To sum up, an examination of the passages in apostolic literature which treat of spiritual gifts inevitably brings us to the conclusion that the life of the early Church was characterized by glowing enthusiasm, simple faith, and intensity of spiritual joy and wonder, all resulting from the consciousness of the power of the Holy Spirit; also that this phase of Spirit-eft'ected ministries and services was temporary, as such ' tides of the Spirit ' have since often proved, and gave way to a more rigid and disciplined Church Order, in which the official tended more and more to supersede the charismatic ministries. At first, as E. v. Dobschiitz remarks (Christian Life in the Primitive Church, Eng. tr., London, 1904, p. 283), this strikes us as * a limita- tion and a moral retrogression ' ; but on reflexion we see that while the principle of spiritual gifts as originating in the individual with the immediate action of the Holy Spirit is a permanent truth for the Christian consciousness, the transient character of many of the charismatic gifts is due largely to the abuses to which they were liable. The growing ethical standard of the Church rejected all self- chosen teachers or ministers who were proved by the test of character to be without a Divine call. By their fruits they Avere known ; and the x°-P'-'^l^°-> which, however admirable in itself, was not associ- ated with personal worth and holy influence, could not in the nature of tilings be recognized as making for ediiication and order in the Church life. The particular injunctions in the Pastoral Epistles as to the character of bishops and deacons point to a developing sense of Christian fitness in the official life of the Church and a growing feeling for the iionour of Christianity. Thus, sooner or later, the true charismatic was sifted from the false charis- matic, whose personal vanity and self-seeking nullified all usefulness. The increase of discipline of course had its own perils. Sometimes, as in Jn 3, we detect the narrow intolerance which re- sented any new influence or development in the Church life, Diotrephes being a type of mind which is ecclesiastically conservative and ' so loses impulses of the greatest value' (E. v. Dobschutz, op. cit., p. 221 f.). To Diotrephes the Ephesian John is a charismatic itinerant preacher, whose letters must be withheld from the Church and whose messengers must not be welcomed. Here we see the seed of conflict, which was afterwards to germinate into the Montanist controversy. But the authority of St. Paul determined once for all the inner character of Christian community life. His symbol of the single body with many members (Ro 12^, 1 Co 121--"^) shows that he aimed at a unity in which the witness of the individual should have free play and yet be subordinated to the welfare of the community. The Christian Church gave full scope to the individual xcipitr/ia ; nevertheless, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit the impulse towards association, so far from being overpowered, was most powerfully intensified by the encourage- ment which St. Paul (cf. Hamack, Mission and Ex- pansion, Eng. tr.^, i. 433) gave to the development of spiritual capacity in the individual. While pointing to errors of unregulated spiritual enthusi- asm, he none the less pleads with his converts to ' quench not the Spirit* and ' despise not prophesy- ings'(lTh5^9).
Literature. — On the general subject of Christian giving the following works may be consulted : G. Uhlhorn, Christian Charity in the Ancient Church, Eng. tr., Edinburgh, 1883 ; A. Harnack, Mission and Expansion of Christianity, Eng. tr.2, London, 1908, vol. i. ch. 4. For spiritual gifts (xapia-ixaTo), in addition to the works quoted above, the following authorities
may be consulted : R. Sohm, Kirchenreeht, Leipzig, 1892 ; H. Weinel, Die Wirkungen des Geistes, Freiburg i. B., 1899 ; H. Gunkel, Die Wirkungen des Heiligen Geistes'^, Gottingen, 1909 ; T. M. Lindsay, The Church and the Ministry in the Early Centuries", London, 1903 ; together with artt. by Cremer on 'Geistesgaben ' in PRE^ (Leipzig, 1899) and Gay ford in HDB on ' Church.' U. MARTIN POPE.
GIRDLE. — The references to girdle (fti^i?), the article itself being either expressed or implied, admit of a three-fold classification : (1) The girdle in everyday use, which (a) was put on before one went forth (Ac 12^), and (b) was laid aside indoors (Ac 21"). From the fact that such a girdle could be used to bind hands and feet, we may infer that it was of soft material, such as linen. (2) The girdle as an article of military wear, which enters into the metaphor of Eph 6'^^-. This transfers us to quite another environment, and to a girdle whose materials Avere stifler, e.g. leather or metal, or a combination of these. Presumably (1) and (2) were worn upon the loins, and their use was such as to give rise to the figure of speech which is found in 1 P 1'^ (cf. Lk 12*^), viz. girding up the loins (of the mind). (3) The girdle in its orna- mental aspect, as appearing in Rev 1^' 15*. The epithet ' golden * is to be taken as applicable to cloth and not metal, i.e. the gold was inwrought in a girdle of linen material (cf. Dn 10^ a similar passage, where 'pure gold of Uphaz' [Heb.] is rendered ^va-a-lvq} in LXX). A noteworthy dift'er- ence emerges in the location of the girdle, loins (Dan.) being replaced by breasts in Rev. {wpbs rois ixaaroh [1^*], nepl to. cT-qdi} [15^]). The girdle is thus an ' upper ' girdle, and is suggestive of Greek and Roman custom. See also the description in Josephus, Ant. ill. vii. 2. Cf. art. Apron.