The apostolic age; its life, doctrine, worship and polity . , in ecclesias-tical usage are inevitable. The greatest violation ofApostolic piety is blindly to fight against this. Forthe thing most distinctive of the Apostolic Age isthe spontaneous simplicity of its usages. They weresimple only because they were in terms of currenthabits and expressed the piety of a simple gospel. In the wise words of Dr. Hort,1 the ApostolicAge is full of embodiments of purposes and princi-ples of the most instructive kind: but the responsi-bility of choosing the means was left forever to theEcclesia itself, an
The apostolic age; its life, doctrine, worship and polity . , in ecclesias-tical usage are inevitable. The greatest violation ofApostolic piety is blindly to fight against this. Forthe thing most distinctive of the Apostolic Age isthe spontaneous simplicity of its usages. They weresimple only because they were in terms of currenthabits and expressed the piety of a simple gospel. In the wise words of Dr. Hort,1 the ApostolicAge is full of embodiments of purposes and princi-ples of the most instructive kind: but the responsi-bility of choosing the means was left forever to theEcclesia itself, and to each Ecclesia, guided by an-cient precedent on the one hand and adaptation topresent and future needs on the other. The lesson-book of the Ecclesia, and of every Ecclesia, is not alaw but a history. Only let every Ecclesia be fullypersuaded in its own mind that it is rightly interpret-ing the very genius of primitive piety. 1 The Christian Ecclesia (p. 232 f.), a book to which the reader isreferred for details as to much in this and the next CHAPTER II. Organization and Discipline. |[OST of the materials for this chapter havealready been laid before the reader intheir proper historical connections. Andin essaying a connected summary of theirbearing on the organization of the Ecclesiain the Apostolic Age, it is essential to keep theirspecial contexts steadily in mind. Much of the con-fusion marking theories of the ministry is due toneglect of this rule: the result being the arbitraryjuxtaposition of facts which never really existedtogether in one and the same type of there are several general considerationsconducive to a genuinely historical reading of thefacts. First, one must relate organization to the spirit ofthe life that is organized. This was essentiallyfraternal. Church life was above all things mutualfellowship, a cooperation of all the members of eachecclesia, conceived as members of an organism orbody, for the ends common to all. These
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