THE CLERGYMAN.
1. The Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour, during his visit of mercy to the world, chose from among his disciples twelve men, to be his especial agents in establishing his church. These men, in our translation of the New Testament, are denominated apostles. The grand commission which they received was, "Go ye into all the world, and preach my gospel to every creature."
2. The apostles commenced their noble enterprise on that memorable day of Pentecost, which next occurred after the ascension of their Master; and, in the city of his inveterate enemies, soon succeeded in establishing a church of several thousand members. The doctrines of Christianity soon spread to other cities and countries; and, before the close of that century, they were known and embraced, more or less, in every province of the Roman empire.
3. The apostles, however, were not the only agents engaged in spreading and maintaining the doctrines of Christianity; for, in every church, persons were found capable of taking the supervision of the rest, and of exercising the office of the ministry. These were ordained either by the apostles themselves, or by persons authorized by them to perform the ceremony.
4. After the Church had passed through a great variety of persecutions, during a period of nearly three centuries, the Christians became superior in numbers to the pagans in the Roman empire. In the early part of the fourth century, a free toleration in religious matters was declared by Constantine the Great, who took the Church under his especial protection.
5. The Christians of the first and second centuries usually worshipped God in private houses, or in the open air in retired places, chiefly on account of the persecutions to which they were often subjected. It was not until the third century, that they ventured to give greater publicity to their service, by building churches for general accommodation. When the Cross had obtained the ascendency, in the subsequent age, many of the heathen temples were appropriated to Christian purposes; and many splendid churches were erected, especially by Constantine and his successors.
6. In the middle ages, a great number of edifices were erected for the performance of divine worship, which, in loftiness and grandeur, had never been surpassed; and the greater part of these remain to the present day. Some of the most famous churches are, St. Peter's, at Rome; Notre Dame, at Paris; St. Stephen's, at Vienna; the church of Isaac, at St. Petersburg; the minsters at Strasburg and Cologne and St. Paul's, in London.
7. Up to the time of the great change in favor of Christianity, just mentioned, the whole Church had often acted together in matters of common interest, through the medium of general councils; and this practice continued for several centuries afterwards. But the variance and dissensions between the Pope of Rome, and the Patriarch of Constantinople, combined with some other causes, produced, about the close of the ninth century, a total separation of the two great divisions of the Church.
8. At the time of this schism, the whole Christian world had become subject to these two prelates. The part of the Church ruled by the Patriarch, was called the Eastern, or Greek Church; and that part which yielded obedience to the Pope, was denominated the Western, or Latin Church. Many attempts have been since made to reunite these two branches of the Church; but these endeavors have hitherto proved unsuccessful.
9. The conquest of the Roman empire, so often mentioned in the preceding pages, was particularly injurious to the Church, especially that part of it subject to the Roman pontiff; since it nearly extinguished the arts and sciences, and since the barbarous conquerors were received into the Church, before they had attained the proper moral qualifications. From these causes, chiefly, arose the conduct of the Church, in the middle ages, which has been so much censured by all enlightened men, and which has been often unjustly attributed to Christianity herself, rather than to the ignorance and barbarism of the times.
10. In the year 1517, while Leo X. occupied the papal chair, Martin Luther, of Saxony, commenced his well-known opposition to many practices and doctrines in the Church, which he conceived to be departures from the spirit of primitive Christianity. He was soon joined in his opposition by Philip Melancthon, Ulric Zuingle, and finally by John Calvin, as well as by many other distinguished divines of that century, in various parts of Europe.
11. These men, with their followers and abettors, for reasons too obvious to need explanation, received or assumed the appellation of Reformers; and, on account of a solemn protest which they entered against a certain decree which had been issued against them, they also became distinguished by the name of Protestants. The latter term is now applied to all sects, of whatever denomination, in the western division of the Church, that do not acknowledge the authority of the Roman See.
12. The Protestant division of the Church is called by the Roman Catholics, the Western schism, to distinguish it from that of the Greek Church, which is termed the Eastern schism. The Protestants are divided into a great number of sects, or parties; and, although they differ from each other in many of their religious sentiments, they agree in their steady opposition to the Roman Catholics.
