be expected, most admirable, seems to me to minimize quite
extraordinarily the apostolic authority. The apostles, he says, were
only witnesses of Christ. 'There is no trace in Scripture of a formal
commission of authority for government from Christ Himself.' This
surprising conclusion is reached by omitting many considerations. Thus
in St. Matthew xvi. 19 a definite grant of official authority--as
appears in the passage, Is. xxii. 22, on which it is based--is promised
to St. Peter, and he is on this occasion, as Dr. Hort himself
maintains, the representative of the apostles generally. This
stewardship granted to the apostles, to shepherd the flock and feed the
household of God, is implied again in St. Luke xii. 42, St. John xxi.
15-17; and it seems to be quite unreasonable to dissociate the
authoritative commission to 'absolve and retain,' St. John xx. 20-23,
from the apostolic office. Dr. Hort would apparently {270} dissociate
such passages as those last referred to from the apostolic office, and
assign them to the church as a whole. But how then does he account for
the authority inherent in the apostolic office, as it is represented by
St. Paul, and in the Acts? St. Paul's conception of the authority of
the apostles is barely considered by him; and the authority of the
apostolate in the Acts is strangely minimized. Nothing is said of
Simon's impression--surely a true one--that the apostles had the
'authority' to convey the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of
hands (viii. 19). Certainly the phrases used toward the churches of
Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia, 'to whom we gave no commandment,' 'it
seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us to lay upon you no greater
burden than these necessary things,' imply a governmental authority,
which, if it is shared by the presbyters, is substantially that of the
apostles (Acts xv. 24-28).
Dr. Hort also minimizes greatly the element of official authority which
appears almost at once in the church by apostolic appointment and
delegation. No doubt there was at first an authority allowed--as must
always be allowed--to the acknowledged possessors of extraordinary
divine gifts, especially to the 'prophets.' But in the period of St.
Paul's later activity, when he is facing the future of the church and
has apparently ceased to expect an immediate return of Christ, these
special gifts retire into the background, while the ordinary functions
of government, and administration of the word and sacraments, remain in
the position which they are permanently to occupy in the hands of
regularly ordained officers.
Dr. Hort deals, as it seems to me, most unreasonably with the pastoral
epistles. It is surely arbitrary to dissociate 'the gift which was in
Timothy by the laying on of St. Paul's hands,' the gift of power, and
love, and discipline; which Timothy is to 'stir up' (2 Tim. i. 6), from
{271} that mentioned in the first epistle (iv. 14), 'the gift that is
in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the
hands of the presbyters'; and to make the former a 'gift' of merely
personal piety. And (even if the 'lay hands suddenly on no man' be
interpreted, as Ellicott and Hort would interpret it, of the reception
of a penitent) it seems absurd to doubt, in view of what is said about
the laying on of hands in ordination of 'the seven' and of the
'evangelist' Timothy, and in view of the place it held generally for
conveying spiritual gifts in the Christian Church, that this was the
accepted method of ordination in all cases; there being in fact no
evidence to the contrary.
Once more, Dr. Hort is surely maintaining an impossible position when,
even in face of the salutation to the Philippians, he denies that the
term 'episcopus' is used in the New Testament as a regular title of an
ecclesiastical office.
Not even Dr. Hort's reputation for soundness of judgement could stand
against many posthumous publications such as _The Christian Ecclesia_.
[1] _Not_, as Dr. Hort points out (_Christian Ecclesia_, p. 5), 'the
elect (called-out) people.' The word has in fact no such association
attached to it.
[2] pp. 10, 11.
[3] Unless indeed, in Eph. iii. 21, we should understand 'every
building' as meaning every local church which, fitted together with
every other, grows into a holy temple, i.e. into that which only a
really catholic church can be.
[4] The same statement would be true of St. Ignatius of Antioch.
[5] 1 Cor. vii. 17.
[6] 1 Cor. xi. 2, xv. 2.
[7] 1 Cor. ix. 17.
[8] 2 Cor. x. 8.
[9] 1 Cor. iv, 21.
[10] 1 Cor. xiv. 36; Gal. i. 8.
NOTE F. See p. 188.
THE ETHICS OF CATHOLICISM.
The world at large is fully aware of the claim of 'Catholicism,' i.e.
the claim of the one visible church for all sorts of men. But the
ethical meaning of the claim has been strangely subordinated to its
theological and sacerdotal aspects. Its ethical meaning seems to me to
require developing under heads such as these:--
1. The requirement of mutual forbearance if men of all races and
classes and idiosyncrasies are to be bound {272} to belong to one
organization and to worship in common, 'breaking the one bread.'
Herein lies the moral discipline of Catholicism: see above, pp. 123
foll.
