THE OFFICES IN THE EARLY CHURCH HISTORY

Author(s): C.J. Botha

Source: Neotestamentica , 1976, Vol. 10, MINISTRY IN THE PAULINE LETTERS (1976), pp.
110-123
Published by: New Testament Society of Southern Africa

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/43048963

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide
range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and
facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at
https://about.jstor.org/terms

New Testament Society of Southern Africa is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve
and extend access to Neotestamentica

This content downloaded from

180.254.110.243 on Wed, 13 Dec 2023 04:13:54 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
 THE OFFICES IN THE EARLY
CHURCH HISTORY

Dr. C.J. Botha

Any attempt to obtain clarity on the exact functioning of offices in

the Early Church will have to cope with a limited supply of literature on
the matter. The reason is not difficult to explain. We know that the
Roman authorities repeatedly burned the books belonging to the Christian
Church, and it is not too presumptuous to assume that very important
information was undoubtedly consumed by the flames of the perse-
cutors. But there is also another obvious explanation: One of the methods
of the Roman persecutors to annihilate the Church was to concentrate
their attention on the leaders of the Church. The clamour of the crowd:
"Away with the atheists; search for Polycarp"11 was a clear example of
the general pattern. The head of the bishop was regarded as a crown
prize. It is comprehensible that the Christians would be extremely
cautious to put any information in writing which might endanger the
lives of their leaders in any way.
The fact that there is so little written about the office-bearers,
increases the temptation to read into the writings one's own pre-
established views, and this makes it almost impossible to ascertain
without any doubt the exact particulars. It is quite conceivable that
every school of thought will also have its own interpretation of the
manuscripts. I would like to expound three very important points of view
on the issue:

(a) The Catholic view is in accordance with their general attitude to the
history of dogma. They are convinced that the Catholic Church has
preserved the apostolic tradition to perfection. The government of the
Church, according to their view, has always been basically the same as
today.

(b) The Reformed theology has a very different point of view.21

According to them the apostles preached the Gospel from place to place
and wherever their evangelism produced a viable congregation, they
appointed presbyters/ episkopoi and deacons to govern the local church.
This body of office-bearers was called the Collegium of Presbyters, and
it had authority as a corpus. But towards the end of the first century the
Collegium of Presbyters was displaced by the Monarchical Episcopate.
Ignatius of Antioch is generally accepted as one of the first propagators

110

This content downloaded from

180.254.110.243 on Wed, 13 Dec 2023 04:13:54 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
of this new system.

(c) There is a third point of view to which I would like to pay

detailed attention - that of Adolph Harnack. According to Harnack the
Early Church was "only an organization founded on the gift of the
Spirit ( charismata ) bestowed on the Church by God, corresponding to
the original peculiarity of the Christian community. The Apostolic age
therefore transmitted a twofold organization to the communities. The
one was based on the diakonia tod lógou, and was regarded as
established directly by God; the other stood in the closest connection
with the economy of the Church, above all with the offering of gifts,
and so with the sacrificial service. In the first were men speaking the
word of God, commissioned and endowed by God, and bestowed on
Christendom, not on a particular community, who as aposto/oi, prophetai
and didáska/oi had to spread the Gospel, that is to edify the Church
of Christ. They were regarded as the real hegoùmenoi in the com-
munities, whose words given them by the Spirit all were to accept in
faith. In the second were episkopoi and diákonoi, appointed by the
individual congregation and endowed with the charisms of leading and
helping, who had to receive and administer the gifts, to perform the
sacrificial service (if there were no prophets present), and take charge of
the affairs of the community. It lay in the nature of the case that as a rule
the episkopoi as independent officials, were chosen from among the
elders, and might thus coincide with the chosen presbúteroi. But a very
important development takes place in the second half of our epoch. The
prophets and teachers - as the result of causes which followed the
naturalising of the Churches in the world - fell more and more into the
background, and their function, the solemn service of the word, began
to pass over to the officials of the community, the bishops, who already
played a great rôle in the public worship. At the same time, however,
it appeared more and more fitting to entrust one official, as chief leader
(superintendent of public worship), with the reception of gifts and their
administration, together with the care of the unity of public worship;
that is, to appoint one bishop instead of a number of bishops, leaving
however, as before, the college of presbyters, as prohístamenoi tês
ekkļēsias, a kind of senate of the community. "3) According to Harnack
this change was a catastrophe. "Instead of enthusiastic independent
Christians, we find a new literature of revelation, the New Testament,
and Christian priests. When did these formations begin? How and by
what influence was the living faith transformed into the creed to be
believed, the surrender to Christ into a Philosophic Christology, the Holy
Church into the corpus permixtum, the glowing hope of the Kingdom of
heaven into a doctrine of immortality and deification, prophecy into a

