak of, was not regarded as impos- ing any obligation. It was inevitable that the moral nature of the woman should be degraded by the inferior status thus assigned to her, and by the treat- FAMILY AND SOCIAL LIFE. 107 ment naturally arising from it. So much was this the case, so abandoned and profligate had women become, that it was thought that they were naturally more inclined to evil than men. ** Nil non permittit mulier sibi, turpe putat nil," says Juvenal, in his sixth Satire. He speaks of a chaste woman as a " rara avis in terris." He represents the woman of his day as laughing in mockery as she passes the altar of modesty. As we learn from Clement of Alexandria and from other sources, she went to the public baths, and bathed promiscuously with the men ; and she even fought in the gladiatorial combats in the amphi- theatre. Divorces were without number. Seneca refers to a woman who reckoned the years not by the names of the consuls, but by the names of her husbands. Such women with their impure souls within, but adorned as regards their outward persons with paints and perfumes and meretricious finery, Clement of Alexandria likens to an Egyptian temple, with its sacred groves surrounding it, its porticoes and vestibules, its walls gleaming with gold and silver, with artistic paintings and many-coloured gems from India, and its shrines veiled with gold- embroidered hangings; but if you enter the pene- tralia, and seek the divinity within, the god that is adored, you will be shown — a cat or a crocodile or a serpent. So, he says, withdraw the veil of this temple —take away the dye, and the paint, the gold, the finery, and the cosmetics, and you find, not the image of God, but — a fornicator and adulteress. I have said that the legal relation of the ,, , , ^ Helpless Wile to the husband was somewhat similar position of to that of the child to the parent. What, ^^'' ''^''^'^' io8 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. then, was the relation of the son to the father? It was one of absolute and helpless subjection. Without violating- any law, the Roman father might scourge or imprison his son, appropriate any property he may have acquired by his industry, sell him as a slave, or even put him to death. And the father retained this power while he lived, though his son may have passed middle life, and risen to the highest honours of the state. First of all, when the child was born, it was a matter open to debate whether he would be reared or not. He might be killed, or cast away to be devoured by dogs or wild beasts, or to be picked up as an abandoned child and consigned to slavery, or, in the case of a female child, it nn'ght be to the hipauar. The children of the proudest patrician families of Rome were thus abandoned, and were often to be found in the foulest and most infamous resorts of the city. The references to child murder in our manual are brief, but pointed and significant {Did. ii. and v.), and are abundantly confirmed by contemporary liter- ature. Gibbon says, "The Roman empire was stained with the blood of infants." i If the child's life was spared, he or she grew up subject to the unlimited authority of the father, to be disposed of according to his will. He arranged the marriage of his children. The daughter had no option but to take the husband \ "Decline and Fall," chap. xliv. "It seemed so natural a tlnnn^, in the old heathen world, to expose infants, if it was not found convenient to rear them, the crime excited so little remark, was so little regarded as a crime at all, that it was not worth while to find a name for it ; and thus it is nothing wonderful to learn that the word 'infanticidium ' was first born in the bosom of the Christian Church. Tertullian is the first in whose writ- ings It appears."— Trench, "On the Study of Words," Lect. v. FAMILY AND SOCIAL LIFE. 109 chosen by the father. She was his property, and her consent was not necessar}^ He could even sell her into slavery. Their situation being thus helpless and abject, it is no wonder that the children did their best to make up for their lack of independence by cunning and deceit, and by employing the slaves as their ac- complices in frustrating the desires of their father. Their training and education were in a great degree in the hands of slaves, and generally of the most incap- able of the slaves of the household, who from physical defects were unfit for active labour. And what was the environment amid which they grew up to man- hood ? Apart from the contemporary literature, the ruins of Pompeii tell us. The walls of the dwellings in which they lived, and the rooms in which they slept, were covered with frescoes and pictures of the most sensual and obscene character ; and the very air which they breathed was impregnated with impurity. How could it be otherwise than that such a home was as a rule without purity, without filial respect, and without natural affection t But the family had other inmates whose position was still more abject and degraded. I refer to the slaves. Indeed the \\ox<\faiiiilia meant originally the body of slaves connected with a house hold. Under the Empire the slaves were almost num- berless — three or four times as numerous as the rest of the people — and constituted the great mass of the population. A rich Roman would possess thousands of slaves, over whom his power was simply boundless. He could scourge and torture them, and put them to death when he chose, and for the most trivial fault. A master was killed by his slave through jealousy or no THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. passion, and in consequence the four hundred slaves connected with the household were all put to death by the express sanction of the Senate. The slave was merely a piece of property, a thing, a chattel, and the master could deal with him as such. He had no rights. He could not bring an action at law. The law did not recognise even the right of marriage as existing among slaves. They might cohabit at the pleasure of the master, to whom their children belonged as part of his stock. The female slaves were of course in like manner at his disposal. What the result was the reader may imagine. Too gener- ally the slaves were housed in the most loathsome manner, sleeping in the ergastitla^ or private prisons which were kept by the masters. And it should be remembered that the slaves were not of a different colour, nor of an alien race from their masters. They were often their own flesh and blood. Their ranks were being continually recruited by the captives taken in war, by the sale of insolvent debtors, or by children who had been either sold or cast away by their parents. It is easy to understand that a class so numerous and so oppressed constituted a constant and most serious danger to the State. "As many enemies as slaves," Seneca speaks of as a proverb. No doubt the masters were often much kindlier and more considerate than the law required ; and no doubt the slaves found some protection in public opinion. But it was inevitable that such a condition should de- grade and demoralize them ; so that a "servile" spirit became a synonym for meanness and vice. It also filled them with a feeling of hopelessness and despair which made suicide a common occurrence among them. FAMILY AND SOCIAL LIFE. in If it be true, as undoubtedly it is, that the morals of society in general depend upon those ^i^^^x p^tre- of the family, what the outcome of the faction of domestic life which I have sketched was, ^^^^^ ^' does not need to be detailed. It would be difficult to exaggerate the corruption which everywhere prevailed, and which was intensified by a variety of causes — such as the grinding political despotism on the one side, and the cringing meanness on the other ; the disgrace which was attached to labour, which was therefore left in the hands of the slave-class, while the rest of the people lived in idleness and pleasure. Whatever restraining influence religion may have previously exerted, was relaxed by the withering- scepticism which was now so widespread. In such worship as there was, Bacchus and Venus, the Egyp- tian Isis, the Cybele of Asia Minor and Astarte — the patrons of impurity and pleasure — had taken the place of the superior divinities. And to such a pass had society come that common pleasures and ordinary vicious excesses were insufficient to satisfy the crav- ing of its morbid appetite. At once to excite and gratify it the amphitheatre ran with rivers of human blood, shed in the gladiatorial contests ; and unnatural vice of the most abominable description was freely indulged in. One form of it, expressly mentioned by the Didache, pccdcrasty, was exceedingly prevalent. Clement of Alexandria represents the life of many in his time as " nothing but revel, debauchery, baths, excess . . . idleness, drink. You may see some of them half drunk, staggering . . . vomiting drink on one another in the name of good fellowship. . . . It is well, my friends, it is well to make an 112 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH, acquaintance with this picture at the greatest possible distance from it, and to frame our hves to what is better." He gives a contemptuous picture of the dandies of the time having their hair pulled out by means of pitch-plasters in order that they may look soft and effeminate. It would make them more beau- tiful, he remarks, to pluck out not hairs but lusts. Christianity Christianity met these evils by beginning rc-enerated at the fountain-head, and by castincf its family life; , ,• , . , . ^l ^ neahng salt mto the sprmg of waters. Its first care was to revolutionize and regenerate the family life. It lifted woman from the inferior status to which she had been depressed, and made the mar- elevated I'iage union one of equality and of mutual woman ; respect and affection. '' If the God of both is one," says Clement,i " the master of both is also one : one Church, one temperance, one modesty ; their food is common, their marriage an equal yoke. . . . And those whose life is common, have common grace, and a common salvation. Common, therefore, to men and women is the name of man." required As our manual shows, very special care upbdnging. ^^'^s given to the proper upbringing of the of ehildren. children in the Christian home. "Thou shalt not take away thy hand from thy son or from thy daughter, but from their youth up shalt teach them the fear of God." The kindred exhortations of Clement of Rome, of Polycarp, and of Hermas on this subject, show how earnest the early teachers were about it.- Such counsels were all the more necessary * Pad.^ chap. iv. - See Clem. Rom., i. ad Cor.^ c. 21 ; Polycarp, /T/., c. 4; Hernias, Pastor^ Vis. i. 3. FAMILY AND SOCIAL LIFE. in. as the education of Christian children appears to have been carried on exclusively in their own home. Christian parents, so far as we can gather, did not send their children to the pagan schools. And we meet with no traces of primary schools among the Christians till the fourth century, when we find them in charge of priests. As the father's time was taken up with his daily work, the education of the children fell chiefly Into the hands of the mother, and very beautiful are the representations in the Catacombs of the mother surrounded by her little ones, whom she is tenderly training In Divine nurture. For the early Church did not think it necessary that child- ren should pass out of childhood before they would be capable of being regenerated. Jesus "came to redeem all," says Irenosus,! "all who through Him are born again to God ; infants, little children, boys, young men and old. Therefore He passed through every age ; for the infants He became an infant, sanctifying the infants ; among the little children He became a little child, to sanctify those who are of this age, and present to them an example of piety, uprightness and obedience." The regime of the Christian family was one of severe temperance, and extreme simplicity, ^j^g f^,^^;] "On the road to heaven," says Clement 'r^''''^^^' severe of Alexandria, " the best provision is fru- austere o° gality ; moderation Is the shoe, and bene- gloomy. ficence the staff." He would have been a warm advocate of our modern Bands of Hope ; for he says, " I admire those . . . who are fond of water, the medicine of temperance, and flee as far as possible ^ Irena:us, Agamst Heresies^ ii. c. 22, s. 4. I 114 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. from wine, shunning it as they would fire. It is proper that boys and girls should keep as much as possible away from this medicine." i On the other hand, the spirit of the Christian home was not austere, cold, nor gloomy. "We are no Brahmins nor Indian gymnosophists," says Tertullian, "no wild men of the woods, nor separatists from life. We are mindful of the gratitude which we owe to the Lord our God, and do not despise the enjoyment of His works. We only so moderate it as to avoid excess and abuse." ^ Gymnastic exercises were strongly recommended. Even angling was encouraged as a lawful and apos- tolic practice, only it was pointed out that "that was the better sport which the Lord assigned to the dis- ciple when He taught him to catch men." While images in their homes were peremptorily forbidden, the use of Christian symbols was allowed. The figure of a shepherd carrying a lamb on his shoulder was common on their goblets. " Pleasantry is permissible, but not frivolity," says Clement."' " Whatever things are natural to men we must not eradicate, but impose limits and times. One needs not be gloomy, but only grave." It is very touching to see the toys of little children depicted on their tombs in the Cata- combs. One has the picture of a child holding out a bunch of grapes to a bird. With regard to the institution of slavery, the early iTow Chiisti- Christian Church had a more difficult and anity dealt delicate task to perform. How was it to ''^'^''^"''"'y- be dealt with.? Had the Church entered on a revolutionary crusade against a system so deeply 1 PcEii.^ Book II. chap. i. - ApoL^ 42. ^ Pccd.^ Book II. chap. i. FAMILY AND SOCIAL LIFE. 115 rooted and so widespread, and encouraged revolt on the part of the slave population, the inevitable result would have been to cause useless bloodshed, to rivet the bonds of the slave more closely ; while in all like- lihood such a movement would have recoiled with fatal effect on Christianity itself. Perhaps in nothing do we sec more the profound wisdom of the apostolic teaching, than in the policy adopted regarding slavery. No direct blow is aimed at it. No encouragement is given to the slave to rebel or escape from his master. On the contrary, as in our little treatise, he is exhorted " to submit himself to his master as the image of God, in modesty and fear." But broad and far-reaching principles are introduced which work silently, and are destined ultimately to overthrow the system. Both masters and their slaves are taught the worth of indi- vidual man, no matter what his position in society. They are all equal before Him in w^hom there is neither bond nor free. And meantime Christian masters are taught to mitigate the evils of the system in every way possible. " Thou shalt not in thy bitter- ness," says our book, " give orders to thy bondman, or thy bondwoman, who hope in the same God, lest they should not fear the God who is over both ; for He doth not come to call according to outward appearance," etc. What a contrast to the customs of pagan society, when masters and slaves were taught to sit down together as equals at a common table in the celebration of the Lord's Supper, and of the love- feast. And inside the Church it was the slaves often who held the superior position, for its offices were all open to them. In the third century, one who had been a slave became Bishop of Rome. It is signi- ii6 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. ficant that in the earlier inscriptions in the Catacombs there is no reference to the social condition of those whose bodies rest there. It is only from their names that one can guess whether they were bond or free. And it should not be forgotten that one form assumed by the charity of the early Church, was the subscrip- tion of large sums of money for the voluntary eman- cipation of slaves. ''Behold Christ Himself," says Cyprian, " in your captive brethren, and redeem from captivity Him who has redeemed us from death. Snatch from the hands of the barbarians Him who has snatched us from the grasp of the demon, and purchase with money the liberation of Him who pur- chased us with His blood." i Nay, in many instances, prompted by a still more chivalrous charity, Christians sacrificed their own freedom to emancipate their captive brethren. "We know many among our- selves," says Clement of Rome,^ "who have given themselves up to bonds in order that they might ransom others. Many too have surrendered them- selves to slavery that with the price which they received for themselves, they might provide food for others." Thus did early Christianity regenerate and trans- form the family in all its relations. And thus too by renovating it at the heart did it seek to sweeten the breath of society. ^ Cyprian, Ep. 62, c. 2. - i Ep.^ c. 55. CHAPTER III. CHRISTIAN UNITY AND CHARITY. n^O nothing does our treatise bear more emphatic ^ testimony than to the sense of unity and brotherhood which existed in the primitive Church. It is silent as to any supreme authority of How Christian individual or council. It is indeed some- ""'^^ ^^'^^ what remarkable that we hear nothing of ande^S; any Church synod from the time of the Council of Jerusalem about the year 50 A.D. (Acts xv.) till after the middle of the second century ; and this is all the more singular in view of the wide-spread and virulent Gnostic heresies which at this time disturbed and harassed the Church. Such councils could hardly have been held without attracting the notice, and challenging the interference, and arousing the hos- tility of the adverse civil power. Besides, so long as any of the first apostles survived, their advice served in a great degree no doubt in place of such a synod, and when they passed away the opinion of men like Polycarp and others, who had been in close contact with the apostles, carried much weight. Yet during this period there was such real inner unity, such brotherhood and true solidarity among Christians everywhere as probably have never been known since We have ample proof of this m the work before us ii8 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. The members of the Church have learned as Cate- chumens, a common faith. They are all baptized into the Tri-une name. Their Hves are regulated by a common law — the law of Christ. The local congregations are uniformly managed by presbyter- bishops and deacons, each congregation having a plurality of both. And, besides the local office-bearers, promoted by ^^^^^^ ^^^ Certain ministers called *'teach- the itinerant crs," " apostles," and *' prophets," who be- niinistry ; i^^^^ ^^ ^j^^ wholc Church ; itinerate from place to place, and help to keep the more remote Christian communities en rapport with one another. by frequent Abovc all, they are partakers of one bread meetings and ill the Eucharist, and of a common life in celebrations of „, . i«ii . , .,-, , Eucharist and Curist, to which there IS a beautiful al- love-feast ; hision in One of the Eucharistic prayers : as the broken bread of the Eucharist was scattered in ears upon the mountains, and gathered together became one, so they are taught to pray that from the ends of the earth the Church may be gathered together in Christ's kingdom [Did c. 9). And in many and touching ways does this deep sense of brotherhood express itself. On every Lord's day they come to- gether to worship God and to celebrate the Eucharist and love-feast ; nor on the Lord's day only : '' Be ye gathered together often, seeking the things that con- cern your souls " {Did. xvi. 2). And again : " Thou shalt seek out daily the faces of the saints, that thou mayest rest on their words " {Did. iv. 2). And from another source we learn that at an early period the Christian people were wont to hasten every morning, immediately on rising, to the place of Christian meet- ing, in order to engage in worship, and observe the CHRISTIAN UNITY AND CHARITY. 119 Eucharist^ But it is in their hospitality , , ^ •'^and boundless and boundless chanties that we see the hospitality most striking manifestation of their ''^"^^ chanty. brotherly feeling. It was a time of movement within the empire, when there was much more travelling to and fro than we should expect in circumstances when the means of transfer from place to place were so much fewer and less rapid than in our age. And as at the time I speak of the majority of Christians belonged to the humbler and poorer classes, a correspond- ingly great demand was made on the generosity of Christian householders. In fact every Christian home was regarded as an asylum for the stranger and a refuge for the destitute members of the Church. The early Christian teachers lay the greatest stress on this. Melito of Sardis wrote a book on the subject,- and there is hardly an early writer who does not insist on it.' Our book is particularly urgent on the matter. Every wayfarer who comes in the name of God, no matter where he comes from, is to be received, and, on being duly proved, entertained. *' Whosoever Cometh in the name of the Lord let him be received. . . . If so be he that cometh is a wayfarer, help him as much as ye are able." As, however. Christian hos- pitality was liable to be abused by spies ,. , and impostors, it was necessary not only pitaiity not in- to exercise caution, but to be able to test ^^'^criminate. such wanderers. Hence our book speaks of *' prov- ing" them. Whether, in addition to the simple, * Egypt. Const., ii. 58. - Euseb., H.E., iv. 20. •^ See Clem., ad Cor. i. i, 11, 12 ; Herma3, Past. Sim. ix. 27 ; Teitullian, ad [/x., ii. 4 ; Euseb., H.E., iv. 23. 126 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. practical tests prescribed in it, any credentials were required, we are not informed ; but we know that a little later no traveller was entertained who did not bring with him a letter of introduction from the chief official of the Church ; and as such letters were some- times forged it became necessary that they should be written in a certain form which made imitation im- possible or difficult. Such letters were called Litcrce Formatce. But there is no doubt that tlie constant intercourse thus kept up between remote Churches brought them into closer relations with one another ; made them better acquainted with one another's cir- cumstances and troubles ; conveyed suggestions from one to the other ; and became a source of encourage- ment and help in times of difficulty and triah When Liberality of *^^ Church of Numidia was unable to pay the Churches the sum required for the ransom of their of Carthage imprisoned members, the Christians of Car- thage, consisting of 3,000 or 4,000 poor people, made a collection on their behalf amounting to 100,000 HS. or about ^900, and suppHed them with what was needed. At an early period the Church of Rome and Rome. ^^'^^ especially famed for such liberality. Eusebius gives a letter ascribed to Dionysius to the Roman Christians, in which Dionysius says, " this practice has prevailed with you from the very beginning, to do good to all the brethren in every way, and to send contributions to many Churches in every city. Thus refreshing the needy in their want, and furnishing to the brethren condemned to the mines, what was necessary, by those contributions which ye have been accustomed to send from the beginning, you preserve as Romans, the practice of your an- CHRISTIAN UNITY AND CHARITY. 121 cestors the Romans, which was not only observed by your bishop Soter, but also increased ; as he not only furnished great supplies to the saints, but also en- couraged the brethren that came from abroad, as a loving father his children, with consolatory words." ^ Eusebius informs us that 1,500 widows and poor were supported by the Romish Church. Mommsen (v. 52) says that the cost of a slave's maintenance in the first century was computed at £1 \os. od. annually. Reckoning by this, the cost of the 1,500 poor Chris- tians would be i^i 1,250 per annum. Even the half of that would be a large sum for the Roman Church, considering all the demands upon her. The spon- taneous and the generous charities of the Christians attracted the notice and excited the surprise of the heathen. "The eagerness of these people" (says Lucian in his De Morte Peregr), " when one of them falls into misfortune is incredible ; they spare nothing to bring him aid." No matter to what class they belonged, the fact of their being in need was a sufficient cause, ^^^^^ ^^ in any of their fellow-beings, to evoke widows and their charity. But very special care and ^^^ ^"^' sympathy went out towards the widow and the orphan. Polycarp in a bold and striking figure describes widows as " the altar of God," the altar on which the Church lays her offerings. Christian householders are exhorted to take charge of orphans, to receive them into their houses, and treat them as if they were their own children. " When any Chris- tian becomes an orphan, whether a young man or a maid, it is good that some one of the brethren who 1 Euseb., H.E., B. iv. c. 23. 122 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. is without a child should take the young man, and esteem him in the place of a son ; and he that has a son about the same age, who is marriageable, should marry the maid to him : for they which do so, perform a great work, and become fathers to the orphans, and shall receive the reward of this charity from the Lord God." And instructions are given to bring up the young men to some trade so that they may not be burdensome to the brethren.^ Thus Origen on the martyrdom of Leonidas his father was taken home by a wealthy Christian lady of Alexandria and treated as her own child. ^ And in like manner the new-born child of Felicitas, the slave-martyr at Car- thage, was taken charge of by a Christian woman. A readiness to place their means at the disposal of the Church on behalf of the poor and needy is . . required of Christians, which reminds us of of the Pente- the Community of goods in the Church of costal Church, Pentecost. " Be not one that stretches out continued. ,.,-,, . t , , his hands that he may receive, and closeth them that he may not give . . . thou shalt not turn away from the needy, but thou shalt share all things {avyKoivcovi]crei<; Be iravra) with thy brother, and shalt not say that they are thine own, for if ye are joint partakers in what is imperishable, how much more in perishable things ? " (D^'d. iv.) " We who valued above all things the acquisition of wealth and possessions, now bring what we have into a common stock, and communicate to every one in need," says Justin ]\Iartyr (A/^ol. I 14). "We Christians have all things in common, except wives," says Tertullian (Apol. 39). The same idea is strongly inculcated even * Apost. Const. ^ L. iv. i, 2. - Eusebius, //.Zs., vi. 2. CHRISTIAN UNITY AND CHARITY. 123 in much later times by men like Chrysostom, Ambrose, and Augustine. Chrysostom desires to see repro- duced again the state of things among the first Chris- tians at Jerusalem. He thinks it would be like heaven on earth, and would have a powerful influence on the pagan mind.^ Ambrose argues that " Nature created everything for common use. If then there are men who are excluded from the enjoyment of the products of the earth it is contrary to nature. The unequal division of this wealth is the result of egoism and violence."^ And Augustine maintains that no one has a right to wealth which he will not use rightly.^ It is not to be inferred from such state- ments that the right of personal property was not distinctly recognised in the early Church. What was taught was that no one should look upon his earthly goods as being for his own use alone. They are simply a loan given us by God, to be employed according to His will, and the devotion of which to the poor and needy is eminently agreeable to His will. At the same time, care was taken that their gifts should be without compulsion — should be free and spontaneous. Referring to the oblations, Justin Martyr says, " they who are able, and willinc: to do so, c^ive^, ... ' ^ ' 5=> Christian giv- what each thinks fit ; and what is collected ing free and is deposited with the president, who with ^P-^'^^^^^^^^'-^- it succours the widows and orphans, and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds, and the strangers among us, and provides for all who are in need."* While the Jews gave first-fruits and tithes, IrencTius points out ^ Honi. ill Act. 7, 1 1. - Dc off'. Minstr.^ i. 29. ^ Ep. 1 53. ■» Apol.^ i. 67. 124 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. that not in a legal or servile spirit, but in the spirit of freemen, like the poor widow who cast all her living into the treasury, Christians "who have received liberty set aside all their possessions for the Lord's purposes, bestowing joyfully and freely not the less valuable portions of their property." ^ To use their possessions thus, and sit loosely to them, was in ac- cordance with the fact that they were sojourners on earth. " Have a care, therefore," says Hermas,^ " as one living in a foreign land ; make no further pre- parations for thyself than such merely as may be sufficient . . . Instead of lands, therefore, buy afflicted souls, according as each one Is able, and visit widows and orphans, and do not overlook them ; and spend your wealth and all your preparations, which ye received from the Lord, upon such lands and houses. For to this end did the Master make you rich, that ye might perform these services for Him." And such gifts are constantly thought of, not as mere Alms thought a^i^s dispensed to men, but as oblations or ofas oblations sacrifices well-pleasing to God. This is or sacrihcGS . offered to beautifully brought out by Justin Martyr <^od- in opposition to the heathen, who called the Christians atheists because they had no temples nor altars, and did not offer sacrifices. He shows that to help the needy, to do good and to communi- cate is the most acceptable sacrifice to the living God."'' And L'en^us and Clement of Alexandria insist on the same Idea.* It was partly because they thought of them so, and desired to present a pure ^ Ircn., Against Heresies, B. iv. c. i8. = Pastor, Sim. \. 3 Apol., i. 14. ' Ircn., Adv. Hcer., iv. 17 ; Clem., Strom, vii. 6. CHRISTIAN UNITY AND CHARITY. 125 offering, that gifts were received only from Christians in communion with the Church. No im- pure offering might be laid upon God's i^Lf 'from altar. No gifts were received from the ex- tJ^e ungodly or communicated, from the impenitent, from '"'i'^"^^^''^' heretics or heathen, or of money made in unlawful occupations. The Apostolical Constitutions lay it down that " it is better to die of want than to accept of gifts from the ungodly and wicked."i When the Gnostic heretic Marcion left the Church, the 200 HS. which he had previously given were The right to handed back to him.- The right of pre- piesent offer- senting offerings was as much a sign of'"^'il:?ng^;;'/^ being in communion with the Church as communion. the participation of the Eucharist itself. And not only were the offerings and alms required to be thus free from taint of evil, they were expected to be the fruit of self-denial. ^thefnu\''Jr " Let thine alms sweat into thine hands," ^^^^ says our book [Did, i. 6). We have already seen that this means, "Let your alms be the fruit of sweat or toil," and that it seems an echo of Eph. iv. 28. "Work the thing that is good," says Hermas, "and of thy toils which God giveth thee, give to all that lack, in simplicity." ^ There were few rich Christians at this early period. The gifts which the Church required came, for the most part, from those sons of toil who had to earn their bread by the sweat of their brow. Hence such exhortations as those already quoted, or as that in the Apostolical Constitutions: " Work with self-restraint at your business, that you 1 Apost. Const., iv. 8, 10. ^ Tertull., de prcscr. Haer., c. 20. 126 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. may always have enough for yourselves and the poor, and may not be a burden to tlie Church of God."^ They were even expected to give towards such bene- , . volent purposes what they had saved by fasting. " Having fulfilled what is written \n the day on which you fast, you will taste nothing but bread and water ; and having reckoned up the price of the dishes of that day which you intended to have eaten, you will give it to a widow, or an orphan, or some person in want, and thus you will exhibit humility of mind."^ "If any one has nothing to give, let him fast, and set apart that day's share for the saints."'^ And after the death of any member of a Christian household, the family continued to give charities and oblations in his name, as if he were still alive.^ In many instances their self-denial went further still. " We know many among ourselves," says Cle- ment of Rome, in words worth quoting a second time, " who have given themselves up to bonds in order that they might ransom others. Many, too, have sur- rendered themselves to slavery, that, with the price they received for themselves, they might provide food for others."^ And it should be borne in mind that in Usury4"orbid- ^^^^ early Church usury was not permitted, den and On the Contrary, it was denounced with an denounced, earnestness and energy which would have refreshed the soul of Mr. Ruskin. "The usurer," says Chrysostom, " helps the poor man only to ruin him afterwards, like one who holds out his hands to a wrecked strugglcr in the waves, only to plunge him ^ Apostol. Const. ^ ii. 63. - Pas for of Hcrmas, Sim. \. 3. =* Apostol. Coust., \. I. ^ I'crtulL, de Corona, c. 3 ; dc Monog, c. 10. ■' Clement, i. 5. CHRISTIAN UNITY AND CHARITY. 127 more certainly into the deep waters."^ And all inte- rest on money lent was, in the judgment of the early Fathers, usury. Any brother who needed such assistance should have what he wanted lent him without interest. But while the early writers and preachers exhaust all their resources in pleadin^f for works of ^ , , \ ^ Care taken benevolence and charity, on the other hand not to demor- they are equally careful not to pauperize ^' ^^gd^e the ^" nor demoralize the poor by encouraging a poor by spirit of dependence, or by impairing the ^^-^^^^^y- feeling of self-respect and self-reliance. "If he who comes is a wayfarer, help him as much as ye are able ; but he shall only remain with you two or three days if there be necessity. But if he be a craftsman, and wish to take up his abode with you, let him work and eat ; but, if he have not a trade, provide accord- ing to your own discretion, that he shall not live idly among you as a Christian. And if he will not con- form in this he is a Christ-trafficker. Beware of such" {Did, xii.). It is to be feared that there arc still traffickers of this sort sponging upon the Chris- tian community, and ready to sell themselves to any denomination for a suit of clothes ; and that, for the sake of making proselytes, there are people who coun- tenance such Christ-mongering. It is instructive to observe how every such practice, fitted as it was to degrade and not to elevate men, was frowned upon in the early Church. Thrift and industry ,,,, ... , ^ •' 1 hrilt and and honest independence were cherished industry cn- and promoted. Work is no longer, as ^^'^"-^S^'M among the heathen, regarded as a disgrace, but as ' HoiiL 5 /// Mailh. 128 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. manly and honourable, and a salutary self-discipline. It is idleness that is opprobrious. The implements that represent their trade and business in life are constantly figured on the tombs of the dead in the Catacombs. But while industry was thus encouraged , it was not with a view to the accumulation but not the _ , , - i /- i , • x selfish accu- of wealth, or for any selfish object. It was "'"Sh ""^ ^°^ ^^^ benefit of the Christian community. And here, indeed, we come upon what was most distinctive of the Christian life of that age. The Christian lived not for himself, but in and for his Th Chri.tian ^^^^^^^'^' ^"^ ^" particular for the poor lived for the and the afflicted. The more complete community, ^j^^jj. separation from the world, the more severe their common sufferings and trials, the more closely were Christ's followers drawn together. And thus drawn together not only by common suffering and danger, but by a common life and love, it was those early Christians who first showed the Christianity world what is meant by a coniiniinity of first taught pgQpig jj-^ ^ district or a country. The what IS meant . "^ hy?iCom- very idea of such a thing was virtually imimty. unknown before. How wonderful that at a time when society in that old Roman world was decaying and breaking up, and being torn and rent by contending factions and bitter jealousies and hatreds, its separating elements were being re-united in a new bond of union ; and Jew and Gentile, Greek and barbarian, patrician and plebeian, the master and his slave, were being taught to sit as brothers and equals at the same table, fused into one living unity in the glowing flame of Christian sympathy and love. CHAPTER IV. BAPTISM. WE come now to notice the directions which our book contains with respect to the administra- tion of baptism, which, as being the earhest post- apostoHc rules that we possess on this subject, are invested with a rare and pecuHar interest. They are as follows : — " And as regards baptism, baptize thus : having first communicated these instructions \i.e. The Didachi those embodied in the first part of the o^^ baptism. Didackc, which immediately precedes], baptize into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, in living water. But if thou hast not living water, baptize into other water ; and if thou canst not in cold, then in warm. But if thou hast neither, pour out water on the head thrice, into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. And before the baptism, let the baptizer and the person who is being baptized, and any others who can, fast ; but thou shalt direct the person who is to be baptized to fast one or two days before." {Dul vii.) There is much here that is worthy of being noted. (i) We see that, even at this early period, baptism took place only after a course of Christian instruction. 1^9 K I30 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. In the early apostolic Church converts appear to have been baptized immediately on their pro- Baptism to be - . r '.1 • /-'I • i_ / A ^ •• preceded by a lessmg faith m Christ (Acts 11. 41; Vlll. course of in- cj6-^8 ; ix. 18 ; X. 47). But already, when struction. ^ ^ J^. ^ .