The identification of the Eucharistic assembly with the "Church of God" led naturally to the coincidence of the structure of the Church with that of the Eucharist. It is a noteworthy fact that the Church was distinguished from the world around her as a sui generis unity mainly by forming a Eucharistic unity.⁸⁷ For precisely that reason, her organization, as will be shown below, was not borrowed or copied from the world around her, as historians have often contended,⁸⁸ but arose naturally out of the Eucharistic assembly through which canonical unity is connected with the essence of the Church.⁸⁹

The reconstruction of the image presented by the Eucharistic assembly in Apostolic times in all its particulars does not concern us in the present work.⁹⁰

Through her worship, and especially through the Eucharist, the primitive Church lived under the influence of an absolute theocracy. The whole of her worship is performed on earth, but forms a type of the heavenly worship where the throne of God dominates.⁹¹ In consequence, all authority in the Church is concentrated in the person of Jesus Christ. He is the one Lord, i.e. the only one who has power over all things, being exalted on the right hand of God.⁹² Hence also, unity in one Lord⁹³ is manifested first and foremost in worship and especially in the Eucharist. As the one Lord, Christ is also the one ruler, again recognized as such primarily in the Eucharist. ⁹⁴ Precisely because of this position He holds in Eucharistic worship, Christ concentrates in Himself all the forms of ministry that exist in the Church. He is par excellence the minister,⁹⁵ priest, ⁹⁶ Apostle, ⁹⁷ deacon,⁹⁸ bishop, ⁹⁹ and teacher,¹⁰⁰ "in everything being preeminent."¹⁰¹

But here too, as has been remarked in another case, ¹⁰² Christ is a great paradox in His relationship with the Church. While He is worshipped in heaven, He is at the same time present on earth and in the Eucharist, ¹⁰³ thus transforming the heavenly state into an earthly and historical reality. Thus Eucharistic worship on earth does not constitute a reality parallel to that of heaven, but is the heavenly worship itself {mystical identity).¹⁰⁴ In precisely the same way, the paradox of the relationship between Christ and the Church is also extended to the forms of ministry. The fact that the ministries in the primitive Church were always understood in humility as "ministries of service" (diakoniai)¹⁰⁵ does not mean that they were devoid of authority.¹⁰⁶ In precisely the same way as the heavenly worship was truly represented typo-logically in the Eucharist on earth so the authority of Christ was truly reflected in the ministers of the Church. The Church ministries, therefore, were not understood as existing in parallel with Christ's authority,¹⁰⁷ but as expressing the very authority of Christ. As the one Lord and ruler of the Church, Christ does not govern in parallel with an ecclesiastical administration on earth, but through it and in it. The ministries that exist are antitypes and mystical radiations of the very authority of Christ, the only minister par excellence. The rank of Apostle, for example, was not understood in the primitive Church as an authority existing in parallel with the authority of Christ, but as the very authority of Christ.¹⁰⁸ In a similar manner the bishop, as we shall see shortly,¹⁰⁹ was understood as occupying the "place of God" and as the "image of Christ." In this way, Christ remained the only minister and the only one holding authority in the Church. Ministers had no authority except as images and representatives of Christ. This makes the Church a theocratic unity.¹¹⁰ But this authority of Christ was not expressed except through the ministers of the Church; the law of which had a human as well as a divine character. This was made possible mainly because of the Divine Eucharist which identified heavenly worship with earthly and Christ with His Church in a manner that was mystical and real.

So thanks to the Eucharist and, therefore, chiefly in it, the various forms of ministry grew up in the primitive Church, and these in turn gave rise to the various "orders" in the Church and produced her law as a strictly Christ-centred reality. All the ministries of Christ were reflected as historical realities in the Church in a way that created order and, therefore, "orders." In other words, while Christ was identified with the whole Church which was His body, and, therefore, all the members of the Church were "sharers in Christ,"¹¹¹ the powers or ministries of Christ were not expressed through all these members, but through certain ones. Thus Christ was regarded as the "apostle," but this did not mean that in His Body all were apostles.¹¹² Christ was the 'Teacher," but in the Church there were not "many teachers."¹¹³ He was the deacon, but this property of His was expressed through a particular order which received a special charisma for this.¹¹⁴ This held good for all the ministries of Christ which are mystically reflected in the Church.¹¹⁵ In the same way, the unity of the Church came to be the unity of a body, but in diversity of charismata¹¹⁶ which is equivalent to a unity in law and hierarchy.

