DISCERNING
815
DISCIPLES OF CHRIST
lorites, they founded the Congregation of Narbonne, the Spiritual Congregation, which were suppressed l318 \>y the Inquisition, part of them being put to th, and the others imprisoned for life. 14. Sisters he Ave Maria, 15. Female Capuchmi. 16. dari*- s of the Stricter Observance, established at Albano 1631 hy Francisca of Jesus Maria, and whose rule ) adopted in some Italian convents. 17. Female horites of Si. Peter of Alcantara, established in 1676 Ja Fassa by cardinal Francis Barberini, are found y in Italj. 18. Barefooted brethren and 8isteE| of 3d order of 3t. Francis (gli Scalzi), in Sicily, Bal- tia, Istria, etc.; established in 15^ by Jacob of gubio, in the convent of La Tropa. They extended ddly, but were in 1602 united to the Congregation the 3d order of Lombards. 19. Nuns of the 3d or^ > of St. Francis of the Stricter Observance in France r Picptui), established in 1693 by Vincent Mussart Franconville, and endowed wiUi the convent of :pas, at Paris, in 1601. They devoted themselves to ) erection and management of hospitals ; abolished 1789, they were reorganized by the abb^ Coudrin in 14, sanctioned by pope Pius YII, and in 1833 were pointed to the missions in the islands of the Pacific. . JUcoliect nuns of the dd order of St. Francis, foand- in 1633 at Limburg by Johanna van Neerich, who ve them very rigid rules : they were abolished in 89. 21. ffospitaUert of the dd order of St Francis [inims, etc), established at Madrid in 1567 by Bem> jd of Obregon : they were widely disseminated in >rtugal, Spain, and the Netherlands, and have but tely disappeared. 22. Female Choristert ofNoli^ 8d der of St. Francis, established by count Nicholas of rsini and Spoleto in 1354 for bis own choristers: -ess, gray, with a white belt, streamer, and gray til ; the latter black on feast days. 23. Hermits of forUe Luco, founded in 1012 : they count only a few ichorites at Spoleto in Umbria. 24. Hermits of SL )hn the Baptist^ established in the bishoprics of Metz, ambrai, and Belial in 1630 by Michael of Sabina : ley soon numbered 100, but disappeared in 1789. 25. enerally, all the congregations of regular Anchorites^ od of the Minorites of ike Observance, — ^Pierer, a. v. larfilssermonche.
Disceming OF SPIRITS (SiaKpunc wvtvfAdrwv, iscrindnaiion of spirits, 1 Cor. xii, 10). This expres- ion b now usually understood to mean a high faculty, njoyed by certain persons in the apostolic age, of in- oitively probing the heart and distinguishing the se- ret dispositions of men (compare 1 Cor. xiv, 29 ; 1 ohn V, 1). It appears to hare been one of the gifts teculiar to that age, and was especially necessary at i time when the standards of doctrine were not well sstablbhed or generally understood, and when many leceivers were abroad (2 John ii, 7). This faculty of lupematural insight seems to have been exercised ihiefly upon those who came forward as teachers of Hhers, and whose real designs it was important that the infant churches should know. Authentic instances, tiowever, do not appear to show the method of its ex- ercise, although the cases of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts V, •, 9), of Shnon Magus (viii, 21), and of Ely- tnas (xiii, 9), are cases ui point See Gifts, Spiki't-
UAL.
Disciple (Lat discipnbtSj a scholar, from discere, to learn: Matt, x, 24), one who professes to have learned certain principles from another, and maintains them on that other*s authority. In the New Testa- ment it is applied principally to the followers of Christ; sometimes to those of John the Baptist, Matt, ix, 14 ; and of the Pharisees, Matt xxii, 16. It is used in a special manner to point out the twelve. Matt, x, 1 ; xi, 1 ; XX, 17. A disciple of Christ may now be defined as one who believes his doctrine, rests upon his B&crifioe, imbibes bis spirit and imitates his example (Fairar, BibL and Theol, Did, s. v.). »* There are three
senses in which men are sometimes called *• disciples' of any other person : (1.) Incorreetiy^ from their sunply maintaining something that he ifiaintains, without any profession or proof of its being derived from hun. Thus Augustine was a predestinarian, and so was Moham- med, yet no one supposes that the one derived his be-, lief ftt)m the other. It is very common, however, to say of another that he is an Arian, Athanasian, Socin- ian, eCc. which tends to mislead, unless it is admitted, or can be proved, that he learned his opinions from this or that master. (2.) When certam persons avoui that they have adopted the views of another, not, how^ ever, on his authority, but ttom holding them to be agreeable to reason or to Scripture, as the Platonic, and most other philosophical sects — the Lutherans, Zuinglians, etc. (8.) When, like the disciples of Je- sus, and, as it is said, of the Pythagoreans, and the ad- herents of certain churches, they profess to receive their system on the authority of their master or Church, to acquiesce in an ' ipse-dixit,' or to receive all that the Church receives. These three senses should be carefully kept distinct." — Eden, Churchman's Diction- ary, s. v.
Disciples of Christ, or, as they prefer to call themselves, "The Church of Christ," a body of Bap- tists sometimes called by their opponents '* Campbell- ites," assumed a distinct ecclesiastical organization about the year 1827. In 1808 Thomas Campbell mi- grated from Ireland, and settled in Western Pennsyl- vania as a minister of the *^ Seceders." He was a con« scientious advocate of religious reform, and contended for a restoration of the Christian Church to apostolic practice and precept. See Campbell, Thomas. In 1809 he was joined by his son Alexander, who heartily sympathized with him in his views of religious reform. See Campbell, Alexakdeb. The first practical movement was to form a small association of disciples for the special study of the Scriptures, with the pledge that, rejecting all creeds and confessions of faith, they would strictiy conform their practice to the teachings of the divine Word. This was a practical separation from the " Seceders," and resulted in the organization^f a small congregation in Washington County, Pa., known as the Brush Run Church, Sept 10, 1810. Thomas Campbell was one of the original elders of this con- gregation, and by it his son Alexander was first or- dained to the ministry. It was not long till the ques- tion of baptism engaged their attention, and, after a thorough investigation among themselves, the father and son, with five others, reached the conclusion that the Scriptures taught the "immersion of believers." Accordingly, on the 2d of June, 1812, they were im- mersed by a Baptist minister. In 1815 the}' had in- creased to some five or six congregations, when they attached themselves to the Redstone (Baptist) Associa- tion, stipulating, however, in writing, that no ** terms of union or communion other than the Holy Scriptures should be required.*' To many of the Baptist preach- ers this union was distasteful from the first, and it finally resulted in the withdrawal of these congrega- tions, who then joined the Mahoning (Ohio) Asso- ciation, which more nearly accorded witii them, and which finally became thdroughly identified with the movement.