^^ ^u our Directory was written, they are put under a course of training before being baptized — a preliminary education which, as we have seen, was predominantly ethical and practical, though we can- not doubt that, in addition to what our book pre- scribes, the catechumens were orally instructed in the leading facts and verities of the gospel. Indeed, all through, their familiarity with these is taken for granted. The whole passage in the DidacJic forcibly reminds us of the statement of Justin Martyr on the same subject: "As many as are persuaded and be- lieve that what we teach and say is true, and under- take to be able to live accordingly, are instructed to pray and to entreat God with fasting for the remis- sion of their past sins, we praying and fasting with them. Then they are brought by us to a place where there is water, and are regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves regenerated. For in the name of the Father and Lord of the universe, and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, they then receive the washing with water." ^ Justin goes on to say that ''this washing is called illumination, because they who learn these things are illuminated in their understanding." The converts from heathenism were soon so numerous, and their religious education was felt to be so important, that some of the ablest and most distinguished teachers of the Church, like Origen a little later, devoted them- * Apol.^ i. Ci. BAPTISM. IV selves to this work under the name of Catechists ; and in course of time the ordeal of admission to the Church was made still more difficult than it appears in our Directory, and, with some allowance for excep- tions, the period of probation was extended over three years. " Those that first come to the mystery of godliness, let them be brought to the bishop or to the presbyters by the deacons, and let them be examined as to the causes wherefore they come to the word of the Lord ; and let those that bring them inquire exactly about their character, and give them their testimony. Let their manners and their life be in- quired into, and whether they be slaves or freemen. And if any one be a slave, let him be asked who is his master. If he be a slave to one of the faithful, let his master be asked if he can give him a good character. If he cannot, let him be rejected, until he show himself to be worthy to his master. But if he does give him a good character, let him be admitted. But if he be household slave to an heathen, let him be taught to please his master, that the word be not blasphemed. . . . If a maker of idols come, let him either leave off his employment, or let him be rejected. If one belonging to the theatre come, whether it be man or woman, or charioteer, or dueller, or racer, or player of prizes, or Olympic gamester, or one that plays on the pipe, on the lute, or on the harp at those games, or a dancing-master, or an huckster, either let them leave off their employments, or let them be rejected. If a soldier come, let him be taught to 'do no injustice, to accuse no man falsely, and to be content with his allotted wages : ' if he submit to those rules, let him be received ; but, 132 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. if he refuse, let him be rejected. He that is guilty of sins not to be named, a Sodomite, an effeminate person, a magician, an enchanter, an astrologer, a diviner, a user of magic verses, a juggler, a mounte- bank, one that makes amulets, a charmer, a sooth- sayer, a fortune-teller, an observer of palmistry ; he that, when he meets you, observes defects in the eyes or feet of the birds or cats, or noises, or symbolical sounds: let these be proved for some time, for this sort of wickedness is hard to be washed away ; and, if they leave off these practices, let them be received ; but if they will not agree to that let them be rejected. . Let him that follows the Gentile customs, or Jewish fables, either reform, or let him be rejected. If any one follows the sports of the theatre, their huntings, or horse races, or combats, either let him leave off, or let him be rejected. Let him who is to be a catechumen be a catechumen for three years ; but if any one be diligent, and has a goodwill to his business, let him be admitted ; for it is not the length of time, but the course of life that is judged. Let him that teaches, although he be one of the laity, yet, if he be skilful in the word, and grave in his manners, teach ; for * they shall be all taught of God."'i (2) The reference to the instruction of catechumens in the DidacJic reminds us of another fact ^!rptizl/!iT ^vhich it is important to remember, namely, this time that the great majority of those admitted adults. ^^ ^j^^ Church during the period in ques- tion were adult converts from heathenism, or at least ^ Aposiol. Co}ist.^ viii. 32. BAPTISM. 133 persons capable of being taught. The baptism most prominent in such circumstances will be necessarily adult baptism. (3) But the chief interest of the passage given from the DidacJic lies in its prescriptions with respect to the mode of baptizing. Let us carefully examine what it says on this point. {ci) Baptism is to be administered in " living " water, which means the running water of ^^ . . „ a river or a fountain, as opposed to that ^>. nmnmg which is stagnant, and which was recom- water, pre- mended both on account of its freshness and abundance. The general rule, then, was that baptism should be administered in running water, which meant practically baptism in rivers. Accord- ingly the oldest baptismal pictures in the Catacombs represent the person undergoing baptism as standing in a river unclothed, and the baptizer on the bank ; though it ought to be observed that even this does not necessarily imply immersion, for in most cases the subject of baptism is standing ankle-deep in the river, while the baptizer is engaged, not in immersing him, but in pouring water on him. In early Chris- tian literature there is a body of writings known as " Sibylline Books," the production of various authors and times from the beginning of the second century onward, who put what they had to say in the form of Sibylline oracles, in imitation of the mysterious and famous Sibylline books which were offered to Tar- quin by the Sibyl. These Christian Sibylline oracles are frequently quoted by early Christian writers. But it is noteworthy that there is not a little in com- mon between the Didachc and these Christian Sibyl- 134 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. line writings.^ The celebrated acrostic on the name of Christ occurs in Book viii., and is reproduced by Augustine in a Latin form in his De Civit., xviii. 23. The passage consists of thirty-four lines, the initials of which make the words 'Irjaou^ Xptaro^ ©eou T16<=; ^a)T»;/3 = " Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour"; ending with the word ^Tavp6<; = cross. The initial letters of this title make the word IX0T^ = fish, which became the familiar symbol of Christ in the early Church. In several parts of this acrostic there are striking coincidences with sayings in the Didachc \ but one line in it is particularly pertinent to the matter under consideration, a verse which speaks of " illuminating the elect with water by twelve springs," an evident allusion to Christian baptism as taking place in " spring " or living water. Indeed the sym- bol of the fish swimming in water is itself connected with the baptismal rite by early writers.- The common rule, then, according to our manual, was to baptize in " living " or running water. But to this general practice certain exceptions were ad- mitted. "Other {^) I^ running water is not accessible, water " per- they may baptize in "other water," i,e. mitted. -r .1 • 1 • manifestly, m pools or cisterns. {c) If they are not able to baptize in cold water, they may baptize in ivarin water. This can hardly Warm water refer to occasions when cold water is not allowed, available, for if they are in a position to have warm water they are likely to have a supply of ^ See "The Teachinij of the Aposdes and the Sibylline Books," by J. Rendel Harris (Cambridge, 1885). " See Tertullian, De Baptisino, c. i. BAPTISM. cold water also. The phrase employed in this case — "if thou canst not" (et 3' ov hvvaGai) — may point rather to instances wherein the candidates were sick, or to infants. Dr. Taylor produces striking parallels from the Talmud. An attempt was made to obtain a dispensation from the practice of purificatory im- mersion in the interests of the women of Galilee, who were said to be afflicted with barrenness through the use of cold water ; and it was permitted to warm the water for the use of the high-priest on the Day of Atonement, if he was aged or delicate {Mishnahy Joma iii. 5.).^ That infant baptism, as well as clinical baptism, m,ay have been contemplated in this per- infant mission to use ''warm " water is not at all ^^^^P^ism. improbable. Dr. Taylor also shows from the Talmud how from very early times all proselytes to Judaism were baptized, and quotes the Talmudical saying, ** A newly made proselyte is like a new-born child" {T. B. Jebamoth, 48 b). He points out that ''at the baptism and reception of a proselyte, three persons, constituting a bet/i din, or court of law, were in all cases required to be present. In the case of ' a little proselyte,' it was said ' they baptize him on the authority of a beth din' (T. B, Kethuboth, 1 1 a). But might this be done to a child without his intelligent consent ? Yes (it was replied), on the principle that one may act for a person to his advantage, though not to his disadvantage, without his knowledge and consent. The case supposed is explained to be that ' Sec "The Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, with Illustra- tions from the Talmud," p. 54. By C. Taylor, D.U., Master of St. John's College, Cambridge. 136 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. of a child who, having no father, comes, or is brought Children of ^7 ^^^^ mother, to be made a proselyte. Jewish prose- But wlicn children were made proselytes lytes baptized. ^^.^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ ^j^^ ^^^ ^^ ^j^^ ^^^j^^^ j^^ bringing them was held to imply the assent of the children, independently of the authority of the court of three in attendance at the ceremony." ^ The first Christians, who were Jews, and who were therefore quite familiar with infant baptism in the case of proselytes to Judaism, would as a matter of course observe the same practice in the case of the children of Christian converts ; and there is evidence that they actually did so. Even in the New Testament itself there are traces of such baptism. The children of believing parents are said to be "holy" (i Cor. vii. 14)^ which means here, as it generally does, brought near to God and dedicated to Him, and which, doubt- less, contains, as the word often does, a reference to the dedication which took place in baptism. The words "sanctify" and "baptize" are often used inter- changeably. Thus, as the Israelites are said (i Cor X. 3) to have been "baptized in the cloud and in the sea," Moses himself is described in the Talmud as having been " sanctified in the cloud." So such expressions as " But ye were washed, but ye were sanctified " (not " ye are!' as in the Authorized Ver- sion), referring to an act of dedication which has al- ready taken place, are regarded by the commentators as pointing to baptism. Hence also Christians are called " holy " {a'^ioC), that is, persons who have been brought near and dedicated to God ; and sanctifica- ^ " The Teaching of the Twch'c ApostlcS; with Ilkistrations from the Tahnud," p. 57. BAPTISM. 137 tion is repeatedly described in the New Testament as something which has already been accomplished (see the Greek of Acts xx. 32 ; xxvi. 18 ; i Cor. i. 2 ; vi. 12). (Of course in other places the word carries the deeper moral sense in which it is progressive.) And just as we might have anticipated, we find in post-apostolic Christian literature early traces of the baptism of children. Justin Martyr, writing about the middle of the second century, says "he could produce many men and women sixty or seventy years old who have been Christ's disciples since childhood."^ Irenajus says that Jesus came "to save all who through Him are born again to God, infants and children, and boys and youths, and old men." ^ A reference to other passages in Iren?eus demonstrates that in this phrase, " being born again," he includes, as was customary in his day, baptism. In the very next book of this same work he writes : " Giving to the 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." ^ And Clement of Alexandria says, " Let our seals be either a dove, or a fish, or a ship scudding before the wind, or a musi- cal lyre, or a ship's anchor [these being all well- known Christian emblems] ; and if there be one fish- ing, he will remember the apostle, and tJie cJiildrcii draivn out of the ivaterr ^ In this last clause there is an undoubted reference to baptism, and probably to the baptism of children. It is true that adults might be so described as the children of God, but it is more ^ Apol.^ i. 15. - Adv. Hccr., ii. 22, 4. ^ Adv. Hce?'., ill. 17, i. •• Clement, Pcrd., iii. 11. 138 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. natural to take the expression as designating those who are children in point of age. At all events, Origen, who was thoroughly conversant with the early literature, history, and traditions of the Church antecedent to his own time, derives the practice of infant baptism from apostolic tradition.^ It is true that Tertullian opposed infant baptism ; but there could be no better evidence that it was no recent ecclesiastical development than the ground on which he bases his opposition to it ; for he urges its discon- tinuance not on principle, but for prudential reasons, and not as an innovation, but as an established and prevailing custom. id) But if they have neither running water, nor Baptism by ^^her water, they are to pour water thrice pouring 'i.'xwz- upon the head in the name of Father, Son, *^°"^'^- and Holy Spirit. This third alternative, in \v\{\Q\i pouring is expressly sanctioned, seems to imply that in the other cases immersion was intended. In- deed the preposition in the phrase "baptize into other water," points directly to immersion ; and Immersion. • ,. , ^ •. , , i • there is little room for doubt that this was the common mode of baptism in early times. As Dr. Taylor, in the work already referred to, shows, the baptism of Jewish proselytes was by immersion ; and "according to the Jewish rite a ring on the finger, a band confining the hair, or anything that in the least degree broke the continuity of contact with the water, was held to invalidate the act." The general mode of baptism indicated over and over again by ^ Ep. ad Rom. v. : " Ecclesia ab apostolis traditionem accepit parvulis baptismum dare." See also Lc7'if. Horn. viii. BAPTISM. T39 the Apostolic Fathers, and by their successors, is un- doubtedly immersion.^ I have referred already to the Sibylline Oracles of the early Christian age. In Book iv. of these oracles, which describes the eruption of Vesuvius which took place in A.D. 79 as a recent calamity, and which, therefore, must have been one of the earliest of these writings, immersion is distinctly indicated. "Ah! wretched mortals," the writer exclaims, " lay down your swords ; away with groans, and murder, and violence, and wash your whole bodies in the perennial waters, and, raising your hands on high, ask pardon for your sins" (vv. 161 H). But what is most interesting and most important here is, that in this old Church Directory of the end of the first century, written probably while the Apostle John was still alive, a certain degree of freedom is allowed as regards the method of baptizing. The validity of the rite is not tied absolutely to any one mode, but pouring as well as immersion is recognised as valid. " This much is lifted above all question " (says Harnack), " namely, that the author regarded as the essential element of the sacrament, not the immersion in water, but chiefly and alone the use of water. From this one is entitled to conclude that, from the beginning, in the Christian world immersion was the rule ; but that quite early the sacrament was considered to be complete when the water was applied, not in the form of a bath, but in the form of an aspersion." It is certainly significant that two of the oldest baptismal pictures in the Catacombs ^ See Barnabas, Ep.^ c. il ; Hernias, Vision^ iii. c. ii. 7 ; Coin. iv. c. 3 ; Book iii. Sim. ix. c. 16. I40 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. represent children as standing in the water ankle- deep, and as having water poured upon them in the form of spray. Indeed the first English Baptists laid no stress on the mode, nor did they practise immer- sion themselves, but were content with sprinkling. The Reformers took the large and liberal view of this matter. "Whether the person baptized is to be wholly immersed, and that once or thrice, or whether he is only to be sprinkled with water is not of the least consequence," says Calvin. " Churches should be at liberty to adopt either, according to the diver- sity of climates, although it is evident that the term baptize means to immerse, and that this was the form used by the primitive Church." ^ The Westminster Divines took the same position as Calvin : " Dipping of the person into water is not necessary," they say ; " but baptism is rightly administered by pouring or sprinkling water upon the person." =^ I may remark that the vote by which the Westminster Assembly thus pronounced pouring or sprinkling legitimate was a very close one — twenty-five to twenty-four. (4) Another peculiarity in the baptismal directions ^ 1 . . , of the DidacJic should be noticed. The Administra- tion of theiite authorization to baptize is given here to "^to cfffice-^^^ the Christian people generally, without any bearers in the restriction of the prerogative to a class Didachc. ^^ office-bearers. The same instruction is reproduced in the Apostolical Constitutions, but there the administration of the ordinance is expressly con- fined to the bishop or the presbyter. Taylor points out that in Jewish baptism the proselyte, if not an infant, performed the act of immersion himself. Ter- ^ Inst., iv. c. 15, 19. - West. Couf.s c. 28, 3. BAPTISM, 141 tullian assigns to laymen the right of administering the ordinance ; and Hilary says that in early times, " ojnnes docebant, et omnes baptizabant'' — "all taught and all baptized."^ In the earlier apostolic times there is no hint of any restriction of the right. On the contrary, Paul for the most part leaves the per- formance of the ceremony to others, and Paul himself was baptized by Ananias, who appears to have been nothing more than an ordinary disciple (Acts ix. 10). The growth of the sacerdotal spirit soon tended to restrict it ; but no doubt, though there is no principle involved in it, as a matter of order it is not only expedient but necessary that the administration of such an ordinance should be in the hands of the con- stituted authorities of the Church. (5) The association oi fasting with baptism accords with Justin Martyr's testimony on the same p . subject.^ The propriety of this practice accompanied as in some circumstances a wholesome ^^y lasting, self-discipline, and a suitable expression of humilia- tion and sadness of spirit is clearly enough implied by Christ Himself. Matt. vi. 16 ; Mark ix. 29 ; Matt. ix. 15. It seems to have been an accompaniment of almost every solemn act or service in the apostolic Church. The designation of Saul and Barnabas to the work whereto they had been called was marked by fasting, prayer, and the laying on of hands (Acts xiii. 2, 3). And when they went forth on their mission it was with prayer and fasting that they ordained elders in every Church planted by them (Acts xiv. 23). Paul describes himself as having been " in fastings often " (2 Cor. vi. 5 ; xi. 27), and ^ Com. ad Eplics. iv. ir, 12. - ApoL^ i. 61. 142 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. speaks approvingly of the Christians at Corinth "giving themselves for a time to fasting and prayer" (i Cor. vi. 5). But observe that in this early writing we hear nothing of the signing of the cross on the oi sign llf forehead, or of giving milk and honey and cross, etc., in g^lt to the candidate, as a sign of citizen- ' ship in Christ's kingdom, nothing of the anointing with oil, or the clothing in the white robe, nothing of exorcism, or of the formula of solemn re- nunciation of the devil and his works, most of which were introduced early as accompaniments of baptism. In the absence of such ceremonies, and in the severe simplicity of the rite as here prescribed, we have another mark of the early date of our Directory. (6) It is also silent with respect to the purport and Significance significance of this sacred ordinance. There of the lite, jg j-jq remotest hint of baptismal regenera- tion, the leaven of which we know began to work earl}'. The subtle way in which it insinuated itself is apparent in the early literature. It is well-known how, by what is called the figure of metonymy, we often and . naturally enough attribute to signs the properties and effects which in strictness belong only to the things signified. It is a peculiarity of language which attaches necessarily to the use of figure and symbol. The New Testament writers naturally adopt this method of speech in referring to the Lord's Supper. The "cup of blessing" is at once "the new covenant in Christ's blood," and " the communion of the blood of Christ" (i Cor. x. 16; xi. 25). And they adopt it just as naturally and inevitably in de- scribing baptism. " Repent and be baptized every one BAPTISM. 143 of you in the name of Jesus Christ, unto the remission of your sins" (Acts ii. 38). "Arise and be baptized, and wash away thy sins" (Acts xxii. 16). Of course it is not meant here that sin is washed away or re- mitted by the baptismal water. It can be only meant that the baptismal washing is the visible sign of that cleansing which in a thousand forms, and in the clearest terms is attributed to the blood of Christ. It is so also when the Roman Christians are said to have been " baptized into Christ's death, buried with Him through baptism into death" (Rom. vi. 3, 4); when the Galatians are told that " as many of them as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ " (Gal. iii. 27); when Titus is reminded that "according to His mercy He saved us through the laver of regen- eration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Tit. iii. 5) ; when Peter writes that as in the days of Noah the few who entered the ark " were saved through water : the like figure whereunto even baptism doth now save us" (i Pet. iii. 21). Moreover, as Calvin points out, " God does not mock us with empty signs, but by His power inwardly makes good what He demon- strates by the outward sign. Wherefore baptism is congruously and truly called the laver of regenera- tion. We must connect the sign and the thing signi- fied, so as not to make the sign empty and ineffectual ; yet not to honour the sign as to detract from the Holy Spirit what is peculiarly His." Now in their simple earnest faith, the early Christians suppose the thing signified to accompany the sign, and apply the same terms — "regeneration," for example — to both, without sufficiently discriminating between them, but at the same time without intending to teach that the 144 T'HE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. mere sign effected the change. The age was quite destitute of the critical and philosophical faculty, needed to analyze the symbol, and to draw meta- physical distinctions between it and that which it represented. This should always be borne in mind in dealing with the statements of the early Fathers with regard both to Baptism and the Lord's Supper. "Blessed are they," says Barnabas, ''who placing their trust in the cross have gone down into the water. . . . We descend into the water full of sin and defilement, but come up bearing fruit in our heart, having the fear of God, and trust in Jesus in our spirit."! "They descend into the water dead and arise alive," says Hermas.- We have seen already how Justin Martyr and Iren^eus apply to baptism the term " regeneration." Now, to take the case of Justin, he evidently does not mean that the mere rite of baptism was the cause and agent of renewal ; for he describes the person about to be baptized as having believed already, and as having been "made new through Christ ; " and there is much to show that he regarded baptism simply as a sign and a seal (this latter being a common and favourite name for the rite in early times). "For Isaiah" (he says), "did not send you to a bath there to wash away murder and other sins, which not even all the water of the sea were sufficient to purge ; but, as might have been expected, this was that saving bath of the olden time which was for those who repented, and who no longer were purified by the blood of goats, and of sheep, or by the ashes of an heifer, or by the offerings of fine flour, but by faith through the blood of Christ, and ^ Ep. of Barnabas, c. xi. - Book iii. Sim. ix. c. xvi. BAPTISM. 145 through His death, who died for this very reason." ^ Justin manifestly does not mean to teach that the mere baptismal water washes away sin, and regener- ates and renews, but his language is not sufficiently discriminating ; and it is not to be wondered at, though it is much to be deplored, that, among con- verts from heathenism whose early religion taught them to ascribe magical effect to external rites, the magical theory of baptism soon became prevalent. ^ Justin, Dial, luith TrypJio^ c. xii. CHAPTER V. THE EUCHARIST. ON the subject of the Eucharist our document is as striking in its omissions as in its positive prescriptions. It says nothing of the words of in- stitution, and, except in the brief reference in the fourteenth chapter, is almost equally silent with re- gard to the mode of celebration ; evidently taking it _ , r for granted that the necessary instructions Takes for ^ 11,. granted oral With regard to such matters would be given instructions. Qj-^Hy^ or learned from the New Testament itself. Indeed little is here recorded besides the prayers of thanksgiving with which the service was to be accompanied. That room should thus be left for much oral instruction, especially with regard to the mysteries of the faith, is just what we might expect. Taylor points out that " so strong was the predilection for oral teaching in general that, amongst the Jews, the Mishnah, as well as the Gemara, was handed down unwritten for centuries ;" and in the early Christian literature there are many traces of a like fondness for it. But, notwithstanding the silence of the DidacJic on such points as those mentioned, its actual prescriptions are, so far as they go, eminently interesting and instructive. They are as follows : — " As regards the Eucharist, give thanks {tvx(^pi(j- 146 THE EUCHARIST. 147 r7]aaT€) thus : First with regard to the cup : ' We thank thee, our Father, for the holy vine ^, of David thy servant (or child), which oifthe'Eu-'' thou hast made known to us through Jesus charist. thy servant. To thee be the glory for ever.' And for the broken bread : ' We thank thee, our Father, for the life and knowledge which thou hast made known to us through Jesus thy servant. To thee be the glory for ever. As this broken bread was scattered upon the mountains, and gathered together became one, so let thy Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth into thy kingdom ; for thine is the glory and the power through Jesus Christ for ever.' But let no one eat or drink of your Eucharist except those baptized into the name of the Lord ; for re- garding this also the Lord hath said, ' Give not that which is holy to the dogs.' " "And after being filled give thanks thus: 'We thank thee. Holy Father, for thy Holy Name which thou hast enshrined in our hearts, and for the know- ledge and faith and immortality which thou hast made known to us by Jesus thy servant. To thee be the glory for ever. Thou, O Almighty Lord, didst create all things for thy name's sake, and didst give food and drink to men for their enjoyment, that they might give thee thanks, but to us thou didst freely give spiritual food, drink, and life everlasting through thy servant. Before all things we thank thee that thou art miglit)^ To thee be the glory for ever. Remember, Lord, thy Church, to deliver her from all evil, and to perfect her in thy love, and gather her together from the four winds, sanctified unto thy kingdom, which thou didst prepare for her ; 148 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. for thine is the power and the glory for ever. Let grace come, and this world pass away. Hosanna to the God of David. If any one is holy let him come, if any is not, let him repent. Maranatha. Amen.'" " But allow the prophets to give thanks as much as they wish " {Did., chaps, ix., x.). Farther on, in the fourteenth chapter, there is another reference to the Eucharist : — " On the Lord's day of the Lord, being assembled together, break bread, and give thanks, after confes- sion of your trespasses, that our sacrifice may be pure. And let no one who has a dispute with his companion come with you, till they are reconciled, that our sacrifice may not be defiled. For this is the command given by the Lord : * In every place and time offer unto me a pure sacrifice, for I am a great King; and my name is wonderful among the Gentiles.'" That In the former of these two passages the Lord's 71 T .1. Supper is referred to, and not such a meal Supper con- as the lovc-fcast only, I have already given tempiated in reasons for believing, in opposition to Dr. "' ^* Salmon's surmise to the contrary. The service is expressly decribed as "the Eucharist," which we know was from early times used as the distinctive name for the Lord's Supper. Thus, speak- ing of the bread and wine of the Communion, Justin Martyr says, ** this food is called among us tJie Eu- charist.'' In the opening prayer the cup is definitely connected with Christ as the true Vine. Those who drink of it are taught in the thanksgiving to regard it as a symbol of Christ, and to say, ** we thank thee for the holy vine of David thy servant, which thou THE EUCHARIST. 149 hast made known to us through Jesus thy Son." Jesus is here called "the vine of David," just as He is elsewhere called, " the root of David " (Rev. v. 5 ; xxii. 16), and "the Son of David " (Matt. xxi. 9, 15 ,• Luke XX. 41, 44). Clement of Alexandria interprets the phrase for us when he describes Jesus as having *' poured out for us the wine of the vine of David"^ that is to say. His blood ;"i and when he says ''the vine produces wine as the Word produces blood, and both the one and the other drink for health to men : wine for the body, and for the spirit blood."- And not only is there repeated mention of the broken bread in the passage in the Didache, but the thanks- giving for it is thanksgiving for the life and know- ledge which God has made known to us by His Servant Jesus ; so that the " broken bread " is also conceived as a symbol of the life that comes through Christ. And the bread for which thanks are given, just like the bread of the Communion in i Cor. x.^ is also regarded as typifying the unity of the Church! It is true that thanks are given for food and drink and the blessings of creation ; but this is exactly what we find in Justin Martyr and elsewhere in the case of the Lord's Supper ; and in this, as we shall soon see, the Eucharistic prayers simply followed the Eulogies of the Passover ; while thanks are given not for the blessings of creation only, but for "spiritual food and drink and eternal life through thy Servant," in mani- fest allusion to the words of John vi. 53, "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood hath eternal life." Nor is it to ^ Qicis. div. salv., 29. 2 p^^i^ \^ ^_ THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. be forgotten that the bread and wine of the Eucharist are spoken of in our book as "holy," and as being only for '' the holy," and not to be given to the dogs (see chaps, ix., x.). As Justin Martyr says, the Eu- charist, which for him means the Lord's Supper, is only for him "who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins,"i so the Eucharist of the DidacJic is only for those who have been baptized {Did. ix. 5). Even the order and connec- tion in which we find this passage respecting the Eucharist prepare us for hearing of the Lord's Supper ; for the writer has just given instructions with regard to Baptism ; and after an incidental reference to the fasting which should accompany Baptism, and to prayer, he proceeds to speak of the Eucharist. Nor is the circumstance that the same ordinance is touched on afterwards in the fourteenth chapter any valid reason against this view ; for iJicre the chief duty insisted on is the meeting together of Christians on each Lord's day, and the disposition in which they should assemble — confessing sin, and in a spirit of peace and love — but as the Lord's Supper was the very focus and consummation of each Lord's day service, it was inevitable that it should be mentioned in this connection, just as it is mentioned also by Justin ]\Iartyr, though he too had been describing it immediately before. Assuming, then, that the Lord's Supper is con- templated in the passage, let us notice the more salient points of interest in what is said regarding it. Notwithstanding the omissions to w^hich I have re- ferred there is a good deal that is suggestive. 4poI., Ixvi. I. THE EUCHARIST. 151 (i) We see, in the first place, that in those early times to which the book belonged, the The Lord's Lord's Supper was observed every Lord's Supper the ^^ J centre ot day, and constituted the soul, centre, and christian crown of Christian worship. And there is worship. no doubt that in this respect it was but a continuation of apostolic practice. (2) Commentators have remarked upon the paucity of references to the death of Christ in the i.gf^,e,,ce to Eucharistic instructions of the Didachc, death We have seen, however, that there are of Christ, distinct and striking allusions to it ; and, considering that the manual does not profess to give a complete representation of the service, and indeed little more than the Eucharistic prayers, the references to Chri.st's death are far from scanty, and, so far as they go, are deep, rich and significant. (3) What is perhaps most worthy of notice is the almost exclusively EucJiavistical aspect in Encharistkal which the Lord's supper is presented in the^^^^P^P^^ ^^n^^^^^ Didachc. The fact that the designation, in the ^ "Eucharist," became a distinctive name ^^^^''''^''' for it implies that in the minds of those who gave it that name it was thought of as eminently a thanks- giving service. In this characteristic, indeed, it was only a reproduction in the Christian sacrament of the spirit and example of the Passover. A series of thanksgiving prayers or "blessings" {Eulogice) accom- panied the celebration of the Passover ; and how much there was in common between the Passover Eulogice and the Eucharistical prayers of the Didachc will appear immediately. Two words are used in the New Testament to describe the purport and effect of 152 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. the prayers which accompanied the celebration of the Lord's Supper. What is expressed in Matt. xxvi. 26 and in Mark xiv. 22 by the term "blessed" {evXoyi]- aa^) is expressed in Luke xxii. 17, 19 and in i Cor. xi. 24 by the phrase "gave thanks " (ev-^apLarijo-a^;). And the words are used, doubtless, because as a matter of fact the prayer offered on the occasion effected the two-fold purpose of blessing and of thanksgiving. In the first place it invoked the divine blessing or benediction on the service, and was re- garded as blessing or consecrating the bread and wine to a sacred use. Hence the cup is called by the apostle "the cup of blessing" (i Cor. x. 16). This might mean the cup over which God is blessed or thanked ; but the words are added — " the cup of blessing ivJiicJi ive bless ;'' showing that the prayer was regarded as " blessing " or consecrating the cup. Even our common food, the Apostle tells us, is to be received with thanksgiving ; and is "sanctified by the word of God and prayer ; " being brought thus into relation with God, and the participation of it made a sacred or religious act. In like manner the bread and wine are " blessed" or "sanctified " — have a certain sacredness imparted to them by the prayer which is offered over them, and the spiritual good that is sought through them. They are taken from common uses, and brought into relation to Christ and the higher life of our souls, and made occa- sions for the holiest and highest exercises of our religion. In accordance with this, even the West- minster divines recommend that in Baptism "prayer should be joined with the word of institution for sanctifying the water to a spiritual use," and that in THE EUCHARIST. 153 the Lord's Supper ''the minister is to begin the action with sanctifying and blessing the elements of bread and wine, having first showed that those elements, otherwise common, are now set apart and sanctified to this holy use by the word of institution and prayer." But while the bread and wine were thus " blessed " or " sanctified " by prayer, the prayers were at the same time eminently eucharistic, vehicles of gratitude and praise for the blessings which the ordinance symbo- lized, and the whole service was conceived as peculiarly and emphatically a thanksgiving service. Nor was prayer the only channel through which the thanks- giving found expression. The gifts of bread and wine, and the other offerings which the communicants presented, partly by way of providing for the Lord's Supper, and partly for the poor and needy, were gifts of thanksgiving, expressive of their gratitude for the blessings they enjoyed ; and the dedication of them- selves to God in the ordinance was also regarded as a thankofifering. It was because this aspect of the Lord's Supper stood out so prominently before the minds of the early Christians that it received the name of " Eucharist," and in the Latin Church was known as the ^^ Actio Gratiaruinl^ which means the ''giving of thanks " ; from which, by the way, came the once familiar title " action sermon," which was employed to designate the sermon immediately before the "Eucharist," or ""^ Actio Gratiarninr In the French phrase for thanksgiving, " action de graces," we have still a reminiscence of the Latin one. (4) We learn here also, what has been touched upon already, that, just as in apostolic days, the Eucharist was at the time and in the region to which 154 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. our manual belonged, still associated with the love- Still com- ^^^^^- -^^^ ^^ delay on other indications of Lined with this, it is manifest from the phrase "after love-feast, ^^j^^^ ^^^j^,, ^^j^j^j^ ^^^^j^ ^^1^ ^ppj^ ^^ ^ meal, and which is the same phrase as that applied by the Evangelist to the multitude who, at the miracle of the loaves and fishes had taken " as much as they would." "When they were filled," our Lord directed His disciples to gather up the fragments. And it is remarkable that in Jewish literature the same phrase occurs in connection with the meal which formed a part of the Passover celebration. " Thou shalt sacrifice the passover . . . of the flock and the herd " we read in Deut. xvi. 2. Why not of the flock only (Exod. xii.) ? The herd, Rashi writes, was for the Chagigah, or feast. W^hen this was joined with the Passover " it was eaten first that the passover might be eaten after being filled'' (T. B, Pcsach. 