CENT. III. ences.
PART II.

These christian philosophers preserving still a fervent zeal for the doctrines of their heathen chief, would naturally embrace every opportu. nity of spreading them abroad, and instilling them into the minds of the ignorant and the unwary.

CHAPTER II.

CONCERNING THE DOCTORS AND MINISTERS OF THE CHURCH, AND
ITS FORM OF GOVERNMENT, DURING THIS CENTURY.

Of the form of church gov. ernment.

1. THE form of ecclesiastical government that had been adopted by christians in general, had now acquired greater degrees of stability and force, both in particular churches, and in the universal society of christians collectively considered. It appears incontestable from the most authentic records, and the best histories of this century, that, in the larger cities, there was, at the head of each church, a person to whom was given the title of bishop, who ruled this sacred community with a certain sort of authority, in concert, however, with the body of presbyters, and consulting, in matters of moment, the opinion and the voices of the whole assembly. It is also equally evident, that, in every province, one bishop was invested with a certain superiority over the rest, in point of rank and authority. This was necessary to the maintenance of that association of churches that had been introduced in the preceding century; and contributed, moreover, to facilitate the holding of general councils, and to

• A satisfactory account of this matter may be seen in Blondelli Apologia pro Sententia Hieronymi de Episcopis et Presbyteris, p. 136, as that author has collected all the testimonies of the ancients relative to that subject.

PART II.

give a certain degree of order and consistence to CENT. III. their proceedings. It must, at the same time, be carefully observed, that the rights and privileges of these primitive bishops, were not, every where, accurately fixed, nor determined in such a manner as to prevent encroachments and disputes; nor does it appear, that the chief authority, in the province, was always conferred upon that bishop who presided over the church established in the metropolis. It is further to be noticed, as a matter beyond all dispute, that the bishops of Rome, Antioch, and Alexandria, considered as rulers of primitive and apostolic churches, had a kind of preeminence over all others, and were not only consulted frequently in affairs of a difficult and momentous nature, but were also distinguished by peculiar rights and privileges.

II. With respect, particularly, to the bishop of Rome; he is supposed by Cyprian to have had, at this time, a certain pre-eminence in the church ;P nor does he stand alone in this opinion. But it is to be carefully observed, that even those who, with Cyprian, attributed this pre-eminence to the Roman prelate, insisted, at the same time, with the utmost warmth, upon the equality, in point of dignity and authority, that subsisted among all the members of the episcopal order. In consequence of this opinion of an equality among all christian bishops, they rejected, with contempt, the judgment of the bishop of Rome, when they thought it ill founded or unjust, and followed their own sense of things with a perfect independence. Of this Cyprian himself gave an eminent example, in his famous controversy with Stephen bishop of Rome, concerning the baptism of heretics, in which he treated the arrogance of that imperious prelate with

Cyprian, Ep. lxxiii. p. 131. Ep. lv. p. 86. Ib. De Unitate Ecclesia, p. 195, edit. Baluzii.

The power bishop of century;

and dignity of

the

Rome in this

what?

PART II.

૧

GENT.III. a noble indignation, and also with a perfect contempt. Whoever, therefore, compares all these things together, will easily perceive, that the preeminence of the bishop of Rome, was a pre-eminence of order and association, and not of power and authority. Or, to explain the matter yet more clearly, the pre-eminence of the bishop of Rome, in the universal church, was such as that of Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, was in the African churches. And every one knows, that the precedence of this latter prelate diminished in nothing the equality that subsisted among all the African bishops, invalidated in no instance their rights and liberties; but gave only to Cyprian, as the president of their general assemblies, a power of calling councils, of presiding in them, of admonishing his brethren in a mild and fraternal manner, and of executing, in short, such offices as the order and purposes of these ecclesiastical meetings necessarily required.*

The govern

ment of the

erates into a

form.