111

This content downloaded from

180.254.110.243 on Wed, 13 Dec 2023 04:13:54 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
learned exegesis and theological science, the bearers of the spirit into
clerics, the brethren into laity held in tutelage, miracles and healings into
nothing or into priestcraft, the fervent prayers into a solemn ritual, re-
nunciation of the world into a jealous dominion over the world, the
"spirit" into constraint and law?
There can be no doubt about the answer: these formations are as
old in their origin as the detachment of the Gospel from the Jewish
Church. A religious faith which seeks to establish a communion of its own
in opposition to another, is compelled to borrow from that other what
it needs. The religion which is life and feeling of the heart cannot be
converted into a knowledge determining the motley multitude of men
without deferring to their wishes and opinions . . . The Christian Church
and its doctrine were developed within the Roman world and Greek
culture in opposition to the Jewish Church."41
Harnack based his view on the sentence in the apostolic teachings:
"But suffer the prophets to hold Eucharist as they will", and the
ensuing prescriptions.51 The most astonishing aspect of the arguments
of Harnack is that he is critical of any guidance of the Spirit in the
forming of the canon, even in the inspiration of Scripture itself, and of
any charismatic gifts bestowed on bishops elected by the community,
while he is so romantically obsessed by the Charismatikoi, although he
admits: "Now it certainly lies in the nature of enthusiasm, that it can
assume the most diverse forms of expression, and follow very different
impulses, and so far it frequently separates instead of uniting."61
In my endeavour to assess the function and history of the offices,
I have decided on the following method: I have chosen the first professed
church historian, Eusebius, from whose writings I have constructed a
point of view from where I have ventured to interpret the writers of the
first and early second century. That this method is exposed to criticism
is understandable - but what method will not be?
Eusebius is very emphatic in stating that the apostles occupied e
unique place in the history of the Church. He links the apostles some-
what surprisingly with the evangelists in accomplishing a task which we
in our terminology would call missionary work: "At once, in accordance
with the divine Scriptures, the voice of its inspired evangelists and
Apostles 'went forth to the whole earth and their words to the end of the
world'. In every city and village arose churches crowded with thousands
of men, like a teeming threshing floor."71 Eusebius records that the
apostles had an arrangement of bringing the Gospel to the ends of the
world: "Thomas obtained by lot Parthia, Andrew Scythia, John Asia,
but Peter seems to have preached to the Jews of the Dispersion in
Pontus and Galatia and Bithynia, Cappadocia and Asia, and at the end
he came to Rome and was crucified head downwards, for so he

