Sources

FOOTNOTES:

[40:1] Mommsen, v., chs. 11-12; Merivale, i., ch. 1; iv., ch. 39; Liddell, ii., ch. 71; Bury's Gibbon, i., chs. 1-3; Finlay, i., ch. 1.

[41:1] 1 Tim. ii., 2. Epictetus wrote: "Cæsar has promised us a profound peace; there are neither wars, nor battles, nor great robberies, nor piracy."—Dis., iii., 13.

[41:2] Lewin, Life and Epistles of St. Paul. Lond., 1878. Bergier, Histoire des Grands Chemins de l'Empire Romain.

[41:3] Merivale, iv., ch. 41.

[41:4] The chief writers were: Ovid, d. 17; Livy, d. 17; Lucan, d. 65; Seneca, d. 65; Pliny, d. 115; Tacitus, d. 119; Juvenal, d. 130.

[41:5] Schürer, ii., § 22; Graetz, i., ch. 20.

[41:6] Plato, Protagoras, tr. by Jowett; Aristotle, Politics, bk. 8, tr. by Jowett; Mahaffy, Old Greek Ed.; St. John, The Hellenes, bk. 2, ch. 4; Davidson, Aristotle, bk. 1, ch. 4; The Nation, March 24, 1892, pp. 230-231; Zeller, Socrates and the Socratic Schools, ch. 3; Capes, University Life in Ancient Athens, ch. 1; Newman, Hist. Sketches, ch. 4; Thirlwell, Hist. of Greece, i., ch. 8.

[42:1] Döllinger, Gentile and Jew, ii., 294-296; Kirkpatrick, Hist. Develop. of Super. Instr.; Am. Jour. of Ed., xxiv., 468-470.

[42:2] Gieseler, i., § 11.

[42:3] Döllinger, Gentile and Jew, i., bk. 7.

[43:1] About the Republic, iii., 6; Virgil, Eclogues, iv., 4-10; 13, 14; Lactantius, Divine Inst., vi., 8; Suetonius, Life of Vesp., ch. 4; Tacitus, Histories, v., 13.

[43:2] Gladstone, Gods and Men of the Heroic Age; Tyler, Theol. of the Greeks; Cocker, Christ and Greek Philos.; Niebuhr, Stories of Gr. Heroes; Berens, Myths and Legends of Anc. Gr.; Taylor, Anc. Ideals; Parnell, Cults of the Gr. States; Ely, Olympus; Francillon, Gods and Heroes; Grote; Curtius; Thirlwell.

[43:3] Read Iliad, Odyssey and Hesiod, Theogeny.

[43:4] Concerning the Republic, ii.

[43:5] Adam, The Religious Teachers of Greece, Edinb., 1908. Baur, The Christian Element in Plato, Edinb., 1861; Hatch, The Greek Influence on Christianity. Hibbert Lectures, 1888.

[44:1] Schürer, Hist. of Jewish People; Milman, Hist. of the Jews; Stanley Lect. on Hist. of Jewish Ch.; Ewald, Hist. of Jewish People; Edersheim, Prophecy and Hist. in Rel. to the Messiah; Kent, Hist. of Heb. People; Graetz, Hist. of Jews; Newman, Christianity in its Cradle. See Josephus for full account.

[44:2] Jewish Encyc. See Josephus, Antiq., XIII., x., 5, 6; v., 9; XVII., ii., 4; XVIII., i., 2.

[44:3] Jewish Encyc. See Josephus, Antiq., XIII., v., 9; x., 6; XVIII., i., 3; Wars, II., viii., 14.

[44:4] Matt. xxii., 23; Mark xii., 18; Luke xx., 27; Josephus, Antiq., XVIII., i., 4.

[44:5] Acts xxiii., 8.

[44:6] It must be remembered that Nicodemus, Gamaliel, and others came from this class.

[44:7] Jewish Encyc.

[45:1] Josephus; Philo; Pliny; Lightfoot, Ep. to Gal.; Schürer, ii., 188; Jewish Encyc.

[45:2] Jewish Encyc.

[45:3] John iv., 4; viii., 48; Luke ix., 52, 53; x., 25-37.

[45:4] Josephus, Antiq., XVIII., i., 1-6; Rhees, Life of Jesus; Jewish Encyc. Hastings, Dict. of the Bible.

