Page:Ante-Nicene Fathers volume 1.djvu/211

Rh altar is pure, but he that is without is not pure; that is, he who does any thing apart from the bishop, and presbytery, and deacons, such a man is not pure in his conscience.

wherefore also he is obedient to the bishop and presbyters; but he that is without is one that does anything apart from the bishop, the presbyters, and the deacons. Such a person is defiled in his conscience, and is worse than an infidel. For what is the bishop but one who beyond all others possesses all power and authority, so far as it is possible for a man to possess it, who according to his ability has been made an imitator of the Christ of God? And what is the presbytery but a sacred assembly, the counsellors and assessors of the bishop? And what are the deacons but imitators of the angelic powers, fulfilling a pure and blameless ministry unto him, as the holy Stephen did to the blessed James, Timothy and Linus to Paul, Anencletus and Clement to Peter? He, therefore, that will not yield obedience to such, must needs be one utterly without God, an impious man who despises Christ, and depreciates His appointments.

 

Not that I know there is anything of this kind

Now I write these things unto you, not that I know there are any