The doctrine of justification by faith alone abolished human mediation between man and God. Luther fully recognised the New-Testament idea of the priesthood of all believers, and proclaimed it with all the force of his eloqueiice. His language on this subject is verj^ ex- plicit : " Every Christian man is a priest, and every Christian woman a priestess, whether they be young or old, master or servant, mistress or maid-servant, scholar or illiterate. All Christians are, properly speaking, members of the ecclesiastical order, and there is no dif- ference between them except that they hold different offices" (see citations in Hagenbach. Hut. of Doctrines, ii, '24). By the inculcation of this fundamental princi- ple the laity recovered their position in the Church of Christ, and lay representation again became possible. '■The restoration," says Litton, in his work on the Church, " in theory at least, of the laity to their proper place in the Church, was an immediate consequence of the Reformation. By reasserting the two great scrip- tural doctrines of the universal priesthood of Christians, and of the indwelling of the Spirit, not in a iiriestly caste, but in the whole body of the faithfid, Luther and his contemporaries shook the whole fabric of sacerdotal usurpation to its base, and recovered for the Christian laity the rights of which they had been deprived. The lay members of the body of Christ emerged from the spiritual imbecility which they had been taught to re- gard as their natural state, and became free, not from the yoke of Christ, but from that of the priest."
The right of the laity to representation has ever since remained one of the imints of difference between Protes- tantism and L'omanisni. The Council of Trent reaffirm- ed the mediaeval doctrine in the strongest terms. In its decree on the sacrament of "order" it says, '"And if any one affirm that all Christians indiscriminately are priests of the New Testament, or that they are mutually en- dowed with an ccpial spiritual power, he clearly does nothing but confound the ecclesiastical hierarchv, which
LAY REPRESENTATIOX
299
LAY REPRESENTATION"
is as an armj^ set in array; as if, contrary to the doc- trine uf the blessed Paul, all were apostles, all prophets, all evangelists, all pastors, all doctors." In the develop- ment of Protestantism the lay power was unfortunately absorbed by the state. The State-Church system has hindered the free growth of the Christian community; but wherever Protestantism has liad the opportunity of freely unfolding its principles, lay representation has been recognised as just and fitting.
The form of lay representation varies in the Protes- tant churches. Among the Presbyterians the laity are represented by ruling elders, who are chosen for life. A presbytery usually consists of all the ministers, and one ruling elder from each congregation within a certain district ; a synod is a similarly constituted body from a larger district, embracing several presbyteries; and a general assembly consists of an equal delegation of min- isters and elders from each presbytery, in a certain fixed ]iroportion. In the General Assembly of the State Church of Scotland, the crown is also represented by a lord high commissioner. The Lutheran Church adheres to the doctrine of the universal priesthood of believers, as taught by Luther: "The ultimate source of power is in the congregation, and sj'nods possess such powers as the congregations delegate to them." In the United States most of the synods are connected with a more general bodj' (the General Synod, the General Council, or the Southern General Synod). Among the Friends, or Quakers, the legislative power is exercised by a year- ly meeting, which embraces the whole society witliin a certain district. In this the proceedings of the (juarter- ly and monthly meetings are reviewed. There are. also " district meetings" for the supervision and care of the ministry, which are composed of ministers and elders. The Congregationalists hold the entire independence of each Christian congregation, and its right to manage its own affairs without interference from other churches. In each church all the brethren have ecjual rights. Councils may be called by letters addressed to neigh- boring churches, and, when assembled, are composed of a pastor and a delegate from each chiu'ch invited. They have, however, no authoritative power. In the United States all the congregational bodies (Baptists, Orthodox Congregationalists, Unitarians, and Universalists) hold general conventions, in which the laity are always rep- resented.
In the Established Church of England the lay power has been jealously retained and guarded by the crown and Parliament, but the Disestablished Church of Ire- land has reorganized with lay representation. In the councils of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Uni- ted States the laity have an important place. In each diocese there is held annually a convention composed of the bishop, the clergy, and a lay delegate from each church. This is the governing body of the diocese. The legislative authority of the entire Ch\irch resides in a general convention, which meets once in three years, and is composed of the bishops and four clerical and four lay delegates from each diocese, elected by the diocesan convention. The bishops form one house, and the cler- ical and lay delegates another. The concurrence of both liouses is necessary for the passage of any law, find, if asked for, the concurrence of the three orders be- comes necessary.