Thus, the Divine Eucharist through which Christ was united to the point of identity with the Church, making it possible in this way for the charismata to be distributed, became not only the source of canonical unity, but also the chief area in which it was expressed.¹¹⁷ As we know from the First Epistle to the Corinthians, the diversity of gifts was manifested chiefly in the Eucharistic assembly. But it was precisely there also that unity in order was manifested - the unity which Paul tries to reinforce still further by opposing the individualism of the charismatics and making the charismata subordinate to the unity of the Church which for Paul meant unity in order. ¹¹⁸ The frequently attempted separation between spiritual gifts and order, ¹¹⁹ even to the point of an antithesis such that order is seen as the destroyer of the spirit in the primitive Church,¹²⁰ finds no basis in the sources of primitive Christianity. The division between charismatics and non-charismatics, introduced by Harnack, founders on the fact that the permanent ministers too received the gift of the Holy Spirit and were therefore considered charismatics.¹²¹ The act of ordination by which the permanent ministers were "appointed" was nothing other than a laying on of hands to convey a special charism,¹²² one which remained permanently with the person ordained.¹²³ Nor is there any serious basis in the sources for the idea, again introduced by Harnack, that the so-called "charismatics" took precedence in the early Church over the permanent ministers. Looked at in the light of the entire section of the Epistle concerning the Eucharistic assemblies in Corinth, the passage in 1 Cor.12:28 on which Harnack bases his thesis, is evidence that Paul did not have in mind a hierarchy such that the "charismatics" were placed above the permanent ministers. On the contrary, his whole purpose is to subordinate the charismatics to the "order" of the Church,¹²⁴ and this is why he places the gift of tongues, so dear to the Corinthians, right at the end of the list of gifts. The fact that Paul is not interested in that kind of order of precedence is further evident from several passages where he places the so-called "charismatics" after the permanent ministers who are regarded as "administrators."¹²⁵ The primitive Eucharistic assemblies, in consequence, knew no antithesis between spirit and order, charisma and hierarchy, because hierarchy and order without a spiritual charisma were inconceivable at that time.¹²⁶

What specific distinctions of "order" do we find, then, in the Eucharistic assemblies of apostolic times? And how did they lead from the structure of the Eucharist to the permanent structure of the Church's unity? Again, the information available to us is severely limited by the nature of the sources. The actual situation in the Church of that period is known to us only from the Apostles, and this prevents us from seeing what exactly happened in the Apostles' absence. So what we discover is only the minimum of the historical reality. A fact which should make us wary of arguments from silence.¹²⁷ From Paul's description of the Eucharistic assembly in Corinth, we learn that the Eucharist involved all the members of the Church,¹²⁸ but within it there were those who gave their consent and confirmation through the "Amen."¹²⁹ So in the Eucharist there was, on the one hand, the order of offerers or leaders, and on the other, the order of respondents through the "Amen." Who exactly these leaders and respondents were, 1 Corinthians does not tell us. About a generation later in the Church of Corinth, we learn that there were two orders clearly distinguished from one another, the clergy and the laity, and that - significantly enough - the substance of these two orders is based on the place each of them occupied in the Eucharist.¹³⁰ When, in about the middle of the second century, the Eucharistic assembly in Rome is described by Justin (and judging from 1 Clement which links Corinth and Rome, it cannot have differed from the practice in Corinth), the "Amen" attested in 1 Corinthians is placed in the mouth of the order of laity.¹³¹ So insofar as we can throw light on the situation in Corinth around 55 A.D. through what we know from somewhat later sources,¹³² the distinction between those who led the Eucharist and those who responded with the "Amen" sprang from the structure of the Eucharist to appear clearly a short time later (1 Clement) as the fundamental canonical division of the Church herself into clergy and laity.