[46:1] Schürer, Jewish People, div. II., ii., 154-187; Wendt, Teachings of Jesus, i., 33-89; Graetz, Hist. of the Jews, ii., 122-123, 140-147; Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus, i., 160-179; Rhees, Life of Jesus, sec. 13; Mathews, Hist. of N. T. Times, ch. 13.

[46:2] Rom. i., 18-32.

[46:3] De Ira, I., ii., c. 8.

[46:4] Politica, I., ii., c. 2-18.

[47:1] Tacitus felt a common humanity when he wrote: "Homo sum; humani nihil a me alienum puto." Cicero and Virgil expressed like ideas. In the Middle Ages it was even said that Virgil in the Fourth Eclogue prophesied the advent of Jesus. See Princeton Rev., Sept. 1879, 403 ff.

[47:2] Ackerman, The Christian Element in Plato; Cocker, Christianity and Greek Philosophy; Hatch, Influence of Greek Ideas and Usages upon the Christian Church; Addis, Christianity and the Roman Empire, 22-25; Farrar, Seekers after God; Davidson, The Stoic Creed, N. Y. 1907.

[48:1] The Septuagint version, 284-247 B.C.

[48:2] Ackerman, The Christian Element in Plato.

[48:3] Josephus and Strabo. Gieseler, i., § 17.

[48:4] Apion, ii., 10, 39.

CHAPTER IV
ORIGIN, SPREAD, AND ORGANISATION OF THE CHURCH DURING THE APOSTOLIC AGE

Outline: I.—Origin of the Christian Church. II.—Spread of the Apostolic Church. III.—Organisation of the Early Church. IV.—Conclusions. V.—Sources.

The Christian Church has both an internal and an external side—a soul and a body. Thoughts, feelings, and beliefs constitute the inner Church, the creed. These, in turn, aided by physical conditions, determine the outward organisation of the Church. In a broad sense the Church was a product of certain forces already in the world at the opening of the Christian era, which were utilised by the believers in the teachings of Jesus. From pagan and Jewish sources contributions were made to both the form and content of the Christian Church in the following ways:

1. The Jews[52:1] gave in ideas: (a) a belief in Jehovah as God, (b) the conception of sin, (c) a consciousness of the need of repentance and reconciliation, (d) the doctrine of immortality, (e) the conception of Heaven and Hell, (f) angels and the devil, (g) miracles, (h) the Old Testament as God's word, and (i) the Sabbath. To the form of the Christian Church they suggested:

(a) the synagogue, (b) officials like the elders, (c) ceremonies, (d) feasts,[53:1] and (e) organisation.[53:2]

2. The pagans contributed in ideas: (a) Greek philosophy and culture,[53:3] (b) concepts of morality,[53:4] (c) the idea of absolute sovereignty, and (d) universality.[53:5] In form they gave: (a) local organisations like the democratic Hellenistic guild or municipality,[53:6] or the numerous Roman social or religious associations known as collegia and sodalitia (especially the collegia funeraticia), and the general organisation of the Empire[53:7]; (b) rites and ceremonies; (c) the evening meal,[53:8] (d) festivals like Easter and Christmas; (e) the use of images, and (f) architecture, painting, and ornamentation.

3. The real founder of the Church, however, was Jesus Christ. He supplied the fundamental ideas of: (a) the universal fatherhood of God, (b) the divine sonship of the Saviour of the world, (c) the brotherhood of man, and (d) the ethical law of self-sacrifice. He created the Church: (a) by choosing twelve Apostles, by teaching them and by commissioning them to continue the work; (b) by winning a number of converts to His doctrines; (c) by leaving certain sacraments for His followers—Catholics say seven; most Protestants, two. But He left no written Church constitution giving

the details of organisation. The work of Jesus and His immediate followers in founding the Church is described in the New Testament. Broadly, then, the Church of Jesus Christ is composed of all the believers in the teachings of Jesus, although differing greatly in interpretation and in organisation.[54:1]

