It is used by the Romanists, and the Lutheran Protestants, as an
aid to devotion. In the Church of England we sometimes find it in
reredoses and stained glass.
CRYPT. The subterranean vault under any portion of a Church.
Possibly used as an additional place of worship; and, also, sometimes
of burial, and of concealment.
CUP, _see_ Altar Vessels.
CURATE. Properly the person who has the _cure_, or care, of souls in
a parish. In this way the word, is used in the Prayer Book. But the
word, in common parlance, is used to denote the _assistant_ clergyman
in a parish. He is licensed by the Bishop of the diocese, and can be
removed only by consent of the Bishop after six months' notice. He
can, however, resign, after giving the Incumbent three months'
notice. For particulars with regard to ordination see _Orders_.
CURE. The spiritual charge of a parish, or, in another sense, the
parish itself.
DAILY PRAYERS. Every Priest and Deacon is bound to say publicly in
Church, if a congregation of two or three can be obtained; or
privately, unless hindered by some good cause, the Office for
Morning and Evening Prayer. This is directed in the preface of the
Book of Common Prayer.
DALMATIC, _see_ Vestments.
DAMNATORY CLAUSES, _see_ Creed.
DEACON, _see_ Orders.
DEAD, _see_ Burial Service.
DEADLY SIN, _see_ Sin.
DEAN. An ecclesiastic next in degree to a Bishop. He is the head of
a corporate body called a Chapter, attached to a Cathedral, and has
the direction of the Cathedral services. Deans of Peculiars have no
Chapters. The _Dean_ of a College at Oxford or Cambridge is the
officer appointed to maintain discipline.*
The _Dean_ of _Faculty_ presides over meetings of the particular
faculty of which he is Dean. It is an office in most ancient, and
some modern universities.
* _The Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, is the Head both of the
Cathedral, and the College_.
DEAN, RURAL, _see_ Rural Dean.
DEAN AND CHAPTER. The governing body of a Cathedral.
DECALOGUE, _see_ Commandments.
DECORATION of CHURCHES. It is right and fitting that churches should
be made as beautiful as possible for the worship of Almighty God,
for so God Himself directed the Tabernacle to be made. The custom of
especially decorating them with evergreens, flowers, &c., at the
chief festivals of the Church is a very ancient one.
DEGREES. A rank or grade conferred by a university on her members.
After three years' residence at Oxford or Cambridge, and after the
passing of certain examinations, a degree is conferred on the
student in accordance with the subjects in which he has passed. If,
as is the general rule, he has studied and passed in Arts,--Classics,
Mathematics, and the like--the student is made a B.A., or Bachelor
in Arts, and in about three years--not necessarily of residence--he
is able to proceed to the higher degree of M. A., or Master in Arts,
without further examination. Other degrees are in the faculties of
Divinity, Laws, Medicine, and Music; for the last it is not necessary
to reside. The highest degree conferred by a university in any
faculty is that of Doctor. A Bachelor of Oxford wears a small black
hood _trimmed_ with white fur; a Bachelor of Cambridge has a larger
hood _lined_ with white fur. An Oxford Master wears a hood of black
silk lined with _red_ silk, but the Cambridge Master's hood is of
black silk lined with _white_ silk. The difference in shape can
easily be seen by comparison. A Dublin Master's hood is lined with
_blue_ silk. Other universities have other colours; and many
theological colleges, which have no power to confer degrees, have
arrogated to themselves hoods with various linings, which bear a
close resemblance to some of the hoods worn by graduates.
DEISTS. A _Deist_ acknowledges the existence of a God, but denies
the existence and necessity of any revelation.
DENOMINATIONS. There appear to be about 180 Denominations having
Places of Meeting for Religious Worship in England and Wales. Among
these there are--
8 "Armies," besides the Salvation Army.
9 Baptist Sects.
20 Methodist Sects.
DESK. The name usually given to the "reading-pew," mentioned in the
rubric before the Commination Service, where morning and evening
prayers are said or sung. In 1549 it was directed that the Service
should be said "in the Quire" and "with a loud voice." This was done
by the Priest near to, and facing, the Altar. In 1552 the Service
was directed to be said from such a place as the people could best
hear. This direction caused a great commotion, one party retaining
their old position in the Chancel, the other performing all services
in the body of the Church. In 1559 the rubric before the Order
for Morning Prayer was brought into its present shape, and the
"accustomed Place" would undoubtedly be the Chancel, but still the
discretion left with the "Ordinary" sanctioned the use of the
unsightly "reading-pew" or _desk_, which is occasionally found
outside the Chancel and in the body of the Church.
