sal priesthood, which was intimatelj^ooiiiieeted wkh^ was propounded, with more or less aoeuacy of <~ tion, by Hugo of St. Victor, as well as by the fin ners of the Reformation, Wycliffe, Matthiaa of Ja Huss, John of Wetel, Weasel, and SaTonarola** (Ilogiii bach). These tendencies were fully devdoped in the Reformation and in its results. The Western rriligi— i world became divided in the statement of tibe Qunc^ dogma, as it looked at the question of aalvmtioo. T^ Protestant, regarding the doctrine of jnstificalioB faj foith as fundamentid, said the Church is apfirotbed through it; the Romanist, still adhering to the Church as the fountain of spiritual life, aflkmed that Jnati&ea- tion is obtained through the Church. Proteaiaiiti as- sert that the Chnrch consists in the invisible leUowihi^ of all those who are united by the bonds of tme fintfa, which ideal union is but imperfectly represented by the visible Church, in which the true Goq>el is tnagitt and the sacraments are ri|^y administered ; tite Bo- man Catholics, that the Church is a visible aocletjr of all baptized persons who adopt a certain external creed, have the same sacraments, and acknowled|pe the pope as their common head.
The recent controversies concerning the idea nod nature of the Church all revolve about the one point, viz., whether the Church of which Christ is the ** Head" is, or is not, a visible corporation here en earth, entitled to the promises, privilegea, and anthor- ity which the Scriptures assign to the spiritnal Qiivck. Protestants generally deny ; the Romanists, the Hi^- Anglicans, and a fow writers in other branches of the Protestant Church, affirm. The so-called New-Ls- theran divines of Germany have developed a theory of the Church in which the Protestant idea gives vray to the hierarchical ; in which the sacramenta ate not merely notes of the true Church, but the renl gonnk of its continued life. The profound and mysterious synthesis of the divine and human is found in fiutk, according to the old Protestant system ; according to the new, it is found in the sacraments (compere Schwartz, Ztir Gesckichie d. neuesten Tkeologie, hk. iil, cb. iii). Rothe has developed, with his usnsi TicsQC, a theory of the Chnrch akin to that of Arnold, vis^ that the Chnrch is indispensable to the moral ednea- tion of humanity ; but that, as humanity improves, the necessity for the Church diminishes; and, finally, the state will become religious (a real theocracy), and the Church will become absorbed in the state.
lY. Constitution of the CftircA.~Christ did not so much create a Church during his sofonm on earth as implant principles which would be subsequently de- veloped into a Church. Whilst he was yet with his disciples, they needed no other bond to hold them to- gether than his person. The founder of the new man- ifestation of the kingdom of God seemed not to design to collect about him numerous adherents, but to im- plant deeply into the minds of a few the higher ani- mating spirit of this kingdom, which through then- lives riiould work out into a complete and effective or- ganization. He found those whom he called for this work Jews ; he associated with and instructed them af- ter the customs of Judaism.' He distinctly told them, however, that they, in their persons, foith, lifo, and teaching, were to constitute the beginning and the agency of a new order of things. They were com- manded to go forth after his death and diiciple all nations, and to baptize them in the name of the Fa- ther, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, and thns brini^ . all people into the kingdom of God. It is thus clear that the religion of Christ was designed by him to supersede all others, not only by its spirit and es- sence, but also in the particular method or form of its manifostation. He made provision for tiiis resuk by constituting aposties, who should authoritative- ly command and teach, should open and shut the kingdom of hea|en, bind and loose on earth, and so render visible and^)owert^)l^is Word among
CHURCH
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CHURCH
Before entering apon fheir mieslon, tbey were to tarry in Jemaalem QntU endued with power ftam on high (Luke), which power they were aasored would come not many days after the ascension of their Lord. That they already recognised themselves as chosen for a high espeeial wqrk is evident by their filling np the vacancy in their number caused by the apostasy and death of Jndas Iscariot with the selection of an- other, Matthias, to fill his place (Acts i, 16, 26). Thus comi^ete, they continued to wait and pray for the space of seven days. When the day of Pentecost had fully come, *' while the apostles and disciples, a hun- dred and twenty in number, were assembled in or near the Temple for the morning devotions of the festal day, and were waiting in prayer for the fhlfihnent of the promise, the exalted Saviour poured down from his heavenly throne tl^e ftUness of the Holy Ghost upon them, and founded his Church upon earth" (Schaii; Ckurek Hittorg, vol. i, p. 69). The day of Pen- tecoet may be regarded as the birthday of the Chris- tian Church. Then it was formed ; thence its gradual devetopment proceeded. There is a diversity of opin- ion as to the internal polity it assumed, as might be expected ; but it must be conceded by all that the apos- tles would have ^ sufilcient guidance" as to the man- ner hi which it was to be organieed. This guidance does not imply ihaX its particuhrform must liave been given to them by Christ, but only such direction as would lead them to pursue the wisest methods. Con- seqnendy they began by preaching ; and, as converts were made, by baptizing them, and then taking them faito a closer fellowship for the celebrfttion of the Lord's Supper, spiritual instruction, and worship (Acts iii, 42, etc). As they were Jews, it was likely they would adopt the methods of worship, government, etc., to which they were accustomed. Archbishop Whately says {Khi^chm of Christ deBneaiedy p. 88) : *' It ap- pears highly probable, I might say morally certain, that the synagogue was brought — the whole or chief part of it — to embrace the GospeL The apostles did not, then, so much form a Christian Church (or congregation, eceU$kt) as make an existing congre- gation Christian by introducing the Christian sacra- ments and worship, and establishing whatever regula- tions were necessary for the newly-adopted &ith, leav- ing the machinery (It I may so speak) of government QBchanged; the rulers of synagogues, elders, and oth- er officers, whether spiritual or ecclesiastical, or both, befaig already provided in the existing institntions." Vitihiga(see his De Synagoga Veiere), Neander, Litton, and many others, agree in this opink>n, that the syna- gogues were the pattern which the aposties proposed to themselves, though it is by no means certain that they adopted any model.