East, by the ablest leaders in the Church and by the lowliest1. It is very possible that, as time went on, more stress was laid than at the outset upon the contents of the faith and less, in proportion, upon the believing habit of soul. For the purposes of unity and fellowship it was easier to reckon by notes which were comparatively external, by orthodoxy in profession, by conformity in practice. This was, it may be admitted, to some extent a secularisation of Christianity. But on the one hand the Church and its best teachers never ceased to insist upon the life of faith and upon personal devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ; and on the other hand it is impossible to point to a period when all that was asked of Christians was the expression of a subjective faith. It was always required that they should believe certain truths about God and Christ, and should perform certain acts by which fellowship with the society was established. In the common acknowledgement of these truths, in the open performance of these acts, the Church found a safeguard and an encouragement for the inward fellowship of the Spirit. It would be of great interest if one of our indefatigable explorers could find for us, in the sands of Egypt or the caves of Eastern Turkestan, a book or two by Marcionite or other dissident Christians of the early days, expressing their views upon the subject of the present enquiry. To a certain extent the Montanist writings of Tertullian provide what we desire; but they are for the most part directed against particular details in the discipline of the despised Church, and only incidentally throw light upon the conception of the Church as a whole. Yet it is of more importance, after all, to know what Catholic churchmen themselves thought of the system to which they belonged. Here we are well supplied. The testimony is ample, and it 1 Haer. I x 2. is consistent. Whatever variations may be discerned, in accordance with the idiosyncrasies of particular authors, the main outlines of the conception are the same. Alike at Rome and at Alexandria, in Africa and in the East, men believed in a great spiritual community, founded by Christ, through His Spirit working in His Apostles, to which all the promises of the Old Testament were attached. This community was necessarily unique. In it, and in it alone, the gifts and graces of the Spirit of Christ were to be looked for. In spite of human imperfections, it was guided and permeated in every part by the Spirit. Nor was this community an intangible thing. It was a reality of experience, embodied in a practical discipline. The society was well known and unmistakeable. Its doctrine was everywhere the same; its worship, with rich diversity of forms, centred round one Eucharistic memorial. It had an organised hierarchy for worship and for the pastorate of souls. This hierarchy maintained union between the local branches, and did so in the name and by the authority of Christ. However far back the history is traced, no date can be assigned, however roughly, for the appearance of Catholicism in the Church. The Church was Catholic from the outset. SUMMARY In this Essay (1) the theory of Charismatic' ministries is examined and corrected, (2) Lightfoot's exposition of the origin of the Threefold Ministry is confirmed, (3) an attempt is made to indicate the essential significance of this Threefold Ministry. (1) PP. 59, 60. Explanations of St Paul's language proposed in the light of the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles must be tested by a closer attention to the context of the passages. The Teaching merely suggests a peculiar state of things within its own sphere. The New Testament is not explained by it, and still points to a different conception of Church and Ministry. (2) pp. 60-79. This conception is that which Lightfoot (who wrote 15 years before the Teaching was discovered) formed directly from the New Testamentviz. that the New Testament already shews a permanent ministry being instituted by the divinely commissioned authority of the Apostles: first Deacons, then Presbyter-Bishops were appointed; and the lines were laid down along which the second century' Episcopate ' would presently come into being. (3) PP. 79-88. This judgement of Lightfoot's, questioned by the 'second thoughts,' is confirmed by the third thoughts' of criticism. The stages of evolution have become plainer; so also has the idea itself which was evolved. This generation with its yearning for unity has gained in power to understand how the historic threefold ministry stands for the unity of the whole Church. pp. 88-92. II THE CHRISTIAN MINISTRY IN THE APOSTOLIC AND SUB-APOSTOLIC PERIODS Forty-nine years have gone by since Lightfoot wrote his famous essay on the early history of the Christian Ministry. These years have been fruitful in discovery and research. Some new documents have been brought to light: many documents that had lain neglected have been re-edited and made generally accessible. Criticism has been busy, sifting and dating these rival theories have offered to interpret all the evidence afresh. Many are asking to-day, What has been the issue of all this re-investigation? How does the matter stand? What is the verdict of history in the light of the newest knowledge of the facts? The question is asked with anxiety for it is rightly felt that much may depend on the answer. : It has seemed to the present writer that the most useful contribution he can make to the discussion of this question is, first, to pass in review a particular conception of the distribution of ministerial functions in the primitive Church, which originated with the discovery of the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles some thirty years ago, and has become increasingly popular from that time to this; and, secondly, to enquire whether, or to what extent, the view of the developement of the threefold- ministry which Lightfoot expounded in the earlier part of his essay requires to be abandoned or modified in consequence of more recent |