Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 7.djvu/377

 HIERARCHY

331

HIERARCHY

TrX^flo! . . . ^IfX^Jai/To) ; and from the Apostles they receive the imposition of hands with prayer (Acts, vi, 2-6). (c) In Acts, xi, 22 sq., we are told that the "Church that was at Jerusalem" sends Barnabas as an official envoy to Antioeh. After the council of the Apostles, envoys are sent out by the Ai^ostles, presby- ters, and the whole Church {(tvp SXt; rij iKK\T]atg., Acts XV, 22). A semi-official election is spoken of in only one text (second group of texts). St. Paul is given a companion "by the churches" (II Cor., viii, 19) to accompany him in collecting alms. It is easy to read between the lines that St. Paul desired to have them appointed in order to protect himself against evil tongues. In these electoral acts one must bear in mind all that has been said about the Church as an organism and also take into account the dependence of the voters upon the Apostles, which the texts them- selves suggest. Finally the following important methodological rule should constantly be kept in view: if a document simply reports the fact that a com- munity chose its officials or that it had a share in their appointment, this does not warrant the conclusion that the government is based on democratic principles.

A third group of texts contains information about the judicial prerogatives of the community. They include the sentence condemning the incestuous man, which was passed in a plenary session of the commu- nity at Corinth (I Cor., v, '.i sqq.) and an allusion to a similar event that took place later in the same Church (II Cor., ii, 6-9, and vii, 12). In both cases one finds an ordinance of the Apostle, and this means that the competency of the community depends on St. Paul. The fourth group consists of only one text. It deals with private courts of arbitration to be introduced at Corinth by order of St. Paul (I Cor., vi, 1 sq.). In the fifth group we have three texts which tell of the harsh judgment passed liy the faithful on St. Paul (Cal., vi, 1; I Cor., iv, 3) and St. Peter (Acts, xi, 1^). With regard to their manner of acting, only the text in the Epistle to the Corinthians speaks of a "day" (rnx^pa) of the community. The points at issue are party difTerences that had sprung up between the followers of Paul, Cephas, and Apollo. However only a super- ficial exegesis woidd draw from the discussions conclu- sions as to the fundamental elements of the ecclesiasti- cal organization. Indeed St. Paul himself declares his complete indilTerence to all these judgments. He was, of course, extremely cautious with regard to the collection of alms (II Cor., viii, 18 sq.) — sixth group. He left it to the Christians themselves to keep or to give their mite. It would be absurd to speak here of definable rights. The credentials and letters of recommendation (II Cor., iii, 1) — seventh group — were not a matter of compulsion. No com- munity rights can be inferred from them.

There remains inconsequence only the eighth group, consisting of two texts. The question here is, what rights can be deduced from the acknowledgment of superiors by the community (I Cor., yvi, 16; I Thess., v, 12)? No proof has been found hitherto for Weiz- sacker's assertion (Das apostolische Zeitalter der christlichen Kirche, 3rd ed., 1902, p. 601) that this acknowledgement was "at all times" dependent upon the free choice of the community. The altogether unwarranted conclusions drawn from our texts by Weizsacker (op. cit., 599 sq.) and many scholars after him have been refuted by me in detail in " Zeitschrift fur katholLsche Theol.", XXVII, 1903, pp. 64-74. This article with the help of other documents shows also the further point, that the circumstance of the Epistles being directed to the entire community does not in the least prove the autonomy of the comumnity and the absence of superiors. This serves also as a refutation of Knopf's statements (Das nachaposto- lische Zeitalter, 1905, p. 148 sq.). Even if the com- munity rights as described in the whole first group of documents were much more extensive than the

texts actually show them to be, we could not yet speak in any way of a democratic reform of the con- stitution (cf. Dunin Borkowski, "Methodologische Vorfragen zur urchristlichen Verfassung.sge.schichte " ui "Zeitschr. fiir Kath. Theol.", XXVIIP, 1904, pp. 218-249, and XXIX, 1905, pp. 2.8-52 and 212-257). Even though the critical analysis of all the texts reduces to their true value the alleged rights of the first Christian communities, we of course do not deny that St. Paul allowed the communities which he founded a larger autonomy on many points, thus making the local Church in various matters independent of him- self. We must, however, always understand the Church in the sense in which Paul understands it, namely as an organic body whose several members enjoy distinct activities proportionate to the functional power, with which each of them is endowed by CJod.

