Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 7.djvu/381

 HIERARCHY

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HIERARCHY

18, 19, 26). Barnabas: Acts, xi, 22; prophet and (?) doctor, Acts, xiii 1; he preaches together with Paul, Acts, xiii, xiv, xv; I Cor., ix, 6 (cf. GaL, ii, 1), Gal., ii, 9; by the Apostles and presbyters of Jerusa- lem he (Baxnabas) with Judas and Silas is sent to Antioch, Acts, xv, 22 sq. Epenetus: the first fruits of Asia, Rom., xvi, 5. Erastus: Acts, xix, 22 (Rom. xvi, 2.3?). John Mark: Acts, xii, 2,5; xiii, 5. Judas and Silas: prophets, Acts, xv, 32; Silas is with Paul, Acts, XV, 40 (cf. xvi, 19 sq.; xvii, 4 sq.; xviii, 5 sq.); II Cor., i, 19; I Thess., i, 1; II Thess., i, I.Stephanas: with Fortunatus and Achaicus he is counted among the first-fruits of Achaia (I Cor., xvi, 15). Timothy: fellow-labourer of Paul, Acts, xvi, 1 sq. (cf. Acts, xvii, xviii, xix, x.x); Rom., xvi, 21; as Paul's envoy he teaches the doctrine of Paul, I Cor., iv, 17; xvi, 10 (cf. II Cor., i, 1; I and II Thess., i, 1); a very impor- tant text is I Thess., iii, i sq. Titu.s: fellow-labourer of Paul, II Cor., ii, 12; vii, 5; he teaches Paul's doc- trine, II Cor., vii, 1.3 sq.; sent by Paul he takes charge of the collection of alms, II Cor., viii, 6 sq., 16-24; he walks in the same steps with Paul, II Cor., xii. 17 sq. Trophimus and Tychicus: companions of Paul, Acts, XX, 4 sq.; Trophimus alone, Acts, xxi, 29. Ur- banus: helper of Paul, Rom., xvi, 9 (concerning these labourers see H. Bnmders, S. J., "Die Verfassung der Kirche", Mainz, 1904, 215-315). The superiors and the numerous Apostolic helpers are considered by Paul as fellow-labourers because, and in so far as, they work in his spirit and agree with his doctrine. If for a time they preach independently, as Barnabas and Mark, Paul always supposes that they preach his Gospel. The activity of the women is described by Paul in two places as " labouring in the Lord" {kowiS.i') Rom., xvi, 12 {bis). Instead of this word, the Epistle to the Philippians uses awaSXtiv. If we use the word organization in a very general sense, we may say, that the women belonged to the organization of the primitive Church. In the Epistle to the Romans (xvi, 1) a woman is given the title of deacon.

B. The Texts of the Second Group.— (1) The Epistles of Paul will be examined together with Acts, xx; (2) the Epistle of Peter; and (3) the Didache. The texts from St. Paul will be classified similarly to those of the first group above.

(1) The Epistles of Paul and Acts, xx. —

(a) The authority of the Apostle over the communi- ties: Eph., iii, 7-12; vi, 19, 20; Phil., iii, 17; Col., i, 23-29; ii, 4-8 (cf. 16 sq.). -Also to be compared is Eph., i, l3 (cf. iv, 21): the preaching of Paul is "truth". The authority of the Apostle appears here in the same light as in his earliest letters; there is no question of autonomous communities.

(b) Charismatic prophets together with Apostles are mentioned as the foundation of the Church (Eph., ii, 20) : in union with Apostles, evangelists, pastors anil doctors, they co-operate in building up the body of Christ; by the grace of God (which here, Eph., iv, 7, is called X'^-P'-^, not x"/"<''Ma) they have been sent for the work of the ministry (ci's fpyov StaKovtas) (Eph., iv, 11-20). The .\postle wishes the Ephesians the spirit of wisdom and of revelation (Eph., i, 17; cf. Col., iii, 16). The mystico-miraculous charismata remain al- together in the background.