From Jerusalem the Apostles and disciples of Jesus spread his teachings to Syria, Asia Minor, Africa, Greece, and Rome. From these fields the propagation was continued until by the time of Constantine every point within and some places without the Empire were reached. "Throughout every city and village," enthusiastically exclaimed Eusebius, "churches were quickly established and filled with members from every people."[54:2] The fruitful labours of Paul and Timothy were explained thus: "And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in numbers daily."[54:3] Other Apostles were, no doubt, equally active in various parts of the Empire. The "Christians"—a term of derision first used by the heathen of Antioch,[54:4]—numbering 500 in 30 A.D.,[54:5] grew to 500,000 by 100 A.D.,[54:6] and increased to 30,000,000 by 311 A.D.[54:7]—a growth almost unparalleled in the world's religious history. They included all the social classes in the Empire from slave to Emperor, though

the great middle class was in all probability most numerously represented.[55:1]

The causes for this marvellous growth[55:2] are found in: (a) the revolutionary teachings of Jesus, particularly the idea of immortality, which was very vague in heathen minds, and the law of love and self-sacrifice; (b) the miraculous powers attributed to the first Christians; (c) the purer and austerer morality of the early Christians; (d) the unity and discipline of the Church, making it a powerful organisation within the Empire; (e) the preparation and ripeness of the Empire for Christianity, and (f) the subjective vividness of the constant presence of Jesus with the early Christians, as explained by Paul, and their zealous propagandism.

The results of this new life, brought into the world so dramatically, must be measured in terms of all subsequent history.[55:3] Every institution in the Empire was modified by this new spiritual force[55:4] so that as old pagan imperial Rome gradually fell, new Christian Rome took its place to rule all western Europe for more than a thousand years in every sphere of human activity and endeavour.

The exact form of the organisation of the early Christian Church is extremely difficult to determine, because of the lack of sufficient positive authority in the New Testament and in patristic literature. The Acts of the Apostles and the letters of Paul and others to the first Christian communities tell nearly all

any one can know about the origin and organisation of the Apostolic Church. From these sources it is clear that Jesus left certain great teachings, and many devoted believers in those truths. After His departure, the Apostles, not limited to twelve,[56:1] receiving authority directly from the Master,[56:2] like the prophets of old, spread the new pregnant faith over the world, organised their converts according to individual ideas and local needs,[56:3] and practically monopolised all direction of the Church.[56:4] With the increase of these Christian societies in size and numbers, came the necessity of appointing local officers, or of having them elected by the "brethren." In this way, at an early date, began the outward organisation of the Church. The development of the Jewish Kingdom of God into the Ecclesia of the Christians was a comparatively easy transition, especially for the Jewish converts.

Next to the Apostles in point of time, but not authority, in the Biblical account, came the deacons. At Jerusalem the Apostles had the "brethren" select "seven men of honest report" to minister to the poor and unfortunate, and to wait on the table in the daily love-feasts.[56:5] They were installed by "laying on of hands." This democratic example apparently was followed elsewhere.[56:6] Both sexes were eligible.[56:7] The high qualifications for the office suggest its importance.[56:8]

St. Paul tells us that the earliest Christian communities found it necessary to have some organisation, hence they chose bishops, or overseers, and presbyters, or elders. But throughout the New Testament the words elder, presbyter, and bishop seem to be used interchangeably.[57:1] The qualifications for the offices were the same. Bishops and elders are never joined together like bishops and deacons as if they were two distinct classes of officers. Timothy, for example, appoints bishops and deacons; Titus, elders and deacons. Paul sends greetings to bishops and deacons at Philippi, but omits all mention of elders and presbyters because, presumably, they were included in the conception of bishops.[57:2] In his pastoral epistles he describes all Church officers, but mentions only two classes, bishops or elders, and deacons.[57:3] Peter, who calls himself "also an elder," urges the elders to "tend the flock of God" and to "fulfil the office of bishop."[57:4] Even Clement of Rome uses bishop and presbyter interchangeably as late as 95 A.D.[57:5] Irenæus (d. 190) and Tertullian (d. 220), however, were conscious of a distinct division and differentiation.

That the official titles, bishop and presbyter or elder, were used from early apostolic days, all must admit, for the New Testament evidence is unmistakable. But perplexity and doubt arise at once when an attempt is made to determine the resemblances and differences

in their duties and powers. The term elder, or presbyter, may have been used merely to designate the personal relation of the most highly respected members to the congregation, while the name bishop, or overseer, may have been the official designation of leadership. Indeed some scholars, like Hatch and Harnack, believe that the functions of presbyters and bishops were distinct and different from the beginning. They assert that the college of presbyters assumed the leadership, or government proper, of the Christian community, with jurisdiction and disciplinary power, while the bishops had charge of the administration of the Church, including worship and finance, and were also largely occupied with charitable work, in co-operation with the deacons, such as care for the sick, the poor, and strangers. According to this view each congregation was organised with three sets of officers, namely, deacons, presbyters, and bishops, from the very outset. Gradually, however, an amalgamation took place. The bishops, with their practical information, received seats and votes in the presbytery and finally came to fill the office of presidency.