70^).^ Now the Agape took the same place in the observ- ance of the Lord's Supper as the ChagigaJi did in relation to the passover ; and was originally united with the Eucharist as a copy and continuation of the meal which accompanied the Passover ; and which indeed was associated with the Eucharist on the first occasion of its observance. See Luke xxii. 17, 19. Tertullian has a striking picture of the Agape after Tertuilian on its Severance from the Eucharist. He the love-feast, g^ys : " Our feast explains itself by its name. The Greeks call it love {agape). Whatever it costs, our outlay in the name of piety is gain, since with the good things of the feast we benefit the needy; ^ Sec Taylor's " The Teaching, etc., with Illustrations from the Talmud," p. 130. THE EUCHARIST. 155 not as it is with you do parasites aspire to the glory of satisfying their licentious propensities ... but as it is with God Himself a peculiar respect is shown to the lowly. If the object of your feast be good, in the light of that consider its further regulations. As it is an act of religious service, it permits no vileness or immodesty. The participants, before reclining, taste first of prayer to God. As much is eaten as satisfies the cravings of hunger ; as much is drunk as befits the chaste. They say it is enough, as those who remember that even during the night they have to worship God ; they talk as those who know that the Lord is one of their auditors. After the washing of hands and the bringing in of lights, each is asked to stand forth and sing, as he can, a hymn to God, either one from the holy Scriptures, or one of his own composing — a test of the measure of our drinking. As the feast commenced with prayer, so with prayer it closed. We go from it, not like troops of mischief- doers, nor bands of roamers, nor to break out into licentious acts, but to have as much care of our modesty and chastity as if we had been at a school of virtue rather than a banquet." ^ The subterranean galleries at Rome bear silent tes- timony to this ancient custom — a veritable Lo^^e.fe^st in *' testimony of the rocks." One of the the Cata- earliest of the cemeteries in the Cata- combs of Rome is that of Domitilla. Mommsen traces it to the earlier part of the second century, De Rossi to the close of the first. Domitilla was wife of Flavius Clemens, and they were both cousins of the Emperor Domitian. They were accused of atheism 1 Tcitullian, ApoL, c. 39. 156 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. and Jewish manners, by which, there is no doubt, Christianity was meant. Atheism was at that time the standing reproach against the Christians by the heathen. Clemens was put to death, and Domitilla, who is described by Eusebius (by mistake, probably, as Lightfoot shows) as the niece of Clemens, was banished to the island of Pontia in the fifteenth year of Domitian (or about A.D. 95) according to Eusebius, who draws his information from heathen historians.^ Clement of Rome, who wrote the Epistle to the Corinthians, was probably a member of the same family. We catch a glimpse here of the high social ranks into which Christianity penetrated even at this early date, and of the means by which the Christians were able to secure at least places of sepulture. The imperial government was exceedingly jealous of all secret associations, but, owing to their reverential feelings for the dead, very tolerant towards clubs which united together for purposes of burial. The Christians took advantage of this tolerance, and acquired properties, where, after the Eastern customs, they made tombs in the rocks, excavating subter- ranean galleries for this purpose. Now, just as the burial clubs among the heathen were accustomed to hold feasts in honour of the dead, the Christians availed themselves of that usage, especially at times when they were hard pressed by persecution, to hold their love-feasts, and doubtless other Christian meet- ings also in the Catacombs. The hall of the Agape has been found in the Catacomb of Domitilla^, with stone seats for the guests, and the cistern from which the supply of water was procured. ^ Euseb., H.E., B. iii. c. 18. THE EUCHARIST. 157 (5) If it be asked, who were admitted to the Eucharist in those primitive times, and in what spirit were they expected to engage^o^'^Ssbn in it, the answer is given by our document, to Lord's " Let no one eat or drink of your Eucharist, ^"^'l^^'"' except those baptized into the name of the Lord ; for regarding this also the Lord hath said, ' Give not that which is holy to the dogs.' " This agrees very strikingly with the rule which Justin reports as obtain- ing in his time : " This food is called among us the Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake but he who believes that the things which are taught by us are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has de- livered." ^ There was no sentiment more deep or strong at that time, and none more sedulously cherished and guarded than that of brotherhood and brotherly love among Christians. It is not surprising, then, that in cases where estrangement had arisen between intend- ing participants, reconciliation was urgently insisted on before they could unite becomingly in the feast of love. " Let no one who hath a dispute with his fellow come together with you, until they be reconciled, that our sacrifice be not defiled. For this is that which is spoken by the Lord, In every place and time offer a pure sacrifice.'' Applying this same passage of Malachi to the Lord's Supper, Irena^us connects it with the words of Christ, " Therefore when thou offerest thy gift upon the altar, and shalt remember that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave thy ^ ApoL, i. 66. 158 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. gift before the altar, and go thy way ; first be re- conciled to thy brother, and then return and offer thy gift (Matt. V. 23, 24)." ^ And the further counsel to break bread and to give thanks after confession of sin, Taylor connects with the idea of the passage that the Eucharist is a sacrifice — a spiritual sacrifice of thanks- giving — after the analogy of the Levitical offerings : " He shall confess that wherein he hath sinned : and he shall bring his trespass offering unto the Lord " (Lev. V. 5, 6). Just as the Jew was required to con- fess his sin before presenting his offering to God, so before the Christian brings his spiritual sacrifice, he is called upon to confess his transgressions. (6) But the prayers prescribed in connection with the Eucharist are particularly worthy of attention. They are notable as being the earliest instance on record of such prescribed prayers in the examples of Christian Church. And they are simple, prescribed \^^\^{ and spiritual. Nor is the Church prayers. . , , , ^^1 tied down to them. On the contrary it is distinctly intimated that room is left for free and extemporaneous prayer, a privilege which is still exercised in the time of Justin Martyr ; for the person presiding in his time offers prayers and thanksgivings according to his ability (oV?; hvvaixi^ a\jT<^)} Even after a prescribed form began to be used there was liberty to vary from it {Const. Eccles. Egypt, ii. 34) ; and it was not till 633 that complete uniformity of worship was required, and free prayer forbidden by the Council of Toledo. It is also interesting to observe that the brief prayers recorded here are ob- viously modelled after the Eulogies or thanksgivings 1 Adv. Hccr, B. IV. 18, i. - Justin, Apot., i. 67. THE EUCHARIST. 159 of the Jewish Passover. The kinship between the two is manifest. As thanks are offered here for " the holy vine of David," so over the fourth cup of the Passover thanks are given "for the vine, and for the fruit of the vine." As thanks were offered in the Passover for the creation of the fruits of the earth, and for the good land given to the Hebrews, so here also thanks are rendered for creation, and for the food and drink supplied through the natural products of the earth. We know indeed that the bread and wine of the Eucharist were regarded not only as symbols of spiritual blessings, but also as tokens of the Divine goodness in the natural creation. We meet with this constantly in the early literature. For the purpose of comparison, I ^\\^ the opening words of the Pass- over Eulogia over the fourth cup : " Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, for the vine, and for the fruit of the vine, and for the increase of the field, and for that desirable, good, and broad land wherein Thou hast pleasure, and which Thou hast given to our forefathers as an inheritance, to eat its fruit, and to be satisfied with its goodness," etc. The most recent investigations go to show that in a measure hardly realised before, not only the Jewish mode of government, but Jewish modes of worship, outside the Mosaic ceremonial, were adopted, without any breach of continuity, by the early Christians, who were themselves Jews. This was indeed inevit- able in a religion which had its roots in Judaism, which in all its essential features was one with a system which our Lord Himself said He *' came not to destroy but to fulfil " (Matt. v. 17). (7) As to the conception of the nature of the i6o THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. ordinance which our handbook indicates, it may be , remarked that the deeper aspect of the Nature and . ... . . ^. r significance of scrvicc as a Spiritual participation oi LorcVs Christ Himself is here distinctly recog- nised, as well as its significance as a sym- bol of the unity of Christians. But probably what will have most struck the reader in the description of the Eucharist in the passage In what sense which I have given from the DidacJu% is the term \\^q usc of the term "sacrifice" with refer- sacnnce . ._,, , , . ^ r- applied to it ence to it. What does this mean ? Some originally. Roman CathoHc and Anglican writers have hastily concluded that we have here the Romish and Ritualistic view of the Lord's Supper, as being a repetition of the great sacrifice of Calvary. There is no foundation for this belief. No one who has paid any adequate attention to the use of this word, and the meaning which it carries in the earlier patristic literature, could entertain such an idea. The word "sacrifice" employed here is applied habitually in the New Testament to the spiritual sacrifices offered up by Christians. Praise, and prayer, and almsgiving, and well doing, and the consecration of themselves to God by Christians are all described as " sacrifices " (Heb. xiii. 15 ; Phil. iv. 18 ; Heb. xiii. 16 ; Phil. ii. 17 ; Rom. xii. i). Now the Lord's Supper, as we have just seen, was thought of pre-eminently as a EucJiarist — a service of thanksgiving ; and the prayers through which they gave utterance to their gratitude, the bread and wine and other offerings which the com- municants were accustomed to bring and present for the Eucharist, for the Agape and for the poor, and the offering and solemn dedication of themselves to THE EUCHARIST. i6i God in the service, were all regarded as a spiritual sacrifice of thanksgiving. It is invariably in reference to this that the word " sacrifice " is employed in the earlier Christian writings when speaking of the Eucharist. The idea of the Lord's Supper being an actual repetition of the sacrifice of the cross never for a moment occurs to them. Clement of Rome speaks of praise, of a broken spirit, of the prayers and thanks- givings in the Eucharist, of the gifts brought by the people for the celebration of the ordinance and for the poor as " sacrifice." ^ Justin refers to the sacri- fices which Christians, whom he calls " the true high- priestly race," offer through the name of Christ in the Eucharist, and adds that " prayers and giving of thanks when offered by worthy men are the only perfect and well pleasing sacrifices to God ; for such alone Christians have undertaken to offer ; and in the remembrance effected by their solid food whereby the suffering of the Son of God which He endured is brought to mind." ^ Irenseus describes the bread and wine presented by the people for the Eucharist as "the first-fruits of His own created things offered unto God," and quotes in reference to this the passage from Malachi about '* a pure sacrifice," adding that what is needed to secure this is a right disposition in the person coming to the service.'^ " Those who have become acquainted with the second ordinances of the apostles," says the writer of the Pfaff Fragment, attributed to Irena^us, "are aware that the Lord 1 See Ep. of Clem., i. c. 35, 41, 44, 52 ; cf. also Ep. of Barnabas, c. 2. - Dial, with Try ph., c. 117. 3 Against Heresies, B. IV. 17, 18. M [62 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. instituted a new oblation in the new covenant, ac- cording to INIalachi the prophet. For ' from the rising of the sun even to the setting, My name has been glorified among the Gentiles, and in every place incense is offered to My name and a pure sacrifice,^ as John also declares in the Apocalypse, 'the incense is the prayers of the saints.' Then again Paul exhorts us to 'present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, ac- ceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.' And again, ' Let us offer the sacrifice of praise, that is the fruit of our lips.' Now those oblations are not according to the law, the handwriting of which the Lord took away from the midst by cancelling it ; but they are according to the spirit, for we must 'worship God in spirit and in truth.' And there- fore the oblation of the Eucharist is not a carnal one, but a spiritual ; and in this respect is pure." ^ The fact is that the Christian literature of the second century knows nothing of the Romish and Ritualistic doctrine of the repetition of Christ's sacri- fice in the Eucharist. ^ Fragment discovered by Pfaft. CHAPTER VI. THE LORD'S DAY. THE title which our book employs to designate this day is pecuHar — *' the Lord's day of the Lord." In the earher apostoHc times it is always spoken of as " the first day of the week " / - /^,T / /T 1 The Lord's — ixia Tcov aappaTCdv — (John xx. I, 19; day in the Acts XX. 7 ; I Cor. xvi. 2.) The phrase, ^'ew Testa- ^, r r • Ml 1 ment. as the lorm 01 it will suggest to those acquainted with Hebrew, is a Hebraism. In Jewish writings the several days of the week are described as " the Sabbath," " the first of the Sabbath " (the Lord's day), "the second of the Sabbath " (Monday), " the third of the Sabbath " (Tuesday), etc. Of course the great event which signalized the first day of the week was the resurrection of our Lord from the dead — an event which would for ever after trans- figure and glorify it in the thoughts of His followers ; but in other ways besides He Himself put honour on it. He selected it as the day on which He appeared to His disciples after His resurrection. It was on the evening of this day that, as He sat at meat with two of His disciples at Emmaus, He "took bread and blessed it, and brake and gave to them " (see John XX. I, 19, 26 ; Luke xxiv. i, 13, 30). Nor is it with- out significance that the Evangelist records how 163 i64 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. "after eight days again" He appeared to Thomas (John XX. 26). In Hke manner it was the day singled out by Him for fulfilling " the promise of the Father " in the great outpouring of His Spirit ; for the day of Pentecost fell that year on the first day of the week; and indeed already on that day, before the extraordinary baptism had taken place, and probably not without regard to the sanctity which the day had already acquired in connection with their Master the disciples had assembled together in one place. At all events, from this time forward we find this day distinguished and observed by the Christians assembling on it for the celebration of the Lord's Supper and the other exercises of worship. Thus, we are told (and it is characteristic of the way in which such matters are recorded that the reference seems a casual one) how Paul and his companions come to Troas " where they abode seven days. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them" (Acts XX. 7). Here then it appears that the assembling together of the Christians in a stated place on the first day of the week for the celebration of the Eucharist, and for other religious services, is already a recognised and established practice at Troas, on the shore of the ^g^an, on Paul's return from his third missionary journey. The reference to the "many lights," with which the upper chamber was supplied on the occasion, indicates the stated character of the meeting and the preparation that had been made for it, as well as the considerable congregation which assembled, and which came together on this first day of the week, it is expressly stated, not for THE LORD'S DAY. 165 the purpose of hearing Paul, but " to break bread," the Apostle simply embracing the opportunity to address them. That there is no mention of any formal institution of the Lord's day at any particular time ; but that its observance grew up spontaneously, is thoroughly characteristic of Christian institutions generally, and makes it none the less an apostolic ordinance. The Apostle's ** order " to the Churches of Corinth and Galatia (i Cor. xvi. i, 2), that "on the first day of the week every one of them should lay by him in store as God hath prospered him " is another notice of the day not less significant. So far, the day is spoken of as " the first day of the week " ; but by the time the Apocalypse is written, which may not have been long after the last refer- ence, it has come to be known as " the Lord's day " (1) KvpiaK7] rjixepa) by pre-eminence (Rev. i. 10). Pro- bably the next earliest testimony extant — the earliest post-apostolic reference which we possess — is that of the Didachc now before us. The peculiar The Title in designation here applied to it, "the Lord's the p/./^.-//.- (day) of the Lord " {Kvpiaicij Kuplov)—Sit j^^y of the once embraces and amplifies that of John Lord." in the Apocalypse. Dr. Taylor conceives the formula in the Didachc to be framed on an Old Testament model, but so as to depose the Jewish Sabbath. He says '' the phrase ' Sabbaths of the Lord ' is found in Lev. xxiii. 38, and a kindred phrase, cited by Barnabas as to (jd(B(3aTov Kvptou, in Exod. xx. 10 ; but the Christian is to celebrate no longer a SabbatJi of the Lord, but a Lord's day of the Lord." He adds that "what the Teaching hints at by its Dominica Domini is categorically expressed by i66 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. Ignatius, when he describes those who have attained to newness of hope as jio longer sabbatizing, but living according to the Lord's day, in which our Hfe did arise through Him, and His death, which some deny " [Magn. 9). In the corresponding passage in the Apostolical Constitutions the day is called " the day of the resurrection of the Lord, that is, the Lord's day." This suggests a different explanation from that proposed by Dr. Taylor, namely, that the Didache text may have suffered some mutilation, and that the apparent tautology may be due to the fact that some words have been dropped out by tran- scribers. At all events, we have here a very early and valuable testimony for the observance of the Lord's day by the Christians meeting on it for the celebration of their religious service — a testimony which is thoroughly in harmony with all the early literature on the subject. Pliny in his famous letter to Trajan relates how he had elicited from the Pliny refers Christians themselves who had come before t^^ it. him, that " their offence or crime was summed up in this, that they were accustomed to assemble together on a stated day before dawn \ante lucenl], and to sing a hymn responsively or in turn with one another to Christ as unto God, and to bind themselves by a sacrament (or covenant) not for any wicked purpose, but never to commit fraud, robbery, or adultery, never to break their word, or to deny a trust when called on to deliver it up : after which it was their custom to separate, and to come together again, and to partake together a harmless feast." Pliny adds, " From this custom," however, " they desisted after the proclamation of my edict; by THE LORD'S DAY. 167 which, according to your command, I forbade the meeting of any assembh'es. In consequence of this declaration, I judged it necessary to try to get at the real truth by putting to the torture two female slaves, who were said to officiate in their religious rites [deaconesses doubtless], but all I could discover was evidence of an absurd and extravagant superstition. And so I adjourned all further proceedings in order to consult you. It seems to me a matter deserving your consideration, more especially as great numbers must be involved in the danger of these prosecutions, which have already extended, and are still likely to extend, to persons of all ranks, ages, and of both sexes. The contagion of the superstition is not con- fined to the cities, it has spread into the villages and the country." ^ These last sentences I have given from Pliny not because they are necessary for my present purpose, but because they are so interesting in themselves. There is no doubt that " the stated day " {stato die) of Pliny's epistle is none other than the Lord's day. We hear not a little in early times, especially in times of persecution, of these ante-liican assemblies. The morning service began towards cockcrow ; and was originally held at this -^yhy Chris- early hour, partly because Christ's resur- t^-'^'^s met . , , ... in the niorn- rection took place very early m the ing of the morning" (Luke xxiv. i), "when it was <%• yet dark " (John xx. i) ; and partly to escape obser- vation in those perilous times when the Church was an ecdesia pressa ; but, like so many other customs, the practice continued in later times, when at least the original necessity for it had ceased. We have ^ Epist. X. 97. i68 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. frequent references to it both in Christian and in heathen writers. Tertullian, for example, remon- strating with Christians for marrying with the heathen, asks "What (heathen) husband will be willing to permit his wife to rise from his side to go to the nocturnal assemblies ? " ^ He says that the Christian people partook of the Eucharist in the ante-hican meetings." In Minucius {de Idol. Vanit.) the heathen cavils at the Christians for this reason, and calls them "a skulking generation, mute in public, but garrulous in dark corners," and Celsus (in Origen, Cont. Cels.) objects to these meetings of theirs held in secret. But to return : Barnabas, after his spiritualizing -pjjg «.gjj^^j^ method, explains away the fourth com- day"in mandment by asserting that the six days aina as. j^^^j^ gj^ thousand years (a day being a thousand years), and by supposing the rest of the seventh day to point to the coming of the Son of man, when He shall judge the ungodly and truly rest. Then he goes on, " Ye perceive how He speaks : Your present sabbaths are not acceptable to Me, but that is which I have made, when giving rest to all things, I shall make a beginning of the eighth day, that is the beginning of another world ; wherefore also we keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day also on which Jesus rose again from the dead." ^ Ignatius (w^hose testimony we record for wdiat it may be thought to be worth) says, "If, therefore, ^ TertulL, ad bxor., lib. ii. cap. 4. - TertulL, de Coron. Mil.., c. 3. Ante lucanis ccetibus euchar- istiam suiniinus., etc. ^ Barnabas, Ep.., c. 15. THE LORD'S DAY. 169 those who were brought up in the ancient order of thincTs have come to the possession of a ^ ^ Ignatius new hope, no longer observing the sabbath mentions (lJbr)KeTi aa/S^aTL^ovre^i) but Hving conform- this day; ably to the Lord's day {aWa Kara KvpiaKrjv ^(orjv ^MVT6<^), on which also our life has sprung up again through Him and His death. . . . how shall we be able to live apart from Him ?" ^ He goes on to observe that " it is absurd to profess Christ and to Judaize," and urges his readers to lay aside the old leaven, and to be changed into the new leaven which is Jesus Christ. The writer of the Epistle , , to Diognetus speaks somewhat to the Epistle to same effect. =^ Justin Martyr is very copious ^^^og^etus ; on this subject. He too speaks of the Jewish sab- bath as having been imposed " as a sign," and Justin on account of the people's sins, and the ^i^rtyr ; hardness of their hearts.'^ He associates it with cir- cumcision. It is, therefore, now done away, he says, and Christians do not observe it ; but " the new law requires a perpetual sabbath," which he explains to be a cessation from sin ; but he very distinctly and emphatically testifies to the observance of the Lord's day. " Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, when He changed the darkness and matter, made the world ; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead." * , t^. , . . ^iid Diony- Dionysius of Corinth, about the middle of sius of the second century, writing to Soter says, Co""th ; '' To-day was the Lord's day kept holy, and we read ^ Ad Ala^nes. 9. - Ep. ad Diogii.^ c. 4. ^ Dial. c. Tyyph.^ 18, 19, 21, 27. •* ApoL^ i. 67. I70 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. your letter, from the reading of which from time to time we shall be able to derive admonition, as we do and from the former one written by the hand irenKus ; q{ Clement.^ Irenseus gives a representa- tion of the Jewish sabbath precisely similar to that , ^, of Justin Martyr.^ Clement of Alexandria and Clement -^ "^ i . tt- of Alex- says, "■ We must honour and worship Him andria; ^^hom we believe to be the Word, the Saviour, the Master ; and by Him we must worship the Father, not on certain chosen days only as some imagine, but in every possible manner, and through the whole course of life. The true Christian does not worship God in a consecrated place, nor on certain festival and appointed days, but always and in every place. He believes that God is everywhere, and not confined within certain enclosures. We who believe in His universal presence, and make our entire life a festival — we sing his praises as we work, as we sail on the sea, and go about our various occupations. All places, all times in which the thought of God occupies our minds, are alike sacred." ^ At the same time Clement distinctly recognises the peculiar sacredness of the Lord's day, and the obligation of Christians to observe it ; and he enables us to under- stand the meaning of Ignatius when he calls on Christians to live according to the Lord's day. " He who observes the precept of the gospel," Clement says, " makes it to be the Lord's day whilst he casts away every evil thought, and takes to him the true Gnostic thoughts of wisdom and knowledge, thereby glorifying the resurrection of the Lord." ^ Similarly ^ Eiiseb., H.E., iv. 23. - Adv. Hcrr.^ iv. 16. ^ Strom., vii. 7, 35, 36. ^ Ibid. THE LORDS DAY. 171 Tertullian says that for Christians the Jewish sabbath means, " that we ought to rest always from every servile work, and not only on each seventh day, but through all time." ^ It is remarkable how unanimous the early writers are in their sentiments on this point. The Ebionites were in fact condemned for joining the observance of the sabbath according to the law with that of the Lord's day according to the Christian manner.- But Tertullian also gives no uncertain sound with respect to the Lord's day. He speaks of it as a Christian institution kept in honour jj^d of Christ's resurrection, a day which he Tertullian, says, " we give to joy," and on which it is a duty to abstain from worldly labour and care — omni anxietatis habitii et officio cavere debenius, differentes etiani ne- gotia, lie qiiein diabolo iocuni deinus? This , ., , is the earliest reference which we have first to speak observed to rest from secular business on °^^^ ^^,r^^'^^ of rest from the Lord's day. Nor should we be sur- secular prised at this when we remember the diffi- ^^'^^^'^^s^- cult situation of the early Christians who, belonging as the great majority of them did to the humbler classes, the sons of toil, had not the disposal of their time in their own hands, but were at the mercy of their heathen masters, and exposed to their persecu- tions. It is manifest, however, long before Tertul- lian's time, that the sacredness which the Christians attached to the Lord's day would naturally and in- evitably include cessation from secular employment, where that cessation was possible. Dionysius, who ' Contra Jiid.^ c. 4. - Theod., de FabuL H- Vitringa and others that in those primitive times there was no service of song in the public worship of the Lord's day, that it was confined to the love-feasts, and to social life. The inference, however, is not warranted. There is abundant evidence that from the earliest times the worship of the Christians found utterance in song. Justin himself has in a previous chapter expressly stated that the Christians were ac- customed to worship God by hymns ; and it is for that reason perhaps that he does not find it necessary to re- peat the fact again. Meeting the charge of Atheism, brought against the Christians by the heathen, he says : " That we are not Atheists, what sober minded person will not confess, from our worship of the Creator of this universe, whom we assert, as we have been taught, to have no need of sacrifices of blood, and libations, and incense, but whom we praise to the utmost of our power with the reasonable service of praise and thanksgiving for all things supplied to us, having been taught that the only service worthy of Him is, not to consume by fire what He has given us for our sustenance, but to apply it to our own ^ Justin, Apol., i. 67. 176 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. benefit, and to that of those who are in need, and with gratitude to Him to offer thanks by solemn acts of worship and hymns, for our creation, for all our means of health, and for the various qualities of the different kinds of things, and for the changes of the seasons," etc.^ It is probable, however, that in the description of chapter sixty-seven, Justin intends to include psalmody under the head of " prayers and thanks- givings," just as he associates prayer and praise in his thirteenth chapter. Indeed they were not broadly , distinoruished from one another by either Prayer and *^ i /-i • • t-i -r. i praise not the Jews or early Christians. Ihe Psalms broadly ^j.g called " praycrs." One of the books distinguished ^ "^ from each closes With the words " the prayers of other m David the son of Jesse are ended." The early times. •' ninetieth psalm is called "a prayer." Habakkuk's song is called "a prayer." In Jewish literature sacred songr is treated of under the head of " prayer." Vitringa, in his book on the synagogue, following the Jewish custom, treats of psalmody under the head de ritii precationis. And Calvin, in the preface to his " Forms of Prayers and Church Songs," published in 1542, says: "As for public prayers, they are of two sorts, the one uttered in words only, the other accompanied with singing." - Nor in early times was there so marked a difference between singing and prayer as has since developed. The former had then little of the art which characterises sacred music in modern times, and was more like the measured, rhythmical, rising and falling, sing-song utterance which one sometimes hears in prayer. " Only tem- ^ Justin, ApoL, i. 13. ' Opera, vol. ii. pp. 168, 169. THE LORD'S DAY. ill perate harmonies are to be admitted," says Clement of Alexandria. " We are to banish as far as possible from our robust mind those soft liquid harmonies which, through pernicious arts in the modulations of tones, train to effeminacy and giddiness."^ "The early Church," says Isidore of Seville, "sang in such a manner that the gentle modulations of the voice were more like reading than singing." ^ If it be asked in what forms the voice of early Christian song expressed itself, it is certain that the primitive Church found to some extent a vehicle for its praise in Old Testament Psalms. But it is equally certain that from very early times dis- , ^1 . . 1 . , Hymnology. tmctively Christian hymns constituted a large part of their psalmody. It is in the " new songs " and doxologies which abound in the Book of the Revelation that we see the best example both of the matter and spirit of early Christian praise. It is true that what appears in the Apoca- lypse seems at first sight to be a glowing picture of the praise-service of the redeemed in heaven ; but the early Christians took the representation given in the Revelation of the songs of the redeemed in heaven as an invitation to the Church on earth to conform her praise to the heavenly ideal ; nor, considering the indirect, incidental manner in which on this and on other matters the New Testament offers its instruc- tions, can their having done so be thought unreason- able. Even in other parts of the New Testament traces of Christian hymnology have been observed. Both from the manner in which they are quoted, and from the symmetrical, and balanced, rhythmical struc- ' Pad., ii. 4. '-• De Eccles. Uffic, i. 5. N 178 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. ture of Eph. v. 14 ; i Tim. iii. 16 and 2 Tim. ii. 12, 13, these and other passages are regarded by such scholars as Bishop Lightfoot, Professor Plumptre and others as fragments of early Christian hymns, al- ready in circulation, and familiar to the Church in apostolic times. However that may be, the Christian psalmody of the early centuries is largely an echo and reproduction both in spirit and in letter of the new songs and doxologies of the Apocalypse. I have already given the words of Pliny, the Roman pro- consul of Bithynia, who reports to the emperor how he had been informed by the Christians who had been before him, that they were accustomed in their stated meetings to *' sing alternately (or responsively) a hymn to Christ as to a divinity." One thing which cannot but strike the student of early Church history is the direct worship paid to Christ in prayer and song from the beginning. Among other titles applied to Christians they are described as " those who call upon the name of Christ" (Acts ix. 14, 21 ; I Cor. i. 2 ; 2 Tim. ii. 22). Not only in the doxologies of Paul, but in the doxologies and songs of the Apoca- lypse, we find praise offered to Christ "as unto God ;" and the worship of the sub-apostolic Church is a continuation of this practice. Eusebius quotes an early writer, now identified as Hippolytus (who was a disciple of Irenaeus, who was a disciple of Poly- carp, who was a disciple of the Apostle John), and Hippolytus, in writing against Artemon, an early denier of the divinity of our Lord, affirms in Testimony of ^ book called " the Labyrinth," that ** many Hippolytus, psalms and hymns were composed by the brethren from the beginning, and transcribed THE LORD'S DAY. 179 by the faithful, and that these celebrate the Word by asserting His divinity."^ Socrates, another Church historian, says that '^ hymns were composed by Ignatius to set forth the ° °^^^ ^^' divinity of Christ, and in praise of the Holy Trinity, to be sung alternatively."^ It was, doubtless, some such hymn that Pliny speaks of, if it was r 1 /- 1 A 1 of Pliny, not one of the new songs of the Apocalypse, or such a hymn as that of which i Tim. iii. 16 gives a fragment. Hippolytus himself wrote a book of odes and hymns, which seem to have been largely used, as they are often referred to in early times. ^ ^ T . , , , . . . ^ ... of Lucian, Lucian, the heathen satirist, in one of his dialogues, describes his coming into a Christian as- sembly, and hearing the prayer which begins with " Father," and " the hymn of many names " (lit. the many-named ode — ttoXvcovv/jlov ooSrjv) " at the end." The hymn " Gloria Patri," which belongs to the very earliest age of the Christian Church, an- ^f dement swers to Lucian's description. Clement of of Alexan- Alexandria, who belongs to the second ^^"^' century, has at the end of his book called the Paeda- gogue, a hymn entitled, " A Hymn to the Saviour." It begins thus: "Assemble thy simple children to praise holily, to hymn guilelessly with innocent mouths, Christ, who is the guide of children, . . . Let us sing together simple praises, true hymns to Christ our King. . . . O choir of Christ, O chaste people, let us sing together the God of peace." This hymn has been beautifully rendered into verse by the late Dr. Lindsay Alexander. Tertullian, in words already cited, says of the Christians that at their feasts 1 Euseb., //.