More particularly now on the question of the leaders of the Eucharistic assembly, the apostolic period is again obscured by the shadow of the Apostles.¹³³ From what the book of Acts tells us, we are obliged to accept that when the Apostles were present at a Eucharistic gathering, they led the Eucharist.¹³⁴ It seems that the same applied to the itinerant "prophets," judging from what we are told by the Didache.¹³⁵ But, whenever the Apostles were absent, which was most of the time, leadership of the Eucharist naturally belonged to the permanent ministers. Here, again, there is an impenetrable historical problem, because the information we have is sporadic. When the Twelve disappeared from the historical scene in a highly obscure manner, we find leadership of the Church of Jerusalem in the hands of James and the presbyters.¹³⁶ These presbyters may have existed in the Church of Jerusalem before James took over its leadership.¹³⁷ Appearing there in parallel are the "deacons,"¹³⁸ an institution not unrelated to the common tables, with which the Eucharist too was connected at that time.¹³⁹ Thus, the Church of Jerusalem was headed by the triad: James - the presbyters - those who serve (diakonountes)¹⁴⁰ which probably replaced the scheme: the Twelve (or the Apostles) - the presbyters -those who serve. This may have formed the model also for the organization of the other Churches which received Christianity from the mother Church of Jerusalem.¹⁴¹ As we can know, today, thanks to the research of Professor G. Konidaris,¹⁴² this triad was the first linguistic form under which the Bishop appeared in history as a specific and complete rank, initially known only by the personal name of the office-holder and implicit within the collective term "the presbyters" whenever there was no reason to single him out. It follows that the office of Bishop exists even in the apostolic period, overshadowed by the institution of the Apostles¹⁴³ and linked with the presbyters and deacons, either (more rarely) through the scriptural expression "Bishops and deacons,"¹⁴⁴ or (more commonly) through the everyday expression "the presbyters."

Texts such as the Acts of the Apostles, 1 Clement and the Didache point in the former direction. In Acts (20:11), we read that Paul celebrated the Divine Eucharist in Troas on the occasion when the youth Eutychus accidentally fell from the third floor room where the Christians had gathered to "break bread." Again, 1 Clement talks about a "ministry of the apostles."¹⁴⁵ What was the nature of this ministry in which the Apostles were succeeded by the presbyters of Corinth who had been dismissed? Even though the term "ministers" is used by Clement in a variety of ways, ¹⁴⁶ as used here of the Apostles it has the specific meaning of offering the Gifts of the Eucharist. The ministry of the Apostles which had been given to the dismissed presbyters was the offering of the Gifts; this is why it was considered "no small sin" to dismiss them from it.¹⁴⁷ It follows that the Apostles had the right among other things to offer the Divine Eucharist whenever they were at any Church. It is possible, indeed, that each Church had a special place at the table of the Divine Eucharist which would be used by the Apostle whenever he visited; and that later, once the apostolic generation was gone, this became not simply the exclusive locus of the Bishop, but also the most vital symbol of his succession from the Apostles.¹⁴⁸ This probability stands, whether we accept the theory first put forward by C.H. Turner,¹⁴⁹ according to which apostolic succession was understood in the early Church as meaning that the Bishop of a local Church traced his succession back, not to the Apostles in general, but specifically to the apostle and the apostolic foundation of the local Church over which he presided - or whether we accept the opposite view upheld by A. Ehrhardt and other historians,¹⁵⁰ according to which the succession was seen as a succession from all the Apostles. Γη either case, it does not alter the fact which interests us here, that apostolic succession as an historical fact stemmed from the Divine Eucharist, in the offering of which the Bishops succeeded the Apostles. This becomes clear from studying 1 Clement where the meaning of succession from the Apostles revolves exclusively around the ministry of "offering the Gifts." A similar conclusion is to be drawn from studying the Didache. In this text, the Divine Eucharist appears as a ministry of the prophets too,¹⁵¹ which permits the conclusion that charismatics generally were able to offer the Divine Eucharist when they were visiting a local Church.

