THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
to saying that in t he earlier period iit which we know of the clause the only meaniiit:; assigned to it is a different one from that which it bears in modern Protestant theology — though this is not to say that it was introduced for the purpose of sanctioning
the cult us of the saints and defend- Meaning. iag it against attack. The question
is whether this meaning was borne by it at the time of its origin, which must have preceded the date already mentioned by a sufficient interval to allow it to attain the wide recognition already seen. The words were certainly not used, before they became part of the creed, with reference only to the perfected saints in heaven, but rather to the fellowship here below of those who are sanctified in Christ, just as the Church on earth is called holy. The controversy between Augustine and the Donatists turned on the question whether the existence of the ecck.'iia sancta depended on the expulsion of all those whose character gave them no right to belong to it. And so Nicetas calls the existing Church, whose members are only later to attain the fulness of the communio sanctorum, a congregatio sanctorum. It is at least a plausible theory that the clause was originally put into the creed to express in the widest sense the fellowship of all the saints, existing already here and to be perfected hereafter; and that the narrower interpretation came in under the influence of the increasing cultus of those whom we now call the saints. This view would bring the clause into connection with the Donatist controversy; while the sectaries boasted of their " communion of saints," the catholic Church desired solemnly to testify to its belief in that same blessing, and its confidence of possessing it. But the theory is weakened by the fact that the North African Church recited the creed without this clause. The theory that communio sanctorum is a rendering of the Greek koindnia ton hagion, " holy things " in the neuter sense, as in the versicle of the liturgy ta hagia tois hagiois, may be dismissed.
It is worth remarking that the Roman Catholic Church, strongly as it presses the veneration of the saints in the narrower sense, has never confined itself to this meaning in its interpretation of the clause, but is rather inclined (as in the Catechismus Romanus) to expound it as an expansion or complement of the preceding " Holy Catholic Church." To this communion belong the members of the Church on earth (the Church militant), those in
purgatory (the Church patient), and Roman the saints in heaven (the Church Tri- Catholic In- umphant). The communion is emterpretation. phasized by the prayers which the
last-named offer for their brethren on earth and in purgatory, and by the doctrine of the treasure of the merits both of Christ and the saints which are available for the Church on earth. In a somewhat similar manner Luther explains the clause under discussion as an alternative expression for " Holy Catholic Church," translating it rather as "the fellowship of the saints"; he understands, however, different terms for the sharing of the blessings, and knows nothing of saints in the narrow sense. The older Lutheran theologians followed this view; and the Calvinist confessions do not differ widely from it, explaining that those who are sanctified in Christ's fellowship are bound to a mutual sharing of all the benefits they receive from God. (J. KosTLrNf.)
Bibliography: H. B. Wilson, The Communion of Saints, Oxford, 1851; W. Rede, The Communion of Saints, London, 1893. Discussions will generally be found in treatises on the creeds, such as; C. P. Caspari, Quellen zur Geschichte des Tauf symbols, Leipsic, 1866-75; H. Cremer, Zum Kampf um das Apostolicum, ]3erlin, 1893; T. Zahn, Das apostolische Symbol, Nuremberg, 1893; O. Zockler, Zum Apostolikumstreit, Munich, 1893; F. Kattenbusch, Das apostolische Symbol, Leipsic, 1894-1900; A. Hahn, Symbole und Glaubensregeln der alien Kirche, Breslau, 1897; A. Harnack, The Apostles' Creed, London, 1901; A. C. McGiffert, Apostles Creed, New York, 1902; KL, v. 1621-22.
COMMUNION OF THE SICK. See Lord's Supper, v., § 2.
The words used synon-
I. Theory, History, and Criticism. The Communist Theory (5 1). History (§ 2). Historical Examples (§ 3). Criticism {§ 4). II. Communism in America.
Type and Character of American Communism (§1).
1. The Adonai Shomo.
2. The Altruist Community.
I. Theory, History, and Criticism
communism and socialism are often ymously; but this usage leads to confusion. As the opposite of individualism, socialism is merely the general view that, in the organization of society, the welfare of the whole shall take precedence of the rights of individuals. It 1. The is not something absolute, but ad- Communist mits of degrees, according to the ex- Theory, tent to which it recognizes individualism. Communism, or collectivism, on the other hand, is a definite system. It is a theory as to the distribution of property in the interest