III. EPISCOPACY PROVED FROM HISTORY. Throughout the older world, story and rite Throughout the new, skirting all clouds with gold~~ Still young in hope, in disappointment old- Rises th' Eternal City of our God. The Cathedral. In the Preface to our Form for the ordaining of Deacons is this declaration-"It is evident unto all men, diligently read. ing Holy Scripture and ancient authors, that from the Apostles' time there have been these three orders of ministers in Christ's Church-Bishops, Priests, and Deacons."-In the last Lecture I took up the former of these points-the argument derived from Holy Scripture-and endeavored to show you, as well as the narrow limits of a single discourse would admit, that every allusion there made to the form of Church Government, proves that it must have been Episcopal in its nature. On the present occasion, I propose to bring forward the second argument here set forth in the declaration of the Church-that derived from the testimony of ANCIENT AUTHORS. Let us unroll then the records of the past, and looking away from the strifes and vain assertions of "this ignorant present time," read the words of those who wrote in the early years of our faith-who stood up within that circle of light which shed its radiance over the Apostolic days—and whose works have been bequeathed to us as a precious legacy, to tell how these things were in the golden days when schism was un known. In the dim twilight then of our knowledge, we would repeat that counsel which Bildad gave to Job—“ Inquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself to the search of their fathers: (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are dow): shall not they teach thee, and tell thee, and utter words out of their heart ?"'* a sha The argument, then, to be presented is this: That all writers of the first three centuries, who describe in any way the condition of the Church, in every hint they give, and every fact they state, show most plainly, that no ministry was known or recognized in that day, but the same three-fold orders of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, which have continued down even to us, in uninterrupted succession. And who are these writers? Men who were the companions and immediate successors of the Apostles-confessors and martyrs, who poured forth their blood freely for that faith in which they had lived-men, whose voices were heard proclaiming the doctrines of the Cross in every strange land-whose motto and principle of action was, that their Master must inherit the earth-men, whose virtues were too heroic, and their aims too lofty, to be fully comprehended in these degenerate days-and on the record of whose self-denying labors we now look back as upon a vision of past beauty which has faded from the earth, and for whose return we scarcely dare even to hope. Are their words, then, as they come down to us from those holy days, to be received only with doubts and carping questions ? And we think, too, that the very manner in which they gave their testimony, increases its force. They wrote no arguments to prove the nature of the Apostolic ministry. They set forth no elaborate proofs of the constitution of the Church. These were truths which in that day none disputed, and no formal defence was therefore necessary. We learn all these things incidentally, as they are brought forward in connection with other features of the Church, or the ordinary instructions by which they sought to train up in holiness the people of their charge. No writer in that age thought of proving that the Church was governed by * Chap. viii. 8, 9, 10. Bishops, any more than he did of establishing by argument the fact that Rome was governed by an emperor, and the provinces by governors who were under him. Both are merely alluded to as established historical facts. If then they who were cotemporary with the Apostles, and they who for three centuries followed them, all speak of the three orders of the ministry as being defined and established in their day, may we not-adding this to the testimony of Scripture-believe that it was the divinely constituted form which our Lord prescribed to His Church? Our first witness, then, is St. Clement. He was a fellow-laborer of St. Paul, who had bestowed upon him the noblest commendation language can frame. When writing to the Philippians, the Apostle says-" Clement also, and other my fellow-laborers, whose names are in the Book of Life." Having been appointed Bishop of Rome, he held that office nearly ten years, until his martyrdom. The single Epistle of his which is still extant, was written to the Corinthians, and so highly was it esteemed in the early Church, that Eusebius (the Ecclesiastical Historian who wrote in the beginning of the fourth century) assures us, it was universally received by all," and indeed reverenced by them next to the Holy Scriptures, and therefore "publicly read in most of the Churches for common benefit, both in times past and also in his memory." The object of this Epistle is, to promote a spirit of subordination among those to whom he wrote, that no one should intrude upon the office of such as were above him, but each in his