Despite this, however, two historical facts should be taken into consideration before drawing more general conclusions. Firstly, it should be borne in mind that many local Churches were not founded directly by the Apostles, but by missionaries who came from other Churches. As to the meaning of apostolic succession, this fact does not change things because by tracing his succession back to the apostolic foundations of his Church, the Bishop would ultimately go back to the apostle of the Mother Church from which his own Church had received Christianity. But as regards the unity of the local Church and its relation to the person offering the Eucharist, this fact is of particular importance as we shall see. A second historical fact which should be taken into consideration here is that even in those Churches which had been founded by one of the Apostles not all the charismatics were connected permanently with the local Church. Furthermore, which is more important, that at an early date the Apostles and charismatics started to disappear and be replaced in all their ministries by the permanent pastors of the local Church.¹⁵² In view of these facts, the Apostles and other charismatics cannot be regarded as figures connected permanently with the offering of the Divine Eucharist in the local Church and, therefore, capable of expressing her unity. This was the task and character of the permanent ministers of the local Church and in particular the Bishop.

The task of the Bishop was from the beginning principally liturgical consisting in the offering of the Divine Eucharist. This is attested in very early texts. If we combine the information Ignatius gives us about the Bishop with the image of the Eucharistic assembly that the author of the Apocalypse has in mind (late first century), we see that the Bishop is described as "presiding in the place of God,"¹⁵³

precisely because in the Eucharistic assembly he occupied that place, which the Apocalypse describes as "the throne of God and of the Lamb" in the heavenly assembly, the image of which the Apocalypse takes from the celebration of the Divine Eucharist in the Church.¹⁵⁴ The very title of "Bishop" (episkopos) is used by Ignatius most probably because, in keeping with his whole theology, the episkopos par excellence is God, Whose place in the Eucharistic assembly was now occupied by the Bishop who presided over it.¹⁵⁵ Everything in the vision of the Apocalypse revolves around the altar which is before the throne of God. Before it stands the multitude of the saved and around the throne in a circle the twenty-four presbyters. The metaphor is plainly taken from the Eucharistic assembly at which the Bishop sat on his throne before the altar with the presbyters in a circle around him¹⁵⁶ and the people in front of him.¹⁵⁷ This was from the beginning the place the Bishop occupied as the one who offered the Divine Eucharist, and for this reason the Church saw him as the image and type of God or of Christ.¹⁵⁸ The basis for this vivid consciousness in the Church lay in the understanding of the Divine Eucharist as the Body of Christ in both the Christological and the ecclesiological sense.¹⁵⁹ In the Divine Eucharist, the Church was manifested in space and time as the body of Christ, and also as a canonical unity. In this way the unity of the Divine Eucharist became the font of the Church's unity in the body of Christ, and also of her unity "in the Bishop."¹⁶⁰ How the unity of the Catholic Church was established and took shape on the basis of this reality will be the subject of our enquiry in the chapters which follow.

87. Unity per se was not a characteristic exclusive to the Church. In the Roman Empire, the formation of "associations" was such a widespread practice that there were special laws governing the affairs of the various organizations which were known by the term collegia (see Tacitus, Annals 14.17; Pliny, Ad Traj. 34.97; Minucius Felix, Octavius 8-9 and Origen, Against Celsus 1.1. Cf. J.P. Waltzing, Etude Historique sur les Corporations Professionels des Romains, I, pp. 113-129 and Th. Mommsen, Le droit penal romain, Π, pp. 274-8). The love and mutual support which prevailed among the members of these collegia was extraordinary and was organized through a common fund to which each would contribute monthly (stips menstrua); thus, the members would address each other as "brethren" (fratres, sodates, socii). Cf. F.X. Kraus, "Fraternitas," in Realencyclopaedie der christi. Altertumer, 1, 1880, p. 540). Apart from the pagans, the Jews who lived within the Roman Empire came together in special communities under their own ethnarch (cf. E. Schurer, Geschichte des judischen Volkes, 1914, pp. 14,17). The brotherly love between them was strong, and was manifest especially in groups such as the Essenes whose life was organized on principles of common property (cf. L. Philippidis, History, p. 480 f.) To characterize the Church's unity as simply a "communion of love," therefore, does not satisfy the historian who sees the Church as a sui generis unity.

