and civil. The ecclesiastical laws were either
i orders made by each bishop for the better reg-
ulati I hi- particular diocese, or law - made in provin-
the government of all the dioceses ofa
i stiy, laws respecting the whole Christian
< Ihurch, made in general councils or assemblies of bisb-
I lui-iian world, .s, ,■ S-, -,,,i,.
i law, of the Church were those decn es and
o time to time by the emperors, either
1 ! 'he Chunh. or granting it new
i nfirming the old. The breach of these
] ith bj the Church and
in - respecting offendi rs
"""'"- : chiefly suspension rrom the ,,|-
! deprivation ol tic rights and privili
nsisted chiefly in inication, or reje< tin from the communion of the church, and penance both public and priva
I HASTICAL T i\
The id. a ot ,i„. papacy or spiritual supremacv of Borne wa- not fully developed before the mi, idle of the 7th century, when Theodi
' with the title of oecnmenical patriarch, assumed that gn pontiff From that period tin- successive claim- ol the papacy— viz. temporal sovereignty, the vicariate of Peter and Paul, of Christ, and of God, the janitorship of the kingdom of heaven, and the theo- cratic monarchy ofthe world — went on progressively, until in 1870 they apparently culminated in the official a— urn pi ion of infallibility (q. v.). .Meantime, as a sys- tem ol eccie-iasiici.-m. the papacy has retained most of the offices ofthe ancient Church, and added to them that of cardinal (q. v.), nuncio, chancellor, chamberlain, • ferendary, auditor, inquisitor, and numerous others ofa political and ceremonial character. Within the sphere of papal authority no serious controversy i \ er arose on the subject of < Ihurch polity. Ceremonial expansion, unchecked by any idea of scriptural exam- ple or restraint, was for centuries the order of progress. li wa- not till the Reformation was so far inaugurated a- to feel the necessity of organizing churches after the i\ pe ofthe New Testament that any important discus- sions took place respecting the principles of Church
government. The Reformed churches on the Conti- nent generally rejected episcopacy and adopted Pres- byterianism. The Lutherans practically retained the episcopal office under the title of superintendent. Iiut -care, ly any two of the principal Reformed churches agreed in detail as to their plan of organization, nor were these minor differences regarded a- of any serious importance.
Systems of Church Government. — England is the country that has given birth to the chief controversies concerning Church polity which have prevailed in modern lime-. .V- the Reformation in England was largely political in its character, it not only resulted in the transfer of the cathedrals, churches, colleges, etc, built under Roman supremacy, to the Reformed Church of England, hut also many Roman Catholic ceremonies ami usages. Hence from the first thai Church was divided into two parties in reference to Church polity. Had they been content with temperate discussion, and with the peaceful separation of those who could not. harmonize their \ iews, the result might have been very different. But unfortunately both parties had inher- ited the principle of intolerance, either from the Roman Church or from preceding time-, and also the theory ol stale rule in mailers of religious faith and practice. To these false principles may he charged some ofthe most pitiable and disgraceful facts in the history of Great Britain. The oppugnant legislation, the strifes the persecutions, and the martyrdoms which took place in the successive reigns of Henry VIII, of Bloody Mary, of queen Elizabeth, of .lames I. of (harks I and II. and even under the protectorate of Cromwell, are suf- ficient to impress any mind with the extent of human miser}', and of reproach to the Christian name caused by the errors alluded to. In all history there is not a more significant comment upon the sin of constraining
men's < sciences by the arbitrary standards of human
authority. It was not till after more than a hundred and fifty years of parly strife and bloodshed that in 1689 the Toleration Act was passed, by -which dissent from the faith and polity of the Established Church wa- legalized. Even after that it was a longtime he- lore many could see. and even yet it does not set m pos- sible for all to understand, that details of ( ihurch polity were never appointed hy divine authority, hut design-
i dlj l, ii bj ih, Head ol the < ihurch to he adjust* d on the basis of ureai principles rather than to he e-,,x ,,,,, ,[ hy fixed and uniform precept*. Scotland had adopted Presbyterianism from the Reformed churches of the
Continent as early a- 1550, but even after toleration
was secured thai form of Church government failed to become popular in England. Independency in various form- seemed to he preferred hy the English Noncon- formists and Dissenters. Between them and Presby- terians on tl ■ hand, and the advocates of prelacy
or episcopacy hy divine right on the other, controversy
POLITY
S57
POLLAJUOLO
has never ceased. Bat since the controversy has been limited to words it has been an innocent, though often an exciting one, owing to the many phases it has as- sumed from time to time.
While the Church of England has continually an- tagonized the Church of Rome on the ground of papal supremacy, it has itself been in ceaseless agitation as between the High and Low Church parties within its own pale, and more especially since the period of the Oxford Tracts (q. v.) and the more recent ritualistic discussions. All the English controversies respecting Church polity have found their way to this country, but with greatly altered conditions of the various par- ties. Independency having escaped from persecution by way of Holland, itself established a species of theoc- racy and became a persecutor in New England. But its period of intolerance was brief: and, on the whole, the Christian churches of the United States have been remarkably free from the spirit and practice of intoler- ance. The free institutions of the country and the ab- solute separation of the State from all the churches have tended to place all on a common level, and to make all alike dependent upon good arguments and good prac- tice as means of securing public respect and increasing strength.