THE CATHOLIC SYSTEM.
The word _catholic_, which signifies universal or general, came into use
towards the end of the second century. Its introduction indicates a new
phase in the history of the ecclesiastical community. For upwards of a
hundred years after its formation, the Church presented the appearance
of one great and harmonious brotherhood, as false teachers had hitherto
failed to create any considerable diversity of sentiment; but when many
of the literati began to embrace the gospel, the influence of elements
of discord soon became obvious. These converts attempted to graft their
philosophical theories on Christianity; not a few of the more unstable
of the brethren, captivated by their ingenuity and eloquence, were
tempted to adopt their views; and though the great mass of the disciples
repudiated their adulterations of the truth, the Christian commonwealth
was distracted and divided. Those who banded themselves together to
maintain the unity of the Church were soon known by the designation of
Catholics. "After the days of the apostles," says one of the fathers,
"when heresies had burst forth, and were striving under various names to
tear piecemeal and divide the Dove and the Queen of God, [561:1] did not
the apostolic people require a name of their own whereby to mark the
unity of those that were uncorrupted? .... Therefore our people, when
named Catholic, are separated by this title from those denominated
heretics." [562:1]
The Catholic system, being an integral portion of the policy which
invested the presiding elder with additional authority, rose
contemporaneously with Prelacy. When Gnosticism was spreading so
rapidly, and creating so much scandal and confusion, schism upon schism
appeared unavoidable. How was the Church to be kept from going to
pieces? How could its unity be best conserved? How could it contend most
successfully against its subtle and restless disturbers? Such were the
problems which now occupied the attention of its leading ministers. It
was thought that all these difficulties would be solved by the adoption
of the Catholic system. Were the Church, it was said, to place more
power in the hands of individuals, and then to consolidate its
influence, it could bear down more effectively upon the errorists. Every
chief pastor of the Catholic Church was the symbol of the unity of his
own ecclesiastical district; and the associated bishops represented the
unity of the whole body of the faithful. According to the Catholic
system when strictly carried out, every individual excommunicated by one
bishop was excommunicated by all, so that when a heresiarch was excluded
from fellowship in one city, he could not be received elsewhere. The
visible unity of the Church was the great principle which the Catholic
system sought to realise. "The Church," says Cyprian, "which is catholic
and one, is not separated or divided, but is in truth connected and
joined together by the cement of bishops mutually cleaving to each
other." [562:2]
The funds of the Church were placed very early in the hands of the
president of the eldership, [563:1] and though they may not have been at
his absolute disposal, he, no doubt, soon found means of sustaining his
authority by means of his monetary influence. But the power which he
possessed, as the recognized centre of ecclesiastical unity, to prevent
any of his elders or deacons from performing any official act of which
he disapproved, constituted one of the essential features of the
Catholic system. "The right to administer baptism," says Tertullian,
"belongs to the chief priest, that is, the bishop: then to the
presbyters and the deacons, [563:2] yet not without the authority of the
bishop, _for the honour of the Church_, which being preserved, peace is
preserved." [563:3] Here, the origin of Catholicism is pretty distinctly
indicated; for the prerogatives of the bishop are described, not as
matters of divine right, but of ecclesiastical arrangement. [563:4] They
were given to him "for the honour of the Church," that peace might be
preserved when heretics began to cause divisions.
Though the bishop could give permission to others to celebrate divine
ordinances, he was himself their chief administrator. He was generally
the only preacher; he usually dispensed baptism; [563:5] and he presided
at the observance of the Eucharist. At Rome, where the Catholic system
was maintained most scrupulously, his presence seems to have been
considered necessary to the due consecration of the elements. Hence, at
one time, the sacramental symbols were carried from the cathedral church
to all the places of Christian worship throughout the city. [564:1] With
such minute care did the Roman chief pastor endeavour to disseminate the
doctrine that whoever was not in communion with the bishop was out of
the Church.
The establishment of a close connexion, between certain large Christian
associations and the smaller societies around them, constituted the next
link in the organization of the Catholic system. These communities,
being generally related as mother and daughter churches, were already
prepared to adapt themselves to the new type of ecclesiastical polity.
The apostles, or their immediate disciples, had founded congregations in
most of the great cities of the Empire; and every society thus
instituted, now distinguished by the designation of the principal
[564:2] or apostolic Church, became a centre of ecclesiastical unity.