It seems more probable, on the contrary, that these two titles simply signify the twofold origin of the early Christians, namely, from the Jews and the pagans. The word presbyter is of Hebraic derivation, while bishop is a pure Greek term. Consequently the tendency developed to use presbyter wherever the Hebrew element predominated, and, on the other hand, to employ bishop for Greek communities. It was but natural, too, that these two terms should come to signify the same thing and should come to be used interchangeably.

The derivation of these terms is not clear.[59:1] Both presbyter and bishop appear to have been in use in Syria and Asia Minor to designate officers of municipal and private corporations. In Grecian civic organisations, the word bishop or superintendent was likewise commonly used. Then there were the well-known elders of the Jewish synagogue,[59:2] and the senators of Roman municipalities—in fact a universal respect for seniority existed in the old world. It was very natural, therefore, that the Christians should adopt the known forms, names, and offices of those organisations with which they were familiar.[59:3] This method of procedure is precisely the one followed over the world to-day in propagating any idea through organised effort.

These elders were apparently organised into boards, or councils, for the purpose of better furthering the interests of the Church. They were not teachers at first so much as the administrators, or business managers, of the general concerns of the Church.[59:4] They helped to enact ordinances[59:5]; discussed important questions with the Apostles and assisted them in every possible way; enforced discipline[59:6]; settled disputes between Christians; and prayed for the sick and anointed them.[59:7]

The first Christians, eagerly awaiting the literal second

coming of Christ, and imbued with great enthusiasm for the Gospel, did not feel the need of an elaborate constitution. But in time, as numbers increased, as severe persecution fell upon the Christians, and as the original fervour and spirituality decreased with the conversion of so many pagans, it became necessary to develop a regular system of Church government, which would more effectively meet the new conditions. The fact of differentiation in organisation is easily established, because the earliest and later forms may be determined with reasonable accuracy, but the transitional process is much more difficult of comprehension. This evolution, however, appears to have taken this course:

1. The board of presbyters, at least in the larger congregations, naturally and logically developed a head with a priority in rank. The office of president was universal in contemporary Jewish associations, and in Roman and Greek organisations. The creation of a chairman of the administrative body became a political necessity to expedite business, and to enforce discipline in the Christian societies. Moreover there was the example of the Apostles, who actually designated officers to continue their work (a) of teaching the true doctrines,[60:1] (b) of organising new churches, (c) of ordaining deacons and elders, and (d) in acting as head of the whole congregation.[60:2] Hence this change was natural, imperative, and easy; but the transition must have been gradual and must have lacked uniformity.

2. The president of the board of presbyters came, in course of time, to have a recognised supremacy in power as well as in rank, and the title of bishop was

gradually restricted to his high office. After the death of the Apostles more duties devolved upon the president of the council, and it was in the course of things that the special word bishop, i. e., overseer or superintendent, should be applied to him. By the second century, at least, if not indeed before, the differentiation had begun and from that time on it can be plainly traced in the Church Fathers. Jerome states that at Alexandria until the middle of the third century the presbyters elected one of their number as president and called him bishop.[61:1] Hilarius says: "Every bishop is a presbyter, but not every presbyter a bishop; for he only is bishop who is the primate among the presbyters."[61:2] Examples, secular and ecclesiastical, were not lacking to warrant the change: (a) the Old Testament priesthood, (b) Christ and his Apostles, (c) the Apostles and their appointees, (d) the Emperor and his officials. The bishop soon professed to occupy the place of an Apostle instead of Christ as earlier, hence arose the idea of an "Apostolic seat" and "Apostolic succession."[61:3] He represented Christian unity of doctrine and discipline, and ruled over a recognised territory—first a single church, then a city, then a province. From the bishop it was only another step to the archbishop, the metropolitan, the patriarch, and the Pope.