88. E.g. E. Hatch, The Organization of the Early Christian Churches, 1888, p. 26 f. and L. Duchesne, Histoire Ancienne de VEglise, 1,1906, pp. 381-87.

89. The connection of the Eucharist with the essence of the Church (see above. Introduction) should be especially stressed because it is precisely on this point that R. Sohm goes astray in his attempt connect the origin of Canon Law with the Eucharist.

90. On this see H. Chirat, L'Assemblee Chretienne ΰ l'Age Apostolique (ser. Lex Orandi No. 10), 1949, passim and esp. p. 188 f.

91. This is clear in the book of the Apocalypse (see above p. 51); but also in Hebrews, where worship dominates, the "altar" of the Eucharist (see above p. 64, n. 83) is linked with "Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels, and to the festal gathering and assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to a judge who is God of all..." (12:22 f.).

92. Heb. 12:2, Col. 3:1, Eph. 1:2 and esp. Phil. 2:6-11, where we most likely have a hymn used in the worship of the primitive Church (cf. above, p. 56). I. Karavidopoulos, The Christological Hymn in Phil. 2:6-11 (in Greek), 1963.

93. Eph. 4:5.

94. Rev. 1:5.

95. Heb. 8:2.

96. Heb. 5:6; 8:4; 10:21; 2:17.

97. Heb. 3:1.

98. Rom. 15:8; Lk 22:77; cf. Phil. 2:7; Mt 12:18; Acts 3:13,4:27.

99. Pet. 2:25; 5:4; Heb. 13:20.

100. Mt 23:8; Jn 13:13.

101. Col. 1:18.

102. See above, p. 53 f., on the relation of the One to the "Many" united in Him.

103. Cf. the phrase in the Liturgy of St John Chrysostom, "Who art enthroned on high with the Father, and invisibly present here with us."

104. This is especially evident in the Apocalypse and in Hebrews, and also in Ignatius on whom see below.

105. G. Konidaris, On the Supposed Difference, p. 34 f.

106. Cf. EM. Braun, Neues Licht aufdie Kirche, p. 179.

107. As is the opinion of e.g. B.O. Beicke, Glaube und Leben der Urgemeinde, 1957, p. 25 f.

108. Between the Apostle (lit. "sent one") and Christ the sender there exists a mystical relationship. Christ Himself is working in and through the Apostle: "He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me" (Lk 10:16. Cf. 1 Thes. 4:8).

109. See p. 65ff.

110. Cf. K. Mouratidis, Diversification, Secularization and Recent Developments in the Law of the Roman Catholic Church (in Greek), 1961, p. 36: "The divine factor dominates during this period (i.e. the initial period) in the organization of the Church...."

111. Heb. 3:14. Thus, from the viewpoint of participation in the body of Christ, the Church, there is complete equality of her members irrespective of what order they belong to. This is expressed par excellence in the Divine Eucharist in which from the beginning all orders of the Church had to participate. Cf. G. Dix, The Shape of the Liturgy p. 195 f. and I. Kotsonis, The Place of the Laity in Church Organization (in Greek), 1956, p. 32 f.

112. "Are all Apostles?," asks Paul (1 Cor. 12:29).

113. "They shall all be taught by God," indeed 0n 6:45); but not all are teachers (1 Cor. 12:29 and Jas 3:1).

114. Acts 6:1-6.

115. The same should be said of Christ's priesthood. He is the Priest (see n. 96 above) just as He is the Apostle or the Teacher; and the members of His Church, as constituting His body which is of fered by the priests in the Eucharist, form a "priesthood" (it should be noted that both 1 Pet. 2:5-9 and Rev. 5:10, where a royal priest hood is mentioned, occur within Eucharistic texts). But as not all partake of His apostolic or other properties, so not all are able to partake of His priestly property. A general priesthood would have been as comprehensible to primitive Christianity as a general apostolicity or diaconate etc.