Its presiding minister sent the Eucharist to the teachers of the little
flocks in his vicinity, to signify that he acknowledged them as
brethren; [564:3] and every pastor who thus enjoyed communion with the
principal Church was recognized as a Catholic bishop. This parent
establishment was considered a bulwark which could protect all the
Christian communities surrounding it from heresy, and they were
consequently expected to be guided by its traditions. "It is manifest,"
says Tertullian, "that all doctrine, which agrees with these apostolic
Churches, THE WOMBS AND ORIGINALS OF THE FAITH, [564:4] must be
accounted true, as without doubt containing that which the Churches have
received from the apostles, the apostles from Christ, Christ from God:
and that all other doctrine must be judged at once to be false, which
savours of things contrary to the truth of the Churches, and of the
apostles, and of Christ, and of God....Go through the apostolic
Churches, in which the very _seats of the apostles, at this very day,
preside over their own places_, [565:1] in which their own authentic
writings are read, speaking with the voice of each, and making the face
of each present to the eye. Is Achaia near to you? You have Corinth. If
you are not far from Macedonia, you have Philippi, you have the
Thessalonians. [565:2] If you can travel into Asia, you have Ephesus.
But if you are near to Italy you have Rome, where we also have an
authority close at hand." [565:3]
But the Catholic system was not yet complete. In every congregation the
bishop or pastor was the centre of unity, and in every district the
principal or apostolic Church bound together the smaller Christian
societies; but how were the apostolic Churches themselves to be united?
This question did not long remain without a solution. [565:4] Had the
Church of Jerusalem, when the Catholic system was first organized, still
occupied its ancient position, it might have established a better title
to precedence than any other ecclesiastical community in existence. It
had been, beyond all controversy, the mother Church of Christendom. But
it had been recently dissolved, and a new society, composed, to a great
extent, of new members, was now in process of formation in the new city
of Aelia. Meanwhile the Church of Rome had been rapidly acquiring
strength, and its connexion with the seat of government pointed it out
as the appropriate head of the Catholic confederation. If the greatest
convenience of the greatest number of Churches were to be taken into
account, it had claims of peculiar potency, for it was easily accessible
by sea or land from all parts of the Empire, and it had facilities for
keeping up communication with the provinces to which no other society
could pretend. Nor were these its only recommendations. It had, as was
alleged, been watered by the ministry of two or three [556:1] of the
apostles, so that, even as an apostolic Church, it had high pretensions.
In addition to all this, it had, more than once, sustained with
extraordinary constancy the first and fiercest brunt of persecution; and
if its members had so signalized themselves in the army of martyrs, why
should not its bishop lead the van of the Catholic Church? Such
considerations urged in favour of a community already distinguished by
its wealth, as well as by its charity, were amply sufficient to
establish its claim as the centre of Catholic unity. If, as is probable,
the arrangement was concocted in Rome itself, they must have been felt
to be irresistible. Hence Irenaeus, writing about A.D. 180, speaks of it
even then as the recognized head of the Churches of the Empire. "To this
Church," says he, "because it is more potentially principal, it is
necessary that every Catholic Church should go, as in it the apostolic
tradition has by the Catholics been always preserved." [567:1]
Many Protestant writers have attempted to explain away the meaning of
this remarkable passage, but the candid student of history is bound to
listen respectfully to its testimony. When we assign to the words of
Irenaeus all the significance of which they are susceptible, they only
attest the fact that, in the latter half of the second century, the
Church of Rome was acknowledged as the most potent of all the apostolic
Churches. And in the same place the grounds of its pre-eminence are
enumerated pretty fully by the pastor of Lyons. It was the most ancient
Church in the West of Europe; it was also the most populous; like a city
set upon a hill, it was known to all; and it was reputed to have had for
its founders the most illustrious of the inspired heralds of the cross,
the apostle of the Gentiles, and the apostle of the circumcision.
[567:2] It was more "potentially principal," because it was itself the
principal of the apostolic or principal Churches.
It has been already stated that every principal bishop, [567:3] or
presiding minister of an apostolic Church, sent the Eucharist to the
pastors around him as a pledge of their ecclesiastical fellowship; and
it would appear that the bishop of Rome kept up intercourse with the
other bishops of the apostolic Churches by transmitting to them the same
symbol of catholicity. [567:4] The sacred elements were doubtless
conveyed by confidential churchmen, who served, at the same time, as
channels of communication between the great prelate and the more
influential of his brethren. By this means the communion of the whole
Catholic Church was constantly maintained.