112

This content downloaded from

180.254.110.243 on Wed, 13 Dec 2023 04:13:54 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
demanded to suffer. "8)
The apostles did not settle in one place. "As soon as they had no
more than laid the foundations of faith in some strange place, they
appointed others as shepherds and committed to them the task of
tending those who had been just brought in, but they themselves passed
on again to other lands and peoples, helped by the grace and co-
operation of God, seeing that many strange miracles of the divine Spirit
were at that time still being wrought by them, so that whole crowds
of men at the first hearing eagerly received in their souls the religion of
the Creator of the universe."91
It is a key question: What was meant by these shepherds? Were
they presbyters or bishops or Charismatics? It is extremely important to
note that Clement of Rome gives a very candid answer to this question:
"Our apostles also knew through our Lord Jesus Christ that there would
be strife for the title of bishop. For this cause, therefore, since they
had received perfect foreknowledge, they appointed those who have
been already mentioned, and afterwards added the codicil that if they
should fall asleep, other approved men should succeed to their minis-
try. "10) This statement coincides with the information Eusebius had of
Polycarp's ordination as bishop of Smyrna: "And Polycarp also was not
only instructed by apostles and conversed with many who had seen the
Lord, but was also appointed bishop by apostles in Asia in the Church
in Smyrna."111 According to Eusebius it was the custom in the early
Church to give the church-leaders of neighbouring congregations a share
in the appointment of a bishop. "After the martyrdom of James and the
capture of Jerusalem which immediately followed, the story goes that
those of the Apostles and of the disciples of the Lord who were still
alive came together from every place with those who were, humanly
speaking, of the family of the Lord, for many of them were then still
alive, and they all took council together as to whom they ought to
adjudge worthy to succeed James, and all unanimously decided that
Simeon the son of Clopas, whom the scripture of the Gospel also
mentions, was worthy of the throne of the diocese."121
When Ignatius was on his way to Rome (and the martyr's death)
he requested Polycarp by letter "to summon a godly council, and elect
someone who is very dear to you and is zealous, who can be called
God's courier; appoint him to go to Syria to glorify your zealous love
to the glory of God."13)
Eusebius clearly believed that the apostles appointed bishops in
every congregation. His first source for this conviction was the Bible.
"Luke also in the Acts gives a list of those known to him and mentions
them by name. Thus Timothy is related to have been the first appointed
bishop of the diocese of Ephesus, as was Titus of the churches in

113

This content downloaded from

180.254.110.243 on Wed, 13 Dec 2023 04:13:54 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
Crete. "14) He mentions the fact that from the documents that had been
investigated by him, it became clear to him that the bishops who served
the Church of Jerusalem up to the siege of Jerusalem by Hadrian, were
no less than fifteen in number, all being Jews."15> He also gives an
accurate list of the bishops of Rome.16) He quotes the cases of Papias
and Polycarp: "At this time there flourished in Asia Polycarp, the
companion of the Apostles, who had been appointed to the bishopric
of the church in Smyrna by the eyewitnesses and ministers of the Lord.
Distinguished men at the same time were Papias, who was himself
bishop of the diocese of Hierapolis, and Ignatius, still a name of note to
most men, the second after Peter to succeed to the bishopric of
Antioch."17)
These bishops served a very important purpose. They were trained
by the apostles or their legal substitutes in the apostolic tradition, and
it was their duty and honour to deliver this tradition unaltered to their
congregations. "Yet Papias himself, according to the preface of his
treatises, makes plain that he had in no way been a hearer and eye-
witness of the sacred Apostles, but teaches that he had received the
articles of the faith from those who had known them, for he speaks as
follows: 'And I shall not hesitate to append to the interpretations all
that I ever learnt well from the presbyters and remember well, for of their
truth I am confident.' "18)
This tradition was of the utmost importance to the early Church.
Most of its members, recently broken away from heathen religions,
and with the best intentions, still carried with them influences from those
religions and cults with which they had grown up. The canon of the
New Testament was still in its originating process. Erroneous doctrine,
disunity and schism were increasing rapidly. The Regula Fidei was
taking shape to give the Church an authoritative criterion by which to
evaluate the authenticity of the preachers. As Harnack states: "...the
decisive importance of this theology lies in the fact that, as a rule, it
formed the boundary and the foundation - just as the words of the
Lord himself - for those who in the following period endeavoured to
ascertain original Christianity, because the Epistles attesting it stood in
the canon of the New Testament."19 This urge to adhere to the original
Gospel certainly was a major issue in the development of the offiòes of
the Church.
To appreciate this we should consider the discord and disharmony
that developed in the early church life, and the effect it had. "...until
then the church remained a pure and uncorrupted virgin, for those who
attempted to corrupt the healthful rule of the Saviour's preaching, if
they existed at all, lurked in obscure darkness. But when the sacred
band of the Apostles and the generation of those to whom it had been