DEUS MISEREATUR. Psalm lxvii., inserted in the Evening Service for
occasional use instead of the Nunc Dimittis in 1552.
DIGNITARY. One who holds cathedral or other preferment to which
jurisdiction is annexed. "One who holds an ecclesiastical rank
above a priest or canon." (Chambers' Etymological Dictionary.)
DIMISSORY LETTERS. When a Candidate for Holy Orders is ordained by
some Bishop other than the one in whose diocese he is going to work,
it is because the ordaining Bishop has received leave, or _Letters
Dimissory_, from the candidate's rightful Diocesan.
DIOCESE. The extent of a Bishop's rule. England at present is
divided into 32 dioceses; 23 being in the Province of Canterbury,
and 9 in the Province of York. It is to be very earnestly wished
that these dioceses may be sub-divided, and the number of Bishops
increased, that the Church may be more able to cope with the
enormously increased population.
DISSENTERS. A _civil_, not a _religious_ term, and denotes those who
have diverged from the civilly established religion of a country.
Episcopalians are Dissenters in Scotland, Christians are Dissenters
in Turkey. In England all are Dissenters who do not belong to the
Church of England, whether they are Protestants or Papists. For
further particulars see under their various names.
DONATIVE. A form of conferring an ecclesiastical benefice on any
clerk, by which he is exempt from presentation, induction, or
institution; the patron acting virtually as a Bishop. This is said
to be the usual manner in which benefices were anciently conferred.
DOXOLOGY. An ascription of praise to God. The most familiar
doxologies in use in our Church are the "Gloria Patri," the "Gloria
in Excelsis," and the well-known verse, "Praise God from whom all
blessings flow," &c. Many of our prayers, especially those of
thanksgiving, conclude with a doxology.
EAST, TURNING TO THE. This is now generally done at the Creeds. It
is a survival of a general custom of worship towards the East--as
the region of light, symbolical of the rising of the "Sun of
Righteousness"--which is at least as old as the time of Tertullian,
who lived in the second century.
EASTWARD POSITION. A term descriptive of the position used by a
Priest who adopts the custom of celebrating Holy Communion facing
the East, with his back to the people. There is a very great
difficulty in ascertaining what the rubrics with relation to the
Priest's position really mean, because the Altar itself occupied
various positions at the time the rules were framed.
(1.) _Position of Altar_. "The Table. . . .shall stand in the Body
of the Church, or in the Chancel," is the rubric of 1552. "The Holy
Table shall be set in the place where the Altar stood. . . .saving
when the Communion of the Sacrament is to be distributed, at which
time the same shall be so placed in good sort (conveniently) within
the Chancel," is the direction in the Injunctions of 1559.
By degrees, however, the custom of moving the Holy Table at the
time of Communion, and placing it length-ways in the Church ceased,
and it was allowed to remain at all times placed "Altar-wise" at
the East End of the Church.
(2.) _Position of the Priest_. In the rubric of 1549 the direction
was for him "to stand humbly afore the midst of the Altar," of
course with his back to the people. In 1552 the present rubric,
directing the "North-side," was introduced, but owing to the Altar's
standing East and West then, the position of the Priest remained
virtually the same as before. But when, through Laud's influence,
the Holy Table was removed back to its original position, the
question was whether the Priest was still to obey the letter of the
rubric and stand at the "North-side," or rather what was now the
"North end," or whether he too was to retain his old relative and
original position. The matter has been further complicated by the
insertion of the rubric before the Consecration Prayer in 1662,
which seems to favour the Eastward position in directing the Priest
to "stand before the Table," while, on the other hand, that very
position renders it difficult to "break the Bread before the
people," unless, as some maintain, the "before" does not mean "in
the sight of," but "in front of."
EASTER. The great festival of the Church's Year, and kept in
commemoration of our Saviour's glorious Resurrection. It has always
been observed by the Church, but in early ages there were bitter
disputes as to the season when it was to be kept. Some wished it to
be observed on the actual anniversary, whether the day happened to
be a Sunday or not. The matter was settled at the Council of Nice,
when it was decided that Easter should be kept on the first Sunday
following the full moon which falls on, or next after, March 21st.