£., Book v. 28. - Soc, lib. 6, cap. 8. i8o . THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. of charity after the Communion, ''when they had washed their hands and brought in lights, every one was encouraged to sing something out of Scripture, or some hymn of his own composing." Athenogenes suffered martyrdom towards the end of Athenogenes -' -n -i i composed the second century. Basil says he com- hymns. posed a hymn setting forth the glory of the Holy Ghost, and Basil speaks of another hymn so ancient that he knows not who is the author of it. For using a certain form of the hymn Gloria Patri, Testimony rather than the form used by the Arians, of Basil, Basil vindicates himself by quoting the example of the Church Fathers from the apostolic times, and says he did no more than was done before him by Clement of Rome, the two Dionysii, Irenaeus, Origen, and others whom he names, and done with the consent of all the Eastern and Western Churches. A book on TJie Contemplative Life has Contemp- been hitherto given among the works of lative Life." p^iio, a contemporary of Christ. A German writer, named Lucius, has endeavoured to show that it is not a work of Philo, but that it really gives an account of certain Christian communities who lived near Alexandria. In its description of these com- munities the book says, " that the president among them after he had made a sermon, first began to sing a hymn of praise to God, either such as he had composed himself, or one taken out of the prophets, in the close of which all, both men and women, joined in concert with him." Again, " In their vigils they divided themselves into two choirs, the one of men and the other of women, each of which had their precentor ; and so they sang hymns to the glory of THE LORDS DAY. ig] God, composed in different sorts of metres. . . . Thus they not only pass their time in meditation, but compose songs and hymns to God." As we proceed in the history the evidence to the same effect ac- cumulates, but it is needless here to pursue it further. That sacred song would form a part of the Lord's-day worship might have been on^rLordV expected from the Eucharistical, buoyant, ^""^ service, we might almost say, idyllic spirit which characterised it. The early writers lay constant stress on the gladsome, exultant, and triumphant feeling appro- priate to that day of Christ's victory over sin and death. The reader will have noticed this in the passages already given from Barnabas and others. No fasting was permitted on this day. Tertullian tells us it was considered a crime to fast on the Lord's day,i and, referring to the Montanists, he remarks that even they, who were so rigid in their fasting, omitted it both on the seventh day and on the Lord's day ; and this on account of the joyfulness with which it was fitting they should commemorate the resurrection.2 For the same reason Christians were strictly enjoined, except in the case of penitents under discipline, to pray on that day not kneeling but in a standing posture ; and they were instructed to do this whether in their own homes or in their public meetings, in token of their Master's resurrection from the dead, of their risen and joyful life in Him, and of that elevation from the dust, and upright posture of their whole manhood, of which His resurrection is an earnest and an image. Ircna:us traces the custom back to apostolic times. ^ De Coro7i. Mil., c. 3. ^ De Jejim., c. 15. i82 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. In the reference of the DidacJie to the Lord's-day Th homi- service there is no specific mention of leticai part of exhortation or preaching as forming part the service. ^^ j^^ g^^^ ^j^^^ ^j^j^ ^j^ ^^^.^^^ ^ p^^.^ ^f it is clearly enough implied in the instructions given respecting the apostles, prophets and teachers, and the bishops and deacons in chapters xi. and xv. ; and in the passage quoted above from Justin, it is related how, when the reading from the memoirs of the apostles, or the writings of the prophets has con- cluded, " the president verbally instructs and exhorts us to the imitation of the excellent things " contained in them. Such exhortations were not necessarily Not confined restricted to officials. The ecclesiastical to officials, spirit, which has since developed more or less in all the Churches, was then unknown. " Even if a teacher be a layman," we read in the Apostolical Constitutions, " still, if he be skilled in the word and reverent in habit, let him teach, for Scripture says, They shall be all taught of God." As we shall see more fully afterwards, the same freedom which charac- terised the apostolic Church in this matter continued more or less into the following ages. Even in those primitive times the sermon was sometimes read to the congregation. What was formerly regarded as the second Epistle of Clement of Rome is now recognised to be a homily or sermon, which has internal evidence of having been read to the assembled Christians. In the body of the discourse these words occur : " There- fore, brothers and sisters, after the God of truth hath been heard, I read to you an exhortation, to the end that ye may give heed to the things which are written, so that ye may save both yourselves and him tliat THE LORD'S DAY. 183 readeth in the midst of you." This particular homily is interesting as being the earliest post-apostolic sermon on record. As a rule, the sermon does not seem to have been at all elaborate, or even very care- fully premeditated, but in a great degree extempo- raneous — a simple and practical exhortation, based on the portion of Scripture which had been read. It is curious also to find that, even at this early date, in the case of such speakers as Origen, who, by the w^ay, was not even a presbyter, the discourse was taken down by shorthand writers — for shorthand was an art cultivated even in those days — and afterwards revised by the preacher. Nor is it less interesting, though contrary to our modern notions, to learn that, in the East at least, as a general rule the preacher sat, while the auditors stood during the discourse. Eusebius reports that when he himself preached before Con- stantine, the Emperor insisted on standing through the whole service. If it served no other purpose, the consequence of falling asleep under such circumstances was well calculated to keep the hearers awake ! It is significant that in the Didache there The place of is no reference to the place of meeting, meeting. This silence regarding the building in which the Christians assembled is characteristic of the early Christian literature generally. The place where they assembled was at this period to the Christian thought relatively a minor matter. They would meet where- ever it was convenient — in an apartment in some dwelling placed at their disposal by one of their number,^ in the schola or club-room of some associa- ^ Thus Euprepia, a pious Roman matron, assigned the title of her house over to the Church for holding divine service in. i84 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. tion, or it might be in some subterranean chamber in the catacombs. Church buildings, expressly designed and erected for Christian worship, are institutions of a later date. It was as friendly societies, and par- ticularly as burial clubs, that Christian congregations were first recognised by the civil power in the first and second centuries. The schola or club-house, and the cella or chapel in the cemetery, were, in all pro- bability, the earliest example of real property owned by Christian Churches, and in these also we behold the first germs of Christian church architecture. How little stress is laid on the place where the Christians assemble we have already learned from Clement. *' WJierever two or three are gathered together in My name, I am in the midst of them," said Christ. From these words, and from the principles enunciated by our Lord in His conversation with the woman of Samaria, the primitive Church inferred that the place of meeting was a matter of indifference, if it was only sufficiently commodious. To them worship had no more sanctity in one place than in another. The idea that worship which is legitimate in one place is evil in another, is as foreign to their notions as to the New Testament itself. " It is not the place, but the congregation of the elect I call the Church," says Clement of Alexandria; and "where two or three Christians are, though they be laymen, there is a Church there," says TertuUian. " Where do you assemble } " the Roman proconsul asked Justin ; and his reply was, *' Where each one will and can. You believe doubtless that we all meet in the very same place. Not so ; for the God of the Christians is not confined to one spot ; but being invisible, fills heaven and earth, and every- THE LORD'S DAY, 185 where is worshipped and glorified by the faithful." The prefect said again, " Tell me where you assemble, or into what place do you collect your followers ? " Justin said, " I live above one Martinus, at the Tirniotinian Bath ; and during the w^iole time (and I am now living in Rome for the second time), I am unaware of any other meeting than his." ' When Celsus makes it a reproach against Christianity that it has no sanctuary, Origen admits the fact, but replies that the true temple is the man who bears God's image. The word " sanctuary," as a name for the Christian place of worship, does not appear till later, and comes in with the consecration of the church building (a thing unknown till the fourth century), the development of the hierarchy and ceremonial religion. Our handbook contains the earliest extant notice of another custom which may be referred to in this connection — an observance, how- Wednesday ever, which, unlike that of the Lord's day, and Friday , ... 1 . Fasts. IS purely ecclesiastical, carrying no apo- stolic authority — the Wednesday and Friday fasts. " Let not your fasts be with the hypocrites " (says the Didache, c. 8) ; " for they fast on the second day of the week and on the fifth ; but ye shall fast on the fourth day and the preparation," — i.e. on Wednes- day and Friday. The reference to this custom in our manual suggests how early the " doctrines and com- mandments of men," began to be superadded to the simple apostolic rule of Christian living. The reason for fasting on the days specified is given in the 1 " Martyrdom of Justin and Others," chap. ii. i86 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. Apostolical Constitutions thus : " because on the fourth day the judgment went forth against the Lord, Judas then promising His betrayal for money ; and on \hQ preparation (fast) because the Lord suffered on that day the death of the Cross." ^ These days were Dies sta- called " station days ''—dies statiomim. tionuin. Christians were thought of as Christ's soldiers. Tertullian compares the Church to a camp in presence of the enemy, and represents Christians as always standing on guard against the dark de- moniac powers — a race ready for death. The baptismal vow was sacranientuni iniliticB christtance. And just as the Roman soldier had his dies stationuni — his station-days when he stood on sentry ; so it was thought not inappropriate that the Christian soldier should have his station-days or vigils also — days to be spent in fasting, in watching and in prayer — days which were connected with the Passion of our Lord, and with His command, "watch and pray." " Why have you come hither so early in the morn- ing?" the Shepherd asks Hermas ; and he answers — •' Because, sir, I have a station." " What is a station V he enquired. " ' I am fasting, sir,' I replied. ' What is this fasting,' he continued, ' which you observ^e } ' ' As I have been accustomed, sir, so I fast,' I reply. ' You do not know how to fast unto the Lord,' he said. * This useless fasting you observe is of no value. . . . God desires not such empty fasts ; for, fast- ing to God in this way, you will do nothing for a righteous life. But offer to God a fasting like the following : Do no evil in your life, and serve the ^ Apostol. Consf.j vii. c. 23. THE LORD'S DAY. 187 Lord with a pure heart. Keep His commandments, walking in His precepts, and let no evil arise in your heart ; and believe in God. If you do these things, and fear Him, and abstain from every evil thing, you will keep a great fast, and are acceptable unto God.' " Then the Shepherd goes on to tell him, when he fasts, to reckon up the cost of the dishes he would have eaten, and to give it to a widow or an orphan, or to some one in want. ^ These " stations " or " vigils " were soon extended to the night-season, and whole nights were spent in watching and prayer in the place of meeting. John Wesley, when his watch- night services were challenged on one occasion by an Irish rector, appealed to this practice of the primitive Church in their justification. Such sacred days as those just referred to soon began to multiply in the early Church, nor was it content to find occasions for them only in the life and passion of our Lord. Already in the course of the second century the festivals of martyrs Festivals of began to be celebrated. In the account ^laityrs. of the martyrdom of Polycarp in the Epistle of the Church of Smyrna, there is distinct reference to such commemorations. After referring to the spot where his ashes had been deposited, the narrative goes on to say : *' There also, as far as we can, the Lord will grant us to assemble, and to celebrate the natal day of his martyrdom in joy and gladness, both in com- memoration of those who have finished their contest before, and to exercise and prepare those that shall be hereafter." - One cannot but be struck here with ^ The Pasto?' of Hennas, B. ill. Sim. i, 2, 3. - Eusebius, H. £"., Book iv. c. 15. THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. the fact, so full of meaning and suggestiveness, that those early Christians thought of the day of martyr- dom, not as the day of death for those who under- went it, not as the termination of their career, but as their natal day, the day of their birth, through which they issued into a higher condition of existence in another and a better world ; and that, in accordance with that conception, they celebrated the day not with the funereal symbols of sorrow and gloom, but with joy and gladness. TertuUian, Cyprian and others mention these aniversary festivals of the martyrs, which were observed with religious services and commemorative addresses, and which had be- come so numerous in the time of Chrysostom that every week brought with it its festival of some martyr, and often more than one. About the same time that the martyr festivals originated, or a little earlier, we begin first to hear of the Easter commemoration. It was with regard to the day on which it should be kept that the great Quarto-deciman controversy, which so disturbed the primitive Church, arose, and to consult about which appears to have been one object of Polycarp's visit to Rome about the middle of the second century. The Churches of Asia, Euse- bius informs us, thought that they were bound to keep it on " the fourteenth day of the moon," which might fall on any day of the week — a custom which led them to be called "Quarto-decimanians" — where- as the Roman Church commemorated the death of Christ always on a Friday, the day of the week on which the event actually occurred. It is a mark ot the early date of our manual that it is silent with THE LORD'S DA\ , 189 respect to this and other observances which arose about this period, and which it could hardly have failed to mention had they been prevalent at the time when it was written. CHAPTER VII. CHURCH ORGANIZATION. ON this subject our Directory is particularly full, luminous, and interesting. Its statements enable us to understand better than ever before many of the New Testament allusions to the Christian ministry ; they supply an important link of con- nection between the apostolic and post-apostolic Churches in the matter of Church order ; they touch closely the various questions involved in the organi- sation of the early Church ; and already they have given a great impulse to the further investigation of this question. Not to speak of the discussions they have originated in Germany, they have chiefly fur- nished the occasion for a series of interesting articles in the pages of The Expositor, in which Dr. Harnack, Dr. Sanday, and others have taken part. It will be best to set out here in full what the The Didache ^^^^^^^^' ^as to say on the different orders on the Chris- of the Christian ministry : — tian mmistry. « g^^ ^^^^ ^^^ prophets to give thanks in such way as they please." Chapter xi. " Whosoever therefore cometh and teacheth you all these things aforesaid, him receive. But if he that teacheth, himself perverted, teach other doctrine to the undoing thereof, do not hear him ; 190 CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 191 but if to the advancement of righteousness and know- ledge of the Lord, receive him as the Lord. "And concerning the apostles and prophets, ac- cording to the ordinance of the gospel, so do ye. And let every apostle that cometh to you be received as the Lord. And he shall not remain (beyond) one day, but, if there be need, the next also ; but, if he remain three days, he is a false prophet. And let the apostle, when going away, take nothing but bread to last hi n till he be lodged ; but if he ask for money he is a false prophet. And every prophet that speaketh in the Spirit ye shall not try nor judge ; for every sin shall be forgiven, but this sin shall not be forgiven Yet not every one that speaketh in the Spirit is a prophet, but only if he have the ways of the Lord. From their ways therefore shall the false prophet and the prophet be known. And no prophet that appoint- eth a table in the Spirit shall eat of it, but if he do so he is a false prophet. And every prophet that teacheth the truth, if he doeth not what he teacheth, is a false prophet. And no prophet, approved and true, that doth anything with a view to a worldly mystery of the Church, but teacheth not others to do as he doeth, shall be judged by you, for his judgment is with God ; for in like manner also did the ancient prophets. And should any one say in the Spirit, Give me money or some other thing, ye shall not hear him ; but if he tells you to give in behalf of others that are in want let no one judge him." Chapter xiii. " But every true prophet who wishes to take up his abode among you is worthy of his food. In like manner a true teacher is also worthy, like the workman, of his food. All the first-fruit then 192 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH, of the produce of wine-vat and threshing floor, oxen and sheep, shalt thou take and give to the prophets ; for they are your chief priests. And, if ye have not a prophet, give to the poor. If thou makest a batch of bread take the first-fruits, and give them according to the commandment. In Hke manner when thou hast opened a jar of wine or oil, take the first-fruits and give to the prophets. And of money and raiment and every possession, take the first-fruits, as may seem good to thee, and give according to the com- mandment. Chapter xv. " Elect (by vote) therefore for your- selves bishops and deacons worthy of the Lord, men meek and free from avarice, and true and approved : for they too minister to you the ministry (XeLTovpyovaL Ttjv XeiTovpjiav) of the prophets and teachers. De- spise them not therefore ; for they are those that are held in honour among you with the prophets and teachers." Two different sorts of functionaries are mentioned Two classes of in the foregoing passage — first, the 'ttifmnT^nd '' ^^^^^^^^>'' " apostles," and "prophets," the local. who for the most part itinerate from place to place, belong to the whole Church, and are not elected by the people, but receive their gifts and ap- pointment directly from the Church's Head. These may be called the extraordinary ofifices, which soon came to an end. Secondly, there are the '* bishops " and " deacons." These are the local office-bearers of the congregation, elected by the congregation, and responsible for conducting the worship and adminis- tering the affairs of the congregation, except in so far as these duties are discharged by the itinerant ministry. CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 193 A.— THE UNATTACHED OR ITINERANT MINISTRY. The "teachers," "apostles," and "prophets" are neither in the New Testament, nor in the Didache, nor in the other early Hterature, sharply distinguished from one another. The same person is sometimes called by each of the three titles, according to the as- pect of his work prominent at the moment. Thus in the New Testament, Barnabas and Paul are called ** teachers," "prophets," and "apostles" (Acts xiii. i; xiv. 4, 14; Gal. ii. 9). Silas is called both "prophet" and "apostle" (Acts xv. ^2 \ i Thess. i. I ; ii. 6). Similarly in our document the "apostle" is also called a "prophet" (c. xi. 5, 6); but on the other hand there are "teachers" who are neither "prophets" nor "apostles" (compare c. xi. i, 2, with xi. 3 and xiii. i, 2). Let us look at each separately. (i.) Teachers. Among the varied gifts bestowed so abundantly upon the early Church was that oi teaching {"^om. xii. 6, 7). This gift and its exercise were by no means confined to the office-bearers of Jichfngnot the Church (Acts viii. 4; xi. 19, 21 ; xiii confined to i; xviii. 26, 28; I Cor. xiv. 5, 26, 31 >ffi^e-bear<^^-^. Jas. iii. i). There seems to have been the same freedom in this matter of teaching or preaching in the apostolic Church as there was in the Jewish synagogue (Luke iv. ij \ Acts xiii. 15 ; xvii. 2). For the sake of order, and to secure the more regular and efficient discharge of the function of teaching, a O 194 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. permanent local ministry was instituted, but not to the exclusion of its exercise by non-official members of the Church on whom the gift had been bestowed. Even so late as in the Apostolical Constitutions it is laid down that " though a man be a layman, if ex- perienced in the delivery of instruction, and reverent in habit, he may teach ; for the Scripture says ' They shall be all taught of God.' " ^ It was Pope Leo I. who first forbad lay preaching in the interest of ecclesiastical order. But the result of the wide be- stowment of the charism of teaching and of its exten- sive exercise in the early Church, was the emergence of a considerable number of persons in the Churches who were known as " teachers," and who were not necessarily either apostles, or prophets, or presbyters. Thus in I Cor. xii. 2%, " teachers " are named as a group by themselves, and distinguished from apostles and prophets on the one hand, and from governments on the other. So also in the DidacJic (as we have just seen) and in the Pastor of Hermas, " teachers " are mentioned as a class distinct from apostles, prophets, and bishops.- And the words of 2 John lO, " If there come any unto you, and bring not this teaching, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed," seem to contemplate just the same sort of itinerant teachers as are implied in W\&Didache when it says, '' Whosoever then cometh and teacheth you all the things aforesaid, receive him. But if he that teacheth, himself perverted, teaches other doc- trine to the undoing of this, do not hear him." In such men as Justin Martyr, Tatian, and Pantaenus, ^ Apostot. Const., viii. 'i\. 2 Pastor, Vis. iii. 5 ; Sim. ix. 15, 16, 25. CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 195 Harnack, with good reason, sees representatives of tlie *' teachers " of the early time. (ii.) Apostles. It should not surprise us to find this term applied to others besides the twelve apostles. ^j^^ There is nothing clearer than that it is c^esignation applied in the New Testament to certain notrnfined mmisters outside the circle of the twelve, to the twelve. Thus Barnabas as well as Paul is styled an apostle. Referring to these brethren, the writer of the Acts says, "part held with the apostles," and, again, "when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard^his they rent their clothes " (Acts xiv. 4, 14). Again in I Cor. XV. 5, 7, we read, " And after that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve . . . then of all the apostles." James, the Lord's brother, who was not one of the t\velve, is called an apostle (Gal. i 19 • Acts XV. 7) ; Paul describes Timothy and Silas as apostles along with himself (i Thess. i. i ; ii. 6) ; and according to the most natural sense of the words in Rom. xvi. 7, Andronicus and Junias are also repre- sented as apostles. So here in the Didache, in the Pastor of Hermas, in Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, and the Ancient Syriac Documents edited by Cureton' the term is extended to others besides the twelve. It is of course an inferior and secondary sense which the title bears as thus applied to others than the original apostolate, for some of them at all events had not seen Christ, nor were, what Paul calls " the signs " of an original apostle, wrought by them It has been contended even by some that the term 196 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. "apostle" in such cases is not employed as a title, but simply as a literal description to convey that the persons so called were sent forth. Of course that is always implied in the word, but that in the passages above cited or referred to it is employed not simply as a literal indication of the fact that those described by it were sent fortJi, but as a title, we do not see how any candid and competent judge can deny. ,. The question is— what was the position What was dis- 7 , , , , • .^ ■ ■ c • tinctive in the occupied by those who m this interior "^P°^^^^"^ secondary sense were called apostles? What was distinctive about them ? Let us see if we cannot ascertain this. Eusebius, in his chapter " Concerning Distinguished Evangelists" of the sub-apostolic age, has a state- ment which will throw some light on the enquiry. He says : — •' Of those who flourished in these times was Ouad- ratus also, whom, along with the daugh- "^ESiusal ters of Philip, history holds distinguished to the early for his prophetical gift. And along with evangehsts. ^^^^^^ others also were signalized in these times, occupying the first place of the succession to the apostles. And these as being the distinguished disciples of such men, also built up in every place the foundations of the Churches which had been laid by the apostles, advancing the Gospel more and more, .'ind spreading the salvation seeds of the kingdom of heaven far and wide throughout the world. For most of the disciples at that time, animated with an ardent love for the Divine word, had first fulfilled the pre- cept of the Saviour by distributing their substance to the needy. Afterwards, leaving their own country, CHURCH ORGANIZAriON. 197 they performed the work of evangelists to those who had not yet heard the faith, whilst, with a noble am- bition to proclaim Christ, they also delivered to them the writing of the Divine Gospels. And these, hav- ing laid the foundations of the faith in foreign parts (that only being their business), and having appointed pastors over others, and committing to them the care of those who had been recently brought in, they departed again to other regions and nations." ^ These evangelists were itinerant missionaries whose one business {avro ixbvov) it was to preach the gospel, and lay the foundations of the faith in foreign parts, and appoint pastors, and then depart to other regions not yet evangelized. This office of appointing pas- tors was (as we shall see afterwards) no exclusive prerogative of theirs, but was discharged by others as well, as for example by presbyters ; but it was one necessary to their position as missionary pioneers, as it is necessary still to missionaries in heathen countries. But is there anything to show that the term " apostle " was sometimes applied to such evangelists ? Tertullian supplies the link. He asks, "Who are false prophets unless false preachers t Who are false apostles unless spurious evangelists } " - And it is very noteworthy that the office of the evangelist described above by Eusebius was just the position occupied by Timothy and Titus, and that Timothy is not only called an apostle, but is exhorted to "do the work of an evangelist " (2 Tim. iv. 5). They were itinerant missionaries sent forth to evangelize and to ^ Eubcb., H.E., iii. -^-j. - Tertullian, De Pncscr.^ iv. 198 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. organize congregations. But in the times to which our document belongs, as well as in earlier times, there were many " false apostles " who sought to impose themselves on the Churches, and, to enable them to distinguish the true from the false, certain tests are suggested in the DidacJie by which to prove any who would come. If they wished to remain longer than two days in one place, or if they asked for money, they might be regarded as false apostles. (iii.) Prophets. What differentiated the " prophet," properly so The "differ- called, from the '' apostle " and the " teach- entice " of the er," appears to have been his speaking in prophet, ^j^^ Spirit" (eV nrvev^iaTi), though not every one who spoke in the Spirit was a true prophet, for it might be an evil spirit {Did. xi. 8). A false prophet would be known by his not having the ways of the Lord, his ordering a table or love-feast for his own personal gratification, or his taking money for him- self. We cannot refrain from quoting here, on ac- count of its illustrative value, a parallel passage from the Shepherd o^ Hermas : — " Hear then in regard to the spirit which is earthly and empty and powerless and foolish. First, the man who seems to have the spirit exalts himself and wishes to have the first seat, and is bold and impudent and talkative, and lives in the midst of many luxuries, and many other delusions, and takes rewards for his prophecy ; and if he does not receive rewards he does not prophecy. Can, then, the Divine Spirit take re- wards and prophecy? It is not possible that the CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 199 prophet of God should do this, and prophets of this character are possessed by an earthly spirit. Then it never approaches an assembly of righteous men, but shuns them. And it associates with doubters and the vain, and prophesies to them in a corner, and deceives them, speaking to them according to their desires, mere empty words ; for they are empty to whom it gives its answers. For the empty vessel when placed along with the empty is not crushed, but they correspond to each other. When, therefore it comes into an assembly of righteous men who have a Divine Spirit, and they offer up prayer, that man is made empty, and the earthly spirit flees from him through fear, and that man is made dumb and is entirely crushed, being unable to speak. For if you pack closely a storehouse with wine and oil, and put an empty jar in the midst of the vessels of wine or oil, you will find that jar empty as when you placed it, if you should wish to clear the storehouse. So also the empty prophets, when they come to the spirits of the righteous are found to be such as they were when they came. This, then, is the mode of life of both prophets. Try by his deeds and his life the man who says that he is inspired." ^ The prophet of the DidacJie might settle in a par- ticular locality, in which case he is worthy of support. According to our manual, very special Th^ "pro- honour was conferred upon the prophets. P^^et" of the They might give thanks as they desired in specially the public worship, and were not tied down lionoured. to any forms of pra}'cr. All the first-fruit was to be given to them : " for," it is added, " they are your ' Pastor. Com. xi. 200 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. chief priests." They are so called, not at all in the spirit of a later sacerdotalism, for there is none of this in our document, but partly on account of the high honour in which they are held, and partly because, like the Jewish priesthood, they had no personal means of support, but were dependent on the Christian community. B.— THE LOCAL MINISTRY. Immediately following a. paragraph on the Lord's- day service, and in express connection with it, our manual has the words already quoted : " Elect there- Bishops and fore for yourselves bishops and deacons deacons, ^yorthy of the Lord, men meek and free from avarice, and true and approved ; for they too conduct the service (kenovp^ovai rrjv Xeirovpyiav) of the prophets and teachers. Despise them not, there- fore; for they are those that are held in honour among you, with the prophets and teachers " {Bid. c. xv.). Bishop Lightfoot expresses the most generally pre- valent opinion in saying that "when our author wrote, 'bishop' still remained a synonym for 'pres- byter,' and the episcopal office, properly so called, had not been constituted in the district in which he lived." 1 But the discussion of the whole question of the local ministry is at present so unsettled ; theories quite divergent from that of Bishop Lightfoot have been recently put forward and supported with such learning by specialists in this department of study, like Drs. Hatch, Harnack, and Weizsackcr ; and ^ Expositor^ January, 1885, CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 201 Bishop Lightfoot's own view seems to us at some points so wide of the real facts of the case ; that, for the proper elucidation of the subject, it will be neces- sary to examine it with some detail. I. The Natural History of the Local Office- bearers. The first question which arises has reference to what may be called the natural history of the local Church officers, or, in other words, to the source whence, both as to name and idea, they were derived. And here it is necessary to notice the view advocated with so much erudition by Dr. Hatch in his Bampton Lecture on '' The Organization of the Early Christian Churches," and whose treatise has been generally ac- cepted as the most weighty utterance on the subject since the appearance of Bishop Lightfoot's Disserta- tion on the Christian Ministiy, in his Commentary on the Epistle to the Philippians. The case presented by Vice-Principal Hatch is briefly as follows. In all parts of the Roman empire there were asso- ciations for all sorts of purposes— trade guilds, dra- matic guilds, athletic clubs, burial clubs. Dr. Hatch's friendly, literary, and financial societies, ^lieory : and religious associations, each with its lodge-room or guildhall {schola). The members of each associa- tion contributed to a common fund, and partook together of a common meal ; and the same names — " synagogue," " ecclesia," *' synod " — were applied to their meetings as to tho.-c of the Christian commu- THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. nities. Government by a council or committee was almost universal, not only in Palestine, but in the organizations over the empire. Every association had its committee, every municipality its curia or senate. AicLKovo^ was not only a common name for those who served at table, but for those who at a religious festival distributed the meat of the sacrifices among the festival company. Upea^vTepo^; was the name not only of those who constituted the Jewish syne- drion or local court, which in every place sat side by side with, though distinct from, the synagogue, and exercised administrative and disciplinary functions ; the members of the Greek yepovacai (or municipal councils) were also called TrpealSvrepot, and the pro- fessor in the philosophical schools was described sometimes by the same title. ^Ettlo-kottol appears also to have been used to describe the committee of an association, especially when entrusted with funds for any purpose. It occurs as the title of ^ ^Chuixhes ^ the financial officer of an association and adopted the of a temple. Dr. Hatch thinks that the o7theheathen early Churches simply adopted the order societies and nomenclature which they found exist- around them. . . . . . , ,, .1 i. i.1, mg m the societies around them ; that they grew up spontaneously in different places, and varied with the locality, and that the development w^as much slower than is usually believed. Now that in its main outlines and nomenclature the organization adopted in the Christian Church existed already in Jewish institutions, has been always recognised. What is peculiar to Dr. Hatch's view is the extent to which he supposes it to have been shaped by the secular societies of the empire, and to CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 203 have grown up spontaneously under their influence. The proof which he offers in support of his Proof of theory seems to us, however, to be alto- fhe theory gether inadequate. As Dr. Sanday has pointed out, the few allusions that are found to eVt- (jKOTToi in connection with associations or temples are insufficient to prove that such use of the term was anything but occasional and rare ; and M. Wadding- ton infers from a study of the inscriptions that the Christian use of the term was derived not from Greek associations, but from its occurrence in Syria or Palestine. But what strikes one most is that Dr. Hatch's theory is completely at variance with the history which the Acts of the Apostles gives us The theory of the development of the ecclesiasticaH|;j,t^e^^_tjar^ organization. We are not quite sure, in- Acts of the deed, what Dr. Hatch includes in the au- Apostles. thentic historical sources from which he draws his facts. If one begins, like Dr. Harnack, by denying the authenticity of the Acts and of the Pastoral Epistles as apostolic documents, and by relegating them to the second century, and finds thus the earliest trace of an official ministry in Philippians i. i, we may expect from him a theory to suit the facts which he admits. But Dr. Hatch's position in re- lation to these books is somewhat undefined. We understand him to have given up the Pastoral Epistles ; but as to the Acts, so far as we can gather, he differs from Harnack. In an article in the Ency- dopcedia Britannica he says of the Acts : " What colouring of a later time, derived from later contro- versies, has been spread over the original outline of 204 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. the history cannot now be told. While, on the one hand, the difficulty of the narrative as it stands can- not be overlooked, yet on the other hand no faithful historian will undertake, in the absence of all col- lateral evidence, the task of discriminating that which belongs to a contemporary testimony, and that which belongs to a subsequent recension." We are thus not sure whether Dr. Hatch may not regard the refer- ences to Church order in the Acts as " the colouring of a later time," and as due to "a subsequent re- cension." At any rate, feeling satisfied as we do with such arguments as those so ably presented by Dr. Salmon in his Historical Introdtictiaii to the Study of the Books of the Nezv Testament, that the history of the Acts is thoroughly trustworthy, it is to us a sufficient condemnation of Dr. Hatch's view that it is irreconcilable with the narrative which that book con- tains. Let us trace rapidly the rise and spread of the Presbyterate and Episcopate as indicated by the writer of the Acts. {a) The Rise oj the Eldership. With regard to the origin of the Eldership there is substantial unanimity. It is generally admitted that The Christian it was a copy of the mode of government Eldership j^y ^ council of elders which already from lormed after -^ . . -^ the model of ancient times obtained among the Jews. the Jewish. Pj-Qm the time of Moses onwards we hear of elders as rulers of the people, each town having in later times its bench of elders (Deut. xix. 2 ; Judges xi. 5, 7 ; Ruth iv. 2 ; i Kings xxi. 8 ; 2 Kings xi. I). Dr. Hatch has [jointed out that the synechiuii <;r CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 205 local court of elders was distinct from the synagogue, though side by side with it, and that their duties were administrative and disciplinary. When, then, at an early stage in the history of the Christian Church, and without any previous notice of the institution of the office, we find " elders " in the Church at Jerusa- salem, as a definite body of office-bearers, established in a Jewish-Christian community, by Jewish-Chris- tian leaders who have never been out of Palestine; "elders "who are known and recognised at a distance as a representative and responsible body of officers, to whom relief for the poor Christians in Jud^a is sent by the disciples of Antioch through the hands of Barnabas and Saul (Acts xi. 30) ; and when immedi- ately after the visit of these apostles to the elders at Jerusalem, we read of their missionary journey through Asia Minor, and of their having elders ap- pointed by election, and w^th a solemn religious ser- vice, in all the congregations planted by Paul and his companion over that region (Acts xiv. 23) ; we can- not doubt that the government by elders thus insti- tuted in the Churches of Judea and Asia Minor w^as in its main features simply a continuance of the Jewish system of government by elders. True, it is maintained by Harnack that in the early Church the term " elders " does not, till after the time of Paul, imply officials, but persons so called from age and experience, and who on this account solely, and not by virtue of appointment to office, exercised authority. But no one who accepts the history of the Acts of the Apostles as trustworthy can doubt the official charac- ter of the elders named in it; for we are distinctly informed with respect to the Churches of Proconsular 2o6 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. Asia planted by Paul and Barnabas, that they " or- dained " (lit., had elected by vote) *' elders in every Church " (Acts xiv. 28). {b) The Rise of the Episcopate. It is here strongly urged by Dr. Hatch that the organization adopted in the Gentile Churches had "a Hatch thinks ^P°^t^"^ous origin; for the members of theEpisco- the governing council had various names, pate arose 1.1 • r 1 t • , ^^ spontaneously ^"<^ ^^^ names m use for the Jewish officers in Gentile did not at once prevail."