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    we ' regard as a sacred deposit ; not to be spent in feasting and gluttony , but in maintaining or burying the poor , and relieving the distresses of the orphan , the aged , or the shipwrecked mariner , A portion is also appropriated to the use of those who are suffering in the cause of reli g ion : who are condemned to the mines , or banished to the islands , or confined in prison /'—Pp . 222 , 223 .

    If this were the only passage in the writings of Tertulhan relating to this subject , we might conclude , so far at least as his testimony is concerned , that the simplicity of the apostolical times had been preserved to the close of the second century . But from various other passages it is too clear that those innovations were gradually taking place , which at length entirely changed the appearance and character of the Christian Church , and ended in an usurpation of authority over the minds and consciences of men that cannot

    be reflected upon without astonishment and indignation . A distinction , falsely claiming the sanction even of the apostles , already existed between the clergy and the laity . The former also were divided into the three orders of Bishops , Presbyters and Deacons , who were studiously represented by the Christian doctors , as Mosheim observes , as having succeeded to the rights and privileges of the Jewish priesthood ,, so that the Bishops considered themselves to be invested with a rank and character similar to those of the High

    Priest , while the Presbyters filled the place of the Priests , and the Deacons that of the Levites , It is , however , manifest , from different parts of the writings of Tertullian , that all the apostolic churches were independent of each other and equal in rank and authority , and that one bishop presided over each assembly . If the Church of Rome was ever mentioned with any peculiar respect , it was not because it bad been founded by Peter , but because both Peter and Paul had , according to tradition , suffered mariyrdom

    in that city . That some bishop had , in Tertullian ' s time , arrogantly styled himself Pontifex Maximus and Episcopus Episcoporum , is certain ; and Tertullian has also spoken of some one as " benedictus Papa : " but it is not certain that these titles were then either assumed by the Bishop of Rome or conferred upon him ; and , on the other hand , there is abundant evidence to prove that the titles Summus Pontifex and Papa , were bestowed on ordinary bishops .

    We learn farther from the writings of Tertullian , that Synods were held in his time , both in European and Asiatic Greece , composed of deputies from all the churches . But the practice did not extend to other countries till very near the end of the second century . In a long and interesting note subjoined to the 22 nd Section of the 2 nd Book of the Commentaries on the Affairs of the Christians , 8 fc . y the origin of these Synods is traced by Mosheim to the political constitution and habits of the Grecian states , and the

    passage in Tertullian which relates to them is minutely examined . These assemblies may for a while have been attended with some advantages , but they were also the source of many serious evils . We cannot concede that they merit the eulogy bestowed upon them by the learned professor , who observes , that * ' in them all the more important questions which arose from time to time were discussed ; and thus the unity of doctrine and discipline

    was preserved . ' * ( P . 245 . ) Tertullian himself , indeed , seems to have viewed them in the same light ; for the very mention of them leads him to exclaim , in the words of the Psalmist , ** Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity ! " Such commendations remind us of Le Clerc ' s more correct judgment of these associations , when he says in his Ars Critica 9 " Veruni hsec est abstracta notio synodorum , qua * in inconspicua idearum republica coguntur , noil imago carum qua * inter miseros

    Untitled Article

    Review . —Dr . Kay eht Tertullian . 353

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1827, page 353, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1796/page/41/