Revenues ok the Church. It is clearly taught in the New Test, that it is the duty of ( Ihristians to give temporal support to their teachers. The general principle was laid down by our Lord (Luke x, 7) that the laborer is worthy of his hire. Paul says, " Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the Cospel should live of the Gospel" (1 < !or. xix. 1 1 ). The following passages tn-at of the relation which subsists between the minis- ters and the Church in this respect: Acts xviii.3; xxiv, 17; 2 Cor. xi, 7,8; xii, 13; Phil, i v. Hi 18; 1 Tim.vi,5j Titus i, 11. So we see that the Church is bound to provide for the maintenance of its pastors ; but, at the same time, the pastor is to act in a liberal spirit, and not to make unnecessary demands upon the Church. These principles were carried out in the apostolic times and sub- sequently. Fixed stipends were not paid in early times, because the Church did not possess property, and there- fore the contributions were voluntary. These voluntary offerings were of two sorts: I. The weekly or daily ob- lations that were made at the altar; 2. The monthly ob- lations that were cast into the treasury of the Church. And then arose the custom of dividing up the monthly contribution and paying the clergy their share, accord- ing to their order. Another sort of revenue was such as arose annually from the lands and possessions given to the Church, which were greatly increased in the time of Constantine, who authorized the bequeathing of prop- erty to the Church. A third source of revenue was the granting to the clergy an allowance out of the public money. Constantino both gave the clergy particular lar- gesses, as their occasion required, and also settled upon them a standing allowance out of the exchequer. A fourth source of revenue was the estates of martyrs and Confessors dying without heirs, which were settled upon the Church by Conslanline. Still later rulers (Theodo- sius the younger and Yalentinian III) settled upon the Church the estates of clergymen dying without heirs. Besides these sources of revenue, there were others, such as the donation of heathen temples and sometimes their revenues, heretical conventicles and their revenues, the temporal estates of clergymen or monks who became seculars again. Great care, however, at first was taken not to receive estates donated to the Church to the great.
detriment of others. Respecting the ancient way of
managing and distributing these revenues, we may re- mark thai the revenues of the whole diocese were in the
hands of the bishop, and by his care distributed among
tin' clergy. As a safeguard against mismanagement, he
was obliged to give an account of his administration in
a provincial By 1: after a while this rule ol, tamed in
iii. Western Church. The division was usually into
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three or four parts— one to the bishop, a second to the rest of the clergy, a third to the poor, and a fourth to the necessary uses of the Church. Suspension from participation in the revenues was one method of punish- ment visited upon the clergy. See Bingham, Christ. Antiq. bk. v, ch. vi, p. 1-6.
Reverence (usually some form of X"^, 0o/3fo/t«(, to fear), a respectful, submissive disposition of mind arising from affection and esteem, from a sense of supe- riority in the person reverenced. Hence children rev- erence their fathers even when their fathers correct them by stripes (Heb. xii, 9) ; hence subjects reverence their sovereign (2 Sam. ix, 6) ; hence wives reverence their husbands (Eph. v, 33); and hence all ought to reverence God. We reverence the name of God, the house of God, the worship of God, etc. ; we reverence the attributes of God, the commands, dispensations, etc., of God ; and we ought to demonstrate our reverence by overt acts, such as are suitable and becoming to time, place, and circumstances. For though a man may rev- erence God in his heart, yet unless he behave reveren- tially and give proofs of his reverence by demeanor, con- duct, and obedience, he will not easily persuade his fel- low-mortals that his bosom is the residence of this divine and heavenly disposition; for, in fact, a reverence for God is not one of those lights which burn under a bush- el, but one of those whose sprightly lustre illuminates wherever it is admitted. Reverence is, strictly speak- ing, perhaps the internal disposition of the mind, 0(i/3oc (Rom. xiii, 7) ; and honor, ripri, the external expression of that disposition. — Calmer.
Reverend, a title prefixed by courtesy to the name of any clergyman, though " clerk" (clei-icus) is the legal and strictly proper description of clergymen, and is. in official documents, placed after (as " Reverend" is before) their names.
In the Church of England and the Protestant Episco- pal and Roman Catholic churches the title is given to ecclesiastics of the second and third orders, the bishops being styled right reverend. In churches where females are ordained to offices of the Church, abbesses and pri- oresses are called reverend mothers.
Revivals of Religion, a phrase commonly used to indicate renewed interest in religious subjects, or a period of religious awakening. It comes from revive (Lat. revivo), to live again, and is often improperly ap- plied to excitements which can hardly be called relig- ious, because they do not apprehend, or propose to revive, the real, inner, spiritual life of the soul, which alone constitutes true religion. Setting out with erroneous views as to the work to be effected, such excitements necessarily fall short of its accomplishment.