! The name which Churches. .111 / , . , prevailed here, he thinks, was not " elder " but "bishop" — a name which was applied to the financial officer of an association and of a temple, and to the committee of the governing body, or a committee of it when entrusted with funds for any purpose. It was after such a model that (as he sup- poses) the council of bishops, who in the first instance had to do chiefly with finance, arose in the Gentile Churches. The chief objection to this theory is that it ignores the history of the early episcopate as we have it in This view the New Testament and in the sub-apos- contradicted -i- ... ,, .., , by the to^^^ writings, and that it is based on an evidence, exaggerated view of the importance of a few isolated inscriptions in which the term eV/o-zcoTro? occurs ; but which do not prove even that the persons so described were permanent officers, or that their duties were confined to finance.^ Dr. Hatch's view ^ Bainpton Lecture^ Lect. 1 1 1. 2 See Dr. Sanday's Criticism in the Expositor, Feb., 1887. pp.98, 99- /-,./. CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 207 of the origin of the episcopate is in fact quite at variance with the evidence which the early Hterature supph'es. When the term " bishop " first comes into use it is certainly not as the title of an officer whose primary and most prominent duties are financial. The word " bishop," when it first occurs (Acts XX. 28), is used as a synonym for ^rst used as a " presbyter," and neither there, nor in the synonym for . "presbyter. Pastoral Epistles, nor in the sub-apostolic literature, do his financial duties appear as his pri- mary ones. On the other hand, the writer of the Acts (xi. 30), Clement of Rome, and Polycarp, ex- hibit the presbyters as being in charge of the offerings ; and in the DidacJie it is the prophets, and not the bishops, who are represented as the primary and chief almoners of the Church. Again, the statement that the Jewish term "elders," as well as the office which it designated, did not at once prevail among The term the Gentile Churches, is flatly contradicted " elder ''^/V/ 11 • • 1 A r 1 A 1 prevail m by the narrative m the Acts of the Apostles. Gentile The Churches established throughout Pro- Churches. consular Asia were as much Gentile Churches (in- cluding Greek Christians among their members) as those organized in Greece (see Acts xiii. 48 ; xiv. i) ; and, on the other hand, in the chief centres of Greece, as in those of Asia Minor, it was as a rule Jews and Jewish proselytes who formed the nucleus of the Christian community. Now let us trace the history of the rise of organized government in the Church over all these regions, so far as the Acts of the Apostles and the other records enable us to do so. Even at the expense of a little repetition of what has been said already, it will be important to 2o8 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. have a connected and complete view of its develop- ment over these countries. First of all, as has just been pointed out, we find at an early date a definite, well-known, and responsible History of the body of "elders" at Jerusalem, taking rise of charge of the funds handed to them by pov^mment Barnabas and Saul for the poor Christians as given in jn Judsea (Acts xi. 30) — a recognised and diets Dr. authorised organ of administration. With Hatch, these " elders " Paul and Barnabas are, on the occasion of their visit, brought into close personal intercourse, and made familiar with them as a governing body in the mother Church at Jerusalem. What immediately follows in the history t On re- turning to Antioch, Paul and Barnabas are sent forth on their first missionary journey, during the course of which they found Churches in Perga, in Antioch of Pisidia, in Iconium, Lystra and Derbe, and " the region round about,"— a wide district of Asia Minor. Having reached Derbe, and made many disciples there, they return through the Churches they had planted, confirming the souls of the disciples, ex- horting them to continue in the faith, and having elders elected and appointed, with fasting and prayer, " in every Church " hitherto founded by them ; evi- dently guided in this matter by the example which they found set them by the mother Church. Coming back to Antioch (in Syria), and finding the Church there deeply agitated over the question of circum- cising the Gentile converts, Paul and Barnabas and others are deputed to go to Jerusalem " unto the apostles and elders about this question." In the account which Luke gives of the conference which CHURCH ORGANIZATION 209 ensued, "the elders" are always associated with the apostles, and the decree issued is said to have been ''ordained by the apostles and elders" (Acts xv. 2, 4, 6, 22 ; xvi. 4). Returning once more to Antioch, Paul, accompanied this time by Silas, sets out on his second missionary journey. Visiting on their way the Churches organized in the previous tour, they come to Troas, whence they cross to Greece, founding Churches at Philippi, Thessalonica, Bercea, Athens, and Corinth ; in all which places they find Jews or Jewish proselytes, and make numerous Jewish con- verts. After a stay of a year and a half at Corinth the apostle goes up to Jerusalem again ; and coming down to Antioch, sets out on his third journey through the Churches of Asia Minor, " stablishing all the disciples." For more than two years he re- mains at Ephesus, then visits Greece, and, after a brief stay here, sets out again for Syria. Now it is true that the historian does not mention the setting up of the eldership in the Churches planted in the more western parts of Asia Minor, or in Greece. He is content with giving us an example of Paul's method of or- ganization in his first journey. This is not because a similar course of appointing elders was not pursued in the other Churches ; for we learn casually that as a matter of fact elders had been ordained in other Churches, though the writer of the Acts does not think it necessary to record their appointment. As has been well remarked by Professor Lumby in his Introduction to his Commentary on the Acts, we fail to appreciate the peculiar character of the his- tory which this book records, unless we recollect that it is "a history of bcgitinings onl}'." After P THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. pointing this out in detail, Professor Lumby adds that "through the whole of what is related con- cerning the labours of the apostle, we learn only of the founding of Churches and societies, and of the initial steps of the Christian work in the places which he visited." The book, he says again, "is a description of the beginnings of Christianity. And with this in mind we can see that the matters on which he dwells are exactly those which we should have expected him to notice."^ But that office-bearers were appointed in the Churches re- ferred to, though the historian does not, after the typical example of the apostle's mode of action recorded by him, think it necessary to chronicle the fact, we learn afterwards in an incidental way. We had not been told that the presbyterate had been set up at Ephesus ; but now when, on his way to Syria, the apostle comes to Miletus, he sends to Ephesus for " the elders of the Church " there, to whom also, be it noted, he applies the designation " bishops " (Acts XX. 17, 28). Again, we hear nothing of the appointment of Church officers at Thessalonica, at Philippi, or Corinth. The Church was founded at Thessalonica on the apostle's second missionary jour- ney, in the year 52 ; and yet already in his first epistle to this Church, the earliest of his epistles, written about the beginning of 53 A.D., he exhorts the Christians there to " know them which labour Rulers at among them, and are over them in the Thessalonica ; Lqi-jj^ ai^(^ admonish them, and to esteem them highly in love for their work's sake" (i Thess. ^ See " The Acts of the Apostles," by Professor Lumby, in the Cambridge Bible Series, Introduction, pp. x.-xv., xviii. CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 211 V. 12). From the Epistle to the Philippians we learn that there were Church officers at Philippi . described as " bishops and deacons '' (Phih i. i), the same sort of officers whom Polycarp at a later date, in his epistle to the same Church, calls " presbyters and deacons." Similarly, we hear nothing in the Acts or Epistles of any organized ^ • .. ministry at Corinth, but even if we had though ' no means of knowing, who could believe, ^^P^ named &' . in Acts. in view of the facts I have recited, that a Church so large and important, and where Paul himself, on his second journey, stayed for a year and six months, would be left by him unorganized, and without any form of government? But the early history is not silent about the fact whether a ministry had been instituted at Corinth. Clement of Rome writes to this Church in the year 95 or 96 A.D., not forty years after Paul had written to them, and not much more than thirty years since Paul's death. When Clement wrote there must have been many still alive at Corinth who had known the apostle, and who, as Clement must have been well aware, could judge of the accuracy of what he said respecting that earlier time. Yet Clement reminds the Corinthians how the apostles had appointed certain officers whom he describes as " presbyters," and had given instruc- tions that when these should fall asleep other approved men should succeed them ; adding (with reference to the sedition which had been raised against the presbyters at Corinth) that those appointed by the apostles, or afterwards with the consent of the whole Church, and " who had for a long time possessed the good opinion of all, could not be justly dismissed 212 THE SUB~APOSTOLIC CHURCH. from the ministry.^ From all which it is manifest that the Churches both of Asia and of Greece, though it did not consist with the plan of the his- torian of the Acts to record each case fully, were duly organized, and had office-bearers appointed in them soon after they were founded. Nor can any one who closely follows the history believe that the organization sprang up independently and spontan- eously in the Gentile Churches, after the analogy of the Gentile associations and their modes of govern- ment, and not after the pattern of the Jewish elder- ship. Clearly, the organization in the Churches of the western part of Asia Minor and of Greece was simply a continuation of the presbyterate at Jerusalem, and which Paul himself had instituted in many Asiatic Churches on his first missionary tour. And as to ^ ,. , the term " bishop," we first meet with Jiarliest use ^ of the term its use in Christian nomenclature, not m "bishop." Qi-eece, but in reference to the elders of Ephesus. And here we learn how the word came originally to be applied to the elders. It is used by Paul as a synonym for elders, or rather to describe the functions to be performed by these office-bearers. He invites the elders of Ephesus to meet him at Miletus, and exhorts them to tend (lit. to shepherd) the Church over which the Holy Ghost has made them bishops, their duties being analogous to those of the shepherd's calling. So also Peter exhorts the "elders" to " tend " or " feed {TroLfxdvare) the flock, taking the oversight (or episcopate) thereof" (eVto-zcoTrowre?), I Peter v. I, 2. Nor to account for the employment ^ 1 £p., c. xliv. CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 213 of this term by Paul and Peter is it necessary to prove by laborious erudition that the financial officer of a heathen association or of a temple was called eTTLaKoiro^. We doubt if the knowledge of such a fact would have greatly encouraged its use by them. It was evidently employed as the word in common use to describe oversight— d. sense in which it occurs repeatedly in the Septuagint. It is the term that would naturally occur to the apostle to describe the function of the presbyters as having oversight of the Church; and it is important to bear in mind that the word first occurs as a description of the work per- formed by elders. And indeed, on Dr. Hatch's own showing, the Gentile Christians would be as familiar with the term " elder " as with that of " bishop." Not only were there, in all those centres where Churches were established, the "elders " of the Jewish Synedrion, but, as Dr. Hatch himself points out, the members of the geroiisiai were called elders, as were professors in the philosophical schools. On the whole, then, we must pronounce Dr. Hatch's attempt to show that the organization of the Gentile Church was an independent and spontaneous growth a complete failure. The question remains— hov/ were the apostles led to adopt the particular organization which they hit upon, namely, a council of elders chosen ^^^^.^ ^^^ by the Christian people.? It is part of apostL^ Dr.^ Hatch's theory that no extraordinary S^^'^^^^Jil^y^^^'^ action of the Holy Spirit was needed to acIopting"'this direct them m the choice of a form of "'S^"^'^^*''" '^ government ; that the organization grew and took shape under the impulse of forces acting naturally, so 214 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. that no supernatural guidance was required. He holds, accordingly, that there is no form of Church government which can be said to have a monopoly of " Divine right " ; that when the sacred books were written the polity was still in a fluid state, capable of becoming a monarchy, an oligarchy, or a democracy, according to the element which would become domi- nant ; and that it is right and proper, and indeed inevitable, that the ecclesiastical polity should be moulded by the age, and by the existing forms of government in society. As to Hatch's view that the mode of government continued fluid, unformed, and inchoate throughout the apostolic age, it is impossible to any one who accepts of the Acts and the Pastoral Epistles. I have shown that from a very early date in the history of the Church, the polity had taken a fixed and definite shape — that of a council of elders or bishops chosen by the Christian people ; and we shall see farther on that this continued till towards the middle of the second century, when monarchical episcopacy began to lift its head. And as to the idea that it is permissible to adopt whatever form of Church polity is best suited to the age, I have to remark that it is not contended that anything more than the broad outlines and great fundamental prin- ciples of Church government are indicated in Scrip- ture. We do hold, however, that these are most clearly legible in its pages ; that, as I hope to show, they are eminently in harmony with, and a suitable vehicle of, the Christian spirit ; that they are demon- strably applicable to any age or land ; though, no doubt, in applying them practicall}' in different ages CHURCH ORGANIZATION. and in different countries and circumstances, there is room for great variety of detail. (i) The apostolic form of Church polity — govern- ment by a council or committee chosen by the free suffrages of the Christian community — ^, , 1 • 1 1 , , , . I. Ine form seems admirably adapted to the spirit and adopted by genius of Christianity itself It is surely a^'^T^P^^i^^^y ^^ c • , , adapted to matter of some importance that the out- the spirit of ward framework of the Christian society ^^^"stianity. should be in harmony with the Christian spirit — a home and not a prison for the Church ; not a strait jacket, but an easy, comfortable garment in which its free, spontaneous life and movement would have room for play. Christianity is essentially and funda- mentally a spiritual religion, emancipating and not enslaving and oppressing men's consciences ; for, " where the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty." It may be surely accepted as axiomatic that, whatever form the organization may assume, it must be adapted to and in unison with Christianity itself Now an autocratic, despotic rule, which imposes its authority on the Church and allows no adequate expression to its mind and spirit, cannot be a suitable organ of government, and must necessarily cramp and injure the Church's life and action. We now begin to see why the original founders of the Church singled out the form of government they adopted — a council or committee of presbyters, chosen by the free vote of the Christian people— and preferred it to any other. It was not simply because it was a Jewish institution ; for Jewish institutions were passed over by the apostles when they found them unsuitable to their ends, and incongruous with the religion which they 2i6 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. taught Much less was it because they found that government by a council or committee obtained among certain heathen societies around them. They found the monarchical, autocratic principle — that which concentrated power in the individual — in operation as well, and recommended by the halo of imperial splendour which surrounded it ; and yet they deliberately put it aside ; and in preference to any other they selected for their purpose the prin- ciple of government by a council elected by. the governed as manifestly the organization best suited to the genius of Christianity, its spirituality and free- dom ; as the one best fitted to secure order and effectiveness on the one hand, and yet simplicity and expansiveness on the other — a system which, in the language of a great man, secures " superiority without tyranny, parity without disorder, and subjection without slavery." (2) For another peculiarity of this principle is its suitability to the most varying circumstances. It is the mode of government chosen in all ■ the most ° ages and all the world over in all free varying cir- societies for managing their affairs, the cumstances. , . , 1 •.. ir ^^ ^.i one which commends itself to the common sense of mankind as at once the most simple, and the most effective. It existed, as we have seen, among the Jews from a remote period of their history, show- ing its applicability to a primitive Oriental people. It is the method of local government in operation at this moment, and has been from time immemorial, in the towns and communities throughout the Chinese empire, the governing council bearing the very name of '' elders," or at least its Chinese equivalent. It CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 217 was the form of government, as Hatch himself shows, adopted by the municipalities and associations over the Roman empire in the opening centuries of our era ; and, without apparently perceiving the signifi- cance of the concession, Dr. Hatch admits its applica- bility to our own democratic age. He says that " under the impulse of the vast secular revolution now going on, all organizations, civil or ecclesiastical, must be, as the early Churches ivere^ more or less democratical." What the Church of the present democratic age needs is, he thinks, a return to the more or less democratical constitution of the early Church. If it was suited to that early age, and if it is also capable of being adapted to the changed conditions of this nineteenth century, if it is alike indigenous to ancient Judaea and to modern China, it is hard to imagine any time or circumstances to which it is not applicable, or why it should not have been intended by the Spirit of God to be the perma- nent mode of government in His Church. That a few simple Galilean fishermen fixed upon a polity so much in keeping with Christianity itself, so suitable to any circumstances that Dr. Hatch thinks a return to something like it would fit our democratic age, a polity which still commends itself to the most civilized communities as the one most effective for their pur- pose, was surely no accident, but due to the light and leading of that Divine Spirit by whom they were animated and guided. We see no good reason why we should accept apostolic teaching as authoritative on other matters and reject it on this. (3) The institution of the pastorate and the government of the Church is in Scripture expressly 2i8 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. attributed to Christ Himself. He is represented as having "given " along with other functionaries "pas- tors and teachers" for the perfecting of the saints and for the work of the ministry (Eph. iv. aurnredio n); and "tcachers," " helps" and "govern- God in ments " are stated to have been " set in the Scripture, (^j^^^^^j^ „ ^^ q^^ (j (3^,^ ^jj 38); while the apostle thinks it necessary to give specific and detailed instructions respecting the qualifications re- quired in bishops or presbyters and deacons (i Tim. iii. 1-13; Tit. i. 5-9). H. Were "Presbyter" and "Bishop" names of the same office-bearers t A more important question than the origin of the local ministry and of its nomenclature, though one intimately connected with it, has now to be con- sidered, namely, were " presbyter " and " bishop " originally names of the same officers, or did they designate two different classes of ministers .? It has been generally held by scholars, among whom Bishop Lightfoot may be named as the most emi- otfel^affi™ nent, that during the greater part of the that |'bishop"apostolic period, if not during the whole of 'TL-''^'wete^" it, these names were applied indifferently originally ^o the Same officials. Till very recently this has been accepted as an established fact needing no further proof. Dr. Hatch, however, as has been seen, endeavoured to show in his Bamp- ton Lecture that the two names were distinct in their origin, and also that whereas the " presbyter " was CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 219 primarily concerned with discipline, the "bishop" acquired his name and attained to his eminence as chief almoner in the Church. Dr. Hatch, indeed, did not very clearly and distinctly define his view of the relation between " presbyters " and " bishops," though he seemed to accept of Bishop Lightfoot's conclusion that they were names of the same office-bearers. Harnack, however, starting from Hatch's premises, carries them out to what he regards as their logical issues. He maintains that " presbyters " This denied and ''bishops" were not only distinct in by Harnack. their origin, but all along different in their functions ; that they were never at any time identical ; that " presbyters " were responsible for discipline, but had nothing to do as such with the public worship ; and that " bishops " had to do primarily and chiefly with finance, and that as having been concerned with the offerings, they came to preside over the worship of the congregation. His chief argument is that while bishops and deacons are habitually associated, we find no such association of the presbyters and deacons. He refers to Phil. i. i, and to i Clem, ad Cor. c. xlii., in proof of this, and to the Pastor of Hermas, where, he says, bishops and deacons are kept distinct from pres- byters. In I Tim. iii. 1-13, instructions are given with regard to bishops and deacons, but presbyters are mentioned in a different connection at chap. v. 17-19. His contention is that the " elders " of the early Church were not official persons, the 7rp€crl3vT€pot and veorepoL having been simply the old and the young, the former having been persons whose age and experience qualified them for advising and govern- ing, and entitled them to honour and obedience. As- THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH, signing the composition of the Acts of the Apostles and the Pastoral Epistles to the second century he says that it is in that century that we first meet with chosen or appointed presbyters. Bishops and deacons, he affirms, are named for the first time in the Epistle to the Philippians, which belongs to the year 63 A.D. ; but he thinks that as yet the terms do not point to any ecclesiastical office of authority over the Church. It is in the Epistle of Clement of Rome that for the first time we meet with bishops and deacons as regu- lar officers elected in the Church. Weizsacker, who previously regarded the presbyters and bishops as identical, now accepts of Harnack's view, and says, " the theory is wrong that the same persons are some- times called presbyters and sometimes bishops, though often this is apparently so." And Dr. Sanday and other writers of a series of articles in TJie Expositor, though not prepared to go the whole length with Harnack in these conclusions, do go a considerable way with him, Dr. Sanday suggesting that the bishops may have been so called because they exercised supervision over the deacons. Harnack's On the theory thus developed by Har- view examined. i-,^ck, we have to offer the following re- marks. I. In relegating to the second century such pas- . . saofes as Acts xx. 17, 28, and Titus i. 5-7, Does not get ^ , , ,, , 1 1 m rid of the pas- wherein the terms " bishops and elders sages by ^^^ treated interchangeably, Harnack is referring them o -' ' to second referring them to the very period when centmy. ^^^j^ identification of " bishops " and "elders" as they contain was least possible. It was towards the middle of this century that, according to CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 221 all the evidence, the terms " bishop " and "presbyter " ceased to be used interchangeably, and that the term •' bishop " began to be confined to and monopolised by one individual officer. From that time such a representation as that in Acts xx. 17, 28, which, be it observed, describes tJic presbyters as bishops, and not the bishops as presbyters (a very different thing), became impossible. Does Dr. Harnack refer the passages to an earlier period, say to the end of the first, or beginning of the second century ? In that case they constitute a powerful proof that at that time the terms were used indiscriminately, and they thus upset Dr. Harnack's theory ; which indeed he does not help, but only embarrasses and makes more im- probable by his vain endeavour to get rid of these inconvenient passages by fathering them on the second century. The only alternative to such absur- dity is to explain the statements away, which is the natural and handy way for the theorizer, and which Dr. Harnack has recourse to in the case of the state- ments of Clement of Rome and of Polycarp. 2. For let it be remarked further that Dr. Harnack's theory is not even justified by a fair treat- ,. . .. . ment of his own premises, and of the records by his own which he accepts. Take for example the '^'^^'■^^ case of the Epistle of Clement of Rome. The persons against whom the revolt at Corinth took ^y^at Clement place are over and over again called by o^ I'^o"^^ says. Clement " the presbyters." " It is shameful, dearly be- loved, yes, utterly shameful and unworthy of your con- duct in Christ, that it should be reported that the very steadfast and ancient Church of the Corinthians, for the sake of one or two persons, maketh sedition against 222 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. its presbyters " (chap, xlvii.). " Let the flock of Christ be at peace with its duly appointed presbyters " (chap, liv,). " Ye, therefore, that laid the foundation of the sedition, submit yourselves unto the presbyters" (chap. Ivii.). Now the question is, were these "presbyters " unofficial persons of age and experience, from among whom, as Dr. Harnack imagines, the bishops had been selected ; or were they presbyters in the official sense, presbyters who had been regularly appointed to office ? It seems to me beyond question that, according to the conception and representation of Clement (and it is what his testimony is we want to learn), they were duly appointed office-bearers. Dr. Harnack's theory, as we understand it, is, that the persons who have been thrust out of office are noiv, when Clement writes, and have been for a consider- able time, bishops, who previous to their appointment to the episcopate had been persons of age and ex- perience, and had on that account borne the unofficial name of " presbyters." But they are described by Clement as being noiv, at the very time of his writing, presbyters. This is their present title throughout the epistle. Look at the language in which he describes them, as given a few sentences back. Is that the way one would expect them to be designated, if Dr. Har- nack's theory were the true one t If they are persons who were formerly called " presbyters " on account of their age and experience, but who have been duly appointed bishops, and have for a length of time held that office, would not Clement call them " bishops " ? Would he not in that case call upon the Church at Corinth to '* live on terms of peace with their ap- pointed bishops " ; and reprove them for " making CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 223 sedition against their bishops " ? Nor is this all. As if to put the matter beyond doubt, tJieir appointment as presbyters is particularly and expressly noted. The Church is exhorted to live on terms of peace " with the duly appointed presbyters " {h^tol twv KadcarafMevcov Trpea^vTepcov). Is this the language it would be natural to use if they were persons who had been appointed not presbyters, but dis/iops; though at a former time they had belonged to the unofficial class of presbyters ? Would any one, without a theory to support, ever think of putting such a violent construction on plain language ? Nor is this the whole case. With special reference to the ejected ministers, who are thus called " presbyters duly ap- pointed," and by way of remonstrance with the Church of Corinth for ejecting them, Clement says : " Those therefore who were appointed (toi/^' i> •'^^ys- and "deacons " are in Phil. i. i ; 1 and it should be re- membered that Polycarp too, like Paul, is describing the office-bearers of the Church at Philippi ; the "presbyters" and "deacons" of Polycarp's epistle cor- responding exactly to the " bishops " and *' deacons " of Paul's epistle ; a fact which Harnack sweeps away majestically with a wave of his hand thus : " the presbyters here named, to whom detailed exhortations are addressed in chap, vi., are in reality bishops. But Polycarp does not so name them because he, as belonging to Asia Minor, is willing to acknowledge and name only one bishop in each congregation " — an acknowledgment, however, of which his epistle is entirely innocent ! No wonder Mr. Matthew Arnold laughs so scornfully at the "vigorous and rigorous" methods by which German theologians construct their theories, bending the facts to suit their theories, or, when they will not bend, breaking them ! A theory which compels one to deal, as Harnack thus deals with plain facts, awakens suspicion of its soundness. No doubt, after the middle of the second century, when the bishop has concentrated in himself the power which had previously belonged to all the presbyters, and when the deacon has become a mere appendage to the bishop, we do find the two constantly as- sociated, but that makes nothing for the hypothesis in question as applying to an earlier age. 3. So far I have assumed Dr. Harnack's premises 1 Ep. of Polycarp, c. v. : " Being subject to the presbyters and deacons as unto God and Christ." O 226 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. to be sound and unexceptionable. They are, how- Dr.Harnack's^^^''' ^^ appears to me, very far from being premises not SO. I cannot agree to consig-n the Acts r- t 1 • V>' ^Toricity of^' ^"^ ^^^ Pastoral Epistles in their present the Acts form to the middle of the second century, accep e . p^^ reasons which cannot be stated here I take them to be genuine products of the apostolic age — of Luke and of Paul. I have referred already to the series of articles on the Christian Ministry in The Expositor. One serious defect in many of those articles, as it seemed to me, was a lack of clear understanding in them as to the witnesses whose testimony was admissible on this subject. Few, if any, of the writers went with Dr. Harnack in throw- ing over the Acts and the Pastoral Epistles, or even with Dr. Hatch in parting with the latter. And yet they seemed in many cases to accept of a repre- sentation of the facts v/hich was only possible on the supposition that Harnack's position in relation to these writings is a just one. Holding as I do, how- ever, the historicity of these books, I must now direct the notice of the reader to the evidence which they Evidence of as well as the sub-apostolic writings furnish '-bilho^' ^^^^ "presbyter" and ''bishop" were, in "and elder." the age to whicli thosc documents belong, but names for the same officials. {a) It is noteworthy that these officials have other I They have significant titles in common besides those t;///t*r titles in of *' bishop" and " elder." Every student common; ^^ ^^^y^^^ Church history knows that when, after the middle of the second century, the mon- archical bishop has concentrated in himself the functions which before that time bclon^^ed to the CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 227 presbyters generally, he appears as pre-eminently "the shepherd" (6 7roc/j:./)p) of his flock, ^s «^- chief almoner of the congregation, and as having charge of the offerings, that the bishop came to be so closely associated with the worship. And Harnack says, *' Bishops are originally the directors of the worship, the offerers Kar ^^oyr]v. They are called overseers insomuch as they direct or superintend the assembly met for worship. Out of this function all others have necessarily developed." ^ Again, " be- yond a doubt the irpoacpepeiv Bcopa rw ©eo) in the sense of the offering of the sacrifice appears as the most important function of the episcopus." ^ It is quite true the Didache informs us respecting the bishops and deacons that they too perform the service (t?)j/ XeLTovpylav) of the prophets and teachers, though it is to be noted that this service is represented in the Didache as being primarily in the hands of the prophets and teachers. In Justin Martyr "the presi- dent of the brethren" (o Trpoearco^ twu d8€\(f)cov) offers prayers and thankofferings (Apo/. i. 65, 6y). Now what of the presbyters? I pass by James v. 14, where we learn that it is the part of the presbyters to prajy over the sick — a liturgical office. And I do not assume, as Bishop Lightfoot does, that the bishops of the Didache are none other than presbyters. I am content to rest the case on testimony which ' Expositor^ May, 1887, p. 342. 2 Ibid ^ June, 1887, p. 413. 230 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. expressly sets the presbyters before us as having charge of this part of the service, and such testimony I find in Clement of Rome. The object of his epistle is to quell a sedition against the rulers of the Church at Corinth. The apostles knew, he says, there would be " strife on account of the name of the episcopate." For this reason they appointed those already men- tioned, and gave instruction that when they should fall asleep other approved men should succeed them in the ministry (tt/v Xeirovpylav). He thinks, there- fore, that those appointed by them or afterward, by other men of repute, with the consent of the whole Church, and who have blamelessly served (ketrovpyy]- cravTe^) the flock, cannot be justly dismissed from the ministry {ttjc; \eiTovpyla^). For he says, "Our sin will not be small, if we eject from the episcopate those who have blamelessly and holily presented the offerings {irpoaeveyKovTa^ ra Swpa). Blessed are those presbyters who having finished their course before now . . have no fear lest any one deprive them of the place now appointed them." And to leave no room for doubt that the persons ejected are none other than the presbyters, he describes it as disgraceful that this ancient Church should " engage in sedition against its presbyters," and exhorts those who " have laid the foundation of this sedition to submit themselves to the presbyters," and to " live on terms of peace with the presbyters set over them " (see Clement's Epistle, cc. xliv., xlvii., liv.). But observe their function is described as a Xeirovpyla. It is 7rpoa(f)€p€LV ra Bcbpa, which included the Eucharistic service, and the whole worship of the congregation ; and from the charge of this service the presbyters of Corinth have been CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 231 ejected by the mutineers. Why, even after the bishop becomes separated from, and raised over the pres- byters, the latter still take part with him in the service. In the Apostolic Ordinances the presbyters are (jvpifiv(nai with the bishop. And yet Dr. Hatch ventures to affirm that " presbyters as such had no part in the Eucharistic service." ^ Again, it is a strong point with Dr. Hatch that the bishop was originally the chief almoner of -q^^^ ^^j^. the Church, and that he was primarily con- cemed with 1 ^ 1 • 1 / nil JiHiincc j cerned \v\\\\ finance and with the poor. He received," he says, '* and distributed the alms and the offerings of the people, which were made at the Eucha- ristic service at which the bishop presided. Hence the bishop's association with the central rite, and its being soon definitely assigned to him," and hence too the close connection between the bishop and the deacons. It is worthy of note in passing that the Jewish elders attended to the charities of the synagogue.'