HIERAPOLIS, CoLXCiL of, held about A.D. 107 by ApoUinarius, bishop of the see, and 2G other bishops, who excommunicated Montaiuis, IMaximilian, and The- odotus. — Landon, Man. of Councils, p. 2G5.
Hierarchy (iipap\ia, from uqlc, sacred, and ao- Xiov, 7-uler), a term used to denote, in churches in which the whole ruling power is held by the priesthood, a sa- cred principality instituted by our Lord Jesus Clirijit in
HIERARCHY
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his Church, and consisting of orders of consecrated per- sons, with gradations of rank and power, who constitute exclusively the governing and ministering body in the Church. It implies the transmission, mider what is called the Apostolical Succession [see Succession], of ^ the authority to teach and govern given by Christ to ^ his apostles ; and thus the hierarchy, as a corporation, perpetuates itself. The hierarchy on earth is supposed to correspond with the hierarchy of " angels and arch- angels, and all the hosts" of heaven, with the Virgin Mary at their head. The Christian hierarchy, again, is supposed to correspond to the Jewish gradations of the priestliood. See Church. The notion of a " continu- ity of plan running on from the Jewish hierarchical sys- tem into the Christian, i. e. the Romish spiritual monar- chy, is an ideal analogy which has captivated" many an ardent imagination, from Cyprian down to Manning and Newman. For an exposiu-e of its fallacy, see Tay- lor, Ancient Christianity (Lond. 1844, 2 vols. 8vo), ii, 403. I, Roman Catholic. — According to the Koman Catho- lic theory, the hierarchy is tlivinely ordained, and was estabUshed in the Church by Christ, wlio gave the pri- macy of authority to Peter, and instituted, in subordina- tion to the primacy, the three orders bishops, priests, and deacons- The primacy of Peter is perjDetuated in the popes, from whom bishops hold their authority to govern their dioceses, and to ordain priests and deacons. This monarchico-hierarchical system grew up gradually in the Latin Chiurch by a series of usurpations of power on the part of the bishops of Rome in succeeding centu- ries. In the Greek Church the hierarchy is oligarchical, not monarchical, no patriarch having supreme author- ity over all other prelates (see Schaff, in Bi-it. and For- eign Evangelical Rerieiv, Oct. 18G5 and Jan. 1866). The Roman hierarchy is divided into the hierarchy of orders and the hierarchy oi jurisdiction. The hierarchy of or- ders, again, includes the hierarchy by divine right (juris divini) and the hierarchy by ecclesiastical right (juris ecclesiastici). *
(I.) Hierarchy of Orders. — (1.) The hierarchy ^Kn's divini includes, 1. Bishops (sacerdotes -primi ordinis, api- ces et princijyes omnium), who are successors of the apos- tles, and by whom alone, through ordination, the minis- try of Christ is preserved among men. As to order, the bishops are only a ftdler form of the order of priests, ■with governing and ordaining power superadded. Some Roman Catholics hold that bishops have their authority by divine right immediately, others (and tlicse are now the majority) that they have it mediately through the pope. See Episcoi'Acy, 2. Priests (presbyters), who receive from the bishop, by ordination, the power to administer the sacraments, to change the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ, and to absolve penitents from their sins. The place in which they shall exercise these functions is not optional with them- selves, but depends entirety upon the will of the bishop. 3. Deacons, who serve as helpers to bishops and priests in the administration of the sacraments, and in the pas- toral care of the sick and poor.
(2.) The hierarchy of ecclesiastical right includes the minor orders of subdeacons, acolytes, exorcists, lictors, and doorkeepers, being all extensions of the diaconate downwards, so to speak.
(II.) Hierarchy of Jurisdiction. — This embraces the manifold " principalities and powers" which have been constituted in the Church in the course of her progress towards universal dominion. It includes archdeacons, archpresbyters, deans, vicars, inferior prelates, and cardi- nals. In the order of bishops, again, there are archbish- ops, metropolitans, exarchs, and patriarchs. The pope is at the head of all, the bearer of all the functions of every office, and the source of authority for each. See Papal System. The Roman hierarchy is a vast poUt- ico-ecclesiastical cor]5oration, with the jiope at its head, claiming luiiversal dominion over all men and over all governments. See Curia Rojiana ; Pope. It is a great power, more important, as De Maistre, one of the great-
est modem Roman writers remarks, than sound doctrine, inasmuch as it is " more h^dispensable to the preserva- tion of the faith" (^Lettres, ii, 285). This idea of a hie- rarchy with a universal dominion, and with an infallible head, constituting a visible principality on cartli, and therefore necessarily using secidar means of support, and " therefore also unavoidably offerhig the highest possi- ble excitements to carnal ambition," is a magnificent one, considered merely as a human organization seek- ing power over men ; but it is utterly out of harmony with Scripture, and with the character and claims of Christianity as a spiritual religion.