114

This content downloaded from

180.254.110.243 on Wed, 13 Dec 2023 04:13:54 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
vouchsafed to hear with their own ears the divine wisdom had reached
the several ends of their lives, then the federation of godless error took
its beginning through the deceit of false teachers who, seeing that none
of the Apostles still remained, barefacedly tried against the preaching of
the truth the counter-proclamation of 'knowledge falsely so-called'.
Elsewhere he continues: "Like brilliant lamps the churches were now
shining throughout the world, and faith in our Saviour and Lord Jesus
Christ was flourishing among mankind, when the devil who hates what is
good, as the -enemy of truth, ever most hostile to man's salvation,
truned all his devices against the church. Formerly he had used
persecutions from without as his weapon against her, but now that he
was excluded from this he employed wicked men and sorcerers, like
baleful weapons and ministers of destruction against the soul, and
conducted his campaigns by other measures, plotting by every means
that sorcerers and deceivers might assume the same name as our
religion and at one time lead to the depth of destruction those of the
faithful whom they caught. "21)
Clement verifies the dismal picture of Eusebius: "Therefore it is
right and holy, my brethren, for us to obey God rather than to follow
those who in pride and unruliness are the instigators of an abominable
jealousy. For we shall incur no common harm, but great danger, if we
rashly yield ourselves to the purpose of men who rush into strife and
sedition, to estrange us from what is right."32* His advice to his readers
is very instructive: "Moreover let us cleave to those whose peacefulness
is based on piety and not to those whose wish for peace is hypocrisy."231
And again: "For Christ is of those who are humble-minded, not of
those who exalt themselves over His flock. "24) He mentions this discord
as one of the reasons for his writing, "...we consider that our attention
has been somewhat delayed in turning to the questions disputed among
you, beloved, and especially the abominable and unholy sedition, alien
and foreign to the elect of God, which a few rash and self-willed
persons have made blaze up to such a frenzy that your name, venerable
and famous, and worthy as it is of all men's love, has been much
slandered."251
It is clear from the preceding passage that the sedition was found
among the office-bearers, and that rivalry and envy was at the root of it
all. The Pastor Hermas is very explicit about that: "Now therefore I say
unto you that are rulers of the Church, and that occupy the chief seats:
be not ye like the sorcerers (pharmakoi). The sorcerers indeed carry their
drugs in boxes, but ye carry your drug and your poison in your heart. Ye
are case-hardened, and ye will not cleanse your hearts and mix your
wisdom together in a clean heart, that ye may obtain mercy from the
Great King. Look ye therefore, children, lest these divisions of yours

115

This content downloaded from

180.254.110.243 on Wed, 13 Dec 2023 04:13:54 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
deprive you of your life. How is it that ye wish to instruct the elect of the
Lord, while ye yourselves have no instruction? Instruct one another
therefore, and have peace among yourselves, that I also may stand
gladsome before the Father, and give an account concerning you all to
the Lord."26*
It is not difficult to indicate the poison against which Hermas was
warning the office-bearers. Harnack has already pointed out that the
bishop was mainly chosen from the Collegium of Presbyters. After the
election there would naturally have been presbyters who felt disappointed
and frustrated. Now they were expected to serve under the authority of
the chosen bishop. If we keep in mind that one of the most important
considerations in the election was the orthodoxy of the candidates, then
it is evident that this disappointment could be a fertile mould to engender
strife and schism.271
It seems incredible that Harnack, who held such a high opinion of
the Charismatikoi, working and speaking in the name of the Holy
Spirit, did not, in his exposition, account for the power of the other
spiritual forces which were at work, and also took possession of people.
I refer to the evil forces of the Devil. History has given sufficient evidence
on the success of the strategy of the Devil to recruit followers from the
ranks of office-bearers of the Church.
In the light of all that has been said, I dare to plead for a new
conception of Ignatius. Instead of accusing him of changing the structure
of the offices, I would venture to suggest that he fought for the status of
the ordained office-bearers. He stated that the opposition against the
truth culminated in opposition against the bishop. "But mark those who
have strange opinions concerning the grace of Jesus Christ which has
come to us, and see how contrary they are to the mind of God ... They
then who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes ... It is right
to refrain from such men and not even speak to them in private or in
public but to give heed to the prophets and especially to the Gospel ...
But flee from divisions as the beginning of evils. See that you all follow
the bishop, as Jesus Christ follows the Father, and the presbyter as if it
were the Apostles. And reverence the deacons as the command of God.
Let no one do any of the things appertaining to the Church without
the bishop. Let that be considered a valid Eucharist which is celebrated
by the bishop, or by one whom he appoints. Wherever the bishop
appears let the congregation be present; just as wherever Jesus Christ
is, there is the Catholic Church. It is not lawful either to baptize or to hold
an 'agape' without the bishop; but whatever he approve, this is also
pleasing to God, that everything which you do may be secure and
valid."281
This dictum also reveals his interpretation of the functions of the