^ At all events from the very first mention of Christian elders in the history we find them concerned prominently with such matters. The relief contributed at Antioch for " the poor brethren in Judaea " is sent to the elders at Jerusalem. We have just learned from Clement of Rome how m his time they had charge of the gifts and offerings of the Christian people. In the Epistle of Polycarp (c. v.), the presbyters are not only asso- ciated with the deacons as bishops are elsewhere, but they are exhorted to be " compassionate and merciful, to all . . . visiting all the sick, and not neglecting ' Hampton Lecture^ p. 78. " See Geikie's Life and Words of Christy vol. ii. c. xxxix. (note b). THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. the widow, the orphan, or the poor " (c. vi.) ; and Polycarp grieves ov^er Valens, a presbyter, who has embezzled the money of the poor (c. xi.). He makes no reference to bishops, but exhorts the Philippians to be "subject to the presbyters and deacons." Once more, from a very early date the office of and with ^^^^^^^'^g is equally associated with both public the bishop and the presbyter. It is evident, '^' '^"^' both from the general sense of the word and from the context, that the "shepherding" of the flock in Acts xx. 28 includes instruction, or spiritual feeding ; the word as applied to Peter certainly in- cludes this meaning (see John xxi. 17, 18, where the word ffocr/cetp is employed to indicate what is included in the shepherd's office). " Aptness to teach " is re- quired in bishops (i Tim. iii. 2) ; and in the DidacJie the bishops and deacons fulfil the ministry of the prophets and teachers. In the Coptic ChiircJi Order it is demanded of the bishop, who is called " the shepherd," that he should be "able to explain the Scriptures well" (cf. 16 and 18). In Justin Martyr the president gives instruction {ApoL, i. c. 67). Now as regards elders, it is doubtless true that, like the elders of the Jewish synedrion, they were primarily concerned with administration and discipline. When the gift of teaching was so largely bestowed upon the Church, and when prophets and teachers were so numerous, it was less necessary that the elders should be prominent in this work. Still at a comparatively early time the elders are expected to engage in it, and those of them who " labour in the word and doctrine " are to be specially honoured (i Tim. v. 17). In Titus the elders, who are also called bishops (cf. CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 233 Tit. i. 5 with V. 7), are exhorted to " hold fast the faithful word as they have been taught, that they may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to con- vince the gainsayers " (v. 9). Other terms of a more general kind are applied to the rulers, such as " those who preside over the Church" [irpolaraixevoi), and " those who rule, or lead " the Church (r)youfxepoi) ; and yet these are represented as engaged in the work of teaching. The Thessalonians are instructed to " know them that labour among them, and are over them {-TTpolarafjievov^ vfioiv) in the Lord and admonish them" (i Thess. v. 12). The article occurs only with the first of the participles, showing that not three classes of ministers are referred to, but that those who arc " over them " are the same as those who " labour among them and admonish them." And this association of the teaching function with the rulers is brought out still more clearly in Heb. xiii. Those who have the rule over the Hebrew Christians (77701/- yLteVot) whom they are exhorted to " obey " and " sub- mit to" are those who "have spoken unto them the word of God " {vv. 7, 17). These are none other than the presbyters who are similarly described by Clement of Rome and by Hermas. Harnack en- deavours to make out that they are not officials at all ; but it is by pushing back the statements in Acts and the Pastoral Epistles to the second century, and even apart from that his arguments are unsatisfactory. I have already given reasons for believing that the Church of Thessalonica, as well as the Churches generally in Asia and Greece, was fully organized before this time. It would be somewhat strange then if Dr. Hatch's 234 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. very positive assertion that " in the numerous refer- ences to presbyters in sub-apostolic Hterature there is not one to their being teachers, even when a reference might have been expected," were well founded. But though by more than one writer it has been quoted as an oracle, we are bound to say that it is at variance wath the plainest facts. From the part which the presbyters are described by Clement of Rome as taking in the public service of the congregation it would be a legitimate inference that that service em- braced instruction ; but we are not left to inference. In the so-called Second Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians, which is now regarded as a homily pro- bably addressed originally to that Church, and for that reason connected with the Epistle of Clement, the exhortation occurs: " Let us not think to give heed and believe now only {i.e. in the congregation] zvliile we are admonished by the presbyters, but, likewise, when we have departed home let us remember the commandments of the Lord . . . and the un- believers shall see His glory and His might ; and they shall be amazed- when they see the kingdom of the world given to Jesus, saying, Woe unto us, for Thou wast, and we knew it not and believed not, and we obeyed not the presbyters ivJicn they told us of our salvation!' Here the presbyters appear as not only admonishing the Christian congregation, but as preaching to the unbelieving. But this is not all. In the Pastor of Hermas the presbyters are described as "those who preside over the Church" {irpolaraixevoL) and as those who rule or lead (TrpoTjyovfievot). See Vis. ii. 4 ; ii. 2 ; iii. 9. And to the presbyters who thus " preside over the Church," Hermas says, " Be CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 235 not like drug-mixers. For the drug-mixers carry their drugs in boxes, but ye carry your drug and poison in your heart. . . . How will you instruct the elect of the Lord, if yon yourselves have not in- structio7i f '' {Vis. iii. 9). Surely in view of such unequivocal testimony, Dr. Hatch is not justified in saying that " in the numerous references to presbyters in the sub-apostolic literature there is not one to their being teachers." Even Dr. Hatch himself shows that the professors in the philosophical schools were some- times called presbyters ; while the widows or pres- byteresses referred to in i Tim. v. 10, and whom we so often meet with in the early history, Origen informs us, presided over and instructed the other women of the Church. Origen interprets the statement in I Tim. V. 10, as to their washing the saints' feet, as referring figuratively to doctrine. At all events the office ascribed by Origen to the presbyteresses points to the presbyters having been invested with a corre- sponding one. If Harnack's theory be the true one we have thus two sets of officers in each congregation having several names in common, requiring precisely the same quali- fications, performing the same functions, taking the same part with regard to finance, general oversight, ruling and instruction and the public service of the congregation ; two sets of officers strictly co-ordinate and yet distinct from one another ; and we have this both in large Churches like Rome and Corinth and in small ones. Even Harnack himself has to admit that his view implies a sort of dyrarchy. But the theory is clumsy and preposterous on the face of it ; and the facts adduced already, even if we possessed no other 236 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. point clearly and emphatically to the identity of the presbyterate and episcopate, and to the conclusion that the two terms describe but two different aspects of the same officials. {d) But there is evidence not yet brought forward which proves as clearly as anything of the kind could be proved that " presbyter" and " bishop " The terms ^ ^ „ , , "presbyter" are namcs of the same office-bearers : there ,,,^"^^ „ are passages clear and numerous wherein "bishop r fc) 7.7 used inter- these terms are used interchangeably. changeably. xiiey are so employed in the passage often adverted to already (Acts xx. 17, 28), concern- ing which Harnack remarks that " it says only that the bishops appointed by the Holy Ghost were at the same time presbyters, which I have never denied." That, however, is not what it says. What it says is that tJie presbyters of Ephesus zvere bishops — a very different thing, and, taken along with the admitted fact that all bishops zvere presbyters, a very clear de- monstration of the identity of the presbyters and bishops. As to I Tim. iii. 1-7 and v. 17, it should be borne in mind that Timothy who is here addressed by Paul is labouring at Ephesus, that the " bishops " and " elders " referred to in this epistle are officials at Ephesus, and that in Acts xx. 17, 28 we have these identified as one set of office-bearers under two names. And the pastors or " shepherds " of Eph. iv. 1 1 are doubtless none other than the Ephesian presbyter-bishops of Acts xx. 28 who are told to " shepherd " {ironxalveiv) the Church, and the same as the Ephesian presbyter-bishops of First Timothy. Nowhere is the identity of the elders and bishops CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 237 more clearly taught than in Titus i. 5-7. Paul re- minds Titus how he left him in Crete to "ordain elders in every city as I had appointed thee. If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of riot or unruly. For a bishop must be blameless," etc. The apostle interchanges the two words as names of the same officers, using them indiscriminately. Harnack has a handy way of surmounting the difficulty, and one which in Mr. Matthew Arnold's phrase is at once *' vigorous and rigorous." He is not content with saying that he regards ''the Pastoral Epistles as writings which in their present form were composed in the middle of the second century:" he informs us "Tit. i. 5-7 I cannot accept as a valid proof because I believe that i. 7-9 was interpolated into the received text by the redactor." A short and easy method of removing a difficulty ! But when was this interpolation inserted.? We gather from his statement already quoted that it was " in the middle of the second century." At any rate, let it belong to whatever date it may, it regards elders as official persons, and as identical with bishops. In assigning it to the second century Dr Harnack is not getting rid of the testimony which it bears to that identity, nor has he explained how such a deliberate assertion of identity could be made at so late a period. In connecting it with a time when we know that a separation took place between the presbyterate and the episcopate, when the bishop was distinguished from and elevated above the pres- byters, he is doing great violence to probability, and making a heavy draft on our credulity. I Pet. v. I, 2 is equally unambiguous • "The elders 238 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder. . . . Feed (lit. shepheni) the flock of God which is among you, taking the episcopate thereof" (eVfo-zcoTroOz^Tes). Dr. Harnack says, " the reading l-niGKOTTovvTe^ has not been established." It is omitted by B and the Sinaitic AIS., but given in the others, and appears in all the versions. It is, there- fore, retained by the English Revisers, and is, in any case, a second century reading, and was inserted by a writer who regarded the presbyters as exercising the bishop's office, supplying thus important evidence of the identity of the presbyters and bishops of the early age. The very fact that after the middle of the second century presbyters were not regarded as filling the bishop's office shows that the reading must have been a very early one. The identity of the presbyters and bishops in the Epistle of Clement of Rome has been already demon- strated. In view of all the facts and considerations which have been presented, I do not see how to avoid the conclusion that Dr. Harnack's position is untenable, and that presbyters and bishops were in the early Church names of the same office-bearers. The evidence which points to this seems irresistible. III. Was Monarcfiical Episcopacy Set Up by THE Apostles.? Another question of hardly less moment than that just discussed now presses for an answer. Supposing CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 239 the identity of " presbyters " and " bishops " through- out the ApostoHc age, at what time did monarchical episcopacy arise ? At what period did the name " bishop " come to be appropriated to one of the presbyters, who had risen to superiority over the rest ? Did this development take place while some of the apostles were still alive, and with their express sanction ? or did it occur later ? This, which involves the question — Did monarchical episcopacy obtain the seal of apostolic sanction ?— is a matter of consider- able importance on this subject of Church order, and deserves close attention. It is a question on which we find ourselves confronted with the high authority of Bishop Lightfoot. While granting that in the New Testament writings "presbyters" and "bishops" are names of the same officials, he maintains that "there is satisfactory evidence of the de- Bishop Light- velopment of a localized episcopate in the ^^^^'s view ; later years of the apostolic age ; that this develop- ment was not simultaneous and equal in all parts of Christendom ; that it is more especially connected with the name of St. John ; and that in the early years of the second century the episcopate was widely spread and had taken firm root, more especially in Asia Minor and Syria." ^ He says again, '* \i the writer of these letters [the Ignatian Epistles] had represented the Churches of Asia Minor as under presbyterial government, he would have contradicted all the evidence, which, without one dissentient voice, points to episcopacy as the established form of Church government from the close of the first 1 The Apostolic Fathers, Part II. S. Ignatius and S. Polvcarp, vol. i. p. 377. 240 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. century." The result of his investigation into the origin of the Christian ministry, he says in his pre- face to the sixth edition of his Commentary on the Epistles to the Philippians, " has been a confirmation of the statement in the English Ordinal : ' It is evident unto all men diligently reading the Holy Scripture and ancient authors that from the apostles' time there have been three orders of ministry in Christ's Church, Bishops, Priests and Deacons.' " He affirms that it is 'Wain to deny that early in the second century the episcopal office was firmly and widely established"; and maintains that "during the last three decades of the first century, and conse- quently during the lifetime of the latest surviving apostle, this change must have been brought about " ; that " in the mysterious period which comprises the last thirty years of the first century— episcopacy must have been mainly developed" ; that " during the historical blank which extends over half a century after the fall of Jerusalem, episcopacy was matured and the Catholic Church consolidated."^ Now it might be pointed out that the very same liable to same argument which Bishop Lightfoot urges objection so effectually against Rothe's hypothesis urges against tcUs with equal forcc against his own. Rothe's. Bishop Lightfoot argues that if episcopacy had been established, as Rothe imagines, by a council of the apostles after the fall of Jerusalem, it would have been immediately and generally adopted, where- as we know that as a matter of fact it was slow and gradual in coming into operation, and in maturing. In like manner, considering the constant intercourse 1 Commentary on Philippians, pp. 201, 205, 207. CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 241 that went on among the Churches it is inconceivable that, had episcopacy been established by the Apostle John, it would have been so tardy in coming into effect in large and important Churches not far away from the scene of John's labours. The slow and gradual development of diocesan episcopacy, admitted and emphasised by Lightfoot, is a powerful argument against its having been established with apostolic sanction. But we do not propose to rest satisfied with general considerations. Let us fairly and with- out prejudice look at the facts, and see if they justify the position so emphatically taken up by Bishop Lightfoot. He admits, let it be borne in mind, that in the New Testament references the terms " bishops " and "elders "are interchangeable. Nor does he attempt to make much of the cases of James, Timothy and Titus. As to James, there is no evidence that he did more than hold the position and exercise the influence which would naturally belong to one so The cases nearly related to our Lord — "the Lord's of James, brother " — and one of such energy and lofty character. There is not a particle of evidence in the Acts that he claimed and exercised specially episcopal preroga- tives farther than they are possessed by any minister of a congregation. Stress has been sometimes laid on the part taken by him in the conference at Jeru- salem, and especially on his words in Acts xv. 19, ''Wherefore my sentence is," etc. (lit. I judge). Lumby, for example, says " the pronoun is emphatic, and indicates that the speaker is deciding with authority ; " but evidently the emphatic position of 242 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. the pronoun signifies : " The other speakers have given their judgment, /give mine." And this accords with the fact that the decree is always spoken of, not as that of James, but as that of " the apostles and elders " (see Acts xv. 22-29 5 ^vi. 4). But even supposing that the New Testament had invested him with still higher and more authoritative prerogatives, it might be answered that these belonged to the apostolic status expressly assigned to him. In Acts ix. 2"] we are informed that Barnabas brought Saul of Tarsus "to the apostles" at Jerusalem, while Paul himself says (Gal. i. 18, 19) he went up to see Peter, and that " other of the apostles saw he none save James, the Lord's brother." See also i Cor. xv. 7. Nor does it seem to have been in the secondary sense that he was recognised as an apostle. After the death of his namesake, the son of Zebedee, "James the Lord's brother " appears to have taken his place among the twelve. It is a strong confirmation of this when we find him so often associated with the other apostles, and on a perfect level with them, as when Paul himself, naming James first, speaks of him and Peter and John as " pillars " — a term which Clement of Rome applies to Peter and Paul {Ep. v.). If, as is very probable, he was regarded as holding the apostolic status among the twelve after the death of the other James, nothing is gained for episcopacy, any more than from Paul's recognition as an apostle ; and on the other hand, if he did not occupy that status, his near relationship to Christ (a matter to which Orientals attach great importance), and his high personal character are quite sufficient to account for his place and influence at Jerusalem, and make nothing CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 243 for an office which has no existence in history till well on in the second century. With respect to Timothy and Titus I have already pointed out that their position was in no way different from that of an organizing missionary or Timothy and evangelist (as Timothy indeed is called), '-^^^^^s. like Quadratus in Eusebius, or such as non-episcopal Churches constantly avail themselves of in heathen countries. Bishop Lightfoot indeed admits that " it is the conception of a later age which represents Timothy as Bishop of Ephesus, and Titus as Bishop of Crete. St. Paul's own language implies that the position they held was temporary. In both cases their term of office is drawing to a close when the apostle writes (see i Tim. ii. 3; iii. 14; 2 Tim. iv. 9-21 ; Tit. 1-5 ; iii. 12)." When Dr. Salmon affirms that Timothy was *' not a mere delegate of Paul," that he had been ordained to office by the laying on of the hands of the presby- tery, and that his office was that of an evangelist (2 Tim. iv. 5) or preaching and organizing missionary,^ we are, therefore, not disposed to differ from him. But Dr. Salmon overlooks the fact that, besides being an evangelist, and ordained to office by the presbytery, Timothy was " charged " or delegated by the apostle to do a special work, and, in the two epistles which bear his name, received from the apostle express written instructions how to perform it. He was acting in short as Paul's Special Commissioner and substitute until he should be able to come himself (i Tim. iii. 14, 15). Nor was this all. Over and above this, Timothy had had bestowed on him a ^ See Expositor for July, 18S7, p. 26. 244 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. " charism," which was not a natural gift merely, but a supernatural gift of the Spirit, imparted to him through the laying on of the Apostle's hands (2 Tim. i. 6). If, therefore, he did exercise extraordinary authority, we are not entitled to conclude that it was other than exceptional, exercised in pursuance of special apostolic appointment and instruction, and also by virtue of the supernatural gift conferred on him. Dr. Salmon alleges that his office was higher than that of the presbyters, and that he exercised authority over them. Armed as he was with a special apostolic commission and authority, and having a gift of the Spirit, that might well be without involving any warrant for the constitution of a permanent monarchical authority in the Church after the apostles were withdrawn, and when supernatural gifts had ceased. But I see no valid proof that he did exercise such individual authority over regularly organized presbyters. True, in his first letter the apostle writes : " Against an elder receive not an accusation, except at the mouth of two or three witnesses " (i Tim. v. 19). But it should be borne in mind that many of the instructions sent to Timothy were in- tended not for his own personal guidance alone, but for the office-bearers and members of the Church generally, that they might know how to behave them- selves in the house of God, the Church of the living God (i Tim. iii. 15). There might be cases where the organization was still imperfect, and where examina- tion and decision would devolve on Timothy himself, as Paul's Commissioner. But we are not warranted to conclude from this that where Timothy found a Council of Elders already in existence, and where a CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 245 charge was made against one of them, he would supersede the others, and take the trial into his own hands. That interpretation certainly is not required. It is a perfectly natural construction of the words to take them as a direction how he and the presbyters should act in such a case. If even Peter^ James, and John associated the elders with themselves in the decision at the Conference at Jerusalem (Acts xv.), it would be rash to infer that Timothy himself alone was to sit in judgment on the presbyters. In any case, in view of the fact that Timothy was acting as the Commissioner and substitute of the apostle, we have no right to argue from this the institution of a permanent individual rule and authority in the Church. All the early history is against it. We may now pass, then, to the sub-apostolic evidence. At the close of the three decades during, which, according to Lightfoot, the change initiated Sub-apostolic by John has been going on, Clement writes evidence. from Rome to the Church of Corinth. Now suppose that three decades, or even one decade, or half a decade before his death John had estab- 1-11 1-1 • ^1 r . Monarchical lished monarchical episcopacy, the fact episcopacy must have speedily become known in such unknown at great centres as Rome and Corinth, and Corinth in must have had its natural effect in these Clement's Churches. And yet Clement's epistle knows nothing of a bishop presiding over presbyters : his statements are, as we have seen, exactly in a line with the New Testament references on the subject- Bishop Lightfoot himself admits that " though Clement has occasion to speak of the ministry as an institution 246 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. of the apostles, he mentions only two orders, and is silent about the episcopal office. He still uses the word bishop in the older sense as a synonym for presbyter." He concludes that Clement knew nothing of episcopacy in the later sense, and that he was himself simply "the chief among the presbyters." If the establishment of the later episcopacy has been going on under the Apostle John at Ephesus, and over Asia Minor, for a period of thirty years, and if, as Dr. Lightfoot well show^s in reply to the writer of " Supernatural Religion," there was at that time close and constant intercourse among the Churches, and, as a consequence, a remarkable unity and solidarity amongst them, both in doctrine and practice, so that any differences that existed were insignificant, it is surely passing strange that about the time of John's death, thirty years after the pjvcess is supposed to have begun^ there is not a trace of the later episcopacy in the old, large, central, long- established Churches of Rome and Corinth ; and equally strange that Clement has evidently never heard of it, nor of John's action with regard to it ! Dr. Salmon, referring to Clement, concedes that we Dr. Salmon are " not to suppose that the name bishop on Clement, ^y^g \\\^n distinctively used to denote the head of the Church ; or that the line of separation between him and the other presbyters was so marked as it became in later times "; but asks " if episcopacy had not arisen before the end of the first century, and if Linus, Cletus, Clement were but names of leading presbyters, how comes it that the letter of the Roman Church should be universally known as the letter of Clement, whose name is not once mentioned in it } *' CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 247 The point is so trivial as to be unworthy of Dr. Salmon. We see no greater difficulty in the way of the letter becoming known as Clement's, supposing him to have been a leading and distinguished pres- byter, than m the case supposed by Dr. Salmon, which differs extremely little from the other alterna- tive suggested. There is every probability that, if Clement was not (as Harnack thinks possible) the consul Flavins Clemens, Domitian's cousin, who was put to death by the Emperor for his Christianity, he was at all events closely related to the imperial house. This alone would give him great prominence and distinction. Nor was this all. The old woman who appears in vision to Hermas says, "You will write therefore two books, and you will send the one to Clemens, and the other to Grapte. And Clemens will send his to foreign countries, for to Jiirn that office has been committed. And Grapte will admonish the widows and orphans. But you will read the words in this city [Rome] along zvith the presbyters ivJio preside over the Church."^ Dr. Salmon admits that it is Clement of Rome who is here described as one to whom has been committed the office of communicating with foreign countries. All this, which would soon become known in the Churches, with the circumstance that Clement would, no doubt, in communicating with Corinth, make known his name as the writer, would be quite enough to connect his name with the epistle. Indeed one thing that cannot but strike the student of early Church history is the slow development of episcopacy at Rome. Hatch remarks (Lecture IV.) that " so late as the third century the extant epitaphs ^ Pastor, Vis. ii. 4. 248 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. of Roman bishops do not give the title episcopus "; and Salmon reminds us how " Epiphanius, evidently drawing from an older writer, represents Marcion's dealings as having been with the Roman presby- ters." As to Hermas, we have just seen how he represents not Clement, but the presbyters as presidiner Monarchical -i -o /-1 i ^.^^r'^ • 1 episcopacy ^ver the Roman Church. When in another unknown to connection he mentions bishops, it is in the Hermas, i i i • i , plural ; devotmg one chapter to the dea- cons, and the next to the bishops, but here silent as to presbyters, evidently treating the bishops as iden- tical with the presbyters of a previous vision. Had Hermas known anything of a "bishop" different from and over the presbyters, he could not have omitted reference to him. Then again the bishops of the DidacJie are, as Dr. and the Lightfoot himself holds, presbyters. ** The Didache. episcopal office, properly so called," he says, " had not been constituted in the district in which the author lived." Dr. Salmon, indeed, attempts to show that its circulation was limited ; but I have given reasons in favour of a very different view. I have shown that it was used by Barnabas, by Hermas, by Clement of Alexandria; that by the latter it is quoted as Scripture, showing that it held somewhat the same place in the early Church as Hermas and Barnabas, who are similarly quoted, and that it manifestly had similar wide acceptance. When Dr. Salmon refers to the fact that it is apparently not known to Tertullian, it is enough to point out, as I have done already, that neither does Tertullian cite nor refer to the Epistle of Barnabas— a fact which CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 249 should make us chary of building much as to the circulation of a book on the circumstance of its not being mentioned by a particular writer. It is now generally supposed that the Didache originated in Palestine or Syria. At all events, monarchical epis- copacy was unknown in the region to which it be- longed. It was thus manifestly quite unknown both in the West and in the East at the end of the first century. But Dr. Lightfoot says : " The maturer forms of episcopacy are first seen in the regions where the latest surviving apostles (more especially St. John) fixed their abode, and at a time when its prevalence cannot be dissociated from their influence and sanc- tion." Let us now, then, carefully scrutinize the evidence which that region offers to us. It so hap- pens that of the state of things there in the first part of the second century we have a most -^^ ^^^^^ ^f competent and opportune witness in John's it even in disciple, Polycarp. The date of Polycarp's o ycarp. letter is not absolutely certain. Lightfoot supposes it to have been written not later than A.D. 1 18. Har- nack, on what seem good grounds, combats Light- foot's date, and assigns the epistle to the period 130-140 A.D. For my present purpose, however, the exact date is not important. What deserves the reader's attention is, that if monarchical episcopacy was established by John in this very region, and if it has been in existence there for some half-a-century before Polycarp writes, we ought to find some clear trace of it in the epistle of John's disciple, written forty or fifty years after Lightfoot supposes the system to have originated, an epistle which refers 250 THE SUB-APOSTOLTC CHURCH. expressly to the Christian ministry, and to Church order. What, then, is Polycarp's testimony on the subject? In his opening sentence Polycarp classes himself with the presbyters thus: " Polycarp and the presbyters with him " (or " those who with him are presbyters"). He exhorts the Philippians to be " subject to the presbyters and deacons," but says nothing of the bishop. Supposing the thirteenth chapter to be genuine, he mentions Ignatius four times, but never calls him bishop. As Dr. Lightfoot says : " Though two or three chapters are devoted to injunctions respecting the ministry of the Church, there is not an allusion to episcopacy from beginning to end. ... He speaks at length about the duties of the presbyters, of the deacons, of the widows and others, but the bishop is entirely ignored." How does Bishop Lightfoot account for this ? He accounts for it by saying, " it is probable the ecclesiastical organiz- ation was not yet developed there ! " And arguing for the genuineness of Polycarp's letter against the writer of " Supernatural Religion," and forgetting his strong statements elsewhere about the development of episcopacy in Polycarp's region at this time, he actually uses the absence of any reference to the epis- copacy as a proof of its early date ! " The absence of all such language" [as that of Irena^us about episcopacy in its developed form] " is a strong testimony to its early date"! And he asks, "Can anything be more Bishop Lif-ht- ^^^^^^^'^ ^^^ ecclesiastical literature of this foot quoted later generation [that of Irena^us] whether ""^""'sel^''"" ^""^ ^'^^^^^ ^^^ "^^ ^^ '^^^ Ne^"^ Testament, or the notices of ecclesiastical order''} Now if the title "bishop" had come to be confined to the CHURCH ORGANIZATION. presiding elder when Polycarp wrote (as Dr. Light- foot says it had), the absence of any recognition of this in the letter could hardly be a testimony to its early date ! For in that case there is no difference between Polycarp's age and that of Irenaeus. But to infer that, because Polycarp ignores episcopacy at Philippi, it must have been less developed there than at Smyrna, is to make too great a demand on our credulity. " The ecclesiastical organization not yet de- veloped" in that old Church, planted at the beginning of Paul's ministry, and having its bishops and deacons in his time ! " The ecclesiastical organziation not yet developed " at a centre " commanding," as Lightfoot himself well says, " the great high-road between Europe and Asia," which made Philippi, as he says, "a thoroughfare for the traffic of nations," " the con- fluence of the streams of European and Asiatic life "; " not yet developed there," though the maturing pro- cess has now been going on for some fifty years just on the other side of the ^Egean Sea, and though, as this very letter of Polycarp proves, intercourse between the Churches of Smyrna and Philippi was close and intimate, and, on Dr. Lightfoot's own showing in reply to " Supernatural Religion," the unity and solidarity between the Churches of the time were remarkable ! The thing is preposterous ; and the only reasonable inference is that Smyrna was like Philippi, and that the ecclesiastical organization was not yet developed there either into its later form. True, Ignatius in his Epistle to Polycarp styles the latter "Bishop of the Church of Smyrna"; Ignatius on but, without raising any question here i'^lycarp. about the genuineness of the letter or of the in- 252 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. scrlption, we may remark with Hatch that "the absence of the definite article [before * bishop '] and the inscription of Polycarp's own letter are inconsistent with the hypothesis that the word was already spe- cially appropriated to the head of the community" (Lecture IV.). At all events it is quite consistent with Polycarp's having been one of a number of pres- byter-bishops at Smyrna. The same may be said of the word as used in the Epistle of the Church of Smyrna with regard to Polycarp's martyrdom. The trustworthiness of the whole Martyrium is indeed denied by some, while most scholars, with Zahn and Funk, look upon it as having considerable additions and interpolations. Indeed the state of things at Smyrna to which Polycarp thus indirectly but significantly testifies, Even after seems to have continued for some time Polycarp's after his death. There is a fragment of bishop Hippolytus ''Against the Heresy of Noetus," is ignored: thought to be a part of his work "Against Thirty-two Heresies." In this fragment he describes Noetus as representing that the Father Himself was case of born, and suffered and died, and relates Noetus; j-^q^^ Noetus was dealt with by "the blessed presbyters." He says : " When the blessed presbyters heard this they summoned him before the Church, and examined him. But he denied at first that he held such opinions. Afterwards, however, taking shelter amongst some, and having gathered round him some others who had embraced the same error, he wished thereafter to uphold his dogma openly as correct. And the blessed presbyters called him again before them and examined him. . . . CHURCH ORGANIZATION, 253 Then, after examining him, they expelled him from the Church." Hippolytus describes Noetus as a native of Smyrna, and says, " he lived not long ago." The presbyters named were no doubt the presbyters of Smyrna, or of some Church in that region ; yet we hear only of the presbyters — not a word of " the bishop," without whom, according to Ignatius, nothing could be done. The work of Hippolytus, "Against Thirty-two Heresies," is characterized by Photius as a synopsis of lectures which he heard from Irenaeus, and is supposed to have been written by him in early life, before the close of the second century. Noetus appears to have been dead at the time he wrote, for he speaks of him as having " lived not very long ago." Nor is this a solitary instance of the kind. Euse- bius quotes a writer against the Cataphrygians or Montanists, who relates how lately he had case of been at Ancyra, a city of Galatia, and Montanists. had discoursed many days in the Church against the heresy, so that (he says) " the presbyters of the place requested that we should leave some comment of those things that we said, in opposition to the op- ponents of the truth, Zoticus Otrenus also being present, who was our fellow-presbyter." This Zoticus, here called a presbyter, and others, he afterwards calls bishops.i It is singular also that Justin Martyr, who was a contemporary of Polycarp, when giving an account of how public worship was observed, and having occasion within the space of two or three short chapters to mention some four or five times the person who took the lead in it, never calls him 1 Euscbius, H. E., v. 16. 254 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. "the bishop," but simply *'that one of the brethren who presided," or " the president of the brethren " (o TrpoecTTco? rcoi/ oZeK'^oiv). And another most im- portant testimony points in the same direction. The Peshito or old Syriac version of the New Testament, which Westcott supposes to have been made "within the first half of the second century," gives kashisho (presbyter) as the rendering for lirlcncoiro'^ in every case except in Acts xx. 28, where episcopiis is pre- served. To those who made the version the terms "bishop" and "presbyter" were still interchange- able.i I have thus examined all the evidence which we possess before the middle of the second century, with the one exception of Ignatius, with whose case, as an exceptional one, I propose to deal separately. And yet, in the face of such evidence as we have reviewed, Dr. Lightfoot says, " If the writer of these letters [of Ignatius] had represented the Churches of Asia Minor as under presbyterial government, he would have contradicted all the evidence, which without one dissentient voice points to episcopacy as the established form of Church government in those dis- tricts from the close of the first century." (!) The reader will, I think, grant that Harnack is much nearer the truth when he says in reply that " Apart from the Epistles of Ignatius we do not possess a single witness to the existence of the monarchical episcopate so early as the time of Trajan and Hadrian." How does Bishop Lightfoot propose to nullify the ^ See Westcott, On the Canon of the Neiu Testament^ Part I., chap. iii. pp. 235-40. CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 255 evidence of the period itself, and to prove in the teeth of that evidence that the later epis- copacy was instituted by the Apostle John, nieets tliis and had been really maturing through the evidence by last thirty years of the first century? De- o{\\^^\C^I zx. monstration of a very cogent sort would c^°'^^ ^^ , • 1 t T 71 , , r 1 . 