When the Catholic system was set up, and the bishop of Rome recognized
as its Head, he was not supposed to possess, in his new position, any
arbitrary or despotic authority. He was simply understood to hold among
pastors the place which had previously been occupied by the senior elder
in the presbytery--that is, he was the president or moderator. The
theoretical parity of all bishops, the chief pastor of Rome included,
was a principle long jealously asserted. [568:1] But the prelate of the
capital was the individual to whom other bishops addressed themselves
respecting all matters affecting the general interests of the
ecclesiastical community; he collected their sentiments; and he
announced the decisions of their united wisdom. It was, however,
scarcely possible for an official in his circumstances either to satisfy
all parties, or to keep within the limits of his legitimate power. When
his personal feelings were known to run strongly in a particular
channel, the minority, to whom he was opposed, would at least suspect
him of attempting domination. Hence it was that by those who were
discontented with his policy he was tauntingly designated, as early as
the beginning of the third century, The Supreme Pontiff, and The Bishop
of Bishops. [568:2] These titles cannot now be gravely quoted as proofs
of the existence of the claims which they indicate; for they were
employed ironically by malcontents who wished thus either to impeach his
partiality, or to condemn his interference. But they supply clear
evidence that his growing influence was beginning to be formidable, and
that he already stood at the head of the ministers of Christendom.
The preceding statements enable us to understand why the interests of
Rome and of the Catholic Church have always been identified. The
metropolis of Italy has, in fact, from the beginning been the heart of
the Catholic system. In ancient times Roman statesmen were noted for
their skill in fitting up the machinery of political government: Roman
churchmen have laboured no less successfully in the department of
ecclesiastical organization. The Catholic system is a wonderful specimen
of constructive ability; and there is every reason to believe that the
same city which produced Prelacy, also gave birth, about the same time,
to this masterpiece of human contrivance. The fact may be established,
as well by other evidences, as by the positive testimony of Cyprian. The
bishop of Carthage, who flourished only about a century after it
appeared, was connected with that quarter of the Church in which it
originated. We cannot, therefore, reasonably reject the depositions of
so competent a witness, more especially when he speaks so frequently and
so confidently of its source. When he describes the Roman bishopric as
"_the root_ and _womb_ of _the Catholic Church_," [569:1] his language
admits of no second interpretation. He was well aware that the Church of
Jerusalem was the root and womb of all the apostolic Churches; and when
he employs such phraseology, he must refer to some new phase of
Christianity which had originated in the capital of the Empire. In
another place he speaks of "the see of Peter, and the principal Church,
_whence the unity of the priesthood took its rise_." [569:2] Such
statements shut us up to the conclusion that Rome was the source and
centre from which Catholicism radiated.
This system could have been only gradually developed, and nearly half a
century appears to have elapsed before it acquired such maturity that it
attained a distinctive designation. [570:1] But, as it was currently
believed to be admirably adapted to the exigencies of the Church, it
spread with much rapidity; and, in less than a hundred years after its
rise, its influence may be traced in almost all parts of the Empire. We
may thus explain a historical phenomenon which might otherwise be
unaccountable. Towards the close of the second and throughout the whole
of the third century, ecclesiastical writers connected with various and
distant provinces refer with peculiar respect to the Apostle Peter, and
even appeal to Scripture [570:2] with a view to his exaltation. Their
misinterpretations of the Word reveal an extreme anxiety to obtain
something like an inspired warrant for their catholicism. The visible
unity of the Church was deemed by them essential to its very existence,
and the Roman see was the actual key-stone of the Catholic structure.
Hence every friend of orthodoxy imagined it to be, as well his duty as
his interest, to uphold the claims of the supposed representative of
Peter, and thus to maintain the cause of ecclesiastical unity. It might
have been anticipated under such circumstances that Scripture would be
miserably perverted, and that the see, which was believed to possess as
its heritage the prerogatives of the apostle of the circumcision, would
be the subject of extravagant laudation.
Ambition has been often represented as the great principle which guided
the policy of the early Roman bishops, but there is no evidence that, as
a class, they were inferior in piety to other churchmen, and the
readiness with which some of them suffered for the faith attests their
Christian sincerity and resolution. Ambition, doubtless, soon began to
operate; but their elevation was not so much the result of any deep-laid
scheme for their aggrandizement, as of a series of circumstances pushing
them into prominence, and placing them in a most influential position.