116

This content downloaded from

180.254.110.243 on Wed, 13 Dec 2023 04:13:54 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
various offices. According to Ignatius the bishop is the head of the
congregation. The presbyters as a corpus are the governors of the flock.
This government should always be in accordance with the bishop. "For
Jesus Christ, our inseparable life is the will of the Father, even as the
bishops, who have been appointed throughout the world, are by the will
of Jesus Christ. Therefore it is fitting that you should live in harmony
with the will of the bishop, as indeed you do. For your justly famous
presbytery, worthy of God, is attuned to the bishop as the strings to the
harp. Therefore by your concord and harmonious love Jesus Christ is
being sung. Now do each of you join in this choir, that being harmo-
niously in concord you may receive the key of God in unison, and sing
with one voice through Jesus Christ to the Father, that he may both
hear you and may recognise that you are members of his Son.',29)
But to illustrate the wide range of the functions of the bishop, I
quote a fraternal word by Ignatius to his younger colleague, Polycarp.
He admonished him to see to it that the deacons provided in the needs
of the poor, because basically it was his responsibility. "Let not the
widows be neglected. Be yourself their protector after the Lord./,30)
He was also encouraged to administer his pastoral duties with care:
"Seek all by their name. Do not be haughty to slaves, either men or
women; yet do not let them be puffed up, but let them rather endure
slavery to the glory of God."31)
On the other hand the bishop was restricted by his dependence
on and adherence to the Lord, "...to Polycarp, who is bishop of the
Church of the Smyrnaeans, or rather has for his bishop God the Father
and the Lord Jesus Christ, abundant greetings. Welcoming your godly
mind which is fixed as if on immovable rock, I glory exceedingly that it
was granted me to see your blameless face ... I exhort you to press
forward on your course, in the grace wherewith you are endued, and to
exhort all men to gain salvation. Vindicate your office with all diligence,
both of the flesh and the spirit. Care for unity, for there is nothing
better. Help all men, as the Lord also helps you; suffer all men in love,
as you indeed do. Be diligent with unceasing prayer. Entreat for wisdom
greater than you have, be watchful and keep the spirit from slumbering.
Speak to each individually after the manner of God. 'Bear the sicknesses'
of all as a perfect athlete. Where the toil is greatest, is the gain great ...
'Be prudent as the serpent' in all things 'and pure as the dove' for
ever. For this reason you consist of flesh and spirit, that you may deal
tenderly with the things which appear visibly; but pray that the invisible
things may be revealed to you, that you may lack nothing and abound
in every charisma."32*
Dix produces another witness for the early existence of the office
of the bishop, viz. the architecture of the "title-churches", ^ which were