2nd century ! be requn-ed. What sort ot demonstration does he offer? Why the testimony of a {q\m writers towards the close of the second century, writing at a time when monarchical episcopacy had been admit- tedly in operation for thirty or forty years, and who naturally do not distinguish between the episcopacy known to them and that of an earlier time. Let us for a moment consider the real value of their testimony. Irenseus says, "the blessed apostles, having founded and built up the Church, committed into the hands of Linus the office of the episcopate. . . . To him succeeded Anacletus ; and after ^^^"'^"^' him, in the third place from the apostles, Clement was allotted the bishopric." He goes on to mention how Evaristus succeeded Clement, and Alexander came after Evaristus, and after him Sixtus, and then Telesphorus, and then Hyginus, etc. He then states how Polycarp "was by apostles in Asia appointed bishop of the Church in Smyrna, whom I also saw in my early youth, for he tarried a very long time,"i etc. We are able to test the value of this evidence by the case of Clement of Rome, who knows nothing of monarchical episcopacy. Indeed Lightfoot himself attaches no weight to it as regards Linus and his successors. But the fact that Irenseus knew Polycarp * Irenaeus, Cojttra Hccr., ill. 3. 256 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. personally may be thought to impart special value to the testimony in his case. Let it be observed, how- ever, that it was ** in early youth " Irenaeus says he saw Polycarp. Supposing Irenaeus to mean that Polycarp was appointed a monarchical bishop by the apostles (he does not use the article, and therefore leaves the sense ambiguous), how can we be certain that Irenaeus was not mistaking the ;«^;/^-episcopacy of his own time for the plural episcopacy of an earlier time, especially when we know that he makes this mistake in the case of Clement ? The mere fact that he saw Polycarp in early youth would certainly be no suffi- cient guarantee against such an error, than which nothing could be more natural in the circumstances. The same remark applies with still greater force to Polycrates, who wrote about the year 195. The very fact mentioned by him, that seven of Polycrates. j^j^ relatives had been bishops, makes it likely that they were bishops of the earlier type, of whom there were several in a congregation. The legend repeated by Clement of Alexandria at the end of the second century {Quis. Div. Salv., 42), Clement of about the Apostle John committing the Alexandria, young man to the care of the bishop or presbyter, is of still less value as a proof of mon- archical as opposed to plural episcopacy. Clement himself gives it as a legend or story (/xvOov), which however he says has truth in it, a story of which he implies that there were several versions. Now every one knows how such a story gets fresh colouring unconsciously from every new relator. And even as the narrative stands it is easy to see how the bishop in question (who is also called a presbyter) CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 257 was in all probability in the real occurrence a pres- byter bishop. We read in the narrative of "the presbyters" sending for John. The fact that in such a " legend " such an exact and candid scholar as Bishop Lightfoot should see a proof that the later episcopacy was established by John seems to indicate that real proof of this must be scarce. When the Muratorian fragment, referring to John, speaks of "his fellow disciples and his bishops," the words are also so worthless as an evidence that monarchical episcopacy was introduced by the apostle that we wonder how Bishop Lightfoot could attach the slightest value to them. If the story has any founda- tion in fact the persons called John's bishops were no doubt (as Harnack points out) the council ot presbyters or bishops at Ephesus. Such then are the facts and circumstances in view of which Bishop Lightfoot affirms that " during the last three decades of the first century, and consequently during the lifetime of the latest surviving apostle, the episcopal office was firmly and widely established " ; and that if Ignatius had represented the Churches of Asia Minor as under presbyterial government, he would have contradicted all the evidence. We have now to look at the testimony of Ignatius himself. The Igiiatian Testimony. For so far I have left out of consideration the testi- mony of Ignatius. I have done so for several reasons : partly, because of the doubt which rests upon its genuineness ; partly, because in Lightfoot's opinion it is not necessary to establish his case ; but chiefly s 258 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. because, owing to its character, it requires separate consideration. We have now, however, reached a point in our investigation when it may be con- veniently examined. In briefly glancing at it it is not my purpose to enter into the large and difficult question of the genuineness of these epistles — "the most perplexing" (Bishop Lightfoot says) " which confronts the student of earlier Church history." It would be impossible to do this satisfactorily in the parenthetical way pos- sible ill the midst of a discussion upon Church order. There are, however, a {q\n points to which I desire to direct attention, because if kept in view they would, I think, contribute greatly to lighten and relieve the controversy on this subject. I. It ought to be carefully remembered that, pro- perly speaking, no particular Church has any denomi- national interest in either supporting or enomi- No d national in- assailing the genuineness of these epistles, terest involved -pj^g bishop of the Ignatian epistles is a in the decision ^ ^ fc> r of the ques- quite different official from the modern ^'°"' diocesan bishop. As Harnack truly says, Ignatius " knows nothing yet of applying the name of bishop beyond the realm of the local congregation." ^ The Ignatian bishop finds his modern equivalent, not in the bishop of a diocese, but in the incumbent of a parish, in a Methodist or Presbyterian minister. It is singular indeed how nearly the position of the latter corresponds to that of the bishop of the Igna- tian letters. Of course, neither a diocesan bishop nor a Presbyterian minister would apply to himself the extravagant and almost blasphemous glorification ^ Exposifo?-, January, 1886, p. 16. CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 259 which Ignatius heaps upon his bishop. But apart from this, his position is remarkably similar to that of a Presbyterian minister. There can be no regular meeting of the elders without ''the minister''' as moderator, or chairman ; and no administration of the sacraments but by him -none by the other pres- byters. In short, he is, just like the bishop of Igna- tms, the chief officer of the congregation, and in- dispensable to the orderly celebration of Christian ordinances. Modern diocesan episcopacy, therefore, has nothing to gain and other forms of Church order nothing to lose by the establishment of the genuine- ness of the Ignatian epistles ; for the monarchical episcopacy which they advocate is still congregational episcopacy. The chief thing which they note is the monopolization by the presiding presbyter of a con- gregation of the title bishop, and of certain spiritual prerogatives: just as now the Methodist or Presby- terian official monopolizes the title "minister" and certain ministerial functions. Historically, no doubt, this monopolization was the first step in the develop-' ment which soon issued in diocesan episcopacy ; but the^ fact that the Presbyterian minister (or congre- gational bishop) has never developed into the dio- cesan bishop proves that there is no inherent ten- dency in congregational episcopacy to develop into diocesan episcopacy. It is worthy of note, too, that the district where (if we accept the Ignatian testi- mony on Church order as genuine) we first find this monarchico-congregational episcopacy flourish- ing is not Asia Minor, is not the district of the Apostle John, but Antioch. The Epistle of Polycarp, and the other evidence to w^iich I have referred' 26o THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. raise a strong presumption against the development having as yet gone so far in Asia Minor and in the adjacent regions. Of course Bishop Lightfoot is well aware of the fact that the Ignatian bishop is simply a congregational official, with his congregational elders and deacons around him ; but it would have eased the controversy a good deal, and prevented much confusion of thought and denominational bias in this matter if he had made it more prominent, and even kept it before his own mind more steadily. All, then, that is gained by the proof of the genuine- ness of the epistles is the assurance that the develop- ment of the presiding presbyter into the permanent congregational bishop had taken place over a limited area a few years earlier than would be otherwise apparent. 2. Again, granting the genuineness of these epistles, and supposing their declarations on Church The I natian*^^^^^ "*-*^ ^° ^^ interpolations of a later episcopacy an age, it is also clear that even this mon- nolnen'LnJf archico-congregational episcopacy was, so genuine, when far as the history enables us to judge, a he wrote, comparatively isolated phenomenon in say A.D. Ii6. We find nothing like it in the region to which the DidacJie pertained. We discover nothing like it in the great central Churches of Rome and Corinth in the time of Clement and Hermas. There is no trace of it at Philippi on the other side of the ^gean Sea, and on the high road of communication between the East and the West — no trace of it when Polycarp writes, after Ignatius has passed on his way to Rome, in that old Church, already well organized, with its bishops and deacons before the death of CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 26 [ Paul ; and in Polycarp's epistle no trace of it even at Smyrna, but rather a presumption against its de- velopment having as yet gone so far in that region. In fact the utmost we can be sure of from the state- ments of Ignatius, supposing them to be genuine, is that the form of episcopacy which they advocate had already taken shape at Antioch, and perhaps in the adjacent districts. His assertion as to there being at the time when he wrote " bishops settled everywhere to the utmost bounds of the world," we know to be incorrect, taking bishops in his sense. Harnack recognises the isolated and exceptional character of the Ignatian testimony with regard to episcopacy, and regards it as an unsolved enigma, although in his case the difficulty is a good deal lessened by his bringing down the date of it to 130-140, a date for which he seems to make out a better case than Light- foot does for his date of 116. But even this post- ponement of date is very far from removing the enormous difficulties which beset the Ignatian "refer- ences to Church order. Let me assist the reader to realise to himself the true state of the case, 3. It is a simple matter of fact, not to be blinked by the historian, that the Ignatian representation of the bishop is a great anachronism, not only out of unison with all we know of his own bishop'ir time, but in some respects far in advance ''^"^^■'^'"^"^^'"•■ of anything we find on the subject towards the close of the second century, and to discover a complete parallel to which we must go forward to the times of Cyprian, and to the Apostolical Constitu- tions. At the cost of going a little into ^''''°^^^^^'^'- detail, I must make this clear THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. (a) In Irenseus, at the close of the second century the bishop, though over the presbyters, is (to use the language of Bishop Lightfoot) "still regarded as in some sense one of them"; and is as often called " presbyter " as " bishop." ^ In the same way Clement of Alexandria speaks sometimes of two orders — presbyters and deacons — and sometimes of three, bishops, presbyters, and deacons.- At Alexandria, too, the bishop is nominated and ordained by twelve presbyters out of their own number.^ The develop- ment, even at the period referred to, is still going on, not yet completed. But in Ignatius, seventy or eighty years earlier, according to Lightfoot's date, the separation of the bishop from the presbyters is complete, and the nomenclature has become thoroughly fixed and stereotyped. He never calls the bishop a presbyter. In his pages the distinction between the bishop and the presbyters has become wider, and the position of the bishop higher and more autocratic than they are even at the end of the second century in the other literature. (d) In the Ignatian letters the bishop is invested with prerogatives to parallel which we must go for- ward to the times of Tertullian, Cyprian, and even of the Apostolical Constitutions. With Cyprian, to be without the bishop is to be outside the Church, and his principle is, no bishop no Church. " You ought to know that the bishop is in the Church, and the Church in the bishop, and that ^ Iren., Against Heresies.^ iii. 2, 2 ; 3. 2, 3 ; iv. 26. 2, 3, 4, 5. Euseb., H. h., v. 24. " St7'om.^ vi. 13 ; vii. i. ^ Jerome, Epist. cxlvi., ad Evangel. CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 263 if any one is not with the bishop he is not in the Church." 1 Ignatius says: *' Apart from these [the bishop, etc.] there is no Church." " '* As many as are of God and of Jesus Christ are also with the bishop."^ ''■ Continue in intimate union with Jesus Christ our God and the bishop. He that is within the altar is pure, but he that is without is not pure ; that is, he that does anything apart from the bishop and pres- byters and deacons, such a man is not pure in his conscience." ^ TertuUian lays it down that there is no power to baptize, nor to perform any other act in the Church, without the bishop.^ The same rule is enacted in the 56th Canon of the Council of Laodicea. So Ignatius : " It is therefore necessary that without the bishop ye should do nothing 'V " Do nothing without the bishop." 7 " Let no man do anything connected with the Church without the bishop. Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist which is administered either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. . . . It is not lawful without the bishop either to baptize or to celebrate a love-feast ; but whatever he shall approve of, that is also pleasing to God, so that everything that is done may be secure and valid." ^ Cyprian argues that, ** as there is one Church, there must be one altar and one episcopate " ; ^ and Igna- tius that " there is one flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, and one cup into the unity of His blood ; one altar as there is one bishop." ^^ 1 Cvprian, Ep. 66. ' Trail, iii. ^ Philad. iii. ' Trail, vii. ^ Tertull., De Bapf., 17. ' Trail, iii. ' P/iil. vii. ^ Smym. viii. s Cyp., Ep. 43, 46, 55, 67. ^ Thil. iv. 264 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. Cyprian traces all evils to want of union with the bishop : " All heresies and schemes take their original from hence, that men do not submit to God's priest, and consider that there ought to be but one bishop in a Church, and one judge as the vicar of Christ." ^ So Ignatius : " He that is without the altar is im- pure ; that is, he that does anything apart from the bishop " (see above). " It is a fearful thing to con- tradict any such person as the bishop " ; 2 " it is well to reverence both God and the bishop. He who honours the bishop has been honoured by God ; he who does anything without the knowledge of the bishop serves the devil." ^ The fact cannot and must not be ignored, that in the time intervening between 116 A.D, and the time of TertuUian and Cyprian — in Polycarp, in Irenaeus, in Clement of Alexandria, and elsewhere — we have no such representation of the bishop as thus appears in Ignatius. {c) Then again in Ignatius the bishop is in place of God Himself, while the presbyters are successors of the apostles : " Your bishop presides in the place of God, and your presbyters in the place of the assembly of the apostles along with your deacons."* " Let all reverence the deacons as an appointment of Jesus Christ, and the bishop as Jesus Christ, who is the Son of the Father, and the presbyters as the sanhedrim of God and assembly of apostles."^ Where- as in Irenaeus, Cyprian and others, the bishop is the successor of the apostles, we must pass on to the Apostolical Constitutions to find an exact parallel ^ Ep. 55 al. 59 ad. Cornel. " Ma(^?ies. iii. ^ Smyrn. ix. ' ^ Trail, iii. CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 265 Avith Ignatius in this matter, and here the parallel is remarkable. In the Apostolical Constituiioiis the bishop is described as " one sustaining the character of God among men, as being set over all men, over priests, kings, rulers, fathers, children, teachers" (ii. 1 1). "Next after God, he is your father. . . . He is your ruler and governor ; your king and potentate ; he is next after God your earthly god who has a right to be honoured by you. . . . For let the bishop preside over you with the authority of God. But let deacons minister to him as Christ does to the Father. . . . Let also the deaconess be honoured by you in place of the Holy Ghost. . . . Let the presbyters be esteemed by you to represent the apostles. . . • Let the widows and orphans be esteemed as repre- senting the altar of God " (^Ap. Const., ii. 26). The Ignatian picture of the bishop is thus with- out doubt a huge anachronism, out of harmony with anything even in the second century ; and it is diffi- cult to resist the conclusion that, even granting the genuineness of the body of the epistles, there has been interpolation by later hands in the references to Church order. In pleading for the genuineness of Polycarp's epistle against *' Supernatural Religion," Dr. Lightfoot asks, " Can anything be more unlike the ecclesiastical literature of this later generation [that of Irenaeus] whether we regard the use of the New Testament, or the notices of Church order .!^" We ask, Can any- thing be more unlike the ecclesiastical literature of Polycarp's generation, and more like that of the generation of Tertullian and Cyprian, and of the Apostolical Constitutions than the notices of ecclesi- 266 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. astical order in Ignatius ? If the dissimilarity of Polycarp's epistle to anything in Irenaeus proves it to belong to an earlier time, the dissimilarity of the statements quoted from the Ignatian epistle to any- thing in Polycarp, and their resemblance to those in Cyprian and the Apostolical Constitutions prove them to belong to a later age than Polycarp's. As Harnack says, " Ignatius' conception of the position and signi- ficance of the bishop has its earliest parallel in the conception of the author of the Apostolical Constitu- tions ; and the epistles show the monarchical episco- pate so firmly rooted, so highly elevated above all other offices, so completely beyond dispute, that on the eround of what we know from other sources of early Church history no single investigator would assi^rn the statements under consideration to the second, but at the earliest to the third century."^ IV. Apostolical Succession. We have now to catechise the DidacJic and the other early documents with respect to another matter relating to the ministry, that of Apostolical Succession. Do they teach, or lend any countenance to, the High Church view on this subject 1 Before proceeding to examine them, it is necessary to understand clearly what this theory is ; and the best way to do this is to take it as it is conceived and shaped by one of its most distinguished advocates. It is thus The theory ,^ t-ii • i.*i.i4 stated by P^'t by Cauon Liddon m a sermon entitled Canon »' A Father in Christ," preached in St. Paul's Cathedral, at the consecration of the ^ Dr. Harnack in Expositor of January, 1886, p. 16. CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 267 Bishops of Lincoln and Exeter : our Lord, he says, deposited ministerial authority in its fulness in the college of the apostles, and he bases the statement on the texts : *' All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth ; go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations : " " As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you." He then proceeds, '' The apostles thus invested with the plenitude of ministerial power, de- tached from themselves in the form of distinct grades or orders of ministry, so much as was needed, at successive epochs, for building up and supporting the Church. First, they created an order which was charged with the care of the poor and with the administration of Church funds, although also specially empowered to preach and to administer the sacrament of baptism. Next, they bestowed on the Church a large separate instalment of ministerial power— that of the presbyters or bishops — as in those first days the second order was called indifferently. To this order full ministerial capacity was committed, excepting the faculty of transmitting the ministry. Lastly, St. Clement of Rome tells us that desiring to avoid controversy which they foresaw, the apostles ordained certain men, to the end that when they should have fallen asleep in death others of approved character might succeed to their special office. Such were Timothy and Titus ; not yet exclusively called bishops, but certainly bishops in the sense of the sub- apostolic and of our own age ; men who in addition to the fulness of ministerial capacity had also the power of transmitting it."i Canon Liddon says, * Upon a true episcopal succession depends the 1 "A Father in Christ," etc, pp. 9, 10. 268 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. validity of the Eucharist — one chief means of com- munion with our Lord." As to the power of trans- mission, he remarks that as it is the prerogative of the father to transmit the gift of physical life, so "the bishop alone can transmit ministerial power to others " ; and this prerogative is not shared by the presbyters. As the father is the natural teacher of his children, so, as the father of his diocese, the bishop is ** the one teacher within its limits. In the eye of the Church all the clergy are his substitutes." Again, as the father of his diocese, the bishop " is its ruler." Canon Liddon grants that " since lay baptism is of undoubted validity," *' non-episcopal bodies may have a true baptism, supposing the matter and words of that sacrament to be duly administered." But he adds, " that which in our belief and to our sorrow, the non-episcopal communities lack, is participation in those privileges which depend upon a ministry duly authorized by Christ our Lord, and in particular the precious sacrament of His Body and Blood." ^ Canon Liddon not only sees, but defends the justice of, the insuperable barrier thus raised between the English Church and all non-episcopal Churches both here and on the Continent. There is no reason but the pressure of facts why he should make an excep- tion in favour of the non- episcopal Churches in the matter of baptism ; for, according to this theory, baptism by a layman is not lawful except as au- thorized by the bishop. We have already seen that the position taken by Tertullian and others on this point is the same as that of Ignatius. " The right of giving baptism belongs to the chief priest, that ^ "A Father in Christ," 2nd Edition, pp. 16-21, andxxxviii. j^. CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 269 is the bishop."^ It is only where there is no bench of clerg-y, according to TertuUian, that laymen may baptize and present the eucharistic offerings. 2 And the same rule is laid down in the 56th Canon of the Council of Laodicea. Further, the act of baptism was not regarded as completed or consummated till after the bishop's hands had been laid on those baptized, this consummation of the act having been called the (Tciypayi^ ov sig/taculmn.^ If then the administration of baptism by non-episcopal Churches may be re- cognised, there is no reason why Canon Liddon should refuse to allow the lawfulness of their celebration of the Eucharist, but his own caprice. In its essence, and as it has been generally held, the theory is, that Christ gave the Holy Spirit to the apostles to be by them transmitted by the laying on of hands to their successors, and through them to presbyters, convey- ing to them grace and supernatural power ; and the grace needed to constitute either a bishop or a pres- byter, and to enable him to discharge his functions efficaciously, is derived solely from the hands of a bishop. Is there any trace of this doctrine either in Scrip- ture, or in early Church literature .? Let us see, but let us take care that we carry with us the real point at issue. The question is not w^hether a ministry has been appointed in the Church, and whether ^, . ^^ ' 1 he question directions have been given for its continu- at issue ance, and for a succession of duly consti- ^^'^'^"^• tuted ministers, who receive their authority from Christ and act in His name. We hold this as strongly ^ Tertullian, de Baptisnw^ ij. -De Exh. Cast.., 7. 3 See Euseb., //. E.., vi. 43, and Cyprian, Ep. 72, ad Stephaiu 270 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. as Canon Liddon. And the question is not whether anyone of his own motion may ordinarily assume the office, and discharge its functions without appointment by the constituted authorities. Just as in the State there is a regular and prescribed method of appointing magistrates, and as they do not assume office of themselves, so is it in the Church. ''While the ministry flourishes in the Church, it (the Church) ought indeed to use it (the ministry) in the calling of pastors, nor can pastors be ordinarily instituted except by a ministry already constituted " (says Turrettin). And the question is not, whether as a matter of fact the first ministers, appointed at the instance of the apostles, were succeeded by others duly constituted. This is not denied. The simple question is. Is tJiere anything in the Neiv Testament^ or even in the siib-apostolic literature, restricting this poiver of transmitting office to bishops as distinct from presbyters, and as alone successors of the apostles, and is there any tiling conditioning tJie validity of orders and the administration of ordinances on that trans- mission, and ipso facto unchurching every Christian community ivJiich does not enjoy the advantage of this manual propagation through diocesan bishops ? I. In determining this question, one fundamental historical fact to be noted is the great Arguments , ,, i • • ^^ i i t j af^ainst Canon truth SO much msisted on by our i^ord Liddon's and His apostles, that Christianity is a I. Christianity system of the Spirit rather than of the a spiritual letter, of substance rather than of form — system. , . , , • • xi a system which reduces to a mmimum the external and the formal, and magnifies the real, the moral and the spiritual ; which teaches that "it is the CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 271 spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing ; " that Christian ministers are " ministers of the New Covenant, not of the letter, but of the spirit ; " that we are now under " the ministration of the Spirit," and that " where the Spirit of the Lord is there is hberty." But the doctrine under consideration in- verts this principle. According to it, it is not faith and love and holiness and every Christian excellence in men, and the scrupulous observance of Christ's commands, that constitute a Church. A Christian society may prove that they are united to Christ by the indwelling of His Spirit as evidenced by His fruit in holy living, that they have the faith of the apostles, and that in Christian love they are united with all His people ; they may be a model to all the Churches in their missionary ardour, and in their success in extending Christ's kingdom at home and abroad ; but unless they can prove by an unbroken line ot succession the propagation to them through the laying on of the hands of prelates of some sort of power and virtue, they cannot be recognised as a Church of Christ at all. In searching for the true Church I am not to search for evidence of faith in Christ, and of union with Him, and possession of His Spirit in like- ness to Him, in holiness and good works : I have nothing to do but to find a community having a ministry constituted in a particular mechanical fashion — by the laying on of the hands of prelates — only that, inasmuch as one broken link may vitiate the process, I must remain uncertain whether I have the true Church or no until I have been able to trace the succession back, link by link, through 1800 years of history, to apostolic hands. This is not only to 272 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. subordinate substance to form, to make what is ex- ternal and- mechanical more important than the real The position ^nd the spiritual : it is to put in imminent jeopardizes jeopardy the very existence of the true ^Tence^ofT' Church altogether; for that succession, in Church, the dark and obscure periods of history, may have been broken at many points. There is in fact not a Church on earth that could prove that it possesses beyond question such an unbroken suc- cession ; for not to mention the confusion of the middle ages, we shall see in a moment how in the early Church the succession was through presbyters and not prelates. The Church which takes such a position, thereby cutting herself off from all other Churches, and unchurching them, is, in our opinion, committing a deep sin, and is profoundly guilty of what she is so ready to charge on others, the evil of schism. Assuredly she is contravening a fundamental Christian principle— a principle of reason and com- mon sense — which puts the spirit before the letter, the reality above the form. It is more in accordance with the teaching of the New Testament to say with Iren^us, 2ibi spiritus Dei, illic ecclesia, and with Jerome, ecclesia ibi est ttbi vera fides est. When Canon I.iddon ^, ^,, , , and Mr. Gladstone represent the Church Mr. Gladstone ^ i • >> i and Canon of England in thus '' unchurching other M-e'!?e'sent'' ChurcheS, as simply following the ex- Puritans and ample of " the genuine Puritans and the Presbyterians. ^^^^^^^ Presbyterian body from Cartright downwards," when these latter pleaded that the con- stitution of the Church, as defined in the word of God, was Presbyterian, they are doing great injustice to the Puritans and Presbyterians. Though Cart- CHURCH ORGANIZATION. il^:, risfht and his successors held the constitution of the Church as defined in Scripture to have been Pres- byterian, they did not begin by denying that that is a true Church of Christ which did not possess this constitution. On the contrary, laying primary and capital stress on the real and spiritual as opposed to the external, they and all the great Churches of the Reformation had it as their foundation principle re- specting the Church, that it is not in its essential na- ture a society organized in one particular way, but the body of Christ, the company of believers, the coetus sanctornni. In his book against the Anabaptists, Calvin says, " This honour is meet to be ^ , . 1 , - ^ , TT- Calvin quoted. given to the word of God, and to His sacraments, that wherever we see the word duly preached, and God according to the same duly wor- shipped, and the sacraments without superstition ad- ministered, there we may without all controversy conclude the Church of God to be." The Reforma- tion and Puritan principle is that adopted by the Westminster divines, than which nothing Westminster could be more broad and spiritual, or less divmes. calculated to " unchurch " other communities : " The visible Church which is also catholic or universal under the gospel, consists of all those throughout the zvorld that profess the true religion, together with their children ; and is the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family of God." ..." This Catholic Church hath been sometimes more, some- times less visible. And particular Churches which are members thereof, are more or less pure, according as the doctrine of the gospel is taught and embraced ordinances administered, and public worship per- T 274 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. formed more or less purely in them." i The Refor- mation and Puritan principle was that every com- munity professing the true religion, associated for the worship of God and the extension of His kingdom, however organized, was part of the visible Church. It might of course be more or less near to the New Testament ideal. 2. Another fundamental New Testament truth, and ,, . , one which has a most important bearing 2. Universal . i • j j priesthood of on this question is— the universal priest Iwod believers, ^y- /;^//^.,^;.^, AH Christians are priests. There is not a syllable in the New Testament re- stricting this priesthood to a class. The New Testa- ment recognises no priestly order different from the Christian people, who are all ho\y\ priests (i Pet. ii. 5) and clergy {K\i]poi, i Pet. v. 3). Basing themselves on New Testament teaching, the Reformers taught that the Holy Spirit, who is the fountain of all Church power, was not given to the bishops as a class, but to the Church as a whole. He dwells in all Christians and unites them to the body of Christ, which is the Church, and divides gifts to every man as He will. Hence in the Apostolic Church every Christian who had the gift of teaching or any other gift was encouraged to exercise it, if he only did so decently and in order. The only Church members forbidden to preach or pray in the Church were women. Since this was so, and since all Christians are priests, it was not originally a matter of principle that the celebration of the ordinances of Divine worship should be confined to a special class of office- bearers ; but a permanent ministry responsible for ^ Co?ift'SSW?i of Faith, etc., c. xxv. CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 275 ruling and teaching was instituted by the apostles for the sake of order, and to secure the more efficient dis- charge of these functions, though not to the exclusion of their orderly exercise by those who had the gifts. It was, therefore, a fundamental principle pi-indple of with the Reformers that " all the power t'^e Refor- and authority necessary for the Church i,y 13^. executing its functions, and attaining its Cunningham. objects lay radically and fundamentally in the Church itself — in the company of believers ; so that, when necessity required. Churches might provide and estab- lish office-bearers for themselves, and do whatever might be needful for securing all the objects con- nected with their own welfare, and the enjoyment of all the ordinances which Christ appointed."^ In the articles of Smalcald, Luther says, Ubicunque est ecclesia, ibi est jus administrandi evangelii, . ., , • ' -^ . . . Luther s view. quare necesse est ecclesiam retinere jus vo- caudis eligendi et ordinandi ministros. Calvin teaches the same thing;, remarking that the Church ^, , . , . ^ ° . Calvin s view is under obligation to have ministers and other office-bearers ex necessitate precepti, though not ex necessitate inedii ; and Turrettin lays it down that "the pastors exercise the right which be- Tmrettin's longs to the body, as representing it, and in ^'^^^• such away that that right always belongs radically to the body ; " and again, " when a ministry is wanting or miserably corrupt, the Church, can elect for itself ministers for its edification even without the interven- tion of a ministry ; as well both because this right it has from God, as because always and everywhere it is bound to preserve a ministry " — tenetnr mini- ^ Cunningham's Historical Theology^ c. xxvi. sec. ii. p. 536. 276 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. steriuni conservare. Canon Liddon appeals to Hooker, but fails to give Hooker's complete views on the subject, views which are broader and more spiritual Hooker's than would suit Canon Liddon's purpose : view. " There may be sometimes," says Hooker, "very just and sufficient reasons to allow ordination made without a bishop. The w^iole Church visible being the true original subject of all power, it hath not ordinarily allowed any other than bishops alone to ordain ; howbeit as the ordinary cause is ordina- rily in all things to be observed, so it may be in some cases not unnecessary that we decline from the ordinary ways. Men may be extraordinarily, yet allowably, two ways admitted unto spiritual functions in the Church. One is wdien God Himself doth of Himself raise up any . . . Another . . . when the exigence of necessity doth constrain to leave the usual wa\'s of the Church, which otherwise we would willingly keep." ^ Again : " Let them " (the bishops) " continually bear in mind that it is rather the force of custom, whereby the Church, having so long found it good to continue the regiment of her virtuous bishops, doth still uphold, maintain and honour them, in that respect, than that any true and heavenly Jaw- can be showed by the evidence, whereof it may of truth appear, that the Lord Himself hath appointed presbyters for ever to be under the regiment of bishops." Hooker adds that "their authority is a sword which the Church hath power to take from them."- In speaking thus, the more modern writers are reiterating a principle laid down long ago even ' Ecclesiastical Polity, vii. 14. See also iii. 11. " Ibid., vii. 5. Sec also i 14 ; iii. 10. CHURCH ORGANIZATION, by such a high Churchman as Tertullian, who, how- ever, had deep spiritual tendencies : " Are Tertullian's not we laymen also priests ? " he asks. "It ^''^^^'• is written 'He hath also made us a kingdom of priests to God and the Father.' It is the authority of the Church which makes a difiference between the order (the clergy) and the people — this authority and the consecration of their rank by the assignment of special benches to the clergy. Thus where there is no bench of clergy you present the Eucharistic offerings, and baptize, and are your own sole priests. For where three are gathered together there is a Church, even though they be laymen." ^ 3, Some very clear and express enactment would be required to set aside principles which Histor I have thus shown to lie at the heart of both apos- Christianity. Do we find m the New 'tpcJ^t^iie"!