The word _Easter_ is probably derived from the name of a Saxon
goddess, whose festival was kept in the Spring of the year. The
other name, Paschal, applied to this festival, is a Hebrew word
meaning "passage," and is applied to the Jewish feast of the
Passover, to which the Christian festival of Easter corresponds.
Easter used to be the great day for Baptism, for the restoring of
Penitents, and, in the early ages, even for the freeing of prisoners.
Every confirmed member of the Church of England is expected to
Communicate on Easter Day, in accordance with the direction at the
end of the Communion Service.
EASTER ANTHEMS. Certain passages, chosen from 1 Cor. v., Rom. vi.,
1 Cor. xv., directed to be sung instead of the _Venite_ on Easter
Day.
ECCLESIASTICAL COMMISSIONERS. "In the year 1837 the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners were embodied. They are not, as many suppose, the
dispensers of State funds to the Church. They are a corporation for
the purpose of holding as trustees a large amount of Church revenues.
The sources from which the income in their hands arises are certain
annual payments from several bishoprics, emoluments of suspended
canonries, the property of suspended deaneries and sinecure
rectories, capitular estates, and other Ecclesiastical sources."
(Webb's "England's Inheritance in her Church.")
"The Ecclesiastical Commission does with the lands of Bishops and
Chapters what these could never do for themselves. It can afford to
wait for the falling in of leases, whereas those old corporations
were obliged to renew them, that they might live on the money paid
for renewals; and when it has got the lands it lets them for their
full value. By this means it is able to pay the old corporations out
of half their lands as much as they used to get from the whole under
their own system, and the other moiety is taken out of the hands of
laymen (regard being had to equity) and devoted to other beneficial
purposes for the Church. In this way the surplus revenues of
capitular estates have been applied to the benefit of an immense
number of parishes which had claims upon them." (Dixon's "Peek
Essay.")
ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS. The following are the principal: the
Consistory Courts of the Bishops; the Arches Court of Canterbury;
and the Supreme Court of Appeal, composed of members of the Judicial
Committee of the Privy Council. Under the Public Worship Act the
Dean of the Arches Court has been made Official Principal of both
Provinces. A Royal Commission has recently issued a Report upon the
Ecclesiastical Courts, and the question of their constitution
generally is under consideration.
ELECTION. A choosing, hence the "chosen people" of God. There are
three views taken of election,--the Calvinistic, the Arminian, and
the Catholic. The Calvinistic view is that certain persons are from
all eternity chosen or elected by God to salvation, the rest of
mankind being condemned to eternal death (See _Predestination_,
_Calvinism_, _Antinomianism_.)
The Arminian view is that God, knowing what the life of every man
born into the world shall be, and foreseeing that some "will refuse
the evil and choose the good," hath elected them to eternal life.
(See _Arminianism_.)
The Catholic view is that God of his mercy elects certain of His
creatures for a place in the visible Church, and thus causes them
to be placed in "a state of salvation," of which, however, they may
fall short by their own perverseness.
The Church of England, as a branch of the great Church Catholic, is
believed to teach this latter view, as will be seen by a study of
her Liturgy.
ELEMENTS. The Bread and Wine used in Holy Communion (See _Communion,
Holy_). In Holy Baptism, Water, wherein the person is baptized, is
the _Element_.
ELEVATION. In Articles xxv. and xxviii. reference is made to a
ceremony of the Church of Rome, called the Elevation of the Host,
which consists in the consecrated wafer being held up, or elevated,
for the adoration of the people. Bp. Harold Browne says, "Elevating
the Host resulted from a belief in transubstantiation. . . .There
is evidently no Scriptural Authority for the Elevation of the Host,
the command being, 'Take, eat.' The Roman ritualists themselves
admit that there is no trace of its existence before the 11th or
12th centuries." (See _Note on Art_. xxviii.)
EMBER DAYS. In early times special fasts were appointed at the four
seasons of the year, and of later years they have been made to have
a special reference to the ordination of clergy which immediately
follows them. The derivation of the name is uncertain. The days
thus set apart, and now used for supplicating God's blessing on
those about to be ordained, are the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday
after the 1st Sunday in Lent, after Whit Sunday, after the 14th of
September, and after the 13th of December. Special Collects are
appointed for use on these days.