117

This content downloaded from

180.254.110.243 on Wed, 13 Dec 2023 04:13:54 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
the spacious houses of the prosperous members of the congregation,
made available for the purpose of common worship. "Fortunately
the great Roman mansion of the period offered in its traditional lay-out
certain arrangements not found in the tenements in which the mass of the
population lived, which precisely suited the needs of the church ... The
chair of the paterfamilias became the bishop's throne;the heads of the
families were replaced by the presbyters, and the clansmen by the laity.
Virgins and widows and any others for whom it might be desirable to avoid
the crowding in the atrium could be placed behind the screens of the
alae. At the back near the door, where the clients and the slaves of the
patrician house - attached to it but not of it - had once stood at its
assemblies, were now to be found the catechumens and enquirers,
attached to the church but not yet members of it. The place of the
stone table was that of the christian altar; the tank of the impluvium
would serve for the solemn immersion of the baptism in the presence
of the whole church. When the 'candidates' (= 'clothed in white')
emerged, they could dry in one of the side rooms; and then, clothed
in the white linen garments they received after baptism in token that
they had entered the kingdom of God, they were led straight to the
bishop to receive the unction of confirmation ... The dining room of
the house (triclinium) which usually opened off the atrium could be used
when needed for the christian 'love-feast'. ,,34)
In conclusion, it appears that the bishop was the central figure in
the congregation, moreover, he was the directive in all the activities of
the church. But in all his duties he was assisted by the presbyters and
the deacons. If I was asked to indicate a modern structure that would, to
my mind, define the position of the bishop in the early Church, I would
not use any of the episcopal church-structures as an example. I would
rather choose the practical position of a Dutch Reformed minister in a
rural community as a model. What was the position of the presbyteroi?
They had a joint function which Harnack typified as Senate to the bishop.
I have already quoted the emphasis on unity with the bishop. What were
the duties of a presbyter? Polycarp gives us a very elaborate descrip-
tion: "And let the presbyters also be compassionate, merciful to all,
bringing back those that have wandered, caring for all the weak, ne-
glecting neither widow, nor orphan nor poor, but 'ever providing for
that which is good before God and man', refraining from all wrath,
respect of persons, unjust judgment, being far from all love of money,
not quickly believing evil of any, not hasty in judgment, knowing that
'we all owe the debt of sin'."351 He regrets the fact that Valens "...who
was once made a presbyter among you, ... so little understands the
place which was given to him. I advise, therefore, that you keep from
avarice, and be pure and truthful. Keep yourselves from all evil. For how

118

This content downloaded from

180.254.110.243 on Wed, 13 Dec 2023 04:13:54 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
may he who cannot attain self-control in these matters enjoin it on
another?"381
There existed a very definite authority in the Church. Clement
advised those who were the cause of sedition to "...submit to the pres-
byters, and receive the correction of repentance, bending the knees of
your hearts."37' Elsewhere he writes . .let the flock of Christ have peace
with the presbyters set over it."381 In the following passage Clement
points to a definite distinction between the bishop and the presbyteroi.
"Let us reverence the Lord Jesus Christ, whose blood was given for us,
let us respect those who rule us, let us honour the presbyteroi."39'

What was the function of the deacons? It seems to me that the

Early Church accepted Acts 6 as the Sitz im Leben of this office. The
two main duties mentioned in Act 6, the auxiliary service in the Eucharist
and the alimony to the poor, were basically the duties of the deacons.
Eusebius mentions Nicolas as". ..one of the deacons in the company
of Stephen, who were appointed by the Apostles for the service of the
poor."401 To prove that Acts 6 was the basis for the office of the
deacons, I may mention that it was the custom in the Early Church
for every congregation to have seven deacons, in the mould of Acts 6.41'
The Concilium of Neo-Caesarea stipulated in Canon 15 that every con-
gregation should have seven deacons.
But the office of the deacons shows a very distinctive development.
The deacons gradually became more than just helpers of the poor.
Ignatius calls them "...most dear to me, entrusted with the service of
Jesus Christ."421 They were assistants of the bishop and took care
of the finances of the Church. The financial affairs of every con-
gregation were managed under three separate accounts: the maintain-
ance of the liturgy, the support of the clerus and the alimentation of
the poor.43' One of the sinful deviations of the Early Church, pointed
out by the Pastor Hermas, is negligence by the deacons, "...they that
have spots are the deacons that exercised their office ill, and plundered
the livelihood of widows and orphans, and made gain for themselves
from the ministrations which they had received to perform."44' In all
probability the Teaching of the Apostles warned against the very same
offence when it required that the deacons, like the bishops, should be
"worthy of the Lord, meek men, and not lovers of money, and truthful
and approved."461
Ignatius describes their duty as follows: "And they also who are
deacons of the mysteries of Jesus Christ must be in every way pleasing
to all men. For they are not the ministers of food and drink, but
servants of the Church of God; they must therefore guard against blame
as against fire."461 Polycarp describes their duties very much in accord-

