and the bread produced from the earth, receives the Word of God, and the Eucharist becomes the Body of Christ, &c.

3. "And then, having finished the offering, we evoke the Holy Spirit to make (literally to shew) this sacrifice and the bread the Body of Christ, and to make the cup the Blood of Christ, that they who partake of these antitypes may obtain remission of sins and eternal life. They, then, who perform these offerings in memory of the Lord are not converts to the ordinances of the Jews, but inasmuch as they minister spiritually, they shall be called sons of wisdom."

e

I may here repeat, with especial reference to the last part of the fragment from Irenæus, what I have already remarked in the preceding chapter in reference to the first part of it, that in appealing as he does to a supposed second set of apostolical regulations, he practically allows that for the peculiar views here advanced no warrant is found in the writings of the Apostles contained in the New Testament.

Without dwelling further upon the form of consecration which gradually came into general use (though not without considerable variations) in the celebration of the Eucharist, I will only

e The word avтiTUTоv stands for both the original and the copy.

remark that as we find good reason for disputing its claim to apostolical origin, so we can see in it no ground for investing the bishops and elders of the Church with sacerdotal or indeed any special qualifications in their capacity of consecrators. But, further, there is also reason for supposing that no such need of special qualification in the officiator was recognised even by those who were the first promoters of this form of consecration. Justin Martyr, for instance, who in one passage plainly asserts the use of some special form of consecration, yet in another describes the officiator at the celebration by the simple term of о πроεσтÒя, he who presides,' a term which exhibits him rather as one with the congregation than as possessed of any special qualification from which they are excluded. And in the emphasis with which he twice dwells on the concurrence of the people, as expressed by their Amen, he seems to intimate that they, no less than the officiator, shared in the celebration.

Irenæus, again, though he distinctly recognises both the offering and the consecration as forming part of the celebration of the Sacrament, nowhere insists on the need of any specially qualified person to perform either one or the

other. Indeed, he always speaks of the offering as that of the Church at large, and he seems to imply the same as regards the consecration. Both seem as yet to have been regarded as performed by the whole congregation, in and through their representative, and not as performed by a class specially qualified in any way for the work, still less by a class of priests (iepeis.)

In thus disputing, however, the necessity of any special qualification for the due celebration and administration of the Sacrament of the Holy Communion, I am so far from attempting to lower the dignity of those who officiate at it, that I only claim to elevate the whole body of the Church to the same level. Wherever Christ's body the Church is, there—we have Christ's own words for it-He is in the midst of it, ready, we may believe, to bless the elements of bread and wine to the communication of His own Body and Blood to all who faithfully await their reception. And it is by virtue of the joint prayers of His Church, and not by virtue of the separate action of any individual or class in it, that the necessary consecration is effected.

JT

CHAPTER VIII.

THE ADMINISTRATION OF ABSOLUTION.

was the express declaration of Jesus Christ that all power was given to Him both in heaven and earth, and that this power, whether as exercised by Him in judgment or in the forgiveness of sins, was committed to Him in His character of Son of Man".

And we find this authority to forgive sins distinctly exercised by Jesus Christ on at least two separate occasions. "Son, be of good cheer, thy sins be forgiven thee,” (ἀφέωνταί σου αἱ ἁμαρτίαι) was His announcement to the man sick of the palsy who was carried into His presence at Capernaum. "Thy sins are forgiven thee," (apéwvταί σου αἱ ἁμαρτίαι,) was His similar announcement to the woman who had been a sinner, and who had shewn her repentance and faith by washing His feet with her tears and wiping them with the hairs of her head d.

a Matt. xxviii. 18.

c Mark ii. 5.

b John v. 27; Mark ii. 10. d Luke vii. 48.

And that the meaning of the words "sin" and σε 'forgiveness" is the same here as the meaning which we ordinarily attach to these words, is proved by the use of precisely the same words in other passages of the New Testament, where there cannot be a doubt about their meaning. And it is proved further by the remarks made on each of the occasions by the bystanders, τίς δύναται ἀφιέναι ἁμαρτίας εἰ μὴ εἷς ὁ Θεός; "Who can forgive sins but God only?" τίς οὗτός ἐστιν ὃς καὶ ἁμαρτίας ἀφίησιν; "Who is this that forgiveth sins also "?"

But again; not only do we find our Lord exercising this power Himself, but we also find Him delegating it to His Apostles. The following passage occurs in the account of His appearance to the Apostles on the evening of the day on which He rose again from the dead.

Εἶπεν οὖν αὐτοῖς πάλιν Εἰρήνη ὑμῖν· καθὼς ἀπέσε ταλκέν με ὁ Πατὴρ κἀγὼ πέμπω ὑμᾶς. Καὶ τοῦτο εἰπὼν ἐνεφύσησεν καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς Λάβετε πνεῦμα ἅγιον ἄν τινων ἀφῆτε τὰς ἁμαρτιάς, ἀφίενται αὐτοῖς ἄν τινων κρατῆτε κεκράτηνται.

e

Matt. xxvi. 28; Luke i. 77, xxiv. 47. f Mark ii. 7.

8 Luke vii. 49.