EMMANUEL, or IMMANUEL. A Hebrew word, used as a name of our Lord,
and meaning, "God with us," Isaiah vii.14; Matt. i.23.
ENDOWMENT. The permanent provision for the support of the ministry.
The annual sum derived from the endowments of the Established Church
amounts to rather more than _four millions sterling_. Of this
sum--Tithes and Rents voluntarily given to the Church of England by
charitable persons before the Reformation bring in about L1,950,000;
Tithes, Rents, and Interest on Money voluntarily given to the Church
of England since the Reformation bring in about L2,250,000. Thus
the total of the yearly value of endowments is about L4,200,000. Of
this the State receives as taxes about L200,000, which leaves a net
yearly value of endowments of about; L3,500,000, which is paid to
the clergy, of whom there are about 20,000. It is thus divided: 2
Archbishops, 28 Bishops, 73 Archdeacons, receive about L173,000; 30
Deans, 132 Canons, 128 Minor Canons, 600 Singers, Lay Officers and
Servants, receive about L203,000; 19,600 other Clergy, Rectors,
Vicars, and Curates receive about L3,124,000. The average, therefore,
is just L3, 10s. a week for each clergyman.
To supplement its endowments, which were voluntarily given by
private persons, the Church receives, by free gifts from her own
members, about five millions and a half sterling every year. This
money is _all_ spent on Schools, Church Institutions, Charities,
Relief of the Poor, Foreign Missions, Expenses attendant upon the
regular performance of Divine Worship, and Building and Restoring
Churches (See _Establishment_.)
EPIPHANY. A Greek word, meaning "manifestation." The term applied
to that festival of the Church observed on Jan. 6th, in commemoration
of our Lord's _manifestation_ to the Wise Men from the East, the
representatives of the Gentile world.
EPISCOPACY. The term applied to the Apostolical form of government,
which consisted in the appointment of a Bishop as an _Overseer_
(for that is the meaning of the Greek word) of a particular Church.
(See _Orders_.)
EPISTLE. The name given to the _Letters_ of the Apostles, which the
Church has admitted as forming part of the Canon of the New
Testament (see _Bible_). St. Paul wrote fourteen, if we allow the
Epistle to the Hebrews to have been written by him. St. James wrote
one, which, like others addressed to no particular Church, is called
a _general_ Epistle. St. Peter wrote two Epistles; St. John, three;
and St. Jude, one. Those portions of Scripture read in the Communion
Service, and called Epistles, have been used, with few alterations,
for 1200 years by the Church of England.
EPISTOLER. The 24th Canon directs that "In all cathedral and
collegiate churches the Holy Communion shall be administered, . . .
the principal minister using a decent cope, and being assisted with
the gospeller and epistoler." So, in the advertisements published
in the seventh year of Elizabeth, we read, "The principal minister
shall use a cope with gospeller and epistoler agreeably."
ERASTIANISM. The heresy of Erastus, a German, born 1524. His main
principle was that the source of all pastoral authority is the civil
magistrate, who, whether Christian or not, possesses an inherent
right to nominate and commission teachers of religion, and is under
no necessity of admitting the least difference between priests and
laymen.
ESCHATOLOGY. A term applied to doctrines relative to the state
after death.
ESTABLISHMENT and ENDOWMENT. These two terms are constantly linked
together in the publications of the Liberation Society, and by
other enemies of the Church of England, as though they formed one
and the same thing. In truth, they are wholly distinct, and are
descriptive of two quite different features of the Church of England.
It is _Established_, and it is also _Endowed_. It is called the
former because it is established in this country by the Law of the
land, and professes the acknowledged religion of the State. If the
Church were disestablished to-morrow she would still continue to be
the true Church of God in this country, because her origin,
doctrine, and constitution are Apostolic. Besides being called a
"State Church," the Church of England has also been called a "State
_paid_ Church." It is well to remember that the Parochial Clergy,
and all others except Army and Navy Chaplains and the like, do not
receive one farthing from the State. The property, or _Endowment_,
of the Church was the voluntary gift of private individuals in all
ages, who, out of regard to the spiritual interests of those who
lived upon their estates, built churches, and endowed them for the
maintenance of religious worship. The State has no right to alienate
any portion whatever of that property from the purpose for which it
was given. (See _Church of England_ and _Endowment_.)
