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have existed would seem to have been of minor
importance in the presence of the miraculous charis-
mata (q. v.) of the Holy Spirit conferred upon in-
dividuals, and fitting them to act as organs of the
community in various grades. St. Paul in his
earlier Epistles has no messages for the bishops or
deacons, although the circumstances dealt with in
the Epistles to the Corinthians and in that to the
Galatians would seem to suggest a reference to the
local rulers of the Church. When he enumerates
the various functions to which God has called
various members of the Church, he does not give us
a list of Church offices. "God", he says, "hath set
some in the church, first apostles, secondly prophets,
thirdly doctors [SiSdo-xaXoi]; after that miracles;
then the graces of healings, helps, governments,
kinds of tongues" (I Cor., xii, 28). This is not a list
of official designations. It is a list of "charismata"
bestowed by the Holy Spirit, enabling the recipient
to fulfil some special function. The only term
which forms an exception to this is that of apostle.
Here the word is doubtless used in the sense in
which it signifies the twelve and St. Paul only. As
thus applied the Apostolate was a distinct office,
involving a personal mission received from the Risen
Lord Himself (I Cor., i, 1; Gal., i, 1). Such a posi-
tion was of altogether too special a character for its
recipients to be placed in any other category. The
term could indeed be used in a wider reference. It
is used of Barnabas (Acts, xiv, 13) and of Andronicus
and Junias, St. Paul's kinsmen (Rom., xvi, 7). In
this extended signification it is apparently equiva-
lent to evangelist (Eph., iv, 11; II Tim., iv, 5) and
denotes those "apostolic men", who, like the Apos-
tles, went from place to place labouring in new fields,
but who had received their commission from them,
and not from Christ in person. (See Apostles.)
The "prophets", the second class mentioned, were men to whom it was given to speak from time to time under the direct influence of the Holy Spirit as the recipients of supernatural inspiration (Acts, xiii, 2; xv, 23; xxi, 11; etc.). By the nature of the case the exercise of such a function could be occa- sional only. The " charisma " of the "doctors" (or teachers) differed from that of the prophets, in that it could be used continuously. They had received the gift of intelligent insight into revealed truth, and the power to impart it to others. It is manifest that those who possessed such a power must have exercised a function of vital moment to the Church in those first days, when the Christian communities consisted to so large an extent of new converts. The other " charismata " mentioned do not call for special notice. But the prophets and teachers would appear to have possessed an importance as organs of the community, eclipsing that of the local ministry. Thus in Acts, xiii, 1, it is simply related that there were in the Church which was at Antioch prophets and doctors. There ic no mention of bishops or deacons. And in the Didache — a work as it would seem of the first century, written be- fore the last Apostle had passed away — the author enjoins respect for the bishops and deacons, on the ground that they have a claim similar to that of the prophets and doctors. "Appoint for yourselves", he writes, "bishops and deacons, worthy of the Lord, men who are meek, and not lovers of money, and true and approved; for unto you they also per- form the service [XeiToiy>7oO(ri ttjk Xcirovpylav] of the prophets and doctors. Therefore despise them not: for they are your honourable men along with the prophets and teachers" (c. xv).
It would appear, then, indisputable that in the earliest years of the Christian Church ecclesiastical functions were in a large measure fulfilled by men who had been specially endowed for this purpose with "charismata" of the Holy Spirit, and that as long
as these gifts endured, the local ministry occupied
a position of less importance and influence. Yet,
though this be the case, there would seem to be
ample ground for holding that the local ministry
was of Apostolic institution: and, further, that
towards the later part of the Apostolic Age the
abundant "charismata" were eeasingj and that the
Apostles themselves took measures to determine
the position of the official hierarchy as the directive
authority of the Church. The evidence for the
existence of such a local ministry is plentiful in the
later Epistles of St. Paul (Phil., I and II Tim., and
Titus). The Epistle to the Philippians opens with
a special greeting to the bishops and deacons. Those
who hold these official positions are recognized as
the representatives in some sort of the Church.
Throughout the letter there is no mention of the
"charismata", which figure so largely in the earlier
Epistles. It is indeed urged by Hort (Christian
Ecclesia, p. 211) that even here these terms are not
official titles. But in view of their employment as
titles in documents so nearly contemporary, as I
Clem., c. 4, and the Didache, such a contention
seems devoid of all probability.
In the Pastoral Epistles the new situation appears even more clearly. The purpose of these writings was to instruct Timothy and Titus regarding the manner in which they were to organize the local Churches. The total absence of all reference to the spiritual gifts can scarcely be otherwise explained than by supposing that they no longer existed in the communities, or that they were at most exceptional phenomena. Instead, we find the Churches gov- erned by a hierarchical organization of bishops, some- times also termed presbyters, and deacons. That the terms bishop and presbyter are synonymous is evi- dent from Titus, i, 5-7: "I left thee in Crete, that thou shouldest . . . ordain priests in every city . . . For a bishop must be without crime." These presbyters form a corporate body (I Tim., iv, 14), and they are entrusted with the twofold charge of governing the Church (I Tim., iii, 5) and of teach- ing (I Tim., iii, 2; Titus, i, 9). The selection of those who are to fill this post does not depend on the possession of supernatural gifts. It is required that they should not be unproved neophytes, that they should be under no charge, should have displayed moral fitness for the work, and should be capable of teaching. (I Tim., iii, 2-7; Titus, i, 5-9.) The appointment to this office was by a solemn laying on of hands (I Tim., v, 22). Some words addressed by St. Paul to Timothy, in reference to the ceremony as it had taken place in Timothy's case, throw light upon its nature. "I admonish thee", he writes, "that thou stir up the grace (x<V">'Ma) of God, which is in thee by the laying on of my hands" (II Tim., i, 6). The rite is here declared to be the means by which a charismatic gift is conferred; and, further, the gift in question, like the baptismal character, is permanent in its effects. The recipient needs but to "waken into life "[dvafa-rrvpetv] the grace he thus possesses in order to avail himself of it. It is an abiding endowment. There can be no reason for asserting that the imposition of hands, by which Timothy was instructed to appoint the presbyters to their otfice, was a rite of a different character, a mere formality without practical import.
With the evidence before us, certain other notices in 1h. New Testament writings, pointing to the exist- ence of this local ministry, may lie considered. There is mention of presbyters at Jerusalem at a date ap- pan iitlv immediately subsequent to the dispersion of the Apostles (Ants, xi, 30; cf. xv, 2; xvi, 4; xxi, 18). Again, we are told that Paul and Barnabas, as they retraced their steps on their first missionary journey, appointed presbyters in every Church (Acts, xiv, 22). So too the injunction to the Thessalonians