The efforts of heretics to create division led to a reaction, and
tempted the Church to adopt arrangements for preserving union by which
its liberties were eventually compromised. The bishop of Rome found
himself almost immediately at the head of the Catholic league, and there
is no doubt that, before the close of the second century, he was
acknowledged as the chief pastor of Christendom. About that time we see
him writing letters to some of the most distinguished bishops of the
East [571:1] directing them to call councils; and it does not appear
that his epistles were deemed unwarranted or officious. Unity of
doctrine was speedily connected with unity of discipline, and an opinion
gradually prevailed that the Church Catholic should exhibit universal
uniformity. When Victor differed from the Asiatic bishops relative to
the mode of observing the Paschal festival, he was only seeking to
realize the idea of unity; and, as the Head of the Catholic Church, he
might have carried out against them his threat of excommunication, had
he not in this particular case been moving in advance of public opinion.
When Stephen, sixty years afterwards, disputed with Cyprian and others
concerning the rebaptism of heretics, he was still endeavouring to work
out the same unity; and the bishop of Carthage found himself involved in
contradictions when he proceeded at once to assert his independence, and
to concede to the see of Peter the honour which, as he admitted, it
could legitimately challenge. [572:1]
The theory of Catholicism is based on principles thoroughly fallacious.
Assuming that visible unity is essential to the Church on earth, it
sanctions the startling inference that whoever is not connected with a
certain ecclesiastical society must be out of the pale of salvation. The
most grinding spiritual tyranny ever known has been erected on this
foundation. And yet how hollow is the whole system! It is no more
necessary that all the children of God in this world should belong to
the same visible Church than that all the children of men should be
connected with the same earthly monarchy. All believers are "one in
Christ;" they have all "one Lord, one faith, one baptism;" but "the
kingdom of God cometh not with observation," and the unity of the saints
on earth can be discerned only by the eye of Omniscience. They are all
sustained by the same living bread which cometh down from heaven, but
they may receive their spiritual provision as members of ten thousand
separated Churches. All who truly love the Saviour are united to Him by
a link which can never be broken; and no ecclesiastical barrier can
either exclude them from His presence here, or shut them out from His
fellowship hereafter. But a number of men might as well propose to
appropriate all the light of the sun or all the winds of heaven, as
attempt to form themselves into a privileged society with a monopoly of
the means of salvation.
The Church of Rome is understood to be the spiritual Babylon of the
Apocalypse, and yet one point of correspondence between the type and the
antitype seems to have been hitherto overlooked. The great city of
Babylon commenced with the erection of Babel, and the builders said--"Go
to, let us build us a city, and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven,
and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of
the whole earth." [573:1] Civil unity was avowedly the end designed by
these architects. Amongst other purposes contemplated by the famous
tower, it appears to have been intended to serve as a centre of
catholicity--a great rallying point or landmark--by which every citizen
might be guided homewards when he lost his way in the plain of Shinar.
It is a curious fact that in the "Pastor of Hermas," perhaps the first
work written in Rome after the establishment of Prelacy, the Church is
described under the similitude of a tower! [573:2] When Hyginus
"established the gradations," the hierarchy at once assumed that
appearance. And the see of Peter, the centre of Catholic unity, was now
to be the great spiritual landmark to guide the steps of all true
churchmen. The ecclesiastical builders prospered for a time, but when
Constantine had finished a new metropolis in the East, some symptoms of
disunion revealed themselves. When the Empire was afterwards divided,
jealousies increased; the builders could not well understand one
another's speech; and the Church at length witnessed the great schism of
the Greeks and the Latins. In due time the Reformation interfered still
more vexatiously with the building of the ecclesiastical Babel. But this
more recent schism has given a mighty impulse to the cause of freedom,
of civilization, and of truth; for the Protestants, scattered abroad
over the face of the whole earth, have been spreading far and wide the
light of the gospel. The builders of Babel still continue their work,
but their boasted unity is gone for ever; and now, with the exception of
their political manoeuvring, their highest achievements are literally in
the department of stone and mortar. They may found costly edifices, and
they may erect spires pointing, like the tower of Babel, to the skies,
but they can no longer reasonably hope to bind together the liberated
nations with the chains of a gigantic despotism, or to induce
worshippers of all kindreds and tongues to adopt the one dead language
of Latin superstition. The signs of the times indicate that the remnant
of the Catholic workmen must soon "leave off to build the city." The
final overthrow of the mystical Babylon will usher in the millennium of
the Church, and the present success of Protestant missions is
premonitory of the approaching doom of Romish ritualism. It is
written--"I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the
everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to
every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud
voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is
come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the
fountains of waters. And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon
is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations
drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." [574:1]