THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
H2
the general ecclesiastical visitors who divided the country into parishes, regulated the income of the ministers and the new ecclesiastical conditions. At the same time he was active in combating the sectaries brought from Silesia by Schwenckfeld. At the colloquy of Rastenburg in 1531 Poliander was the decisive factor in the victory over the Anabaptists. Until his death he stood in intimate relations of counselor and friend with Albrecht.
(David Erdmann")-.)
Bibliography: For sources consult: T. Kolde, in Beitrage zur bayerischen Kirchengeschichte, vol. vi., parts 2 and 5, Erlangen, 1899; P. Tschackert, Pvblikationen am den kiinirjl. preuss. Staatsarchiven, vols, xliii.-xlv., Leipsic, 1890-91. Consult further: F. W. E. Rost, Memoria Poliandri, Leipsic, 1808; idem. Was hat die Leipziger Thomasschule fur die Reformation gethanf ib. 1817; J. C. Cosack, P. Speratus Leben und Lieder, pp. 77 sqq., Brunswick, 1861.
POLITI, LANCELOTTI. See Catharinus, Am-
BROSIUS.
POLITY, ECCLESIASTICAL,*
i. ii.
in.
IV
Introduction.
Monarchical Type (Roman Catholicism) . \
Papal Authority Absolute (§ 1)>
Roman Doctrine of Church and
.State (§ 2). Aristocratic Type (Eastern Church).
Consistorial Type (Lutheran). I
VI
VII
Luther's Doctrine of the Church
(§ 1). The Prince and the Consistory (§ 2). Episcopal Type (Church of England,
Protestant Episcopal Church). Presbyterian Type. Rise and Extension (§1). Divine Right; Characteristics (§ 2). Congregational Type.
Distribution (§1). Essentials; Divine Right;
Church and State (§ 2). VIII. Eclectic Types (Methodist Churches). Constituent Elements (§ 1,. Resultant Forms of Government (§2). IX. Conclusion.
I. Introduction: The emphasis in this discussion falls upon the developments which have occurred within the modern period, and upon the grounds of induction relative to the probable future of a church polity which are supplied by these developments. The Roman and Greek types in their pre-Reformation form were the product of a lengthened historical evolution, and only by sweeping dogmatic assumptions can they be identified with the primitive constitution of the Church. Some germs of them doubtless were on hand at an early date, but as they appeared at the opening of the sixteenth century they were remote from anything that was outlined by Christ or known to his immediate followers. It is to be noted that, while forms of polity may appropriately be named after certain leading characteristics, they are not likely to be adequately described by the titles thus affixed. In a theoretical point of view it makes a great difference whether a given polity is supposed to subsist by divine right, or simply on the basis of human discretion. Practically it is of large account whether a given polity is operated independently, or in close connection with the State. Furthermore, it is of consequence in judging a given polity to observe whether it is appreciably modified by the incorporation of some element from a different type. The subject is obviously one of great complexity.
II. Monarchical Type (Roman Catholicism) : Since the promulgation of the decrees of the Vatican
Council (q.v.) and the acceptance of
i. Papal those decrees as having ecumenical
Authority authority, it can not be denied that the
Absolute, constitution of the Roman Catholic
Church is emphatically monarchical.
Prior to the Vatican legislation it was permissible
to assume that in the general body of the episco-
* In connection with the following treatment the reader should consult the articles on the various churches and denominational bodies of which mention is made in the course of the discussion, which articles usually contain accounts of the princinles and the details of church government prevailing within the several bodies. See also such articles as Church, the Christian; Church Government; Church and State; Collegialism; Territorialism; Bishop; Deacon; Episcopacy; and Organization of the Early Church.
pate there resided an authority at least coordinate with that of the pope. This assumption was widely current in the early part of the nineteenth century. But reaction from the disintegrating work of the French Revolution, powerfully seconded by pope and Curia, prepared for the enthronement of the opposing ultramontane theory. This result was consummated at the Vatican Council. The two decrees of that council relative to the papal office — -the one declaring that the pope possesses the fulness of the supreme power of jurisdiction over the universal Church, together with the right of immediate exercise of it over all the faithful, and the other asserting his independent infallibility — together constitute a formidable declaration of undivided and irresponsible rule. In the light of these decrees one may express the outcome in the equation : In point of authority the pope plus the Church equals the pope minus the Church. As complete in itself and exempt from all lawful restriction or arrest, the authority of the pope rules out the very notion of a supplement. Roman apologists, it is true, disclaim the application of the term " absolute " to the papal monarchy. By divine ordinance, they say, bishops have a place in ecclesiastical administration. The pope is bound by this fixed element in the constitution. Furthermore, he is bound by the ex cathedra decrees of his predecessors on matters of faith and morals. Consequently, the papal monarchy is not of the absolutist type. But while the pope must consent to the existence of bishops, no bishop can enter upon his office without the permission of the pope, from whom, or through whom, comes all power of jurisdiction, and who has also the right either to appoint bishops or to determine the mode of their appointment. No bishop in office can go counter to the expressed will of the pope without being guilty of a misdemeanor. No bishop can remain in office against the will of the pope. No council of bishops can be assembled contrary to the will of the pope, and no assembled council can pass any authoritative decree aeainst his judgment. As respects the ex cathedra decrees of predecessors the pope alone interprets them with full authority, and no one has the legal pre-