own station discharge his appropriate duties. The very language which he uses, and the comparisons by which he illustrates his meaning, prove most fully that in that day" God in His wise providence had appointed divers Orders in His Church." For instance, he says-" Let us therefore march on, men and brethren, with all earnestness, in His holy laws. Let us consider those who fight under our earthly governors: how orderly, how readily, and with what exact obedience they perform those things that are commanded them! All are not prefects, nor tribunes, nor centurions, nor inferior * Cave's Lives of the Fathers, vol. i. p. 157. † Lib. iii. c. 16 38. Prayer in Office of Institution. ficers; but every one in his respective rank does what is commanded him by the king, and those who have the authority over him. They who are great cannot subsist without those who are little, nor the little without the great. But there must be a mixture in all things, and then there will be use and profit too. Let us, for example, take our body (1 Cor. xii. 13): the head without the feet is nothing, neither the feet without the head. And even the smallest members of our body are yet both necessary and useful to the whole body. But all conspire together, and are subject to one common life, namely, the preservation of the whole body. Let, therefore, our whole body be saved in Jesus Christ; and let every one be subject to his neighbor, according to the order in which he is placed by the gift of God." (§ 37, 38.) Again he uses that comparison to the Jewish priesthood, which was so common among the early writers"God has ordained, by His supreme will and authority, both where and by what persons they [that is, His services] are to be performed...... For the Chief Priest has his proper services; and to the Priests their proper place is appointed; and to the Levites appertain their proper ministries; and the Layman is confined within the bounds of what is commanded to Laymen. Let every one of you therefore, brethren, bless God in his proper station, with a good conscience, and with all gravity, not exceeding the rule of his service that is appointed to him." (§ 40, 41.) By this illustration he clearly points out a three-fold ministry. Again - he declares most plainly that the Apostolic office was not to cease with those who first held it, but to descend to others also. "So likewise our Apostles knew by our Lord Jesus Christ that there should contentions arise about the name of the Bishopric. And therefore having a perfect foreknowledge of this, they appointed persons, as we before said, and then gave direction how, when they should die, other chosen and approved mer should succeed in the ministry." (§ 44.) Our next witness is St. Ignatius. He, as St. Chrysostom tells us, was intimately conversant with the Apostles, educated and nursed up by them, and made partaker both of heir familiar discourses, and more secret and uncommon mysteries.* He was more particularly the disciple of St. John, and when fully instructed in the doctrines of Chris. tianity, was consecrated Bishop of Antioch, the metropolis of Syria, and the most famous and renowned city of the East. To this office he was ordained by the Apostles who were then living, and continued to guide the Church through the stormy period which followed, for the space of forty years, thirty of which were passed in the first century, the age of the inspired Apostles.† At length, at the age of 80, he was arrested as a Christian, and refusing to deny that Lord in whose service he had lived, was sent to Rome to be devoured by wild beasts in the amphitheatre. On his way thither, he stopped at Smyrna, and was thus allowed to see once more his ancient fellow-disciple, St. Polycarp, the Bishop of that city. Touching indeed must have been the meeting of these aged Christians, as thus, for the last time on earth, they beheld each other face to face. What hallowed recollections of the past must have come thronging back upon themthoughts of the early friends who had already entered into rest-memories of days when together they sat at the feet of the last surviving Apostle, and learned those lessons of love for a fallen race, which since they had acted out in their long and toilsome ministry! Had they been faithful to the lofty trust which he bestowed upon them? And were they prepared for that dread account, which, fearful to any of our Lord's ministers, must be doubly so to those who are the overseers of all ? Solemnly, too, must the future have opened its vista before them, as these aged disciples of the Cross communed with each other. They were men "appointed to death." With both, this dream of life was about to vanish into eternity One was rapidly approaching a death of agony; while the other, bowed down with years, felt that the shadows of the grave must soon be gathering about his path. Did no regrets, then, in this hour mingle with the musings of Ignatius, as the past, with its long array of trials, rushed back upon his mind, while coming days held out no promise but the pains of martyrdom? Was there no shrinking from Homil. in S. Ignat. v. ii. p. 593. + Cave's Lives of the Fathers, v. i. p. 179. |