RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
found more or less distinct references {Didache, xv. 1- Cyprian, Epist, xxxviii., Ixvii. 4; Chrysostom, " On the Priesthood," iii. 15; Apostolic Constitu- !ions, vii. 31; Leo the Great, ^/ptst,x. 6; Synod of Orleans, ii. 7, iii- 3; Missale Francorum, allocutio in ordinatione presbyteri). That, as a matter of fact, this right of the congregation was often enough Teatly encroached upon is not to be disputed. But the Council of Trent did not revoke the right n principle, merely pronouncing the opposite projedure to be just as valid (Session xxiii., chap. 4).
Luther distinguished two kinds of calling. The irst proceeds from God alone, without any meiium; and this calling must have external signs md witness. The other calling needs no signs; it !omes about through men and is previously conirmed by the command of God on Mount Sinai: [/ove God, and thy neighbor as thyself. From this new of Luther's has been evolved the Lutheran loctrine of the vocatio immediata and mediata.
reference to the latter the Augsburg Confesion requires that he who holds a clerical ofEce Qust be " duly called." Lutheran dogmaticians ;enerally recognize the cooperation of the congre- ;ation. It is to be observed that this vocation is Jways understood as to a definitely circumscribed phere of operation.
According to Calvin (" Institutes," IV. iii. 17) he -eocaiio must come about "with the consent and pproval of the people; but other pastors ought to ireside at the election." According to the Geneva rdinances the clergy do the electing and the laity oices its consent (Second Helvetic Confession, viii.). A detailed description of the election as onducted by the whole congregation is found at tie close of the Liturgia in ecclesia peregrinorum t Frankfort-on-the-Main, 1554. W. Caspar:.
IV. Legal Status of the Clergy: In the United tates, there being no ecclesiastical establishment, 16 clergy, with the exception of chaplains in the Jmy and Navy and those attached to legislative odies, have no governmental connection. The lerical profession is, however, recognized in the ;atute law of all the States and Territories. In law clergyman, priest, or minister is one who has been igularly authorized to preach the Gospel and adumster the ordinances of rehgion, according to the Jes of the religious body to which he is attached, he legal status of the clergy remains so long as this lerical office is recognized by the body to which ley belong. The law grants them exemption from ulitary duty and from service in petit juries. In le case of grand juries this exemption is sometimes ptional. The law also grants the clergy the right 3 solemnize marriage, which right is shared by a umber of civil officials, and is purely statutory. Oder some State laws providing for the incorporaon of religious bodies the minister in charge may e elected a trustee and thus a member of the cororation. The profession of pastor or minister in ny general rehgious body does not in law develop ny contract for his support, while he is bound by laws of the body as to his official and personal onduct so long as his office is recognized; but no cciesiastical connection can impair his civil and roperty rights. A minister is under no legal ob- IIL— 10
ligation to mantain his ecclesiastical connection Ihe law reads into a contract of a minister for employment by a local church all the rules of the denomination that recognizes his standing as a minister as though such rules had been inserted in the call. Where the religious society is an independent organization, the salary is generally fixed by the qualified electors of the society, and certified by the trustees having control of the temporalities of the Church. For salary is a lien upon all the church property other than that held in trust. See Ordination; Benefit of Clergy; Bishop; Episcopacy; Deacon; Presbyter; Priest; Orders, Holy; etc'
Geo. J. Bayles.
Bibliography: For the Roman Catholic doctrine consult: KL, lii. 537-547; De Marca, De discrimine clericorum et Imcorum. ed. Baluze, pp. 84-93, Venice, 1770; H. Rump, Das allgemeine Priesterthum der Christen, Miinster, I860; W. Schenz, Das Laien- und das himmlische Priesterthum, Freiburg, 1873; H. Hurter, Theologies dogmaticce compendium, vol. iii., chap. " De ordine," Innsbruck, 1893.
For the Lutheran: K. Ullmann, preface to TSK for 1849; G. C. A. von Harless, Kirche und Ami, Stuttgart, 1853; J. W F. Hofling, Grundsatze evangelisch-lutherischer Kirchenverfassung, Erlangen, 1853; K. Lechler, Die neutestamentliche Lehre vom heiligen Amte, Stuttgart,' 1857; W. Preger, Geschichte vom geistlichen Amte, Nordlingen, 1857; A. F. C. Vilmar, Die Lehre vom geistlichen Amte, Marburg, 1870.
For the Reformed and Anglican sides consult: Bingham, Origines, books iv., vi.; Calvin, Institutes, L. iv. 3; J. B. Lightfoot, The Christian Ministry, new ed.. New York, 1894; E. A. Litton, The Church of Christ, in its Idea, Attributes and Ministry, London, 1851; C. Wordsworth, Outlines of the Christian Ministry, ib. 1872; C. Gore, Ministry of the Christian Church, ib. 1889; H. J. Van Dyke, The Church, her Ministry and Sacraments, New York, 1890; W. Lefroy, The Christian Ministry, London, 1891. The subject is treated in works on the Encyclopedia of Theology (q.v.) and on Practical Theology. See the literature under Ordination.
CLERICUS, JOHANNES (JEAN LE CLERC): Reformed theologian; b. at Geneva Mar. 19, 1657; d. at Amsterdam Jan. 8, 1736. He studied at Geneva under Turretin and Mestrezat, and later went to Grenoble, Saumur, Paris, and London, where for some months he preached to the Reformed fugitives from Savoy and published his Epistolce theologicw under the name of Liberius de Sancto Amore. By studying the works of Etienne de Courcelles and Episcopius he was drawn over to the Dutch Remonstrants, went to Amsterdam, and was appointed there professor of literature and philosophy in the Remonstrant Seminary. Here he developed a great activity in all branches of science. He published much and corresponded with many scholars. In his Entretiens (Amsterdam, 1684) he maintained that reason is an infallible guide in judging of all that man needs to know for salvation, but in other writings he declared his belief in revelation and defended himself against the charge of Socinianism. As a theologian his chief service was his contribution to a better understanding of the Bible, free from dogmatic prejudices. H. C. ROGGEf.
Bibliography: An anonymous life in Latin was published Amsterdam, 1711; A. des Amorie van der Hoeven. De Joanne Clerico, ib. 1843.
CLERK: The name originally used, in its Latin form clericus, to designate all ordained persons, or members of the "clergy" (q.v.). From the fact
Slermont luny