Chapter XV. [2497] --Bishops and Deacons; Christian Reproof.
1. Appoint, therefore, for yourselves, bishops and deacons worthy of the Lord, men meek, and not lovers of money, [2498] and truthful and proved; for they also render to you the service [2499] of prophets and teachers. 2. Despise them not therefore, for they are your honoured ones, together with the prophets and teachers. 3. And reprove one another, not in anger, but in peace, as ye have it in the Gospel; [2500] but to every one that acts amiss [2501] against another, let no one speak, nor let him hear aught from you until he repent. 4. But your prayers and alms and all your deeds so do, as ye have it in the Gospel of our Lord. [2502]
[2497] The larger part of verse 1, and a clause from verses 2, 3, respectively, are found in Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 31. Verses 1, 2, both in the use of terms and in the Church polity indicated, point to an early date: (1) There are evident marks of a transition from extraordinary to ordinary ministers. (2) The distinction between bishops and elders does not appear [1 Pet. v. 1. Vol. i. [265]p. 16, this series], and yet it is found in Ignatius. (3) The word cheirotoneo is here used in the sense of "elect" or "appoint" (by show of hands), and not in that of "ordain" (by laying on of hands). The former is the New Testament sense (Acts xiv. 23; 2 Cor. viii. 19), also in Ignatius; the latter sense is found in Apostolic Canons, i. (4) The choice by the people also indicates an early period.
[2498] Comp. 1 Tim. iii. 4.
[2499] Or, "ministry." This clause and the following verse indicate that the extraordinary ministers were as yet more highly regarded.
[2500] Comp. Matt. xviii. 15-17.
[2501] The word astocheo, occurring here, means "to miss the mark;" in New Testament, "to err" or, "swerve." See 1 Tim. i. 6, vi. 21; 2 Tim. ii. 18.
[2502] The reference here is probably to the Sermon on the Mount: Matt. v.-vii., especially to chap. vi.
Chapter XVI. [2503] --Watchfulness; The Coming of the Lord.
1. Watch for your life's sake. [2504] Let not your lamps be quenched, nor your loins unloosed; [2505] but be ye ready, for ye know not the hour in which our Lord cometh. [2506] 2. But often shall ye come together, seeking the things which are befitting to your souls: for the whole time of your faith will not profit you, [2507] if ye be not made perfect in the last time. 3. For in the last days [2508] false prophets and corrupters shall be multiplied, and the sheep shall be turned into wolves, and love shall be turned into hate; [2509] 4. for when lawlessness increaseth, they shall hate and persecute and betray one another, [2510] and then shall appear the world-deceiver [2511] as the Son of God, [2512] and shall do signs and wonders, [2513] and the earth shall be delivered into his hands, and he shall do iniquitous things which have never yet come to pass since the beginning. 5. Then shall the creation of men come into the fire of trial, [2514] and many shall be made to stumble and shall perish; but they that endure in their faith shall be saved [2515] from under the curse itself. [2516] 6. And then shall appear the signs of the truth; [2517] first, the sign of an out-spreading [2518] in heaven; then the sign of the sound of the trumpet; and the third, the resurrection of the dead; 7. yet not of all, but as it is said: The Lord shall come and all His saints with Him. [2519] 8. Then shall the world see the Lord coming upon the clouds of heaven. [2520]
[2503] The resemblance between this chapter and Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 31, 32, is mainly in order of topics and in the identity of some phrases and terms. Verses 3 and 4 (to the word "world-deceiver") are reproduced almost verbatim. That the writer of the Teaching used Matt. xxiv. is extremely probable, but the connection of Apostolic Constitutions, with this passage is evident. In Barnabas, iv., there are a few corresponding phrases.
[2504] Or, "over your life;" the clause occurs verbatim in Apostolic Constitutions.
[2505] Comp. Luke xii. 35, which is exactly cited in Apostolic Constitutions.
[2506] Matt. xxiv. 42.
[2507] Here Barnabas, iv., furnishes a parallel.
[2508] This reference to the last days as present or impending is an evidence of early date; comp. Barnabas, iv., and many passages in the New Testament. The mistake has been in measuring God's prophetic chronology by our mathematical standard of years.
[2509] Comp. Matt. xxiv. 11, 12.
