iii. The Episcopate, The Guardian of the Truth¶
As the guardian of the true faith, the episcopate is the guarantee against heresy. Heresy is false doctrine obstinately held or taught. The true faith was revealed by Christ and his Holy Spirit to the apostles in all its completeness. The apostles handed down this body of teaching to their successors, the bishops. By this means the true faith was to be preserved in the world. St. Paul alludes to this mode of handing down the truth in his words to Timothy, the first bishop of Ephesus. He writes,—” Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.”[1] “ The things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”[2] St. Paul is speaking of the deposit of Christian truth, which was entrusted to Timothy, as a bishop, to uphold and to guard.
St. Irenæus (A.D. 175), in speaking of the succession of bishops in the local Church of Rome, says,—“The blessed apostles (St. Peter and St. Paul), then having founded and built up this Church, committed the ministry of the episcopate to Linus. Of this Linus, Paul makes mention in the Epistle to Timothy. Anacletus succeeds him. After him, in the third place from the apostles, Clement obtained the episcopate, who had both seen the blessed apostles, and been with them, and still had the preaching of the apostles ringing in his ears, and their tradition before his eyes.”[3] St. Irenæus, in speaking of Polycarp, goes on to say,—“And Polycarp, too, not only having been instructed by the apostles, and having lived continually with many who had seen Christ, and having also been appointed by apostles bishop in Asia, in the Church at Smyrna … uniformly taught these things, which he had also learned from the apostles, which also the Church hands down, which also alone are true.”[4]
One of the chief duties of the episcopate is to hand on the Christian faith, whole and undefiled, as it came down from the apostles of Jesus Christ. To aid the bishops along the ages in this great task, our Lord promised the guidance of the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of truth. His words are,—“I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth.”[5]
This great promise is similar in its terms to that in which our Lord pledged himself to be with the Apostles “alway, even unto the end of the world.”[6] In each case the promise of the divine presence was made in the first instance to the apostles, but made in such terms as to include their successors, the bishops, throughout all time. Our Lord will be with the apostles ALWAY; the Spirit of truth will abide with them FOR EVER. But as the apostles soon after died, it is clear that these promises were made not to the apostles only as individuals, but as representatives of the Christian ministry, of which they were the first members. In no other way could the twofold presence of Christ and his Spirit be vouchsafed “alway,” and “for ever,” but to the successors of the apostles, the bishops of the Church.
It is also to be observed that the idea of teaching is specially connected with both these passages. Our Lord’s presence is guaranteed to the apostles and the bishops in “teaching the nations to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you;”[7] the Holy Spirit will be with them “for ever” as “the Spirit of truth.”[8] The same blessed Spirit who revealed the truth to the apostles enabled their successors to witness to that truth.
When heresy sprang up, it was exposed and rejected by the bishops, acting alone or in council. The Councils were great assemblies of bishops of the Church. In these Councils, the bishops declared the true faith as it had been handed down to them from the apostles. They restated the old faith from the beginning, as they had received it.
As an example of this, we may instance the heresy of Arius, who denied the Godhead of our Saviour. Three hundred and eighteen bishops met in council at Nicæa in the year 325, and condemned the heresy, by declaring the truth which they had received through their predecessors from the apostles. “So have we received” was the witness they bore. We have their statement of faith in the Nicene Creed, which attests, with all possible fulness, the Divine Nature of our Lord Jesus Christ. This decision was received by the whole Church, and thus we are certain that it has the authority of the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of truth.
As other heresies arose, they were met and condemned in like manner; the bishops speaking out, and the Church at large confirming their decisions.