Such was the life of the first subjects of “The Kingdom of Heaven.” And this record of it in Holy Scripture sets it forth as the pattern for all future generations. It is true that the infant Church was not perfect, and, had it been so, it would not have corresponded with the description which our Lord had given of it in His Parables; but the leaven was at work upon the hearts of the believers, and the result was manifest in their lives.
After about ten years had thus passed, during which the Church was being gradually developed as the Kingdom of Messiah in Judæa and Samaria, the second period of its history, as recorded in the Bible, began. And henceforth Antioch became a fresh centre of interest and activity, in consequence of the ordination of S. Paul and S. Barnabas as Apostles. “There were in the Church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers. As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away. So they being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, sailed to Cyprus” (Acts xiii. 1-4). Thus began the first missionary journey into heathen lands. And from Cyprus the good news of “The Kingdom of Heaven” spread to Asia Minor, where in the course of years the seven branches of the Church were founded to which was addressed the Book of the Revelation, vouchsafed to the aged Apostle S. John (Rev. i. 4). From Asia the Church extended into Europe, the Apostles being called thither by the vision at Troas of the “man of Macedonia saying, Come over unto Macedonia and help us” (Acts xvi. 9). The first victories of the Cross in Europe were gained at Philippi and Thessalonica, and thence the good news passed on to Greece, and the rich city of Corinth became the Apostle Paul’s headquarters for “a year and six months,” the Lord having “much people” there (Acts xviii. 10, 11). From Greece the Gospel spread to Rome, the capital of the ancient world. So that we learn from Holy Scripture, that, within the lifetime of the Apostles, the mustard-seed of the Gospel had sprung up and grown into a tree, whose branches overshadowed well nigh the whole of the then civilised world, as it was known to the Romans.
The answer to the question, What is the Holy Catholic Church? is thus provided for us in the Bible, whether we regard it as an article of the faith, or as a matter of historical fact. The Holy Catholic Church is “The Kingdom of Heaven,” which was described beforehand by our Lord in His parables, which was set up on the Day of Pentecost, and then gradually developed into an organised body, under laws and ministers duly ordained by the Lord Himself, or under the guidance of the Holy Ghost; and which then spread from one land to another through the exertions of the holy Apostles. The Holy Catholic Church is that Kingdom whose founding is described, and whose history is commenced, in Holy Scripture.
But the history of the Church is only commenced in Holy Scripture, and for a full explanation of the Holy Catholic Church, regarded as a historical fact, we need to have this history continued down to our own days. Within the limits of this little book, nothing but a very brief outline of the history of the Church is possible. But without doubt every Christian in this country ought to have such a general knowledge of this history, as will enable him to understand clearly how the Church of England of to-day is united with the Church of Apostolic times.
The history of the further extension of the Church of Christ is contained in the writings of various Christian authors whose books have been preserved to us. Some few of these, such as Polycarp and Clemens of Rome, were contemporaries with the Apostles, and were ordained by them. These were followed by Justin Martyr—who in his “Apologies on behalf of the Christians” gives a full account of their manner of life, and worship, and ordinances—and Irenaeus, and Clemens of Alexandria, who lived between A.D. 120 and A.D. 200. Of the next or third century, we have many books by Tertullian, Origen and Cyprian, giving full accounts of the faith and laws of the Christians, their social life and their worship. And in the fourth century, the historian Eusebius wrote his History of the Church from the days of our Lord down to the reign of Constantine, the first Christian Emperor; and many of the great theologians and defenders of the faith flourished, whose names may well be “household words” with Christians of all ages, such as Athanasius, Ambrose, Jerome, Chrysostom, and Augustine.
From these or other ancient authors we learn that Christianity rapidly spread to the northern parts of Africa, to which country many of them belonged; to France, and to Britain, where there was a scattered British Church whilst the Romans still held the country.
In course of time, the two great capitals of the Roman Empire naturally assumed the chief importance in the history of the Church; and Rome became the chief see of the Western or Latin-speaking Church, and Constantinople of the Eastern or Greek-speaking Church[25]. And from that time forward, down to the Reformation period, the history of the Church is contained in numberless writings of successive authors, in the decrees of Popes, in the records of the great monastic orders, in the works of the Schoolmen, and in the chronicles of the various historians. And last, though not least, we find it imperishably recorded in the cathedrals, and abbeys, and parish churches, which tell of the inventive genius and taste and skill of our pious fathers in the middle ages[26].
But our interest naturally attaches itself chiefly to our own country, and to the records we possess of the Church of England. The Roman troops were withdrawn from Britain about the end of the fourth century; and in the course of the next two hundred years, the various tribes of heathen Saxons who invaded our shores overcame the resistance of the Britons and settled in England; and, by their victorious advance, the few that survived of the British Christians were driven to take refuge in the mountains of Wales and the western counties. Toward the close of the sixth century the attention of Gregory the Great, the good and zealous Bishop or Pope of Rome, was called to the heathen condition of Saxon England; and A.D. 597 Augustine was sent over with a band of clergy to convert the Saxons. He landed in Kent, converted Ethelbert the king, and became first Archbishop of Canterbury[27]. Shortly afterwards Celtic missionaries—Aidan, Chad, and others—pushed southwards, converting Northumbria and the Midlands; others landed in the southern counties; and the English people grew into power as a Christian nation.
As years passed on, the Bishops, or Popes, of Rome usurped to themselves an ever-increasing authority, which was the cause of many contests between them and successive kings of England; and at the same time many abuses grew up and superstitious practices were mingled with the simple belief of purer ages, and a gradual decay of true spiritual religion set in. At length in the sixteenth century the English Church asserted its right to reform abuses under its own Archbishops and Bishops. Then the Reformation period began. The Pope of Rome endeavoured to resist the movement, and to maintain his authority; and upon the people of England refusing to submit to his unreasonable and unbearable claims, the rupture between the Church of Rome and the Church of England resulted.
The position thus taken by the Church of England must be clearly understood.