119

This content downloaded from

180.254.110.243 on Wed, 13 Dec 2023 04:13:54 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
ance with those of the presbyters. "Likewise must the deacons be blame-
less before his righteousness, as the servants of God and Christ and
not man, not slanderers, not double-tongued, not lovers of money,
temperate in all things, compassionate, careful, walking according to the
truth of the Lord, who was the 'servant of all'."47'
In Chapter 19 of the Cánones Apostolorum it was commended to
the deacons that they should persist in good works by day and by night,
not neglecting the poor and not making a fuss of the rich. They should
know of those in. affliction, and never send them away empty-handed.
They should educate the rich to do good works remembering the words
of the Lord: "For when I was hungry, you gave me nothing to eat." In
Chapter 20 the duties of the deacons are defined as follows: The
deacons should be tried men in the Lord's service. They should have
reared children, have modest personalities, not be double-tongued, ill-
tempered, over-awed by the rich or oppressive to the poor. They should
be able to reprimand and encourage to do good works and educate the
rich to give abundantly, while they themselves must set a good example
in this matter.
The deacons should realize that it is the Lord himself who is the
true origin of all charity. This accent is found in the prayer of Clement:
"We beseech thee. Master, to be our 'help and succour'. Save those of
us who are in affliction, have mercy on the lowly, raise the fallen, show
thyself to those in need, heal the sick, turn again the wanderers of they
people, feed the hungry, ransome our prisoners, raise up the weak,
comfort the faint-hearted; let all 'nations know thee, that thou art God
alone'."481
In addition the deacons rendered an important service during the
divine service, both in the missa cathechumenorum and in the missa
fidelium.49' Not only did his liturgical duties include several prayers, but
it was also his task to announce the time of departure of the enquirers
and the cathecumens. He summoned the congregation to the Eucharist,
he announced the 'kiss of peace'; two deacons stood on either side of
the altar to protect the wine from gnats, and one proclaimed the
commencement of the holy communion and led the congregation in
their prayers of thanksgiving. Finally he dismissed the congregation with
the blessing: "Go in peace."
There is one particular aspect of the offices in the Early Church
which calls for special attention, viz. the theological grounds. I have
already referred to the fact that Acts 6 played an important rôle in the
development of the office of the deacons. But the theology of the Early
Church was, surprisingly enough, not based on any New Testament
tradition. It would be expected that Clement, who saw Christ as the
real Compassionate Servant, would draw the theological consequences,

120

This content downloaded from

180.254.110.243 on Wed, 13 Dec 2023 04:13:54 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
and build a theology of the various offices on Christ the Servant par
excellence. However, it was not the case. His writings on the offices
were more of a reaction against the manner in which chosen presbyters
and bishops were discharged in the Corinthian church, than any positive
theological principle on the offices as such. In his condemnation of this
practice he makes use of the following arguments:

(a) The bishops in every congregation were ordained in the successio

apostolica. "The apostles preached from district to district, and from
city to city, and they appointed their first converts, testing them by the
Spirit, to be bishops and deacons of the future believers. And this was
no new method ...',50), and then he quotes Is. 60:17, "I will establish
their bishops in righteousness and their deacons in faith."

(b) The office-bearers concerned were dismissed in spite of good

services rendered. "For we see that in spite of their good service you
have removed some from the ministry which they fulfilled blamelessly. "51)

(c) The cultic activities of the Church were based on the Old Testa-
ment52> and as such, the offices of the Church were also based on the
god-appointed High Priest with the priests and Levites.53* "The Old Tes-
tament applied to Christ and his universal Church, has always remained
the decisive document, and it was long ere Christian writings received
the same authority, long ere individual doctrines and sayings of Apostolic
writings obtained an influence on the formation of ecclesiastical doc-
trine."54»

(d) The Church should be well-organized, similar to an army and in the

shape of a pyramid with the general, prefects, tribunes, centurions and
ordinary ranks.55*