(6) Po.sition of Charismatic Individuals. — The longer Epistles of St. Paul contain information about certain wonderful, mystic manifestations of the religious life in the earliest communities. These are: prophecy, working of miracles in general (ivepyvfjiaTa or evepyrifiara dufd^wv or dwd/iets), healing of the sick (xap/cTynaTa ia^drwi'), discerning of spirits (SiaKplaeis Trvsvixdrwv, dLaKplveiv), the gift of tongues {y^v-q yXwaadv^ at y\ui(r<Tai, 6 [wvevfjiaTL] \a\Qv yXuiaffr) or y\w(7(rai^), the interpretation of these tongues (epii-qveia yXuaadv^ Si(pfnjvev€ffOaL, c^ctjjxov "Kbyov bovvai, Supapnv rijs (poivijs elS^vat, epp^Tjveia)^ revelation IXaXeTv 4v diroKaXvipet, dTTOKdXvtfiiv ex«J'). In I Cor., xiv, 6, the gift of revela- tion is distinguished from that of prophecy, while in verses 20 and 29 it is declared to be prophecy. Prophecy reveals not only the future but also, and especially, the secrets of hearts (I Cor., xiv, 2.3-25). The gift of the discerning of spirits distinguishes between several (probably conflicting) prophetic speeches (I Cor., xiv, 29 sq.). These gifts of the Holy Ghost and only these are to be counted among the mystic, extraordinary manifestations. The Apostle calls them x"^'<Miia, TTfevpiaTa, xapiaixfxra TrvevpiaTiKa, rd Trvevp.a.Tt.Kd. The individuals so eni_lc)vved are oi ■n-vevp.aTiKoi. According to the Apostle's mode of speaking, charisma is used to mean every activity that in any way originates from the ordinance of God or Christ, and is granted chiefly for the good of the Church. It need not be given to the individual immediately by God; it may have been established by God as an ordinary supernatural func- tion. In other words, every religious activity exer- cised within tlie Church as the body of Christ, and in the service of the Church, is considered by the Apostle as a gift of God and in certain cases as a Divinely appointed office.

In the first group of texts the word charisma {charis- mata) occurs fourteen times: Rom., i, 11; v, 15, 16; vi, 23; xi, 29; xii, 6;_ I Cor., i, 7; vii, 7; xii, 4, 9, 28, 30, 31 (chapters xiii and xiv speak throughout of charismata without, however, mentioning the word) ; II Cor., i, 11. There are only three other passages in which the expression occurs, but in these it is used in the exact meaning in which St. Paul uses it: I Tim., iv, 14; II Tim., i, 6; I Pet., iv, 10. With the excep- tion, perhaps, of Rom., v and vi, the meaning given above is quite evident. In the fifth and sixth chap- ters of the Epistle to the Romans the meaning is even more general. Charity, faith, and hope, exercised in any manner for the service of the Church, are charis- mata. They are even more perfect than the gift of miracles (I Cor., xii, 31, and xiii). As the spreading of the Kingdom of God and the preaching of the Gospel are charismata of the Spirit (Rom., xv, 27: Tots TTvevpLaTiKoi^ [i. e. X'^P^'^I^^^'-^] ' ' - ^Kotvuirjaav — cf. I Cor., ix, 11), so also is that mutual consolation which the common Faith affords. Those Christians are "spiritual" who are governed by the Spirit of Divine meekness (Gal., vi, 1). The word of wisdom (X670! (7O0(os), the word of knowledge (Xiyot 7;'<i<rfais), ordinary teaching (6iSax^, Sidaa-KoKla) are not, there-