But with the apjiointnient of those who were to manage the lAily ndaire u( the coniniunit.v it won dilTorenl. The early con- dition c( thines In wliich this work woa |>ertormeit l).v the chance ti.div' I'jal in the vohintArj' exen'i»e ot his i-ill, led (a« in Cnniith)tod.»o.^er. For the niannt'enientol cvervilay a>lniinis- tration, it wan nure»sar>-, in the nature o( thincii, thot definitely recnj^nized persons should utuierlako the work. The 'puh- Ji-etive" apjtoinlnient wos found to lie impractityihle and pro- ductive of confusion, unlcM confirmed liy an ohjective recogni- tion. And so, somewhat in the manner de8crihe<l alwve, the vohmtary worker became an ofiU-er, since, from the moment that his appointment waa determined by the community, or an apostle, or his delenate, organization ha<i tiepun, and an office was created. The actual machinery of apiKiintment varies con- siderably In NT. We find a svsteni of popular election in the appointment of the Seven (Ac (V>), of Bamabai! and Saul to
carry alms to Jerusalem f Ac H30), and of the officers appointed by the Churches of Maceaoniaand Corinth to take the collection to Jerusalem (2 Co »"*, 1 Co 16^). Presbyters tbishous) and deacons are apitointed by the apostle (Ac U'-^) or his aelegate (1 Ti 31 18 622, Tit I'u, Clem. Rom. ad Cor. i2).' In the Didache we find a system of popular election for bishops and deacons. These appointed otticers have this in common with the apostles and proplu't^s, that they are appointed Oecatme they have already shown themselves qualified for the work, i.e. because they have the necessary 'gifts,' and the will to exercise them (cf. I Ti 36. 10^ i)id. 15I). The Seven were especially selected because they were 'of good report, full of the Spirit and of wiwlom.' Those to whom St. Paul gives a semi-orticial position by enjoin- ing the community to pay respect to them, had already shown their ability for the position. Clement of itouie, Ep. ad Cor. 42, says the apostle 'appointed their flnst-fruite as bishops and deacons after testing them with the Spirit" (>«*;u««-«»t« t^ Tn^u«T,) or, in other words, by first making certain that they rially possessed the necessary giftfl. When he speaks of the appo'intment of first converts to be bishops and deacons as a uiiilurm practice of the apostles, his language is more universal than tlie evidence of NT warrants. This iiiay ha\ e been oct-a- sionally true (e.g. Ro 16*, 1 Co Itii^), but not necessarily universal.
In the significance of the word ' office ' we find the keynote of the relation between the prophetic authority and that of the officers in .actual practice. Theoretically, the sphere of 'revelation' covered every brancli of work ; in practice, the actual details of the daily management fell upon the ' officers,' while the superior authority of revelation aiipeared in occasional direction on great questions {e.g. Ac 13'" ), or negatively in checking an abuse. Another fact is here brought before us. The a|iostles and prophets were largely an itinerant Older. They belonged to the whole Church, not to any particular Cimrch. Only occasionally did they settle in a particular place for any length of time. It was, then, impossible for them to carry on the daily adniinislration of a Church in all its details. In no case does this come out more clearly than with regard to the collec- tion and distribution of alms. This department was the first to be separated from the original centralization of all work in the hands of the apostles and put into the hands of ' officers.' Later we find it in the hands of ' ]>resbyters' at Jeru- salem (Ac U**). In Galatia (1 Co 16'), Achaia {ih., 2 Co 8. 9), Macedonia (2 Co 8'"), the apostle gives general instructions about the collection for the poor brethren of Juda;a, but the carrying out is left to local workers. In 1 Ti 3'-», Tit I' the qualification for the office of bishops and deacons, that they should not be ' lovers of money,' ' greedy of filthy lucre,' suggests that dealing with public moneys formed a part of their duties. In Clem. Kom. Ep. ad Cor. 44, they are spoken of as those who 'oiler the gifts,' tous . . . vpoaeveyKdrTas t4 o^pa. The management of finance constituted in later times also one of the most important of the bishop's duties.t In the same way as the manage-
♦ We have here a double aspect, according u the person who appointed proceeded on a 'revelation* or his own dis- cretion. Thus, on the one hand, St. Paul speaks of the pres- byters of Ephesus as those ' whom the Holy tihost had appointed bishops' ; on the other, he gives Timothy and Titus directions as to the character of those whom they are to select for offlce (1 Ti 31 ". Tit l""). and exhorts Timothv not to proceed with too great haste in this mutter (1 Ti 6»), both of which suggest that he has in view a system of appointment by their human discretion, not one in vihich the proper perecne were denoted hy a revelation. . ., ,
t Sohui (KirchmreM, I. 73 IT.) assigns to the prophet this function of collection and distribution on the strength of Did. l:!8 'The first-fruits shall be lirought to the prophets.' But this passage is treating of the support of prophets and teachers by the community, not of financial management. It directs that it there are no prophets in the communily, tliese first- fruit* are to l>e given to the poor. And there is no other passage in which the jntrphrlt at tuch appear undertaking these duties. Occasional injunctions given by the propliet as a 'revelation' (e.g. Did. 11» 12) are dilTerent from permanent management. Still less Is Sohm's case proved from Did. l.'i' XHporo*v,f^rt »Zt ietvru~( iirirxirtvt kmI iixKoitin «£<<*( r«v Ki.p.iu.