ORDINANCE
411
ORDINATION
priest in the Church of God," etc. The onl.v other cer- emony is the presentation of each candidate with the Bible' in token of authority to preacli ; as the deacons had been before presented with tlie New Testament in token of authority to read tlie Gospel. The service concludes with the administration of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. In the office for the ordering of dea- cons the bishop lays on his hands, but does not use the words, "Receive the Holy Ghost," etc., or grant author- ity to forgive or retain sins. The consecration of bish- ops is performed by an archbishop, or some bishop ap- pointed in his place, and two or more of his suffragans, and may take place on any Sunday or holy day. In the service for the consecration of bishops the form is this : "Then the archbishop and bishop present shall lay their hands upon tlie head of the elected bishop, kiieelini^ before them upon his knees, the archbishop saying, 'Ke- ceive the Holy Ghost for the office and work of a bishop in the Church of God, now committed unto thee by the laying on of our hands, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, mid of the Holy Ghost. Amen. And remember that thou stir up the grace of God wliich is given thee by the imposition of our hands, for God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and love and soberness.'"
See Procter, Commenhtry on the Book of Comnion Prayer; M'Elhinney, I)ocf. of the Church, p. 1C4, 167, 305; Hook, Eccles. Diet. s. v.; Chambers, Cyclop, s. v.; Churton, Defence of the English Ordinal (Lond. 1873, 8vo).
Ordinance, an institution established by lawful authority. Religious ordinances must be instituted by the great institutor of religion, or they are not binding : minor regulations are not properly ordinances. Ordi- nances once established are not to be varied by human caprice or mutability.
Human ordinances, established by national laws, may be varied by other laws, because the inconveniences arising from them can only be determined by experi- ence. Yet Christians are bound to submit to these in- stitutions, when they do not infringe on those estab- lished by divine authority; not only from the consider- ation that if every individual were to oppose national institutions no society could subsist, but by the tenor of Scripture itself. Nevertheless, Christianity does not interfere with political rights, but leaves individuals, as well as nations, in full enjoyment of whatever advan- tages the constitution of a country secures to its subjects.
The course of nature is the ordinance of God; its laws are but " the ordinances of heaven ;" and every planet obeys that impulse which the divine Governor has impressed on it (Jer. xxxi. 36) — Calmet.
ORDINANCES, CHRISTIAN. See Ordinances OF THE Gospel.
ORDINANCES OF THE GOSREL are institutions of divine authority relating to the worship of God; such as, 1, baptism (Matt, xxviii, 19) ; 2, the Lord's Supper (1 Cor. xi, 24, etc.) ; 3, public ministry, or preach- ing and reading the Word (Rom. x, 15; Ephes. iv, 13; Mark xvi, 15); 4, hearing the Gospel (i\Iark iv, 24; Rom. X, 17); 5, public prayer (1 Cor. xiv, 15, 19; Matt, vi, 6; Psa. v, 1, 7); 6, singing of psalms (Col. iii, 16; Ephes. V, 19); 7, fasting (Jas. i, 9; Matt, ix, 15; .Joel ii, 12); 8, solemn thanksgiving (Psa. 1, 14; 1 Thess. v, 18). See these different articles; also Means of CiRACE.
Ordinary (Lat. ordinarius) is a word used in com- mon and canon law to designate one who has regular or Immediate jurisdiction, in opposition to those who are extraordinarily appointed. In England the bishop is commonly the ordinary for a diocese, and the archbishop for a province. Saj'S Coke, in his Second Institute, p. 398, " This word signifieth a bishop, or he or they that have ordinary jurisdiction, and is derived ah ordinef and gives this quaint reason, that the name was selected for the purpose of keeping the individual who bears it in perpetual remembrance of " the high order and office that he is called unto." When the word is used at the present day, it generally denotes either the individ- ual who has the right to grant letters of administra-
tion of the effects of deceased persons, or him who has the right of ecclesiastical visitation. The ordinary of assizes and sessions was formerly a deputy of the bishop, appointed to give malefactors the neck-verse — i. e. the verse which was read by a party to entitle him to the benefit of clergy. The ordinary of Newgate is a cler- gyman who attends on condemned culprits, and, as it is commonly expressed, prepares them for death.
Ordination, in a common, but limited and techni- cal sense, is the ceremony by Avhich an individual is set apart to an order or office of the Christian ministry. As the laying on of hands is usually a distinctive feat- ure of that ceremony, many persons have very inade- quately treated of ordination to the Christian ministry as identical with it; whereas imposition of hands (q. v.) has various other uses, and only belongs to the cere- mony in question as a symbolic act indicative of the bestowment of spiritual gifts or power.