III. The face of things began now to change in church degen- the christian church. The ancient method of ecmonarchical clesiastical government seemed, in general, still to subsist, while, at the same time, by imperceptible steps, it varied from the primitive rule, and degenerated toward the form of a religious monarchy. For the bishops aspired to higher degrees of power and authority than they had formerly possessed; and not only violated the rights of the people, but also

So I have translated Principatus ordinis et consociationis, which could not be otherwise rendered without a long circumlocution. The pre-eminence here mentioned, signifies the right of convening councils, of presiding in them, of collecting voices, and such other things as were essential to the order of these assemblies.

See Steph. Baluzii adnot. ad Cypriani Epistolas, p. 387, 589, 400. Consult particularly the Ixxi. and Ixxiii. epistles of Cyprian, and the lv. addressed to Cornelius bishop of Rome, in which letters the Carthaginian prelate pleads with warmth and vehemence for the equality of all christian bishops

259

II.

made gradual encroachments upon the privileges CENT. III.
of the presbyters. And that they might cover PAR
these usurpations with an air of justice, and an ap-
pearance of reason, they published new doctrines
concerning the nature of the church, and of the
episcopal dignity, which, however, were, in general
so obscure, that they themselves seem to have un-
derstood them as little as those to whom they were
delivered. One of the principal authors of this
change in the government of the church, was Cyp-
rian, who pleaded for the power of the bishops with
more zeal and vehemence than had ever been hith-
erto employed in that cause, though not with an
unshaken constancy and perseverance; for, in dif-
ficult and perilous times, necessity sometimes
obliged him to yield, and to submit several things
to the judgment and authority of the church.

the clergy.

IV. This change, in the form of ecclesiastical The vices of government, was soon followed by a train of vices, which dishonoured the character and authority of those to whom the administration of the church was committed. For, though several yet continued to exhibit to the world illustrious examples of primitive piety and christian virtue, yet many were sunk in luxury and voluptuousness, puffed up with vanity, arrogance, and ambition, possessed with a spirit of contention and discord, and addicted to many other vices that cast an undeserved reproach upon the holy religion, of which they were the unworthy professors and ministers. This is testified in such an ample manner, by the repeated complaints of many of the most respectable writers of this age, that truth will not permit us to spread the veil, which we should otherwise be desirous to cast over such enormities among an order so sacred. The bishops assumed, in many places, a princely authority, particularly those who had the

• Origen. Comm. in Matthæum, part i. opp. p. 420, 441, 442. Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. lib. vii. cap. i. p. 291, &e.

+

PART 11.

CENT. III. greatest number of churches under their inspection, and who presided over the most opulent assemblies. They appropriated to their evangelical function the splendid ensigns of temporal majesty. A throne, surrounded with ministers, exalted above his equals the servant of the meek and humble Jesus; and sumptuous garments dazzled the eyes and the minds of the multitude into an ignorant veneration for their arrogated authority. The example of the bishops was ambitiously imitated by the presbyters, who, neglecting the sacred duties of their station, abandoned themselves to the indolence and delicacy of an effeminate and luxurious life. The deacons, beholding the presbyters deserting thus their functions, boldly usurped their rights and privileges; and the effects of a corrupt ambition were spread through every rank of the sacred order.

Hence the lcsser orders.

v. From what has been now observed, we may come, perhaps, at the true origin of minor or lesser orders, which were, in this century, added every where to those of the bishops, presbyters, and deacons. For, certainly, the titles and offices of subdeacons, acolythi, ostiarii, or doorkeepers, readers, exorcists, and copiata, would never have been heard of in the church, if its rulers had been assiduously and zealously employed in promoting the interests of truth and piety by their labours and their example. But when the honours and privileges of the bishops and presbyters were augmented, the deacons also began to extend their ambitious views, and to despise those lower functions and employments which they had hitherto exercised with such humility and zeal. The additional orders that were now created to diminish the labours of the present rulers of the church, had functions allotted to them, which their names partly explain.'

The subdeacons were designed to ease the deacons of the meanest part of their work. Their office, consequently, was to prepare the sacred vessels of the altar, and to deliver them to the deacons in time