EUCHARIST. A term applied to the Holy Communion (which see),
derived from the Greek, and meaning, "a giving of thanks." It is
used in the Latin version of our Articles.
EVANGELICALS, _see_ Church Parties.
EVANGELISTS. Properly, preachers of the "Evangel," or Gospel, of
Christ; Eph. iv. 11. The term now is limited to the four writers of
the Gospel.
EVES, or VIGILS. The nights or evenings before certain Holy Days of
the Church. A list of days which have vigils may be found in the
beginning of the Prayer Book, in the table of the Vigils, Fasts,
and Days of Abstinence, to be observed in the year. (See _Vigil_.)
EVEN-SONG. Evening Prayer. The word occurs in the table of Proper
Lessons at the commencement of the Prayer Book. (See _Morning
Prayer_.)
EVOLUTION. A name given to the theory of the origin of animal life,
set forth by certain scientists. Thus they tell us that the account
given us in Genesis of the Creation is certainly wrong. That man
was not created as man, but that he has grown to be what he is
through a series of stages. According to Professor Haeckel, the
pedigree of man is as follows:--1. _Monera_--formless little lumps
of mucus matter supposed to be originated by spontaneous generation.
2. _Amoebae_--a little piece of protoplasm enclosing a kernel.
3. _Synamoebae_--a collection of Amoebae. 4. _Planaeada_. 5.
_Gastraeada_, or primaeval "stomach animals." 6. _Turbellaria_, or
worms of a very simple kind. 7. _Scolecida_, worms of a higher
class. 8. _Himatega_, or worms of a higher class still. 9. _Acrania_,
or skull-less animals. 10. _Monorrhina_, or animals with one nostril.
11. _Selachii_, or primaeval fish. 12. _Dipneusta_, or mud-fish.
13. _Sozobranchia_, or gilled amphibians. 14. _Sozura_, or tailed
amphibians. 15. _Protamnia_. 16. _Primary Mammals_. 17. _Pouched
animals_. 18. _Prosimiae_, or semi-apes. 19. _Tailed Apes_. 20.
_Man-like Apes_. 21. _Ape-like Men_. 22. _Men_.
This may be all true, and yet Genesis need not be false. Genesis
begins with man as man, and not with man as a Monera--supposing he
ever was such. But when scientists speak of the principle of life
as being the outcome of an act of spontaneous generation without
any external creative power, then we must disagree with them. The
principle of life is hidden with God alone, and must come from God.
Nor does it in any way affect our belief in Almighty God, whether
He was pleased to create man from the first in "His own image," or
whether He was pleased to make him first pass through the preliminary
stages Professor Haeckel enumerates!
EXCOMMUNICATION. An ecclesiastical censure, whereby the person
against whom it is pronounced is for the time cast out of the
communion of the church. The first rubric in the Office for the
Burial of the Dead prohibits the use of the Service for any that
die excommunicate.
EXHORTATION. The name given to the various addresses in the Liturgy.
They are nearly all the production of the Reformers. The Burial
Office is the only Service of the Prayer Book which has not one or
more of these exhortations.
EXTREME UNCTION. One of the seven so-called Sacraments of the Church
of Rome. It consists in the application of consecrated olive oil,
by a priest, to the five organs of sense of a dying person. It is
considered as conveying God's pardon and support in the last hour.
It is administered when all hope of recovery is gone, and generally
no food is permitted to be taken after it. This custom is founded
on Mark vi. 13, and James v. 14, 15, but in both these places it is
evident that the anointing should be for the _recovery_ of the sick.
When miraculous powers ceased in the Church, it was reasonable that
the unction should cease also.
FACULTY. An order by the Bishop of a diocese to award some privilege
not permitted by common law. A faculty is necessary in order to
effect any important alterations in a church, such as the erection
of a gallery or an organ. Without a faculty a person is not entitled
to erect a monument within the walls of a church.
FAITH. Man is justified by God in respect of, and by means of, Faith
in Christ. It is not the principal cause for our Justification,
that being God's mercy; it is not the meritorious cause of our
Justification, for that is Christ's death; audit is not the
efficient cause of our Justification, for that is the operation
of the Holy Spirit; but it is the _instrument_ on our _side_, by
which we rely on God's word, and appeal to Him for mercy, and
receive a grant of pardon, and a title to the evangelical promises
of God.