[2510] Comp. Matt. xxiv. 10.
[2511] ho kosmoplanos, found only here and in Apostolic Constitutions, vii. 32. Comp. 2 Thess. ii. 3, 4, 8; Rev. xii. 9.
[2512] Not found in Apostolic Constitutions. The expression plainly implies the belief that Jesus Christ was Son of God.
[2513] Comp. Matt. xxiv. 24. The rest of the verse has no parallel.
[2514] Comp. 1 Pet. iv. 12. where purosis also occurs.
[2515] Comp. Matt x. 22 and similar passages; none of them directly cited here.
[2516] hup' autou tou katathematos, "from under the curse itself:" namely, that which has just been described. Bryennios and others render "by the curse Himself;" that is, Christ, whom they were tempted to revile. All other interpretations either rest on textual emendations or are open to grammatical objections. Of the two given above, that of Hall and Napier seems preferable.
[2517] "Truth" might refer to Christ Himself, but the personal advent is spoken of in verse 8; it is better, then, to refer it to the truth respecting the parousia held by the early Christians. For this belief they were mocked, and hence dwelt upon it and the prophecies respecting it. The verse is probably based upon Matt. xxiv. 30, 31; but some find here, as in verse 4, an allusion to Paul's eschatological statements in the Epistles to the Thessalonians.
[2518] Professor Hall now prefers to render ekpetaseos, "outspreading," instead of "unrolling," as in his version originally. Hitchcock and Brown, Schaff, and others, prefer "opening;" that is, the apparent o pening in heaven through which the Lord will descend. "Outspreading" is usually explained (so Professor Hall) as meaning the expanded sign of the cross in the heavens, the patristic interpretation of Matt. xxiv. 30. Bryennios and Farrar refer it to the flying forth of the saints to meet the Lord. There are other interpretations based on textual emendations. As the word is very rare, it is difficult to determine the exact sense. "Opening" seems lexically allowable and otherwise free from objection.
[2519] Zech. xiv. 5. This citation is given substantially in Apostolic Constitutions. As here used, it seems to point to the first resurrection. Comp. 1 Thess. iv. 17; 1 Cor. xv. 23; Rev. xx. 5. Probably it is based upon the Pauline eschatology rather than upon that of the Apocalypse. At all events, there is no allusion to the millennial statement of the latter. Since there was in the early Church, in connection with the expectation of the speedy coming of Christ, a marked tendency to Chiliasm, the silence respecting the millennium may indicate that the writer was not acquainted with the Apocalypse. This inference is allowable, however, only on the assumption of the early date of the Teaching.
[2520] Comp. Matt. xxiv. 30. The conclusion is abrupt, and in Apostolic Constitutions the New-Testament doctrine of future punishment and reward is added. The absence of all reference to the destruction of Jerusalem would indicate that some time had elapsed since that event. An interval of from thirty to sixty years may well be claimed.
Elucidations.
I
(Thus baptize ye, p. 379.)
If we compare this chapter with the corresponding one in the Apostolic Constitutions, the Teaching seems to me to be a somewhat abridged form of a common original. This being designed for the catechumens, there is an omission of what they are afterwards to know. A form originally drawn up for clergy and people has been very inartificially expurgated for the instruction of young disciples. This appears from the ninth chapter (p. 380), where only certain receptive or responsive forms are given. The liturgy of the Apostolic Constitutions, book viii., embodies what was studiously kept from all but the te'leioi, i.e., those "of full age."
II
(Concerning Apostles, p. 380, note 16.)
The reference to "apostles," probably itinerant, in Rev. ii. 2, corresponds with this. There were officers known in the Apostolic day (compare 2 Cor. viii. 23, Greek) as apo'stoloi ekklesion, for the pseud-apostles of the Apocalypse could not have pretended what they did had it been otherwise. Neither would it have been needful to "try those who said they were apostles," in that case: the mere assertion of such a pretence would have sufficiently convicted them.
The very childish directions (suited to mere catechumens) given in the text illustrates Rev ii. 2, and is, so far, evidence of the very early origin of the Teaching.
The name apostles was made technical by Christ Himself: "He named them Apostles" (Luke vi. 13). And the word is never used in the loose way which Bishop Lightfoot hazardously suggests, as I must venture to believe.