When we study the theology on which Ignatius built his views

concerning the office-bearers we find that he had actually used the
Trinity as a premise. By employing the eikon-theology (where every-
thing on earth is a type of the heavenly, cf. Ex. 25:40), he saw the
relationship of the various ranks in the church-offices as a type of the
relationship between the Father, the Son, the Spirit and the Apostles.56)
At the conclusion of my investigation of this subject I retain a
lasting impression that the Early Church, in its effort to propagate the
message of the Gospel across the boundaries of culture and social
structures, possessed a theological concept of the offices which was
yet in the first stages of development. The result was that the church-
offices during this period had more of a functional than a theological

121

This content downloaded from

180.254.110.243 on Wed, 13 Dec 2023 04:13:54 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
foundation. What they urgently desired to put into practice in every
congregation, was a realization of the basic creed of Christianity:
CHRIST IS LORD!
★ ★ ★

REFERENCES

1) Mart. Polyc. Ill, Compare the quick succession of bishops in Jerusalem, E

H. E. IV, v, land 2.
2) A. Adam in R.G.G. 3 I Par. 1301, 02. See also H. uetzmann. "The Early Church
58-66.
3) A. Harnack, History of Dogma, 214, 215.
4) A. Harnack, op. cit., 45, 36.
5) Didache X, 7, and XI, 1 - 12, XII and XIII.
6) A. Harnack, op. cit., 53, 54.
7) Eus. H. E. Il, iii, 1 and 2.
8) Eus. H.E.III, i.
9) Eus. H. E. Ill, xxxvii, 3. Comp. Clem. Rom. XLII, 5.
10) I Clem. XLIV, 1 and 2.
11) Eus. H. E. IV, xiv, 3.
12) Eus. H.E.III, xi, 1.
13) Ign. ad Polyc. VII, 2.
14) Eus. H.E.III, iv, 4, 5.
15) Eus. H.E. IV, v, 1,2.
16) Eus. H.E. Ill, xiii, 1; xiv; xv, 1; and V, vi, 1.
17) Eus. H.E. Ill,xxxvi, 1,2.
18) Eus. H.E. Ill, xxxix, 2, 3.
19) Harnack, op. cit., 134.
20) Eus. H.E. Ill, xxxii, 7, 8.
21) Eus. H.E. IV, vii, 1,2.
22) I Clem. XIV, 1,2.
23) I Clem. XV, 1.
24) I Clem. XVI, 1.
25) I Clem. 1,1.
26) Hermas, Vis. III, ix, 7-10.
27) Eusebius gives an example of this: H.E. IV, xxii, 5, 6.
28) Ign. ad Sm. VI, 2 -VIII, 2.
29) Ign. ad Eph. Ill, 2 - IV, 2.
30) Ign. ad Polyc. IV, 1.
31) Ign. ad Polyc. IV, 2, 3.
32) Ign. ad Polyc. Intr., I, II.
33) J. Bakhuizen van den Brink, Handbook der Kerkgeschiedenis. 4th Edition, 75.
34) G. Dix, The Shape of the Liturgy, 22-23.
35) Polyc. ad Philip. VI, 1.
36) Polyc. ad Philip. XI, 1,2.
37) I Clem. LVII, 1.
38) I Clem. LIV, 2.
39) I Clem. XXI, 6.
40) Eus. H.E. Ill, xxix, 1.
41) Eus. H.E. VI, x1 iii, 11.
42) Ign. ad Magn. VI, 1.
43) Bakhuizen van den Brink, op. cit., 74.
44) Past. Herm. Sim. xxvi, 2.
45) Did. XV, 1.
46) Ign. ad Trail. II, 3.

122

This content downloaded from

180.254.110.243 on Wed, 13 Dec 2023 04:13:54 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms
47) Polyc. ad Phil. V, 2.
48) I Clem. LIX, 4.
49) Const. Apost. VII and VIII.
50) I Clem. XLII, 4, 5.
51) I Clem. XLIV# 6.
52) See Harnack, op. cit., 210 footnote 2.
53) I Clem. XL and XLI.
54) Harnack, op. cit., 53.
55) I Clem. XXXVII.
56) Ign. ad Magn. VI: ad Trail. II and III.

123

This content downloaded from

180.254.110.243 on Wed, 13 Dec 2023 04:13:54 +00:00
All use subject to https://about.jstor.org/terms