Other interpretations of ' Only-begotten ' make it equivalent to ' begotten by one alone,' as Eunomius asserted (Basil, c. Eunom. ii. 20: fidpos irapd f^Svov . . . yevvTiSets), or to d7air7;T6s, ' beloved,' as is affirmed by the Racovian Catechism (Socinian).
The word /lovoyevris is found in the Nicene and ' Constantinopolitan ' Creeds, in the early Creed of Jerusalem (gathered out of Cyril's Catechetical Lectures), in the Creed of Marcellus (Epiphanius, Hmr. Ixxii. 3), in Apost. Const, vii. 41, and appar- ently in all Greek forms of the Apostles' Creed.
See also art. First-Born, FIRST-BEGOTTE^f.
LiTERiTUEE.— B. F. Westcott, The Gospel ace. to St. John, 1908, The Epistles of St. John, 1S83 ; J. Pearson, On the Creed, new ed., 1899, art. ii., esp. notes 62, 63 ; H. B. Swete, The Apostles' Creeds, 1899 ; F. J. A. Hort, Two Diisertations, 1876 ; F. Kattenbuscli, art. ' Only-begotten ' In DCG ii. (takes a different view from that of this article) ; W. Sanday, art. ' Sou of God- in BD£ iv. A. J. MACLEAN.
ORACLE, — In the literature of the Apostolic Church the word 'oracle' haslostits technical pagan meaning. X(i7io» occurs four times in the NT (Ac 1^, Ro 3^ He 5", 1 P 4"). In the first three of these passages it means the Canonical Scriptures of the OT. That is probably also its meaning in 1 Peter: 'If any man speakcth, speaking as it were oracles of God,' i.e. treating his words as
lU
ORATION
ORDINATION
seriously as if they were inspired Scripture. Clement of Rome uses the word three times [ad Cor. xix., liii., Ixii.), ahvaj's in the sense of authoritative Scripture, i.e. the OT. Eusehius {J{E III. xxxix. 10) quotes Papias as saying that ' Mattlxew composed the oracles (sc. of tlie Lord) in Hebrew, and each one interpreted them as he could.' E. C. Selwyn holds that these were the Messianic prophecies of the OT which Mattliew collected {The Oracles in the New Testament, London, 1912, p. 39611'.). The adjective Xiyios (KV ' learned ') is applied to Apollos (.\c 18-^).
K. H. Malden.
ORATION.— The word occurs in the NT only in connexion with Herod Agrippa, who, at Caisarea, 'made an oration ' (SrifiTj-yopeu) from the throne (or judgment-seat [RVm]) to the embassy from Tyre and Sidon (Ac 12-'). It refers to set speeches made in public as.semblies, but sometimes it is employed in a derogatory sense for speeches of the demagogic order. Tliere is a curious use of the word in the LXX, Pr 30" (246»)— /SaffiXeis S-n^L-qyopCiv iv Iffvei. It was not an unusual thing for kings and princes to make orations in public assembly.
John Reid.
ORATOR.— See Teetullus.
ORDINANCE.— The word 'ordinance' is used in the RV to translate four difi'erent Greek substan- tives: (1) SiKaiufia (Ro P- 2=« 8^ He 9'- '") ; (2) Sittrav^ (Ac 7^^ Ro 13=) ; (3) 66yiMa (Eph 2", Col 2") ; (4) (cWo-is (1 P 2"). The Latin Vulgate in these passages renders Sdyfia by decretum, arlais by crea- tiira, OiKalufxa by iustificatio or itistitia, Starayri by dispositio and ordinatio. SiKaiu>ij.a is also used to signify a righteous act (Ro 5"*- '', Rev IS'' 19"), SbyiM is translated 'decree' in Ac 16* 17' and ' commandment ' in He 1 1''^. The only Evangelist who uses either word is St. Luke (P 2'). The verb Soy/mTi^-ea-ffe ('submit yourselves to ordinances' [RV], decernitis [Vulg.]) is found in Col 2™. Clement uses SiKaiui/ia three times [ad Cor. ii., xxxv., Iviii.). In the first and third of these pas- sages it is coupled with Trpdaray/ia ; in the second he is quoting the Greek (LXX) version of Ps 50'°. He has three other words which might be trans- lated 'ordinance': (1) vdiiina {ad Cor. i.); (2) Sidrajis {ib. xxxiii.); (3) SeSoy/jLaTUT/iiva {ib. xx. ; cf. Col 2™). The verb SUra^i, ' he ordained,' occurs once {ib. xx.). 'The B&yiia. of the Gospel' as a
f Tactical rule of conduct occurs in the Didache, xi. gnatius speaks of being ' establislied in the diy/iara of the Lord' {Magn. xiii.) and has the verb Siardir- <ro/j.aL, 'I ordain,' three times {Eph. iii.. Trail, iii.. Mom. iv. ). The substantive derived from it {did- ray/xa) occurs in Trail, vii.
The conception of an ordinance seems to be primarily something which is recognized as obtain- ing in practice. The authority upon which it rests may be Divine, as when it is applied by Clement to the laws of nature, which earth, sea, sky, and all living creatures must obey ; or it may be primarily human, albeit ultimately Divine, as in 1 P 2'^. The usage is not aljsolutely uniform, but as a rule the Divine sanction of an ordinance seems to be less direct than the immediate command of God Himself. Thus the Law is spoken of as being the ordinance of angels (Ac 7^). An ordinance is generally a human deduction from a Divinely- revealed premise rather than the actual premise itself. When Ignatius says ' I ordain,' it is with reference to his personal authority, which is not irrefragable (cf. the distinction drawn by St. Paul in 1 Co 7"). R. H. Malden.
ORDINATION 1. Scope of the inquiry.— It is
proposed to examine the somewliat scanty evidence of the 1st cent, as to the manner in which Christian
ministers were admitted to ofBce. In the investiga- tion the following passages, which have, or may he thought to have, a bearing on the subject, will be specially considered : Ac 1-" (appointment of Mat- thias) 6'* (appointment of the Seven) 13^ (mission of Barnabas and Saul) 14'-^ (appointment of presbyters); 1 Ti4'S 2 Ti 1« (Timothy-s ordination) ; 1 Ti 5==(?), Tit 1' (ordinations by Timolhy and Titus). But, before examining these passages, we may make two preliminary remarks, {a) There is no technical word used in the NT to express admission to ministerial office, for though x^'P"'''""^'"' is fouml (Ac 14^^'), there is no indication that it is there used in a technical sense (see below, 3). Tliis is the case also in the Didache (§15, c. A.D. 130?), where we read : ' Appoint (xfipoTon/ffare) therefore for j'ourselves bishops and deacons.' At a later date tills word and x^'po*"'"'' and others (for which see ERE, art. ' Ordination ') acquired a technical sense ; but this is not the case in the NT. (6) As we have for this subject to depend largely on the narrative in Acts, it will be well to bear in mind a characteristic of St. Luke. AVith the wealth of material at his disposal, it was impossible for him to repeat the same or similar details over and over again ; he therefore omits a detailed description in cases where a like account has already been given. We notice this both in the Third Gospel and in Acts. St. Luke gives the salient facts, especially of the events that happened at critical periods of the his- tory ; but, having once given them, he does not repeat the details next time he has to narrate a similar event. This will be borne in mind when we are considering narratives almut admission to the ministry. We shall not ex|ject that on each occasion the whole procedure will be described ; but from the analogy of one such ordination, e.g. that of the Seven in Ac 6, we shall conclude, unless anything is said to the contrary, that the same pro- cedure was followed on other occasions.