116. Cf. J. Colson, op. cit. p.49 f.: "If all the faithful are members of the same Body in Jesus Christ, not all of these members are identical and not all have the same function. The grace of God is multiform, and the gifts of the Spirit various."

117. It is by no means accidental that although the Church separated from the Eucharist many sacraments which were once connected with it she never did this with the ordination of priests.

118. 1 Cor. 14:40.

119. This distinction was introduced by Harnack, Die Lehre der zwolf Apostel... (Texte und Untersuchungen, II, 1884, pp. 145-149), perhaps under the influence of E. Hatch's work The Organization of the Early Church..., as O. Linton thinks, op. cit. p. 36 f. (cf. also E.Foerster, R. Sohms Kritik des Kirchenrechtes, 1942, p. 51 f.). it was subsequently established in historiography by Lietzmann and Heussi through their church histories.

120. See e.g. J. Klein, Grundlegung und Greuzen des Kanonisches Rechtes, 1947, p. 10 f.

121. See 1 Tim. 3:2,5:17; 2 Tim. 2:2; Tit. 1:9; Heb. 13:7; Jas. 5:14 etc.

122. On the subject of ordination as the laying on of hands to convey a particular blessing see J. Behm, Die Handauflegung in Urchristentum nach Verwendung, Hcrkunft und Bedeutung, 1911; J. Coppens, L'lmposition des Mains et les Rites Connexes dans le N.T., 1925; M. Kaiser, Die Einheit der Kirchengewalt nach den Zengnis des NT. und der Apostolischen Vater, 1956, p. 104 f. Cf. also M. Siotis, "Die klassische und die christliche Cheirotonie in ihrem Verhalmis," in Theologia 20 (1949), 21 (1950) and 22 (1951). Especially for installation in a specific ministry, ordination was commonplace in apostolic times. So, for example, in Acts 13:1-3 (despite the doubts of J. Brosch, Charismen und Atnter in der Urkirche, 1951, p. 163 and M. Kaiser, op. cit. p. 38), Acts 6:6 and 14:23 (Cf M. Kaiser, op. cit. p. 94). Likewise in 1 Tim. 4:14 and 2 Tim. 1:6. The term "appoint" (Ti. 1:5) must also include or presuppose an act of ordination even though it has a special meaning (see. G. Konidaris, On the Supposed Difference, p. 31.

123. Cf. H. Schlier, in Glaube und Geschichte, Festschrift fur F.Gogarten, 1948, p. 44 f. and G. Konidaris, op. cit. p. 31

124. See 1 Cor. 14:16 and 23 f. in combination with 14:40.

125. Thus in Romans 12:6 deacons are placed before teachers, and in Ephesians 4:11, pastors come before teachers, etc. Besides, the view that the charismatics formed a special order and organization in the primitive Church cannot be supported from 1 Corinthians 12:28 on which Harnack and subsequent historiography tried to base it. A simple comparison of the list of charismatics contained in this passage with the similar list in Romans 12:6-9 and the explanations Paul gives in 1 Corinthians 14:6 is sufficient to demonstrate that in 1 Corinthians 12:28, Paul is not in any way referring to the administration of the Church in Corinth. Nothing could justify Hamack's supposition that the "prophets" and "teachers" in 1 Corinthians 12:28 constitute special "orders" of ministers in the local Church more than the obviously groundless supposition that "he who contributes in liberality" and "he who does acts of mercy with cheerfulness," who are numbered with the prophets and teachers in Romans 12:6-9, also formed special "orders" in the Church!

126. The separation of administration from the charisma of priest hood in such a way that a distinction is created between "administrative" and "spiritual" spheres of competence is a product of Western scholastic theology. This separation was accepted and enshrined by the Roman Catholic Church which can, thus, entrust higher administrative responsibilities to church members of lower clerical rank (cardinals, for instance, may be deacons or even laymen, without this preventing them from carrying out administrative functions superior to the bishops).