2. The consequent obligation of toleration in theology, ritual, &c.,
on all matters which do not touch the actual basis of the Christian
faith. St. Cyprian, though he believed that those baptized outside the
church were not baptized at all, yet deliberately remained in communion
with those bishops who thought differently, trusting to the mercy of
God to supply the supposed deficiency in those who, outside his
jurisdiction, were admitted into the church, as he believed, without
baptism. And St. Augustine, who, most of ancient writers, understands
the moral meaning of Catholicism, repeatedly holds up this toleration
of Cyprian as an example to the Donatist separatists of his own day:
'If you seek advice from the blessed Cyprian, hear how much he
anticipates from the mere advantage of unity: so much so that he did
not separate himself from those who held different opinions: and,
though he thought that those who are baptized outside the communion of
the church do not receive baptism at all, yet he believed that those
who had thus been simply _admitted_ into the church could on no other
ground than the bond of unity come under the divine pardon.' Then he
quotes Cyprian's words: 'But some one will say: what will happen to
those who in the past, when coming from heresy to the church, have been
admitted without baptism? (I reply): God is powerful to grant them
forgiveness by His mercy, and not to separate from the gifts of His
church those who, after being thus simply admitted into her, have
fallen asleep.' And again: 'judging no man and separating no man from
the rights of communion because he thinks differently.' And St.
Augustine continues: 'All these catholic {273} unity embraces in her
motherly bosom, bearing one another's burdens in turn and endeavouring
to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, until, in
whatever respect they disagreed, the Lord should reveal (the truth) to
one or the other of them[1].' Not to St. Paul then, only, but to St.
Cyprian and St. Augustine, doctrinal toleration is an essential of
Catholicism. Would to God the claim of the one church had not come to
be associated so generally with the opposite tendency! See above, pp.
158 f.
3. Catholicism, as meaning a church of all races and sorts of people,
postulates a constant missionary enthusiasm in all the members of the
church till this ideal be realized. 'To do the work of an evangelist,'
to have the 'feet shod with the preparation of the Gospel of peace,' to
be content to leave nothing but evil outside the church--that is to be
a real catholic.
4. To St. Paul's mind the Catholicism of the church is to lead the way
to an even wider 'reconciliation.' Through the catholic union of men
in the church the whole universe is to come back into unity. The
kingdom of God is to be something wider than the church which exists to
prepare for it. This principle once recognized secures that the church
shall feel and exhibit a constant interest in all departments of
knowledge and progress. The universe is one, and redemption is for the
whole.
5. Catholicism is the antithesis of esotericism. All--men and women,
slave or free, Greek or Scythian--are capable of full initiation into
Christianity. All--not apostles and presbyter-bishops and deacons
only--but all Christians make up the high priestly body and have on
their foreheads the anointing oil: see above, pp. 111 ff.
Forbearance between divergent classes and races and
individuals--doctrinal toleration--missionary {274}
enthusiasm--universal sympathy--recognition of a universal priesthood
of Christianity--these constitute the moral content of Pauline
Catholicism.
[1] S. Aug. _de Baptismo_, ii. [xiii.] 18, [xiv.] 20.
NOTE G. See p. 190.
THE LAMBETH CONFERENCE AND INDUSTRIAL PROBLEMS.
The 'Report of the Committee of the Lambeth Conference appointed to
consider and report upon the office of the Church with respect to
industrial problems--(_a_) the unemployed; (_b_) industrial
co-operation,' is so much to the point as a statement of Christian
social duty that I venture to reproduce the _first part of it_ here.
'The Committee desire to begin their Report with words of thankful
recognition that throughout the Church of Christ, and not least in the
Churches of our own Communion, there has been a marked increase of
solicitude about the problems of industrial and social life, and of
sympathy with the struggles, sufferings, responsibilities, and
anxieties, which those problems involve.
'They hope that they rightly discern in this some increasing reflection
in modern shape of the likeness of the Lord, in whose blessed life zeal
for the souls, and sympathy for the bodily needs of men were undivided
fruits of a single love.
'The Committee, before proceeding to touch upon two specific parts of
the subject, desire to record briefly what they deem to be certain
principles of Christian duty in such matters.
'The primary duty of the Church, as such, and, within her, of the
Clergy, is that of ministry to men in the things of character,
conscience, and faith. In doing this, she also does her greatest
social duty. Character in the {275} citizen is the first social need;
character, with its securities in a candid, enlightened, and vigorous
conscience, and a strong faith in goodness and in God. The Church owes
this duty to all classes alike. Nothing must be allowed to distract
her from it, or needlessly to impede or prejudice her in its discharge;
and this requires of the Clergy, as spiritual officers, the exercise of
great discretion in any attempt to bring within their sphere work of a
more distinctively social kind.
'But while this cannot be too strongly said, it is not the whole truth.
Character is influenced at every point by social conditions; and active
conscience, in an industrial society, will look for moral guidance on
industrial matters.
