Testes Synodales, persons chosen to help the church-wardens in fultilling their duties, and in pro- moting order, quiet, and decorum at visitations, syn- ods, and clerical meetings. They were also called Sidesmen, synodsmen, or Questmen (q. v.).
TestimoniaL Every candidate for admission to holy orders in the Church of England is required to present to tlie bishop a testimonial of good conduct from his college, or from three beneficed clergymen. The usual form of this document is as follows:
"Whereas our well-beloved in Christ, A. B., hath de- clined to ns his intention of offering himself a candidiiie for the siicied office of [a deacon], and for that end hath requested of us letters testimonial of his letiruiiig ;iiid good behavior, we, therefore, wliose names are heieiilito subscribed, do testify that the said A. B., hiiving been previou.-ly known to us for the space of [three] years hist past, hath, during that time, lived piously, soheily, and honestly, and diligently applied himself to his studies: nor hath he at any time, so far as we know and believe, held, written, or taught anything contrary to the doctrine or disciiiliue of the united Church of Eughind and Ire- land : and, moreover, we believe him in <nir consciences to be a person worthy to he iiriniitied to the sacred order of Deacons. In witness whereof," etc.
A similar testimonial is required from candidates by the Protestant Episcopal Church of the LTnited States. As this is one of the safeguards which ecclesiastical rule has (Stnblished to preserve the purity of its ministers, it woukl be a fatal error to allow it to become a mere mat- ter of form. No conscientious man can safely sign such a document unless fully assured of the facts to which he bears such solemn testimony.
Testimony oi" Disownment, an official document issued by tbe monthly meeting of the Society of Friends against an obdurate and impenitent member. Tbe tes- timony of disownment is a paper reciting the offence, and sometimes the stejis which have led to it ; next, the means niiavailingly used to reclaim the offender; after that a clause disowning him, to which is usually added an expression of desire for his repentance and for his restoration to membership. In case the expelled mem- ber rcpent.«, he is bound to send in a written acknowl-
TETA
295
TETRARCH
cdsmenl of his offence, his penitence, and his desire for restoration to the membership of the society. — Eadie, Eccles. Cyclop, s. v,
Te'ta (T»;ra v. r. 'ArrTjra ; Vulg. Tojw), a corrupt (Jrfficized form (1 Esdr.v, 28) of the name Hatita (q. v.) of the Heb. lists of Temple doorkeepers (Ezra ii, 42; Neh. vii. 45).
Tetiagrammaton (Tirrapa, four, and ypcqi^ia, letter), A term to designate the sacred name of the Deity, Jehovah, in four letters, nilT^. By the possession of this name the early Jewish opponents of Christianity declared that the miracles of Christ were performed. The mystical word Om of the Buddhists of India and Thibet is supposed to possess similar virtues to the pres- ent day.
Tetiapla, a Greek term used to designate a certain edition of the Holy Scriptures, being four independent and separate Greek versions, ranged side by side, viz. those of Aquila, Symmachus, the Seventy-two, and Tlieodotion.
Tetiapolitana Confessio (also Suevica and Argentinensisj is the title by wliich the confession of faith submitted to the Diet of Augsburg in 1630 by the four cities of Strasburg, Constance, iNIemmingen, and Lindau is known.
Tlie endeavor to construct a confession which should fairlj' represent the views of all the sections of the evan- gelical party failed through the stubborn refusal of the Saxons to unite in any way with the Zwinglians of the cities, and the Strasburg deputies consequently invited Bucer and Capito to prepare a separate symbol for the use of the latter. Capito had jjreviously prepared a sketch of the Reformed faith by order of the Council of Strasburg, and this paper became the basis of the new confession. The latter was completed by July 11, 1530, and, after having been submitted to the confederated cities and received their signatures (vvitli the single ex- ception of Ulm), was placed in the hands of the imperial vice-chancellor, Merkel, for transmission to the emperor. The confession contains twenty-three articles, and is characterized by great clearness and moderation of state- ment, completeness, and thoroughness of elaboration. Its first article asserts the chief formal principle of Prot- estantism, wholly wanting in the Awjitstana, that the Bible is the only source and rule of doctrine. It teach- es that the disciples of Clirist partake of liis body and blood in the sacrament in a spiritual sense only. The form of expression, however, is everywhere conformed to that of the Augnstana — a feature which reveals the hand of Bucer (q. v.), who was already at work upon plans for the promotion of union among Protestants.
A reply to this confession, written by Eck, Faber, and Cochlffius, was returned Oct. 24. This Confutation was filled with perversions and insults, and was read be- fore deputies and theologians of the four cities. A copy of this reply was denied them, but they succeeded in obtaining one, which was appended to the first edition of the TetrapolifaHa, published in (xerman by Bucer at Strasburg in 1531. A Latin edition followed a month Liter, in September. Bucer was compelled to publish tlie confession in order to put an end to false representa- tions of its character; but liis own persistent efforts in behalf of union between the Protestant churches con- tributed to subordinate it to the Saxon confession. In 1532 the Strasburgers consented to subscribe th^Augus- tima, though with the express understanding that tlie Tetrapolitana should be regarded as their proper sym- bol. Finally, when Bucer was dead and jNIartyr (q. v.) was gone from Strasburg, a rigid Lulheranism took pos- session of the city. An attempted reprint of the first edition of the Tetrapolitana by Sturm in 1580 was pre- vented by a decree of the council. The last edition, which includes the Confutation and Apology, appeared, so far as is known, at Zweibrlicken in 1604.