13. The ostensible object of the founders of all the churches differing from the Romish communion, has been, to bring back Christianity to the state in which it existed on its first establishment; and to prove their positions in doctrine and church government, they appeal to the Scriptures, and sometimes to the Christian writers of the first four or five centuries. The advocates of the "mother church," on the contrary, contend that, being infallible, she can never have departed from primitive principles, on any point essential to salvation.
14. As to the government of the several churches it is, in most cases, either Episcopal or Presbyterian. In the former case, three orders of clergymen are recognized; viz., bishops, presbyters, and deacons; and these three orders are supposed, by the advocates of episcopacy, to have been ordained by the apostles. This opinion is supported by the circumstance, that these orders are mentioned in the Scriptures; and also by the fact, supposed to be sustained by the primitive fathers, that they were uniformly established early in the second century.
15. It is believed by Episcopalians, that these three orders of ministers were instituted in the Christian Church, in imitation of the Jewish priesthood; the bishop representing the high-priest; the presbyters, the priests; and the deacons, the Levites.
16. On the other hand, the advocates of the Presbyterian form of government, assert, that in the first century of the Church, bishop and presbyter were the same order of ministers, and that the former was nothing more than a presbyter, who presided in Christian assemblies, when met to consult on church affairs.
17. The deacons in the churches that have renounced episcopacy, are not classed among the clergy, but are chosen from among the private members, to manage the temporalities of the congregation, or church, to which they belong, to assist the minister, on some occasions, in religious assemblies, or to take the lead in religious worship in his absence. Under this form of government, therefore, there is recognized but one order of ministers, and every clergyman is denominated presbyter, priest, or elder.
18. The literary and religious qualifications required of candidates for orders have varied in different ages of the Church, according to the existing state of literature and religion; and the requirements in these two particulars are now different, in the several denominations. Nearly all, however, require the profession in the candidate, that he believes he is moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon him the office of the ministry. Some churches require a collegiate education, with two or three years of the study of divinity; but others, only such as is usually obtained in common schools, combined with a tolerable capacity for public speaking.
19. The clergy in the Roman Catholic Church, is of two kinds; the one regular, comprehending all the religious who have taken upon themselves monastic vows; the other secular, comprehending all the ecclesiastics who do not assume these obligations. The latter, however, in common with the former, take a vow of perpetual celibacy.
20. It is the especial duty of clergymen, to preach the gospel, to administer the ordinances, and to enforce the discipline of that branch of the Church to which they belong. They are also expected to administer consolation to persons in distress of mind, arising from the complicated evils of this life, to unite persons by the bonds of matrimony, and, finally, in attending on the burial of the dead, to perform the last ceremony due from man to man.
21. Ministers of the gospel occupy an elevated stand in all Christian communities, both on account of the high tone of moral feeling which they generally possess, and on account of the interest which the people at large feel in the subject of religion. The work of the ministry is emphatically a work of benevolence; and no man can perform it with satisfaction to himself, or with acceptance to the people of his charge, if destitute of love to God and man.
22. In most of the kingdoms of Europe, some one of the several denominations is supported by legal enactments; but, in the United States, every branch of the Church enjoys equal favor, so far as legislation is concerned. In most cases, the institutions of religion are supported by voluntary contributions or subscriptions.
23. The salary received by ministers of the gospel, in the United States, is exceedingly various in the different denominations, and in the same denomination from different congregations. In some instances, they receive nothing for their services, in others, a liberal compensation.
24. It is but justice to this profession to remark, that, taking the ability of its members into account, there is no employment less productive of wealth; and this is so evidently the case, that some denominations distribute, annually, a considerable amount among the widows and orphans of those who have devoted their lives to the ministry.
25. The meagre support which the ministry usually receives, arises, in part, from the opinion too commonly entertained, that this profession ought to be one of benevolence exclusively, and that ministers should, therefore, be contented with a bare subsistence, and look for their reward in the consciousness of doing their duty, and in the prospect of future felicity. This is a very convenient way of paying for the services of faithful servants, and of relieving the consciences of those whose duty it is to give them a liberal support.
