As to the powers of the clergy in the gOTemmest of the Church, two principal, distinct, and opposite the- ories obtain. The Roman Catholic is, that *' the gov- ernment of the Church is a hierarchy, or tlte relation of the clerical body to the Christian people is that of a secular magistracy to its sul^)ects, and Chrlstisn min- isters are mediators between Qod. and man— that is, vt priests in the proper sense of the word" (Utton, p. 99S). " The bierarchism of Rome b the natural and inevita- ble consequence of the doctrine that the clergy are car' Uoxh^y the Church" (ibid, 897). Bellarmine sums op the Romish doctrine thus : " It has always been be- lieved in the Catholic Church that the bishops in their diocese, and the Roman pontiff in the whole Chnn:h, are real ecclesiastical princes ; competent by their own authority, and without the consent of the people or Ae advice of presbyters, to enact laws binding upon the conscience, to judge in causes ecclesiastical like otlicr judges, and, if need be, to inflict punishment" (B^ larm. De Rom PotU, b. iv, c. 15). The Protectant the- ory is that all believers are a spiritual priesthood, and, as such, constitute the Church, and that the wikela Church, thus composed of believers differing in gifts according to the operation of the Spirit, is the fonntain of- authority in the administration of government. " In short, no principle of ecclesiastical polity is ntore clearly deducible from Scripture than that the eorer- eignty of a church resides not in the people apart from their pastors. This^ however, being admitted, tiie con- verse also remains true, that the sovereignty of a dinrdi is not in the pastors exclusively of the people" (litton, p. 899). Dr. Schaff says, in reference to the first ooon- cO of Jerusalem, " though not a binding precedent, (it) is a significant example, giving the apostolic sanctSon to the synodical form of church government, in whi^ all dassee of the Christian community are represented in the management of public afifairs and in settling con- troversies respecting faith and practice" (Ch. Hitt. vol. i, p. 186). By many Protestants this view of the coun- cil is questioned, and the right of laymen to an equal participation in church government, from this and oth- er apostolic examples, denied; so that, to this day, ^e relative powers of ministry and laity, in Che admiius- tration of ecclesiastical government, remain nndefined among' some of the great Protestant duudies.
CHURCH, ABYSSINIAN 829 CHURCH AND STATE
MembtnUp oftk$ C%tirc4.— **Cbiircfa memben «n thoBe who oopipoM or belong to the visible church. Ab to the real chnrch, the tme members of it are such as oome ont from the world, 2 Cor. tI, 17; who are bom afsain, 1 Peter i, 28; or made new creatures, 2 Cor. ▼, 17; whose &ith works by love to God and all mankind, GaL V, 6; James ii, 14, 26 ; who walk in all the ordi- nances d the Lord Uameless. None bat sach are memben of die tme chnrch ; nor sbonld any be admit- ted faito any particular chnrch without evidence of tibeir earnestly seeking this state of sslvation.
JWtowaty.— ** Chnrch followship is the commnnion that the members eqjoy one with another. Th^ ends of chnrch fellowship are, the maintenance and ezhibi- tion of a system of soond doctrine ; the support of the ordinances of evangelical worship in their purity and simplicity ; the impsrtial exercise of church govern- ment and discipline ; the promotion of holiness in all manner of conversation. The more particular duties are, earnest study to keep peace and unity; bearing of one another's burdens, OaL vi, 1, 2; earnest endeav- ors to prevent each other's stumbling, 1 Cor. z, 28-88 ; Hebw X, 24-27 ; Bom. ziv, 18; stead&st continuance in the fedth and worship of the Gospel, Acts il, 42; pray- ing lor and sympathizing with each other, 1 Sam. xii, 28 ; Eph. vi, 18. The advantages are, peculiar incite- ment to holiness ; the right to some promises appli- cable to none but those who attend the ordinances of God, and hold communion with the saints, Psalm xdi, 18; cxxxii, 13, 16; xxzvi, 8; Jer. xxzi, 12; the be- ing placed under the watchM eye of pastors, Heb. xiii, 7 ; that they may restore each other if they fall. Gal. Ti, 1 ; and the more effectually promote the cause of tme religion'* (Watson, s. v.).
LUeraittre. — Besides the works already dted, see Hooker, JlbdMajffea/Po/t^, i, 846 ; il, 226, 845 ; ill, 442 (Oxford, 1798, 8 vols. 8vo); Calvin, IndUutet, bk. iv, ch. i ; Pearson, Expoeition of the Creedy art. ix ; Cran- mer, Wcrh; Burnet, On ike B9 Articlety art xix; Browne, Os Me 89 AtHcUmj art xix; Palmer, TreaHee <{^aeCSb0^(AngUcan:N.T.1861,2voU. 8vo); lit- ton. The Church ofChritt (Protestant view: London, 1851, 8vo ; Phikdelphia, revised ed. 1868, 8vo) ; Stone, The Chatk Univenal (Protestant: N. T. 1846; new ed. 1867); Watson, T%eological IfuHMee, pt. iv, cb. i ; SchaflT, Aposiolieal Churchy ch. ii ; Rothe, die Ai^fSmged, dkicf/idlMiirtrc^ (vol. 1,1887). In the Romanist view, PeiTone, PrvieaMmee TheoU^iceBj i, 181 8<|: ; Mdhler, J^mboUemy p. 880 (N. T. 1844, 8vo). Against the Ro- manist view. Cramp, Text-book (if Popery, p. 42 ; Elliott, DeBmeafiom <^ Romaniemj bk. iii, ch. i ; Jackson and Sanderson, On the Chtarch, edited by Goode (Phikdel- phla, 1844, 18mo) ; Whately, Kingdom ofChritt (N. T. 1843, 12mo). On the doctrine of the Church in the creeds of the churches, Guericke, AUgemeine chriet- UtM agmboUk (8d ed. Lpzg. 1861, § 71 ; partly transla- ted from 1st ed. in Evangelical Jieview, 1858, art ii) ; Ebrard, CkrittRAe DogmaUk, ii, § 459-490 ; Whier, Compar, Iktrttelbmgy xix. See also Coleman, Ancient Chrta^amtgj ch. vi ; J\r. Brit. RemeWj Feb. 1858, art v ; Land, Quart, Rev. (Methodist), June, 1854; April, 1855; Cunningham, Hietorieal Theology , vol. i, ch. L For the Congregational view, Ripley, Church Polity (Boston, 1867, 18mo) ; B. Cooper, Free Church ofAndent Chrit- iemdom (Lond. n. d., 18mo) ; Dexter, On CongregaHon- aUtm, ch. ii (Boston, 1865, 8vo).