III
(Incipient fanaticism, p. 381, note 25.)
Unquestionably, for even in St. Paul's day his admonitions imply nothing less. See 1 Cor. cap. xiv., passim. But, as in the Introductory Notice [2521] I hinted my suspicions of incipient Montanism in the Teaching, so I am strengthened in this idea by the learned critic to whose note I venture to append this remark for the purpose of asking a reference to my annotations of Hermas in vol. ii. of this series. May I also ask a reference to the same volume, pp. [266]4, 5, and 6? The "meal" (note 23, p. 380) of the Teaching is doubtless the Agape, which had been abused at so early a day, that St. Peter [2522] himself was forced to denounce the "false prophets" who polluted this feast of charity.
[2521] P. 371, supra.
[2522] 2 Pet. ii. 13. Compare 1 John iv. 1.
[2369] The longer title is supposed to be the original one; the shorter, a popular abridgment. The latter has no real connection with Acts ii. 42. Many hold that the term "nations" (or "Gentiles") points to a Jewish Christian as the author (so Bryennios), though this is denied by others (so Brown). A similar diversity of opinion exists as to the class of readers; but, if the early date is accepted, the more probable theory is, that the first part at least of the manual was for the instruction of catechumens of Gentile birth (so Bryennios, Schaff). Others extend it to Gentile Christians.
Constitutions of the Holy Apostles. [2523]
[Edited, with Notes, by James Donaldson, D.D.]
Introductory Notice
to
Constitutions of the Holy Apostles.
Having learned from the erudite Beveridge what I long supposed to be a just view of the Constitutions, I have found in the recent literature of the subject not a little to increase my confidence in the general conclusions to which he was led by all that could be known in his times. The treatise of Krabbe guided me to some results of more modern investigations; and Dr. Bunsen, though not apart from his critics, has enabled me still further to correct some of my impressions. But, in connection with the late discovery of Bryennios, the field of discussion and inquiry has been so much enlarged, that I have felt it due to the readers and students of this republication to invoke the aid of Professor Riddle, who is able to enrich the work with the results of genuine learning and much patient research. Whatever may be my own convictions on some subordinate points, I have been glad to secure the judgment of a critical scholar who, I am persuaded, aims to shed upon the subject the colourless light of scientific investigation. This is all I can desire, anxious only to see facts clearly established and historic truth illustrated, no matter to what results they may seem to point. Where the professor's decisions coincide with my own impressions, I am naturally gratified by his valued and independent corroboration: where the case is otherwise, I am hardly less gratified to present my indulgent readers with opinions deserving of their highest respect, and by which they will be stimulated, as well as influenced, in forming convictions for themselves.
The Constitutions are so full of material on which it is well for one in my position not to speak very freely in such a work as this, that I rejoice all the more to confide the task of annotation almost exclusively to another and to one from whom American Christians must ever be glad to hear on subjects requiring in an almost equal degree the skill of an expert critic and the candour of a conscientious Christian.
I prefix Professor Riddle's Preface to the Introductory Notice of the Edinburgh editor, as follows:--
New interest has been awakened in the Apostolic Constitutions by the discovery of an ancient manuscript in Constantinople. [2524] While it does not contain the Constitutions, it affords much material for discussion respecting the sources and authorship of this compilation. The so-called Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, found in the Codex at Constantinople, and published by Bryennios in 1883, is recognised as the basis of the seventh book of the Constitutions. The verbal coincidences, the order of topics, and other obvious phenomena, leave little room for reasonable doubt on this point. That the reader may be in possession of the main facts, the corresponding portions have been indicated both in book vii. of the Constitutions and in the version of the Teaching inserted in this volume. This literary connection has some bearing on the discussion as to the age of the Constitutions. If the Teaching is substantially the early work bearing that name, then some of the references by early writers which have been applied to the larger work must now be regarded as pointing to the Teaching; still, this only bears against the theory of a date as early as the third century. The new critical material furnished by the Bryennios manuscript for the Ignatian controversy has a bearing on the question respecting the work before us. The opinion has been strengthened (see below), that the same hand enlarged the Ignatian Epistles and adapted earlier matter (such as the Teaching) for the Apostolic Constitutions.