A

VIII

CONCLUSION

S we have intimated before, the crux of the "Catholic" theory of the Episcopate consists in the assumption that the Episcopate is a separate "Order" from the Presbyterate, and not merely an "Office" or "Degree" within this last Order. As the distinction is by no means well understood by the public, and yet as it is vital to the discussion, we must emphasize it somewhat further. Without entering into technical theological definitions, it is sufficient for our present purpose to illustrate this distinction by a familiar example. Thus, every one knows that the distinction between a Deacon and a Bishop on the one hand, is much greater than that between a Bishop and an Archbishop, or (to illustrate by reference to our own Communion) between any one of our Diocesan Bishops and the Presiding Bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church. The first distinction is one that involves spiritual gifts and functions of widely divergent character, the other is a mere arbitrary distinction, devised by man for purposes of expediency only, and involving no distinction of spiritual power or prerogative

whatever. The office of Presiding Bishop is endowed with no peculiar spiritual power or authority, not characteristic of other Bishops. He possesses the same, but no greater spiritual authority. He is merely authorized by his Church or Order to exercise certain powers, and perform certain functions for, and representing, the whole Body of the Church or Order, which powers and function are inherent or potential in them, and only exercised by him as their delegate. Moreover, as an actual matter of fact, these powers and functions are, for the most part, of a material and economic character, relating to the mere machinery of government, and are not of a spiritual or sacramental nature. While, therefore, may be difficult to give a definition that would be strictly accurate, we may summarize the essence of the distinction as follows:

it

(1) AN ORDER OF THE MINISTRY is a class of individuals endowed with certain specific SPIRITUAL powers, peculiar to them alone, which powers because SPIRITUAL are necessarily from above-that is, of Divine origin and authority whether (a) conferred directly or immediately upon the group as such, or whether (b) conferred indirectly or mediately through the body of the whole Church as the original reservoir of such Divine Power.

(2) AN OFFICE OF THE MINISTRY, on the other hand, is possessed of no SPIRITUAL power PECULIAR TO ITSELF AS SUCH, but is merely a position of honor or eminence assigned to certain individuals for the purpose of EXERCISING (only) certain powers DELE

GATED to them by the Church, or by the Order to which they belong, and is an institution which may or may not lay claim to Apostolic origin.

Now, according to "Catholic" theory, Bishops are an Order, not an Office, of the Ministry. That is to say, according to their view of the matter, the Apostles acting under express command of Christ, established three distinct Orders-Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, and that to the first of these was given as their peculiar and specific characteristic, the exclusive power of Ordination. On the other hand, all the Anglican Reformers, the great majority of the Fathers and the Schoolmen, and practically all modern scholars agree in asserting that there is no warrant for this assumption in the language of the New Testament, but that, on the contrary, all the evidence goes to show that from the very beginning Bishop and Presbyter constituted one and the same Order, and that the priority of rank apparently enjoyed by such persons as Timothy and Titus indicates nothing more than a mere Office or Presidency in the one Order of Presbyter-Bishops, an Office differing in no essential respect from that enjoyed to-day by our own Presiding Bishop in the college or assembly of his equals in Order-the House of Bishops; and that aside from the fact that in the very beginning no ordinations were performed by him without the co-operation of his fellow Presbyter-Bishops in the act, no subsequent practice of ordaining without their co-operation can be regarded as anything more than a mere delegation of the authority of the

Presbytery which still possesses the inherent right and power of its Order.

The evidence for this conclusion may be briefly summarized as follows:-First of all, no one questions the fact that Bishops, Presbyters, and Deacons are spoken of in the New Testament, but it is now well-nigh universally conceded, even by "Catholics" themselves, that in the New Testament the words “Bishop" and "Elder" (or "Presbyter") are used indifferently in reference to the same Order of persons. Thus, we read in Acts xx., 17, et seq., as follows: "And from Miletus he (Paul) sent to Ephesus, and called the Elders of the Church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them. Take heed . . . unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers"-ÉTIOKÓTOUS, Bishops. Again, Paul commands Titus to "ordain Elders in every city as I had appointed thee, if any be blameless, the husband of one wife, etc. . . . for a Bishop must be blameless," etc. (Titus I. 5). Moreover, the only Orders of Ministers referred to by St. Paul in 2 Tim. iii., when expounding the duties of the Ministry, are “Bishops" (or Elders) and "Deacons," and likewise in his Epistle to the Philippians, the only Ministers to whom he sends salutation are the "Bishops and Deacons"-a most extraordinary omission, if there were another Order of Elders there in that congregation distinct from the Bishops. Even if we should shut our eyes to this inexplicable difficulty, and assume that the Bishops here referred to were