in this manner apostolical churches assert their rights thus the church of Smyrna has Polycarp, who was placed there by John; the church of Rome has Clement, who was ordained by Peter; and other churches shew other persons, who by being placed in the bishoprics by the Apostles, transmitted the apostolical seed (1)."" Thence," says Cyprian, "schisms and heresies have arisen, and still arise, while the bishop, who is one, and presides over the church, through the proud presumption of certain persons, is despised; and thus the man who is honoured by the sanction of God, is judged unworthy by men (m)." In an epistle ascribed to Ignatius, but probably spurious, though of great antiquity, it is asserted, that Evodius was consecrated a bishop by the Apostles (n). And Chrysostom says, that "Ignatius conversed familiarly with the Apostles, and was perfectly acquainted with their doctrine, and had the hands of Apostles laid upon him (o)." If this last passage does not absolutely prove that the Apostles consecrated Ignatius a bishop, it certainly shews that a person was a bishop who was contemporary with the (1) De Præsc. adv. Hær. (n) Ad. Antioch. sect. 7. Apostles, (m) Ep. 69. ad Flor. Apostles, was known to them, and was well versed in their doctrine. In a fragment of an epistle of Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, in the second century, preserved by Eusebius, it is said that Dionysius the Areopagite, who was converted by St. Paul, was appointed the first bishop of Athens (p). In Eusebius and Socrates we have catalogues of the bishops of many cities, from the times of the Apostles; and Epiphanius has left us a catalogue of the bishops of Jerusalem, from St. James the Apostle, to Hilarion, who was bishop in his time (q). And to remove all possibility of doubt upon this question, we find bishops, priests, and deacons, mentioned together as three separate orders. Ignatius, in his epistle to the Magnesians, mentions Damas as bishop of Magnesia, Bassus and Apollonius as presbyters, and Sotian as deacon in the same church (r); and in his epistle to the Philadelphians he says, "Attend to the bishop, to the presbytery, and to the deacons (s);" and in his epistle to the Trallians "Be ye subject to the bishop, as to Jesus he says, of the mysteries of Jesus adds, (p) H. E. Lib. 4. cap. 23. (r) Sect. 2. (q) Lib. 2. Hær. 66. (s) Sect. 7. [PART III. adds, "without these there is no elect church, no congregation of holy men (u)." These three epistles are all acknowledged to be genuine; and as Ignatius suffered martyrdom in Trajan's reigu, probably as early as the year 107, certainly not later than 112, his authority must be considered as decisive. Clement of Alexandria, in a subsequent part of the same century, speaks of the three progressive orders of deacons, priests, and bishops (a); and there are several early instances of bishops, who had been presbyters and deacons in the same church. Irenæus was first presbyter, then bishop of Lyons; Dionysius first presbyter, then bishop of Rome; and Eleutherius, first deacon, then bishop of Rome (y). All these three lived in the second century. "When your captains," says Tertullian, "that is to say, the deacons, presbyters, and bishops, fly, who shall teach the laity, that they must be constant (z)?" And upon another occasion, speaking of baptism, he says, "The high priest, who is the bishop, has the chief right of administering it, then the presbyters and deacons, but not without the authority of the bishop (a)." Origen, in many places, speaks of bishops as superior (x) Strom. Lib. 6. (u) Sect. 3. (a) De Baptism, cap. 17. superior to presbyters and deacons; and many authors compare the bishops (b), presbyters, and deacons of the Christian church, to the high priests, priests and Levites, under the Jewish dispensation; and this resemblance was the cause of presbyters afterwards obtaining the name of priests (c). Clement, a disciple of the Apostles, "To the high priest are given his proper says, duties; to the priests their proper place is assigned; and to the Levites their proper services are appointed (d);" in which passage this antient father, as appears from the context, is evidently speaking of the bishop, presbyters, and deacons of the Christian church; and Tertullian, in the passage just now quoted, called the bishop the high priest. But Jerome is still more express, although he is sometimes represented as "And unfavourable to the cause of episcopacy: that we may know," says he, "that the apostolical traditions were taken from the Old Testament, that which Aaron and his sons, and the Levites, were (b) The Greek authors frequently call bishops Agxugus and the Latin fathers call them, Summi sacerdotes, and Principes sacerdotum. (c) Qui sacerdotes in veteri Testamento vocabantur, hi sunt qui nunc presbyteri appellantur, et qui tunc princeps sacerdotum nunc episcopus vocatur. Raba. Maur. de Inst. Cler. lib. 3. c. 6. (d) Ep. ad Cor. sect. 40. were in the temple, let bishops, priests, and deacons, claim to themselves in the church of Christ (e);" where it is to be observed, that he calls the orders of bishops, priests, and deacons, an apostolical tradition. "To what purpose, says Optatus," should I mention deacons, who are in the third, or presbyters, in the second degree of priesthood, when the very heads and princes of all, even certain of the bishops themselves, were content to redeem life with the loss of heaven (f)?" In the tenth canon of the Council of Sardis, which was held A. D. 347, we find the following passage: "Every degree of holy orders requires a considerable length of time, wherein the faith of the ordained person, his morals, his firmness, and his moderation, may be known; for it is not proper, nor is it consistent with the necessary knowledge and good conversation, that a person should be rashly and lightly appointed a bishop, or priest, or deacon." To these positive authorities we may add, that episcopal power was not once called in question in the first three centuries. At the end of the fourth century, Aerius, an Arian, upon being disappointed in his hope of being advanced to a bishopric, wrote against episcopacy, and maintained that there ought to be no order in the church (e) Epist. ad. Evag. (f) Lib. 1. |
