Such, as to form and ceremony, was ministerial ordi- nation as practiced in the apostolic Church. As to effect, it claimed only to separate, by solemn acts on the part of the Clnirch, holy men. already called of God to the exclusive work of the ministry. No intimation is given that ordination conferred priestly functions or prerogatives in any f<irm or degree, while, on the other hand, various cautions are given, both in the example
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and precepts of the apostles, against snch an idea. That a large body of ministers thus ordained and in- structed were at the head of the various Christian churches at the close of the apostolic period is a mat- ter of the clearest inference both from the sacred rec- ord and the earliest accounts we have of the post-apos- tolic Church. Then followed a shadowy period of Church history, in which, by persecution from without and dissensions and corruptions within, many changes were wrought in the customs and theories of Chris- tians.
III. Inirodudion of Corrupt Theories and Practice. — The greater part of these changes originated in a ten- dency, itself the result of a decline in spirituality, to incorporate with the ritual of the Church certain cere- monies of Judaism, while corresponding ideas from Greek and Roman paganism were not rigidly excluded. Most startling among these corruptions, and most pro- lific of other outflowing errors, was the idea of a Chris- tian priesthood parodied from the Jewish. There not having been one word or act in all the teachings of Christ or his apostles to countenance such an idea, we may well be amazed that before the end of the 3d century such declarations as the following were put forth in the name of the apostles for the teaching and guidance of the Church. The subjoined extracts are from the so-called Constitutions of the Holy Ajjostles [see Canons, Ecclesiastical], a notorious collection of disciplinary prescriptions and forms which, although, as seen in the light of modern criticism, obviously spurious, nevertheless were circulated and received both as authentic and authoritative for centuries. Having been put forth at a period when literary criticism was unknown, and having been adroitly harmonized with the drift of corrupt practice then gaining currency in the Greek and Roman churches, neither the literary nor the religious authority of this strange collection of doc- uments was questioned for more than a thousand years. The lowest and the true view to be taken of these doc- uments is that they are descriptive of theories and prac- tices that prevailed when they were written, and from that time forward :
Pretended Authorshijt. — "The apostles and elders to all those who, from amonj; the Gentiles, have believed ou the Lord Jesus Christ" (bk. i, § 1).
"We who are now assembled in our place, Peter and Andrew, James and John, sons of Zehedee, Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, who was suruanied Thaddseus, and Simon the Canaauite, and Matthias who, instead of Judas, was numbered with ns, Jiimes the brother of the Lord and bishop of Jerusalem, and Paul the teacher of the Gentiles, the chosen vessel — all being present, have written to you this catholic doctrine for the confirmation of yon to whom the oversight of the Church universal is committed" (bk. vi, § 14).
Pretended Eatahlinh'ment of (he Hierarehi/. — "As to those things which have happened among us, ye yourselves are not ignorant. For ye know perfectly that those who are by us named bishops and presbyters and deacons were made by prayer and by the laying on of hands, and that by the ditlerence of the names is indicated the difference of their employments. For not every one that will is or- dained, as the case was in that spurious and counterfeit priesthood of the calves under Jeroboam. For if there were no rules or distinction of orders, it would suffice to perform all the offices under one name. But being taught by the Lord the series of things, we distributed the func- tions of the high-priesthood to the bishops, those of the priesthood to the presbyters, and the ministration under them both to the deacons, that the divine worship might be performed in purity. For it is not lawful for a deacon to offer the sacrifice, or to baptize, or to give the l)lessiug, either small or great. Nor may a presbyter perform or- dination, for it is not agreeable to holiness to have order overturned. For such ns these do not fight against us nor against the bishops, but against the universal bishop, even the high-priest of the Father, Jesus Christ our Lord. High-priests, priests, and Lcvites were ordained by Mo- ses, the most beloved of God. By our Saviour we, the thirteen apostles, were ordained ; and by the apostles St. James and St. Clement, and others with us (that we may not make the catalogue of all those bishops over again). Moreover, by us all in common were ordained presbyters and deacons and subdeacons and readers" (bk. viii, § 46).
Affirmation of Priestl;/ Prerogatives and Emolumentn. — "Ye, therefore, at the present day, O bishops, are to your
people priests and Levites, ministering to the holy taber- nacle, tlie holy Catholic Church ; who stand at the altar of the Lord your God, and offer to him reasonable and un- bloody sacrifices through Jesus the great high-priest. Ye are to the laity prophets, rulers, governors, and kings — the mediators between God and his faithful people, who receive and declare his Word, well acquainted with the Scriptures. Ye are the voice of God and witnesses of his will, who bear the sins and intercede for all" (bk. ii, § 25). Jipiseopal Assumjitions. — "The bishop is the minister of tlie Word, the keeper of knowledge, the mediator be- tween God and you in the several parts of your divine worship. He is the teacher of piety, and next after God he is your father, who hath begotten you again to the adoption of sons by water and the Spirit. He is yonr ruler and governor; he is your king and potentate; he is next after God your earthly god, who hath a right to be honored by you" (bk. ii, § 20).