'Economic science does not claim to give this, its task being to inform
but not to determine the conscience and judgement. But we believe that
Christ our Master does give such guidance by His example and teachings,
and by the present workings of His Spirit; and therefore under Him
Christian authority must in a measure do the same, the authority, that
is, of the whole Christian body, and of an enlightened Christian
opinion. This is part of the duty of the Christian Society, as
witnessing for Christ and representing Him in this present world,
occupied with His work of setting up the Kingdom of God, under and
amidst the natural conditions of human life. In this work the clergy,
whose special duty it is to ponder the bearings of Christian
principles, have their part; but the Christian laity, who deal directly
with the social and economic facts, can do even more.
'The Committee believe that it would be wholly wrong for Christian
authority to attempt to interfere with the legitimate evolution of
economic and social thought and life by taking a side corporately in
the debates between rival social theories or systems. It will not (for
example), {276} at the present day, attempt to identify Christian duty
with the acceptance of systems based respectively on collective or
individual ownership of the means of production.
'But they submit that Christian social duty will operate in two
directions:--
'1. The recognition, inculcation, and application of certain Christian
principles. They offer the following as examples:--
(_a_) The principle of Brotherhood. This principle of Brotherhood, or
Fellowship in Christ, proclaiming, as it does, that men are members one
of another, should act in all the relations of life as a constant
counterpoise to the instinct of competition.
(_b_) The principle of Labour. That every man is bound to service--the
service of God and man. Labour and service are to be here understood
in their widest and most inclusive sense; but in some sense they are
obligatory on all. The wilfully idle man, and the man who lives only
for himself, are out of place in a Christian community. Work,
accordingly, is not to be looked upon as an irksome necessity for some,
but as the honourable task and privilege of all.
(_c_) The principle of Justice. God is no respecter of persons.
Inequalities, indeed, of every kind are inwoven with the whole
providential order of human life, and are recognized emphatically in
our Lord's words. But the social order cannot ignore the interests of
any of its parts, and must, moreover, be tested by the degree in which
it secures for each freedom for happy, useful, and untrammelled life,
and distributes, as widely and equitably as may be, social advantages
and opportunities.
(_d_) The principle of Public Responsibility. A Christian community,
as a whole, is morally responsible for {277} the character of its own
economic and social order, and for deciding to what extent matters
affecting that order are to be left to individual initiative, and to
the unregulated play of economic forces. Factory and sanitary
legislation, the institution of Government labour departments and the
influence of Government, or of public opinion and the press, or of
eminent citizens, in helping to avoid or reconcile industrial
conflicts, are instances in point.
'2. Christian opinion should be awake to repudiate and condemn either
open breaches of social justice and duty, or maxims and principles of
an un-Christian character. It ought to condemn the belief that
economic conditions are to be left to the action of material causes and
mechanical laws, uncontrolled by any moral responsibility. It can
pronounce certain conditions of labour to be intolerable. It can
insist that the employer's personal responsibility, as such, is not
lost by his membership in a commercial or industrial Company. It can
press upon retail purchasers the obligation to consider not only the
cheapness of the goods supplied to them, but also the probable
conditions of their production. It can speak plainly of evils which
attach to the economic system under which we live, such as certain
forms of luxurious extravagance, the widespread pursuit of money by
financial gambling, the dishonesties of trade into which men are driven
by feverish competition, and the violences and reprisals of industrial
warfare.
'It is plain that in these matters disapproval must take every
different shade, from plain condemnation of undoubted wrong to
tentative opinions about better and worse. Accordingly any organic
action of the Church, or any action of the Church's officers, as such,
should be very carefully restricted to cases where the rule of right is
practically clear, and much the larger part of the matter {278} should
be left to the free and flexible agency of the awakened Christian
conscience of the community at large, and of its individual members.
'If the Christian conscience be thus awakened and active, it will
secure the best administration of particular systems, while they exist,
and the modification or change of them, when this is required by the
progress of knowledge, thought, and life.
'It appears to follow from what precedes that the great need of the
Church, in this connexion, is the growth and extension of a serious,
intelligent, and sympathetic opinion on these subjects, to which
numberless Christians have as yet never thought of applying Christian
principles. There has been of late no little improvement in this
respect, but much remains to be done, and with this view the Committee
desire to make the following definite recommendation.
'They suggest that, wherever possible, there should be formed, as a
part of local Church organization, Committees consisting chiefly of
laymen, whose work should be to study social and industrial problems
from the Christian point of view, and to assist in creating and
strengthening an enlightened public opinion in regard to such problems,
and promoting a more active spirit of social service, as a part of
Christian duty.
'Such Committees, or bodies of Church workers in the way of social
service, while representing no one class of society, and abstaining
from taking sides in any disputes between classes, should fearlessly
draw attention to the various causes in our economic, industrial, and
social system, which call for remedial measures on Christian
principles.'
Abundant illustration of the kind of matters with which such Committees
might deal will be found in the report.
OXFORD: HORACE HART
PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY