§ 47. HELYIDIDS, VIGILANTIUS, AJS'D AEEILTS. 232
the wine, and M'ould, according to ancient art, cnnbiue hia poison with the genuine faith. He opposes virginity, hates chastity, cries against the fastings of the saints, and would only amidst jovial feastings amuse himself with the Psalms ol David. It is terrible to hear, that even bishops are companions of his wantonness, if those deserve this name, who ordain only married persons deacons, and trust not the chastity of the single." ' Vigilantius thinks it better for a man to use his money wisely, and apply it gradually to benevolent objects at home, than to lavish it all at once upon the poor or give it to the monks of Jerusalem. He went further, however, than his two predecessors, and bent his main efforts against the worship of saints and relics, which was then gaining ascendency and was fostered by monasticism. He considered it superstition and idolatry. He called the Christians, who worshipped the "wretched bones" of dead men, ash-gatherers and idolaters.'* He expressed himself sceptically respecting the miracles of the martyrs, contested the practice of invoking them and of intercession for the dead, as useless, and declared himself against the Yigils, or public worship in the night, as tending to disorder and licentiousness. This last point Jerome admits as a fact, but not as an argument, because the abuse should not abolish the right use.
The presbyter Aekius of Sebaste, about 360, belongs alsi among the partial opponents of monasticism. For, though himself an ascetic, he contended against the fast laws and the injunction of fasts at certain times, considering them an encroachment upon Christian freedom. Epiphanius also ascribes to him three other heretical views : denial of the superiority of bishops to presbyters, opposition to the usual Easter festival, and opposition to prayers for the dead.^ He was hotly persecuted by the hierarchy, and was obliged to live, with his adherents, in open fields and in caves.
' Adv. Vigil, c. 1 and 2 (Opera, torn. ii. p. 387 sqq.).
' " Cinerarios et idolatras, qui mortuorum ossa venerantur." Hieron. ep. 109, Hd Riparium (torn. i. p. 719).
* Epiph. Ilaer. 75. Comp. also Walch, 1. c. iii. 321-338. Bellarmine, on account of this external resemblance, styles Protestantism the A erian heresy.
CHAPTER Y.
THE HIEEAKCHY AND POLITY OF TUE JHURCH,
Oomp. in part the literature in vol. i. § 105 nnd 110 (to whicli should be added now, P. A. de Lagaede: Constitutiones Apostolorum, Lip3. and Loud., 1862); also Giubon, ch. xx. ; Milman: Hist, of Ancient Christianity, book iv. c. 1 (Amer. ed. p. 438 sqq.), and the corresponding sections in Bingham, Soiii:uoku, Plank, Neandek, Gieselek, B^Tiij, etc. (sue the particular literature below).
§ 48. Schools of the Clergy.
Having in a fonner section observed the elevation of tlie churcli to the position of the state religion of the Roman empire, and the influence of this great change upon the condition of the clergy and upon public morality, we tm*n now to tlie internal organization and the development of the liierarchy under its new circumstances. The step of progress which we here find distinguishing the organization of this third period from the episcopal system of the second and the apostolic supervision of the first, is the rise of the patriarchal constitution and of the system of ecumenical councils closely connected with it. But we must first glance at the character and influence of the teaching order in general.
The work of preparation for the clerical ofiice was, on the one hand, materially facilitated by the union of the church with the state, putting her in possession of the treasures, the Bchools, the learning, and the literature of classic lieathendom, and throwing the education of the rising generation into her hands. The numerous doctrinal controversies kept the spirit
§ -IS. SCHOOLS OF THE CLKKGY. 235
of investigation awake, and among the fathers and bishops of the fourth and fifth centuries we meet with the greatest theologians of the ancient church. These gave their weighty voicea for the great value of a thorough education to the clerical office, and imparted much wliolesome instruction respecting the studies proper to this purpose.' The African church, by a decree of the council of Carthage, in 397, required of candidates a trial of their knowledge and orthodoxy. A law of Justinian, of the year 541, established a similar test in the East. But on the other hand, a regular and general system of clerical education was still entirely wanting. The steady decay of the classic literature, the gradual cessation of philosophical and artistic production, the growth of monastic prejudice against secular learning and culture, the great want of ministers in the suddenly expanded field of the church, the imeasy state of the empire, and the barbarian invasions, wei'C so many hinderances to thorough theological preparation. Many candidates trusted to the magical virtue of ordination. Others, without inward call, were attracted to the holy ofiice by the wealth and power of the church. Others had no time or opportunity for preparation, and passed, at the instance of the popular voice or of circumstances, immediately from the service of the state to that of the churcli, even to the episcopal office ; though several councils prescribed a previous test of their capacity in the lower degrees of reader, deacon, and presbyter. Often, however, this irregularity turned to the advantage of the church, and gave her a highly gifted man, like Ambrose, whom the acclamation of the people called to the episcopal see of Milan even before he was baptized. Gregory Nazianzen laments that many priests and bishops came in fresh from the counting house, sunburnt from the plow, from the oar, from the army, or even from the theatre, so that the most holy order of all was in danger of becoming the most ridiculous. " Only he can be a physician," says he, "who knows the nature of diseases ; he, a painter, who has gone through much practice
' E.g. Chrysostom : De sacerdotio ; Augustine: De doctrina Christiana; Je rome : in several leHers ; Gregory the Great : Regula pastoralia.