But before the close of the principate this loose organization had [pg 313]been completely changed as a result of separatist tendencies among the Christians themselves and the increasing official oppression to which they were exposed. The opposition to these forces resulted in a strict formulation of evangelic doctrine and a firmer organization of the church communities. This organization came to be centralized in the hands of the bishops, now the representatives of the communities. The episcopate was no longer collegiate, but monarchical, and claimed authority by virtue of apostolic succession. Apparently the president of the committee of bishops or presbyters had become the sole bishop, and the presbyters had become priests subject to his authority, although at times presiding over separate congregations. The bishops were now regularly nominated by the clergy, approved by the congregation, and finally inducted into office by the ceremony of ordination. Besides their administrative powers, the bishops had the guardianship of the traditions and doctrines of the church. The clergy were now salaried officers, sharply distinguished from the laity, who gradually ceased to participate actively in the government and regulation of worship of their respective communities, and these communities had developed into corporations organized on a juristic basis, promising redemption to their members and withholding it from deserters.
The primacy of Rome. In the third century, a movement took place for the organization of the separate churches in larger unions, and in this way the provincial synods arose. In these the metropolitan bishops, that is, those from the provincial administrative centers, assumed the leadership. Among the churches of the empire as a whole two rival tendencies made themselves manifest. The one was to accord equal authority to all the bishops, the other to recognize the supremacy of the bishop of Rome. The claim for the primacy of the Roman see was based upon the imperial political status of Rome, and the special history of the Roman church. It was strongly pressed by certain bishops of the second century who laid emphasis upon the claim of the Roman bishopric to have been established by the Apostle Peter.