In the organization of the Church, doctrine began to be more settled. While Jesus lived, and in His own life could show the blessedness of the Kingdom of God within, men could not go far astray. But afterwards it was necessary to tell of Him, His
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sayings and doings, His Avainings, His ideals, and the purpose of His life. The Aj)ostles ^\■ould ques- tion whether the future would guanl these truly, or add to, alter, or take awaJ^ So a hody of things needful to be taught was collected, anil, for the Gentile world, the OT adtled as an introduction to the comprehension of Christ. To some such col- lection St. Paul alludes in lio 6>^ 2 Th 2^^ ; but for the knowledge of this the whole NT is^ our only source to-day. Thence we gather, besides many ctiiitlicting modern readings of great doctrines, a general agreement as to the practices of the early Church. We find them still meeting for a while on the Sabbath, the Lord's day commemorating the Resurrection and onlj' later becoming the rest-tlay. At their meetings would be celebrated the Love- Feast, sometimes hardly distinguishable from the Lord's Supper. Here would be the gathering for common prayer, of the form of which we know nothing, the Epistles quoting no regular prayer, referring to no liturgical order, and not even allud- ing to the Lord's Prayer. Afterwards the fund for the poorer brethren would be collected (Ac -1^^, Gal •21", Ro 15-6).
So that which comes to be known by the Greek pagan title eKK\r]aia, 'the Church,' is gradually organized. She begins in the mind of Christ, free, unlimited, the universal Kingdom of God, with no sacred seasons, sanctuaries, or priesthood. But her Founder knows that her A^ork is among men, and that she must be humanly as well as Divinely tleveloped. So the limitations of organized life are lightly imposed upon her, not to hinder but to increase effectiveness. Still will she cherish the liberty to which the past has brought her (Gal 3-^), and receive both good and evil into her net (Lk 5®, 2 Ti 2-"), for she stiives to save all. The outward organization develops, but, Avhile we keep to the pages of the NT, the spirit of the Church is still master of her organization, still looks to the In- visible Church, yet to be, of those made perfect, where the unrighteous have no ])lace (1 Co 6" 15^", Gal 5'-^, Epli 5^), the assemblj' of those made perfect through love (Ja 2^), the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord (2 P 1"), into which the few have already entered here upon earth — ' Theirs is the kingdom of heaven ' (Mt 5^- '", Lk 6-")- See also Church.
Literature. — For detailed treatment of the Church offices and officers, the foUowinif nia>' be consulted out of the abundant literature on these subjects : Hatch, Orrjaniz. (if the Earlii Chris- tian Churches; Litjhtfoot, Philipp., Dissert, i. (repub. as The Christian Ministry), and Galatians, Excursus on 'Ayiostle'; Ramsay, Church in tlie Bninan Empire ; Hort, Ecelesia ; Weizsacl^er, A2}ost. Age, Eng. tr. vol. ii. 1)1<. 5 ; McGiffert, CTn'.s- tianitii in the Apost. Afte, 045 ff. ; Hausrath, ^VT' Times, vol. ii. ; Lindsay, Church ami Minislri/; artt. 'Apostle,' 'Bishop,' 'Baptism' (esp. pp. ■240-242), 'Church,' 'Church Government,' ' Deacon,' ' Lord's Supper,' and ' Lord's Day ' in Hastings' DB.
Edgar Daplyn. . ORIGINALITY. — It is not surprising that at- tempts should have been made to dispute Christ's claim to originality. Under Avhichever asjiect we regard His Person, whether we consider Him in His historical relations, or contemi)late the eternal truth revealed in Him, on either side opportunitj' presents itself for disputing the originality of His doctrine. Lender the former aspei^t this is mani- festly the case. However fully we may be con- vinced of the novelty of the doctrine of the Saviour, nol)ody fancies that that doctrine was without historical connexion with Mhat bad gone before. As in the Saviour's Person the Divine revealed itself in human form, so in His doctrine the Divine truth which He had to communicate clothed itself in the language and thought of the time in which He lived. Though He was the Son of God, He was also the child of His own age and jjeople. Though the truth that He revealed Avas eternal, it was ad- dressed, in the first instance, to the people of the country and time in which He lived, and linked
itself at countless j)oints to the religious ideas and hopes of those who listened to His preaching. And uniler this aspect of the Saviour's doctrine the ques- tion presents itself, w hetlier it may not be sufficiently accounteil fur on the lines of a natural development of the religious tendencies of the age in m Inch He lived, and whether He has indeed contributed any- thing new and original to the religious history of the world.
But, on the other hand, the tendency to empha- size the eternal truth revealed in the Person of Cinist, while it seems to rebut such attempts to reduce His doctrine to the i)roduct of the reli- gious developments of the age in which He lived, may lead intlirectly to the challenging of His ori- ginality from another side. The religion which Christ has founiled is recognized as a uni-sersal religion — a religion destined not for anj- particular peoi)le, but for all mankind. As such it must appeal to the deepest cravings of the human heart, and satisfy those yearnings which had found e.x- l)ression in the thoughts and aspirations of the teachers who had gone before Him. Christ came in the fulness of time. The course of the A\orld's history before Him had been one long jueparation for the revelation given in His Person. The Spirit of God had been at work in the hearts of mankind from the beginning, guiding them gradually to the truth. The verj- fact that the truth which Christ proclaimed is eternal, may be regarded as a proof that He can lay no claim to originality in the declaration of it. There had been countless anti- cij)ations of it in the teachers who had gone before. He did but formulate the truth upon which the mind of man had been brooding from the begin- ning. ' Nam res ipsa,' says Augustine (Ectmct. i. c. 12), ' qu;e nunc Christiana religio nuncupatur, erat et apud antiquos, nee defuit ab initio generis humani quousque Christus veniret in came, unde vera religio, qua^ jam erat, ccEi^it appellari Chris- tiana.' It is easy to imderstand how, from this point of view, arguments might be urged against the originality of Christ, in a spirit very different from that which animates Augustine in his remark. Attempts have been made to prove that the truth revealed in Christ had been anticipated bj- the i .sages and religious teachers who had gone before Him. The literature of the ancient world has been ransacked to discover parallels to the doctrine of Christ. And on the strength of the occasional points of resemblance, which have been thus col- lected, between the teaching of the Saviour and that of those who have gone before Him, the ori- ginality of Christ has been disputed, and His claim to be the founder of a new religion denied.