^' Testament any such enactment } On the opposed to contrary, all the facts both in the apostolic ^''^"^'^ ^^'^^^°" and sub-apostolic age point quite in the opposite direction, and lie exactly in a line with the great central principles which I have indicated. It was of course to be expected, and entirely consistent with those principles, that the apostles should take care that there would be a succession of regularly appointed ministers in the Church, but the point is, was the power of transmitting office confined to bishops as distinguished from presbyters, and was the validity of orders made to depend upon this transmission ? And if it was so, luJiere 2 If the matter is one so vital that this prelatical succession is necessary to constitute a Church, and to make Christian ordinances 1 De Exh. Cast., 7 278 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. valid, the apostles would not surely leave it in am- biguity, but would take care to emphasise it ; and we might expect to find it clearly recognised in the sub- apostolic literature. Where do we so find it ? On Canon Liddon's own showing in the citation made from him above, presbyters and deacons are just as much successors of the apostles as prelatical bishops are. He says "the apostles detached from themselves in the form of distinct grades or orders of ministry so much as was needed for building up and supporting the Church " — first deacons, next presbyters (called also bishops), to whom "full ministerial capacity was committed, excepting the faculty of transmitting the ministry," and lastly bishops. Where is the evidence that " bishops " and not " presbyters " are successors of the apostles } Where is the proof that "the faculty of transmitting the ministry" was not given to the presbyter-bishops of the early Church, but confined to the class represented by the modern bishop ? In the Churches planted by Paul, as we have seen, elders (or bishops) were appointed. In the Churches ad- dressed by Peter we find elder-bishops, and no higher ofiicers. In like manner, at the instance of Timothy and Titus, elders are appointed in Crete and else- where ; just as at a later time, according to the testi- mony of Eusebius,^ Ouadratus and other "disciples of the apostles," also called "evangelists," acting as itinerant missionaries had similar appointments made That the ^'^ ^be regions where they preached. But transmission by whom were the next sueeessors of these was through , , ,^^, ,, presbyter- pi'esbyter-bishops appomted i Clearly by bishops these presbyter-bishops themselves, on 1 //./:., iii. -:,■]. CHURCH ORGANIZATION. -279 their successors being duly elected by the people. No other agency whatever is hinted at in ^ J , 1 u appears from the New Testament, or in the early sut- apostolic literature. The DidacJie attaches so little value to the point that it says nothing , ^^., ., of the agency by which the appointment is made, nothing of ordination, but says to the people, " Elect for yourselves bishops and deacons worthy of the Lord." Clement of Rome, who is and Clement specially appealed to by Canon Liddon, ^^ ^'^°"'^' only makes it certain that the transmission of office was through presbyter- bishops, while he lends no countenance to the other high features of the theory. Referring to the apostles, Clement says (c. xli.) that " preaching everywhere through countries and cities, they appointed the first fruits, having first proved them by the spirit, to be bishops and deacons of those who should afterwards believe." " Our apostles knew," he says (c. xliv.), "through our Lord Jesus Christ, that there would be strife on account of the name ot the episcopate. For this reason, therefore, having perfect knowledge beforehand, they appointed those already mentioned, and afterwards gave instruction that when they should fall asleep other approved men should succeed them in their ministry. Those, there- fore, appointed by them, or afterwards by other men of repute with the consent of the whole Church, and who have blamelessly served the flock, and who have for a long time possessed the good opinion of all, cannot be justly dismissed from the ministry. I^'or our sin will not be small if we eject from the episco- pate those who have blamelessly and holily presented the offerings. Blessed are those presbyters who, THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. having finished their course before now, have no fear lest any one deprive them of the place now appointed them." Observe here that Clement re- gards " those presbyters who, having already finished their course" cannot be deprived of their place, as the predecessors of those now in danger of being ejected from the episcopate, and as having held the same position as they." And that those now ejected or threatened with ejection from the episcopate wtxQ pres- byters is made absolutely clear by what follows. Still remonstrating with the insubordination at Corinth, Clement says it is disgraceful that that ancient Church " should on account of one or two persons engage in sedition against its presbyters " (c. xlvii.). Again, he says, "Submit yourselves to the presbyters.' " Let the flock of Christ live on terms of peace with the presbyters set over it " (cc. liv. Ivii.). Lightfoot, Funk, Harnack, Haddan, and almost all scholars take the words " when tJiey should fall asleep," and ''their ministry," as pointing to "those already men- tioned " — the first fruits who had been appointed bishops and deacons. But Canon Liddon argues that both phrases refer back to the apostles, and that what Clement affirms is that the apostles appointed those already mentioned, and directed that if they (the apostles) should fall asleep, other approved men should succeed them (the apostles) in their ministry. He adduces two arguments in favour of this exegesis, (i) The first is that eav is used before KOLfxrjOoiaiv. If Clement meant to say the apostles appointed ABC as presbyters, and provided that when ABC died D E F should succeed them as presbyters, why did he say " // they should fall asleep " } — why not CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 281 "when"? The answer is that lav is often used in a sense equivalent to ''when," or in case of an event, when the event is certain. See, for example, Zeno- phon's CEcoiioniiats, xvii., and Plato's Apology of Socrates^ xxxi. To take it thus is far more natural than the strained and clumsy method resorted to by Canon Liddon of putting in a phrase of his own in order to connect the pronoun with the apostles ; " if they (the apostles) should fall asleep before the presby- ter-bishopsT But this is not what Clement says ; it is an arbitrary addition by Canon Liddon, and shows how he must alter and amend the passage to get this meaning out of it. (2) As to Canon Liddon's second point, we quite agree with him in supposing "other men of repute" and "other approved men" to refer to the same class of persons. Who, then, are they ? The answer is as clear as the text and con- text can make it. They are office-bearers who are called indifferently bishops or presbyters. They are called bishops in c. xlii. They are in danger of being ejected from the episcopate (c. xliv.). They are " the presbyters set over" the Church in cc. xlvii., liv., Ivii. So that even granting Canon Liddon's exegesis it is far from establishing his case. The one thing certain is that the ministers of Clement's epistle, who are in danger of being thrust out from the episcopate, and the ministers who having died already arc in no such danger, diVC presbyters, called indifferently bishops, and that the first fruits appointed by the apostles, or, for example, those mentioned in Phil. i. i, were the same ; and there is not a particle of evidence that the inter- vening ministers, described as " other men of repute," ^* other approved men," by whom the ejected minis- THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. ters were appointed, were anything but presbyter- bishops likewise. The succession spoken of by Clement, whatever value it carries, is unquestionably through presbyters (also called bishops) just as in the New Testament Timothy is appointed to office by the laying on of the hands of the presbyters (i Tim. iv. 14). So that when Liddon says, "' To this order [that of presbyters or bishops, as in those first days the second order was called indifferently] full minis- terial capacity was committed excepting the faculty of transmitting the ministry,'' he is, in making this excep- tion, directly contradicting the testimony of Clement (to which he himself appeals), and all the early testi- mony we possess. For example, in the Church of Alexandria on till the third century, the presbyters, we are told, nominated and appointed the bishop out of their own body.^ But, now, why did the apostles, according to Cle- ment, provide for the regular succession of ministers? Because otherwise the Church will be without a ministry .? and because otherwise there can be no valid administration of the Lord's Supper .'^ He never hints at such a thing. The simple reason he assigns is — to avoid disorder, and because the apostles fore- saw that there would be such strife as has arisen at Corinth. Liddon represents Clement as saying that the apostles " made provision that others should succeed to their ozuji pozver of ordaining presbyters^ But, with all respect to Dr. Liddon, Clement says no such thing. What he says they made provision for was, that other approved men should succeed them in their ministry {XeLTovpyia) ; and the reason for ^ Jerome, Epist. Q.y\w\.ad Evivig. ; Ambrosiast. on Eph. i\\ 12 CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 283 making this provision was to avoid disorder and con- tention. He points out the sin and shame of this disorder, of the insubordination at Corinth ; but he does not hint tliat in thrusting out their regularly appointed office-bearers, and substituting others, they will cease to be a Church, and that their ordinances will be invalid. His one plea is, that the apostles provided for a regular succession of ministers in the interests of order. Irenoeus refers at length to this succession, describ- \r\^ it sometimes as a succession of *' pres- ^ ,, , byters, sometmnes as a succession 01 theory finds "bishops." He attaches much value to "« f'PPo^'t i" 1 r 1 r L Irenivus. the fact that this succession of presbyters or bishops can be traced down from the apostles ; but the value he sets on it is very different from that of Dr. Liddon. To Irenseus it is important to be able to trace this succession, not because he thinks of it as indispensable for the transmission of minis- terial power, or for the validity of the Lord's Supper — such an idea never occurs to him — but because he is able by means of this succession to trace the truths and doctrines which he holds back to the apostles. The heretics affirm that the Gospels of Matthew and the other evangelists are not correct nor authoritative, and that the truth cannot be extracted from them by those ignorant of tradition ; for the truth was not delivered by written documents, but viva voce. " We refer them," says Irenaeus, "to that tradition which issues from the apostles, and which is preserved by means of the succession of presbyters in the Churches. " It is within the power of all, in every Church, who may wish to see the truth, to contemplate clearly 284 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. the tradition of the apostles manifested throughout the world ; and we are in a position to reckon up those who were by the apostles instituted bishops in the Churches, and the successions of these men to our own times ; those who neither taught nor knew any thing like what these rave about. For if the apostles had known hidden mysteries, which they were in the habit of imparting to the ' perfect,' apart and privily from the rest, they would have delivered them especially to those to whom they were also committing the Churches themselves." He then goes on to give the succession at Rome, and to show how the apostolical tradition had been handed down through it. '' In this order and by this succession the ecclesiastical tradition from the apostles, and the preaching of the truth, have come down to us. And this is most abundant evidence that there is one and the same vivifying faith, which has been preserved in the Church from the apostles until now, and handed down in truth." ^ It is only when we come to Cyprian, only when we ^, ., reach the period when sacerdotalism becrins I he idea ^ ° begins to to flourish, that we begin to find some trace thhcrcentlTry^^ Canou Liddon's doctrine. With Cyprian under the bishop is (to use Bishop Lightfoot's ypnan. language), '* the indispensable bond of Christian brotherhood." " You ought to know," says Cyprian, *' that the bishop is in the Church, and the Church is in the bishop, and if any one is not with the bishop, he is not in the Church." - " Such an one," he says, " is not a Christian." ^ ^ hen., Agai72st Heresies.^ B, iii. cc. i, 2, 3. 2 Cyprian, Epist. 66. ^ Ep. 55, 20. CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 28; Nor should it be overlooked that the thing chiefly emphasised in the early literature, Great in connection with the appointment of the ^["j'^!|;^'^/''J^ ministry, is their election by the people, or the consent, the consent of the people to their appoint- ^^^-^j^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ment. We have already seen this in the in early Didache, and in the Epistle of Clement of ^^l^^^"^^^^- Rome. Even Cyprian calls this " an apostolic and almost universal regulation." ^ I have thus shown that the doctrine of apostolical succession, so strenuously advocated by Canon Lid- don and the school which he represents, though the greatest of all obstacles to union between episcopal and non- episcopal Churches in the present day, grossly violates some of the first and most vital principles of Christianity, and has no countenance either in the New Testament or in sub-apostolic Christian literature. The idea is essentially a pagan one, derived from pagan sources, excusable, or at least intelligible, in men like Cyprian, who brought with them into Christianity many of the materialistic, heathenish superstitions in w^hich their youth had been nurtured, and which pervaded the air which they breathed from day to day ; but it is unworthy of those who have never laboured under their dis- advantage, and who are familiar with the spiritual teaching of our Lord and His apostles. V. Sacerdotalism. It is quite true that a certain class of Christian ministers are called " chief priests " in the DidacJic 1 Ep. 60. 286 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. (c. xiii.). But it ought to be observed that it is the Why the pi'ophets who are so called, and that they prophets are thus designated not because of any- called "chief , . 1 . , r • 1 • priests "in exclusive sacerdotal functions attaching to the Didache. them, not Certainly because they enjoy the prerogative of atoning for sin by the offering of sacrifice, but because of certain points of analogy between them and the Jewish priesthood, which arc clearly enough indicated in the DidacJie. They are, in the conception of the writer, the ministers who have the highest gifts. They might give thanks in the celebration of the Eucharist as they pleased, and they are mentioned with exceptional honour and prominence. But there was one feature which they had in common with the Jewish priesthood. They had no worldly occupation or means of livelihood ; and were, therefore, dependent on the Church for support. This seems to be the chief point of analogy in the writer's mind in applying to them the title of priests. " Every first-fruit, therefore, of the produce of press and floor, of oxen and sheep, thou shalt take and give to the prophets ; for they are your chief priests " (c. xiii.). Cf. Deut. xviii. 2, 3, 4, to which there is manifest reference in the Didache. A strik- ingly similar comparison occurs in Irenaeus, who says, " All the righteous possess the sacerdotal rank . . Who are they that have left father and mother, and have said adieu to all their neighbours, on account of the Word of God and His covenant, unless the disci- ples of our Lord 1 Of whom Moses says, ' They shall have no inheritance, for the Lord Himself is their inheritance.' " Here the same language is ap- plied to all Christians, all of whom, as we have seen. CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 287 are in the New Testament represented as " a holy priesthood." In no other sense are ministers of any sort so called. It is indeed remarkable Ministers that never in a sinc^le instance in the New never called ^ "priests Testament writings is the term applied to in New them. They are called ministers, elders, Testament, bishops, teachers, shepherds, rulers, stewards, leaders, but never priests. Nor have we what is now regarded as the distinguishing characteristic of sacerdotalism — atonement for sin by the offering of sacrifice — ever connected with them in the sub-apostolic literature, But the growth of sacerdotalism advances and matures so quickly, and goes on so manifestly before the eyes of the student of the early literature, that a brief and rapid sketch of it may be interesting, as well as need- ful to complete our view of this subject. There is no taint of sacerdotalism in the earliest of the Apostolic Fathers, Clement of Rome, but he employs lanc^uas^e which may have con- _^ ^ J fc. t> •' No sacer- tributed to the development. The great dotalismin object of his epistle is to put an end to the ^^j"^^^"^ .°^ insubordination which has arisen against the rulers, and to restore order at Corinth. In plead- ing for this he refers to the case of an army, and to the order, obedience and submissiveness with which the soldiers serve under their generals. " All are not prefects, nor commanders of a thousand, nor of a hundred, nor of fifty, but each in his own rank per- forms the things commanded by the king and his generals" (c. xxxvii.). He points to the example of the human body, showing how the members are subject to one another, and work harmoniously together, and are under one common rule for the preservation of 28S THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. the body (c. xxxviii ). He then adduces the analogy of the Jewish priesthood. " His own pecuhar services are assigned to the high-priest, and their own proper place is assigned to tlie priests, and their own special ministrations dev^olve on the Levites. The layman is bound by the laws that pertain to laymen." He is evidently referring here to the Jewish people, and describing them as laymen as distinguished from the priesthood. Then applying this analogy he adds : " Let every one of you give thanks to God in his own order. . . ." And he goes on to mention how the apostles sent forth by Christ appointed their first-fruits to be bishops and deacons. And what wonder is it, he asks, that the apostles ap- pointed those ministers, considering that Moses noted down in the sacred books all the injunctions given him, and that when jealousy arose concerning the priesthood, and the tribes were contending among themselves which of them should be adorned with that glorious title, he commanded the twelve tribes to bring him their rods, and arranged that the tribe whose rod should blossom was the one chosen to the priesthood ; just as the apostles, knowing that there would be strife on account of the name (or title) of the Episcopate, appointed their first-fruits to be bishops and deacons, and afterwards gave instructions that, when they should fall asleep, other approved men should succeed them in the service. The ministry is described as a X^iTovp^la and the ministers are represented as having " presented the offerings " {iTpoaeveyovTa^ tu ho)pa) ; but these are the gifts brought by the people, and the sacrifice of praise and thanks^-ivino:. There is no remotest hint of the CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 289 ofifering of an atoning sacrifice, and Christ is " the High-priest of all their offerings." Even Ignatius (as Lightfoot has shown) never con- ceives the ministry as a priesthood, nor does Hermas, nor Barnabas, nor Polycarp, nor Justin Martyr, who describes Christians generally Hennas, as - the true high-priestly race of God, as ^'^^''^^^%, God Himself also beareth witness, saying Justin that in every place among the Gentiles are ^'^^^^' men offering sacrifices well pleasing unto Him and pure (Mai. i. ii). Yet God doth not receive sacrifices from any one except through His priests. Therefore, God anticipating all sacrifices through His name which Jesus Christ ordained to be offered, I mean those offered by the Christians in every region of the earth with the Eucharist of the bread and of the cup, beareth witness that they are well pleasing to Him.''^ I have already given the words of Irenasus embodying the same view. No doubt Polycrates, at the end of the second century, speaks of the Apostle John as having been made a priest, and "wearing the mitre," but, as Lightfoot points out, the language is doubtless figurative, and is explained by that of the apostle himself, who regards the body of believers as high priests (Rev. ii. 27). Clement of Alexandria is at the opposite pole from sacerdotalism. " It is possible for men even now," he says, "by exercisinc^ themselves in the ^. J ^ J o Psonc in commandments of the Lord, and by living clement ot a perfect gnostic life in obedience to the ^l^'''^''^"^'^'''^- gospel, to be inscribed in the roll of the apostles. Such men are genuine presbyters and true deacons ^ Dial. c. Try ph. ^ cc. 116, 117. U S90 ■ THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. of the will of God, if they practise and teach the things of the Lord, being not indeed ordained by men, nor considered righteous because they are pres- byters, but enrolled in the presbytery because they are righteous." ^ Tertullian is the first to represent the Christian ministry distinctly as a priesthood. "The right of Be ins to g^^^"S baptism," he says, "belongs to the appear in chief priest, that is the bishop." - And yet Tertullian. Xertullian is still conscious of the larger and more spiritual view. " Are not we laymen also priests.? It is written, 'He hath also made us a kingdom and priests to God and His Father.' It is the authority of the Church which makes a difference between the order (the clergy) and the people." ^ Origen, as might have been anticipated, is still more spiritual, and free from narrowness. It is in Cyprian that we find the sacerdotal con- But most •'^. ^, .. riiii ' t. developed in ception of the mmistry lull-blown, just Cyprian, ^g j|. j^ jj^ Cyprian that episcopacy itself reaches its apotheosis. Nor is it without significance that, as Lightfoot shows, the growth of sacerdotalism was earliest matured in Latin Christendom, under the influence of heathen ideas of priestly intervention ; and that we find episcopacy, apostolical succession, sacerdotalism, the idea of the Eucharist as a real sacrifice, all growing and ripening together as parts of one great whole, which by-and-by brings in its train withdrawal from social life, and celibacy. 1 Strouh vi. 1 3. '^ L)e B apt is mo, 1 7. 3 De Exh. Cast., 7. CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 291 VI. Ministerial Support. According to the Didache, the unattached, itinerant ministry, who were constantly moving about from Church to Church, were to be Iodised and ^, ^., ,, entertained by each Church visited by on ministerial them, but were neither to ask for money, support. nor to get more provision than would last them till they reached their next resting-place. Every true prophet also who settled in a particular Church, as he might do, was to be treated as worthy of his food. So far, however, as our manual enables us to judge, it was only those who had no worldly occupa- tion, and no settled means of livelihood, who were supported in this manner. It is remarkable that no instructions are given in our Directory with regard to the support of the local office- of support for bearers, the bishops and deacons, the bishops reason being, doubtless, that they continued to pursue their ordinary avocations, and thereby sup- ported themselves. " If ye have no prophet, give to the poor," it says. This state of things seems to have been general in the early Church, and to have continued for some centuries. The Church officers whose circumstances demanded it drew from the same fund as the orphans and the poor — from the voluntary offerings of the people ; but it is beyond question that for a long period after apos- ^,. , ,. . , ,., 11 Lisliops or tone times the bishops and deacons as a presbyters of rule thought it more expedient to do as ^^^^^ Church . enszcxg^ecl Paul did, that is, to earn their bread with in secular the work of their own hands. The bishops callings. and presbyters of the early centuries cultivated 293 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. farms, kept shops or banks, practised the healing art, wrought as smiths and artificers of various kinds, pursued the shepherd's calling, attended the markets and bought and sold there. In the Cemetery of Callixtus in the Catacombs at Rome a record de- scribes Dionysius as fulfilling at once the calling of a physician, and the office of a presbyter. We read of one bishop who was a weaver at Maiuma, of another who tended sheep on the mountains of Cyprus, of another who practised in the law-courts, of a pres- byter who was a silversmith at Ancyra.^ A certain Christian innkeeper of Ancyra, called Theodotus, who had shown great kindness to those who suffered from the Diocletian edict at the beginning of the fourth century, was himself threatened with perse- cution. He fled for safety to a village in the country, and took refuge with a priest there. ''This priest ministered every day at stated hours in a village church, but at the same time worked a farm, and regularly visited the great market of Ancyra, driving his own cart, and selling his wares." Ultimately Theodotus w^as discovered, tortured, and put to death ; while instructions were given by the prefect that his body should lie unburied, exposed to the birds and beasts of prey, and a strong guard was set to watch it, lest it should be carried away and buried by the Christians, who regarded such exposure of the dead with great abhorrence. The story is told by Dr. Stokes in his Ireland and the Celtic Church. "The evening," he says, " was cold and late, and the guard had lit a fire, and made a booth of branches, when ^ For interesting facts and evidence on this subject, see Hatch's " Bampton Lecture," p. 147, sg. CHURCH ORGANIZATION, 293 the priest drove up with his cart laden with barrels of wine, the produce of his vineyard. They invited him to remain all night with them, as the gates were already shut. He learned whose body they were guarding, treated them plenteously to his best wine, made them all drunk, and triumphantly drove off with the body of his devout innkeeper." Professor Stokes adds: "As a sufficient evidence that the union of the clerical and secular office continued to much later than St. Patrick's time, I shall simply quote an inscription on the walls of Assos, In Asia Minor, telling us how the walls were restored about the time of Justinian, by Helladlus, a presbyter and chief magistrate of the city, corresponding to the union among ourselves of such diverse offices as Dean of St. Patrick's and Lord Mayor of Dublin."^ We know that St. Patrick's father, Calpurnius, was a deacon, a farmer, and a decurion or town councillor ; that his sister's son, Lugnaedon, though a presbyter, was a pilot or navigator ; and that, of the presbyters who attended on St. Patrick, one was a smith and another a maker of book-satchels.- Long after the time to which our manual refers the occupations of the clergy were so extended that the exemption of the trade-tax granted them by Constan- tino was revoked by later emperors, so serious was the loss of revenue. It was considered in no way inconsistent with or dishonouring to the sacred office that those engaged in it should be thus employed. There is no trace of the idea that to be occupied in farming, or In some profession or trade, or in buying ^ Ireland and the Celtic Churchy p. 43. 2 Ibid., p. 85. 294 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. and selling, was incompatible with the office of a minister. On the contrary, ''when the Montanists proposed to pay their clergy a fixed salary, the pro- posal was condemned as a heretical innovation, alien to Catholic practice."^ The chief enactments of the early Church on this matter were to the effect that the bishops were not to take advantage of their position to buy cheaper and sell dearer than other people. Withdrawal The withdrawal of the clergy from secular empioymem occupations was part of the same move- due to the ment which proscribed such things as ^Tacerdotal^ " ^^^^^^^y*" ^^^ cucouragcd cclibacy, asce- spirit. ticism, and withdrawal from the world as eminently " religious." The withdrawal of the clergy from secular pursuits was thus one of the higher tide marks in the progress of sacerdotalism. VII. The Diaconate. It remains to add a word respecting another class of officers mentioned in our manual, the deacons. It is true that " the seven " of Acts vi., who were Institution of appointed in charge of " the daily minis- the office, tration," are nowhere expressly called deacons ; but their office is described as a *' serving of tables." Most expositors, therefore, regard this as the original institution of the office of the diaconate, and recognise the deacons of Phil. i. i, and i Tim. iii. 8 as holding the same office as that here originated — a view confirmed by the requirement of the apostle that the deacons should not be " greedy of filthy lucre." It is indeed singular that the relief sent to the poor i See Euseb., H. E.^ v. i8, 2 ; v. 28, 10. CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 2()$ brethren in Judaea, subsequent to the appointment of " the seven," is given in charge of the elders (Acts xi. 29. But this only serves to illustrate the Relation of position held by the deacons all through ^^^-y^ojis to , ■; ^ presbyters or the history. They appear as subordinate bishops. to and as assistants of the elders or bishops. They are associated with the presbyter-bishops as their assistants, not only in charge of the ^ __ 1 , . ,, ,1. , . ^ Their duties. poor, but even in the public worship of the congregation. The bishops and deacons of the DidacJic perform the ministry (t^z; XeuTovpr^iav) of the prophets and teachers ; and Justin Martyr describes the deacons as distributing the bread and wine in the Eucharist. Afterwards, as I have shown, when all Church power became concentrated in the bishop, the deacons appear as his servants and attendants, as the eye and ear and right hand of the bishop.* They were employed both in the collection and distribution of funds ; and, in connection with this latter office, it was their duty to visit the houses of the poor, enquire into their circumstances, and report to the bishop. They were to visit the inns, look after strangers, and find out every case of sickness and distress. It was at a later date, when the philanthropic spirit of Christianity began to wane, and to become subordi- nate to other offices which were thought more spiritual, that the deacons were withdrawn from such works of charity and mercy. There is no express reference in our manual to deaconesses, but, there is no doubt that from early times a female diaconate ex- isted in the Church. The word applied to Phoebe * See Apostol. Co?isf., ii. 44 ; iii. 19. 296 THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. (Rom. xvi. i) might indeed refer to unofficial service rendered to the poor and sick ; but Lightfoot, with most scholars, understands it in the official sense ; and they are the more ready to attach this sense to it as they seem to see traces of a female diaconate in other parts of Scripture. Thus Lightfoot, Uhlhorn, and others take ^vvalKa^ (i Tim. iii. ii), trans- lated "wives" inour version, as meaning deaconesses ; and for this interpretation the following reasons are adduced, {a) The term ?; ^wr] is employed in the early literature with this sense. See Apostolical Con- stitutions^ iii. 19. {b) wcrauTct)?, according to the plan of the sentence, introduces a new category of Church officials. Cf. ver. 8. (<:) At ver. 12 Sta/coz^ot is repeated, for which there was no need if ver. 1 1 was still speak- ing of them, {d) The family relations of the deacons are first spoken of at ver. 12. {e) The wives of the bishops are not mentioned ; why, then, the wives of the deacons } [f) There is no word answering to " theij^" in the original. If the wives of the deacons were meant, avrcov would certainly be found, so as to render the designation intelligible. {£■) If deacons' wives are intended, it is curious that domestic counsels should be given to the husbands and omitted in the case of the wives. Undoubtedly, owing to the greater seclusion in which, according to Oriental customs, women lived in the East, and the feeling which for- bad their intercourse with men, one might naturally expect some such office as that of the deaconess. ^, . . Their service w^ould be performed chiefly 1 Iicir service. in the homes of the Christian people ; and in this view the counsels given in i Tim. iii. 1 1 would be appropriate enough. They are warned not to be CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 297 " slanderers," carrying gossip from house to house ; and, as they would naturally have to do with the dis- tribution of alms to the poor, they are required to be " faithful in all things." It is also certain that imme- diately after apostolic times we find traces of a female diaconate. Thus Pliny, in his famous letter to Trajan, speaks of having put to the torture two female slaves, who " were called deaconesses."^ It is remarkable, however, that for a long time after this, deaconesses so called disappear both in the East and in the West, and that we only hear of ividozvs. ,,,„., „ Many s^ood expositors, who are at the "Presbyter- Same time familiar with the early history esses. Q^ ^j^g Church, suppose '* the widows " of I Tim. V. 9, 10, also called " elder women " or "pres- byteresses " (v. 2), were persons who, whether at this time formally set apart or not, were charged with certain ecclesiastical duties. They infer their eccle- siastical character from the fact : {a) that as it was held expedient that the bishop or presbyter should be but once married (i Tim. iii. 2), so also it was required in the widows who were " received into the number" (i Tim. v. 9), though Paul himself re- commends the younger widows to marry again (v. 14); {b) that it was only widows above sixty who were admitted into this category — a restriction that would be harsh and arbitrary, if they were simply being admitted to the support of the Church ; {c) that those admitted must have btvngJit np cJiildreii, whereas aged widows who were childless were even still more likely to need the Church's charity. At all events it is certain that very early we begin to hear of ** widows " ^ " Q'lce ministrce dicebantur^' Plin., Ep.^ x. 97. X 298 THE SUB-APOSTOUC CHURCH. as an ecclesiastical order in the Church, who are charged with certain religious duties. They are mentioned by Ignatius/ by Polycarp,^ by Hermas Often refeiTed(probably\ who relates how Grapte was to in eaijv • • i . , , . . ^ . Church commissioned with the instruction of the history, orphans,-^ by Clement of Alexandria,'* by Origen,-^ by Tertulh'an,^ and many others. We learn from Origen and Tertullian that one of their duties was to instruct the women and children. Lucian, in his satire de Morte Peregrini, c. 12, relates how when Peregrin us was thrown into prison, aged widows, attended by orphans, were seen waiting at the prison early in the morning. They are sometimes called presbyteresses or female elders.'^ Somewhat later, especially in the Eastern Church, we hear again of deaconesses, among whose duties was the assistance of female catechumens in the ceremony of baptism.^ At this later period they were ordained by the laying on of hands.^ * * * :{c * If there is one word in which more than \x\ another . the essence of the Christian spirit is em- Conckision. , ,. , , ^ bodied, that word is "love"; and it is a most significant and beautiful symbol of the love that animated early Christianity that its first external institution was the diaconate, that the earliest per- manent officials to which it gave birth were not bishops nor presbyters, not rulers nor even teachers, but ^ Ad Sviyrn. 6 ; ad Polyc. 4. " Ad PJiil. c. 4. 2 Vis. ii. 4. ^ Peed. iii. 12. '"^ In Evancr. Joann. Hon. 1 7 ; in Jcs. Horn. 6. « Ad Uxor. \. 7 \ de Velandis Virgitiibus c. 9. '' Const. Copt., ii. 37, and Origen as already cited. ^ Const. Ap., iii. 16 ; viii. 28 ; Jerome on Rom. xvi. i. ^ Cone. Niccen.^ c. 12. CHURCH ORGANIZATION. 299 deacons ; — office-bearers charged witli special care for the desolate and the poor, and with the administration of its philanthropies and charities. It Is hardly less significant that as, In after times, the spiritual and the moral became subordinate to the ecclesiastical and external, love waned, and the diaconate either disappeared, or busied Itself with other functions. No doubt the hospitals, asylums, workhouses, and other numberless philanthropic Institutions which to-day stud Christendom, are the direct or Indirect fruit of Christianity. We are, however, of those who think it a matter for regret that in this age the care of the poor and sick and maimed Is left so much to organi- zations external to the Church, and that the diaconate is not still as primary and prominent as it was in primitive times. We do not know that we could close the thoughts and considerations which this ancient document has started, in a spirit more akin to its own, than by recalling and emphasizing the gentle, kindly, beneficent ministrations In which the religion of Jesus Christ set out on its career. In that spirit it went forth to grapple with and overthrow ancient heathenism, and to elevate and bless humanity. The work that yet remains for it to do is less in comparison than that which it has already done, the difficulties It has still to face are not at all so formid- able In proportion as those which It has surmounted. And for the rest, this old book we have been studying unites with the voice of all history in teaching us : " It's wiser being good than bad ; It's safer being meek tlian fierce ; It's fitter being sane than mad. My own hope is^ a Sun will pierce THE SUB-APOSTOLIC CHURCH. The thickest cloud earth ever stretched ; That after Last, returns the First, Though a wide compass round be fetched ; That what began best, can't end worst, Nor what God blessed once, prove accurst." Butler I ^l- :