(c) Superinr.-i. — In the address of the Epistle to the Philippians (i, 1), bishops and deacons are mentioned. There is no reason why we should consider their posi- tion and activity to have been different from that of the pro'istamenoi of the First Epistle to the Thessa- lonians, v, 12, and of the Epistle to the Romans, xii, 8. In the present text, it is true, the names are some- what more definite. These rulers are the chief workers (Toi>t Koiriuj^ras in iifui') (I Thess., V, 12). According to this we have not to consider as distinct from the said superiors those presbyter-bishops of Ephesus (Acts, X.X, 17-32) who are appointed by the Holy Ghost (again St. Paul's idea as above, no. 7), and who

rule as pastors. Their work is to instruct, to exhort, to warn against deception and false doctrine. Since, as we have seen, the designation pro'istamenoi had a very general meaning, it would be uncritical to assert that they constituted a governing body of only one grade which was not divided into the grades of bishop and deacon until later times. It is quite possible that the proistamcnoi already contained several grades within their own class. Whence did the Christians take the title bishop (used at first only in the plural) to desig- nate their rulers? The hypothesis (Heinrici, Hatch, etc.) of their having borrowed it from pagan religious societies has long since been given up. Most scholars agree to-day with the results obtained by Ziebarth: " A special characteristic of the terminology describ- ing Greek associations is its lack of definiteness. 'EirliTKOTrot as well as i-wineK-nral designate in a very general way overseers or administrators. It is to- day an established fact that the title i-n-laKoiroi, which now and then occurs as an official title in Greek asso- ciations, does not furnish an argument for the deriva- tion of the Christian office from pagan religions asso- ciations" (Das griechische Vereinswesen, 1896, 131). Kor does the present writer attach any great import- ance to the circumstance that even before the time of Christ there is mentioned at Phodos an episkopos as being in charge of certain matters of worship (cf. Deissmann, " Neue Bibelstudien", 57 sq.). The title ejnskopos is also applied here and there to municipal officers. In the Septuagint Eleazar appears as episkopos (Num., iv, 16); generals of the armies are episkopoi (Num., XXX, 14; IV Kings, xi, 15, IS) ; higher officials together with archons (II Esd., xi, 9, 14, 22; Is., Ix, 17; I Mach., i, 51; cf. Judges, ix, 28). In Job, xx, 29, God is called ejriskopos. In connection with work of a religious character the word is used II Par., xxxiv, 12, 17. We must recall that in the First Epistle of Peter (ii, 25), Christ is called the shepherd and bishop of our souls. Clement calls God the creator and bishop of all spirits (I Clem., lix, 3). In Christian circles the word seems from the very beginning to have tlenoted an activity of high rank and excellence. Originally it was not a title or the name of an office. The attempts of recent Protestant scholars (Hatch, Harnack, Dobschiitz, etc.) to separate even in the earliest times the functions of the bishops from those of the presbyters are to be considered as unsuccessful. In the New Testament and even with Clement the two expressions are synonymous. It is indeed possi- ble that the presbyters or the proistamenm were called bishops after their sphere of action had been more accurately circumscribed. There remains only one text. At Colossa, .\rchippus has to fulfil a ministry (Sm- KOfla) (Col., iv, 17). In the Epistle to Philemon, 2, he is called fellow-soldier {avuTpaTidiT-q^). Here we perhaps find the trace of a monarchical bishop.

(d) Fellow-labourers of Paul. — Epaphras (Col., iv, 12), servant of Jesus Christ (cf. Philem., 23); Luke (Col., iv, 14);Mark (Col., iv, 10, 11), " touching whom you have received commandment s " (im-oXd s). He is a fellow-labourer, as are also Aristarchus (cf. Acts, xx, 4; xxvii, 2; Philem., 24), and Je.sus Justus. Clement (Phil., iv, 3) and other unknown fellow-labourers, also women; one of these fellow-labourers is addressed as yvqffie ai^ye (or 'Ziv^vyi). Tychicus, a faithful minister (SiaKovos) and fellow-servant in the Lord {(TvviovXoi) ; Eph., vi, 21, he is called faithful minister. Ejxiphroditus, Phil., ii, 25-30, and iv, 18: brother, and fellow-labourer, and fellow-soldier, your apostle. Philemon also (Philem., 2) is a fellow-labourer.

(2) The First Epistle of Peter.— The evangelical preaching is absolute truth ; it is the word of the Lord which endureth forever (i, 25), the fulfilment of the prophecies, and the work of the Holy Ghost (i, 11, 12) ; consequently it is simply to be obeyed (i, 14; cf. i, 2). Endowed with such authority the writer teaches and exhorts; Peter is the Apostle of Jesus Christ (i, 1), the