127. Many of the Protestant historians base their views on the polity of the primitive Church exclusively on such arguments from silence. So for example, E.Schweizer, Gemeinde und Gemeindenordnung im Neuen Testament, 1959,5b; 5m and elsewhere

128. Clearly all participated through hymns, speaking in tongues etc.

129. 1 Cor. 14:16.

130. 1 Clement 40:3-41:4 "For his own proper services are assigned to the high priest, and their own proper place is prescribed to the priests, and their own proper ministrations devolve on the Levites. The layman is bound by the laws that pertain to laymen. Let every one of you, brethren, be well-pleasing to God in his own order, living in all good conscience, not going beyond the rule of the ministry prescribed to him..."

131. Justin, I Apol. 65. Cf. P. Rouget, Amen. Acclamation du people sacerdotal, 1947.

132. In this case, this is not an arbitrary procedure from the view point of historical method if one takes into account that the Roman Church was distinguished for its strict conservatism in the early centuries. Thus, on the basis of 1 Clement which forms a link between the Corinth we know from St Paul and the Rome known to Justin, we are justified in believing that the situation, regarding the Eucharistic assembly, did not change substantially during the period of time covered by these texts

133. G. Konidaris, On the Supposed Difference, p. 70 (note): "The presidents / presbyters / bishops who took the place of the Apostles probably did not dare to emphasize the same name more strongly. They lived under the shadow of the name of the Apostles and of their authority."

134. See Acts 20:7-12, where Paul presides at the assembly the purpose of which was to "break bread."

135. Didache 10:7: "Allow the prophets to give thanks as long as they wish." It is probable that Acts 13:2, "While they {i.e. the prophets and teachers] were worshipping [leitourgounton] the Lord," also implies a liturgical function for these charismatics, as J. Colson thinks, op. cit. p, 31.

136. Acts 21:18.

137. This conclusion may be deduced from the fact that the presbyters already appear with the Apostles at the Apostolic Council (Acts 15:2, 4, 6, 22, "Apostles and presbyters." The origin of the presbyters is an obscure historical problem. On this see the theories of G. Dix, "Ministry in the Early Church," in The Apostolic Ministry (ed. Kirk), 1946, p.233 f.; A.M. Farrer, ibid. p. 143 f.; Bornkamm, in T.W.N.T., VI, p. 655 f. and W. Michaelis, Das Attestenamt, 1953, pp. 35-39. The most probable view seems to be that of G. Dix, according to which presbyters go back to the Jewish tradition.

138. Acts 6:2ff; Phil. 1:1 and 1 Tim. 3:1. Their origin, in contrast to the presbyters and contrary to the view of G. Dix ("Ministry," p. 232 f.) should be sought in the Churches of Gentile origin, according to von Campenhausen, Kirchliches Amt und geistfiche Vollmacht, 1953, p. 84.

139. On the close connection of the deacons with the Eucharist, see G. Dix, op. cit. p. 245 f. It is noteworthy that a similar close relation existed between deacons and bishops probably deriving from the original position of the former as assistants to the Apostles (see Acts 19:22,13:5; Rom. 16:21; 2 Cor. 8:23 and Phil. 2:25), and the capacity of the latter as successors to the Apostles particularly in the Divine Eucharist. See below.

140. G. Konidaris, op. cit. p. 26.

141. ibid. p. 42 f.

142. In his work On the Supposed Difference, etc.

143. M. Kaiser (op. cit. p. 174) is right in stressing that the absence of the Bishop from the 1ΝΓΓ is connected with the presence and prestige of the Apostles there. We should make dear, however, that this absence relates only to the title of bishop and not to the institution per se (cf. G. Konidaris, op. cit. p. 13). The presence of the Apostles meant that the Bishop became invisible in the sources, but not in practice.