3. The position of the presbyter changes, likewise, from that of the highest officer in the Church to one subordinate (a) to the board of elders and then (b) to the bishop. This distinction once made between bishop and presbyter, there was a

tendency for the bishops to usurp more and more power, while the presbyters opposed it. The third century is full of these quarrels.[62:1] Here began the conflict between the principles of monarchy and aristocracy in the Church. Soon, from acting as a member of a council, the presbyter came to act alone under the bishop—i. e., the presbyter became a priest, just as the president became a bishop. Presbyters also assumed new functions: (a) "ministry of the word" and (b) "ministry of the sacraments." New detached communities were ruled not infrequently by single presbyters under the city bishop. Indeed it seems that from the outset the smaller and weaker Christian communities were ruled by single elders.

4. The status and functions of the deacon likewise were altered. At first he visited the sick and unfortunate, collected and disbursed alms, and reported on discipline. Stephen taught; Philip baptised. With the growth of Christian civilisation, however, institutions of relief—hospitals, orphanages, infant asylums, almshouses, poorhouses, guest-houses, etc.—took the place of the earlier personal ministrations of the deacons. Each institution had its own head, not necessarily a deacon. From being distributors of alms, therefore, the deacon first became an assistant of the bishop,[62:2] and later the chief helper of the priest in the administration of the sacraments. With the multiplication of the duties of this office came the archdeacons and subdeacons.

5. The many duties incident to a complex organisation gradually produced a new set of subordinate officials—the minor orders: (a) lectors to read the

Scriptures in public and to keep the books, (b) acolytes to assist the bishops, (c) exorcists to pray for those possessed of evil spirits, (d) janitors to care for the buildings and preserve order, (e) precentors to conduct public praise service, (f) catechists to instruct the catechumens, (g) interpreters to translate the Scripture lesson.[63:1]

6. The clergy came to be distinct from the laity—a sacerdotal class was developed. In the early Church the priesthood was universal, i. e., laymen as well as Church officers could preach, baptise, administer the sacraments, and exercise discipline. The relation of clergy to laity was merely that of leadership as in non-Christian organisations. "Ordination" simply meant appointment, and was used in civic installations, while "laying on of hands" was only a symbol of prayer and even used by the Jews for secular affairs.

Gradually, however, the tendency to put the Church officials above the laity grew stronger until something akin to the Old Testament idea of the priesthood was revived. By the fourth century the Church officers had lost their primitive character and had become a separate class mediating between God and man. The causes of this separation are not difficult to see, namely: (a) the peculiar duties of the Church officials tended to give them a distinct character; (b) the persecutions to which the Roman government subjected them threw them into conspicuous relief; (c) the legalisation of Christianity bestowed upon them a distinct civil status, made them immune from public burdens like taxes and military service, exempted them from civil courts, and permitted them to acquire property; and (d) the rise

of asceticism forced the clergy to observe a code of morals different from that of the laity, demanded celibacy, originated the badge of the tonsure, and created clergy-houses.

The laity were early organised in congregations. Membership in the Church was open to all believers in Jesus. The election of officers was, for the most part, democratic. The life of each congregation was socialistic and communistic. All possessions were sold for the common good and to create a common fund for the needy.[64:1] The members enjoyed a common evening meal and their common love-feast which was to them the highest act of worship.[64:2] Disobedience, or infidelity, might be punished by private admonition, public correction, and in stubborn cases excommunication.[64:3] But after the first century these communistic-democratic societies were gradually replaced by a hierarchical organisation with new or modified institutions. The monarchio-episcopal principle of church government was gradually evolved but, nevertheless, much of the primitive democracy remained. This evolution in the government of the Church may be clearly seen by the end of the second century.

From this discussion these conclusions may be drawn:

1. The New Testament does not furnish a satisfactory model for any one distinct organisation of the Christian Church.

2. In the New Testament, however, are found the germs from which sprang deacons, priests, bishops, metropolitans, patriarchs, and popes.

3. The elements from which the Church was organised already existed in large measure in human society. Hence the Church, in its outward form, had a natural historical growth and was influenced by (a) the Jewish synagogue, (b) Greek municipalities, (c) the Roman government, (d) local needs, and (e) the conditions of the times. The animating principle and causal inspiration was Christianity.

4. Christian society, like human society, was subject to constant change which is easily detected. The form of organisation, originally democratic, was gradually changed by the force of circumstances until it became monarchial and at the same time the officers underwent a similar transformation.