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twBen hiakop and elder. It is mainttfaied by eittntue adrocatM of EpiscopMy that St. Paul, in empowering Timothy at Corinth, and ntof in Crete, in the capacity of preebyterB, to ordain elders in eyeiy dty, and to ex- eroiae jorisdiction over offloera of that claaa, as well as those who held the office of deacon, appointed them thus to be permanent, and so created the office known in after times as the local bishop. The moderate Epis- copalians and the Presbyterians hold that the mission of Titns and Timothy was pecnliar, contemplating a special wmk, and tlift the mission ceased with its ac- complishment. On the whole, on this case, as well as on that of St. James at Jerusalem, and the angels of Che apocalyptic chorches, Litton says, ** Respecting the origin of the episcopal order. Scripture leaves ns ▼ery much in the dark. No order of ministers other than these three— apostles, presbyters, and deacons — are mentioned in the New Testament as forming part of the then existing polity of the Chnrch ; for every attempt to establish a distinction between the presby- ter and the bishop of Scripture will prove fruitless, so abundant is the evidence which proves they were but diflbrent appellations of one and the same office (p. 412).*' As to the rise of episcopacy, H is said ''to these successors of the apostolic delegates'* (such as Timothy) " came to be approf^iated the title of bish- op, which was originally applied to presbyters. At the commencement of the second century and thence- forward, bishops, presb3rters, and deacons are the offi- cers of tlie Church wherever the Church existed. Ig- natius's epistles (in their unadulterated form), and the other records which are preserved to us, are on this point decisive. . . . They (the Mshope) retained in their own hands authority over presbyters and the Amo- tions of ordination, but with respect to each other they were equals" (Smith's Did, of Btble^ art. Chubch). Dr. Hitchcock (i4ffi. Pretbyt, ami Tkeol, JUv, vol. v, no. 17) affirms, ''Thus throughout do we find in Cle- ment the original New Testament polity (identity of presbyters and bishops) as yet unchanged" (p. 1S7). " In riiort, the Ignatian Episcopacy, instead of having the appearance of a settled polity, handed down from tlie apostles, has the appearance of being a new and growing institution, unlike what went before, as well as what was coming after it" (ibid, p. 146). "The wavering terminology of Iren»us is indicative not of apostolic tradition, but of later genesis and growth, and that growth not yet completed" (Und. 147). " No hesitation in TertuUian in accepting tiie Episcopal reg- imen. Evidently this had become the s^ed polity. The maturity of the syt^tm is indicated by entbe steadmess in the use of terms" (ibid, 148). " In Cyp- rian of Carthage, between 848-258, we find the sys- tem fully matured. Now these are tokens of growth, and are inconsistent with the idea of apostolic tradi- tion" (ibid. 168). There is but little doubt the bishops at first succeeded to office by seniority, and afterwards, as the difficulties of the office increased, A.D. 200, they became elective (Hilary). As the Church multiplied and expanded, the older churches and the most nu- merous l)ecame relatively more important and influ- ential, and their bishops more powerftil ; hence we find the episcopacy undergoing marked changes : 1. The bishoprics at Jerusalem, Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, Epbesus, and Corinth are termed by pre-eminence eedes apoetolioa, without, however, the concession of superior authority ; 2. Con^>>quent upon provincial synods the metropolitan dignity arose ; also, 8. The patriarchal ; and 4, finally, the papacy. Cyprian allowed that ' ' pre- cedency should be given to Peter, 'that the Church of Christ may be shown to be one.' " " The same pro- pension to monarchical unity, which created out of the episcopate a centre, first fScir each congregation, then for each diocese, pressed on towards a visible centre for the whole Church. Primacy and episcopacy grew together" (Schafl^ Higtory of the CkritHm Ckwrck, vol. ip.427). The Ugh antiquity <rf the Roman Church;
tiM misskmaiy labors at Borne of Peter aad Fni, tht two leading aposties ; the political pre-emtnence of tht metropolis of the worid ; the executive wisdom aad m- tbodox instinct of the Roman Chnrch, and other •ee> ondaiy causes, fitvored the ascendency of the ITimsi see (ibid,). The eariy fathers, aa Ignatius, IrcMra, TertnlUan, Hippolytus, Cyprian, etc, conoede pRca- denoe to the Church at Rome, but only in booor, not in jurisdiction. After the conversion of Constantinei, and the removal of the Roman capital to Byzantanm (aAcr- wards called Constantinople)^ tiie see of the new cap- ital boldly disputed the supremacy with the see of I Rome, from which time, as new agitations arose in the I Church, and the empire gradually fell to dee^, ftt two great divisions into the Eastern or Greek, aai Western or Roman Catholic took place, and beeaaie the settled forms and soorces of ecdeaiaBtical dosnin- ion.
Additional and inferior orders of the minlstzy npiA- ly multiplied in the Church. These were, archdea- cons, deaconesses, subdeacons, acolytes, exorcists, lec- tors or readers, ostiarii or door-keepera, paahmfrta m singers, copiata or fossarii, catechists, defensodcs or syndics, osconomi or stewards, besides others (Bing- ham's AfOiqMee of Christ, Ch, vol. i, p. 12^ Tboe were four several 'n$j» of designating persons to the ministry in the apostolic and primitive Chardh: 1. By casting lot; 2. By choice of the first-fridts of the Gentiles ; 8. By particular direction of the Holy- Ghost; 4. By common suffrage and election. Ordination wsf first by the laying on of the hands of the aposdes or elders, and afterwards of a bishop or l>isbops (see ibid,}.