144. Cf. G. Konidaris, On the Regional and Chronological Limits to the use of the term "Bishops and Deacons," 1960.

145. Clem. 44:1-3.

146. Elsewhere he speaks of Enoch and Noah as "ministering" (9:2-4); and similarly of the angels (34:5) and of the O.T. prophets as ministers of God's grace (8:1).

147. Clem. 44:4.

148. Cf. G. Konidaris, "Apostolic Succession" (in Greek), in Threskeutiki kai Ethniki Enkyklopaedia, IV, 1964, col. 1116.

149. "Apostolic Succession: A. The original conception. B. The problem of non-catholic orders," in Essays on the Early History of the Church and the Ministry, H.B. Swete (ed.), 1918, pp. 93-214.

150. See A. Ehrhardt, The Apostolic Succession in the First Two Centuries of the Church, 1953 and F.Dvornik, The Idea of Apostolicity in Byzantium and the Legend of Saint Andrew, 1958, p.39 f.

151. Didache 10:7.

152. This transfer of powers is attested by 1 Clement and the Didache.

153. W Ignatius, Magn. 6:1.

154. Rev. 4-5. In linking the Apocalypse with the Divine Eucharist here, we are not making arbitrary use of an apocalyptic text as an historical source. The Apocalypse was not written without relation to the Church life of its day and particularly the Divine Eucharist. There is a widespread tendency in modern scholarship to regard even the hymns of the Apocalypse (Rev. 4:11,5:9-14 and 17 f.) as hymns from the Divine Eucharist. See e.g. F.J. Doelger, Sol Salutis. Gebet und Gesang im Christlichen Altertum. Riicksicht auf die Ostung im Gebet und Liturgie, 1925, p. 127 and C. Ruch, "La Messe d'apres la sainte Ecriture," in D.T.C., X, 858.

155. Cf. W. Telfer, The Office of a Bishop, 1962, p. 93.

156. For the term "presbyter" in the Apocalypse as meaning not angels but men, see P. Bratsiotis, The Apocalypse (in Greek), p. 119 f. and esp. p. 122. The fact that the reference here is not to human beings in general or the faithful in their entirety, but to a particular order, is shown by the clear distinction made between the "presbyters" and the "saints" (= all members of the Church regardless of order) in Rev. 5:8. There is thus no reason to reject the interpretation according to which this passage has to do with the institution of presbyters and in particular their place in the Eucharistic assembly, especially given that, as Professor P. Bratsiotis observes (ibid. p. 122), "this heavenly liturgy [in the Apocalypse] is a type of the earthly liturgy according to the Orthodox understanding." Ignatius" phrase "the Bishop with the presbyterium" (Smyrn. 8:1 and Eph. 20:2) most likely also takes its origin from the celebration of the Divine Eucharist which Ignatius had in mind. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that this phrase appears immediately after a reference to the Eucharist and as part of Ignatius' more general effort to underline its unity.

157. This arrangement of the Eucharist is likewise presupposed by texts such as Justin's First Apology, 65 and 67; Hippolytus, Apost. Trad. (Dix, 6 and 40f.) etc.

158. The Johannine understanding of the Divine Eucharist was precisely theocentric: "My Father gives you the true bread from heaven" (Jn 6:32). The Bishop who occupied the throne in the Altar was therefore seen as the living icon of God or of Christ Ignatius, Tral. 3:1 and Magn. 3:1). Anyone who does not obey the "visible" bishop "seeks to mock the one who is invisible," i.e. God (Magn.3:2). Cf. likewise the connection between the "unity of God" and "unity in the episcope" which Ignatius makes in Polyc. 8:3. The conception that the Bishop is an "icon of Christ" was long preserved (see Ps-Clement, Horn. 3:62 - Syria, fourth century).

159. See above, Introduction.

160. Ignatius, Magn. 6: "Be united with the Bishop." It is worthy of particular note that Ignatius "does not hesitate to characterize union with Christ as union with the Bishop" (K. Bonis, "St Ignatius the Godbearer and His Views on the Church" (in Greek), in Orlhodoxos Skepsis 1 (1958), 39.

Article published in English on: 3-11-2007.

Last update: 19-2-2008.