And what proof has Dr. Lightfoot produced to show that "the
episcopate was widely spread in Asia Minor and in Syria" in "the
early years of the second century"? If the Ignatian Epistles be
discredited, he has none at all. But there is very decisive
evidence to the contrary. The Teaching of the Apostles, the
Shepherd of Hermas, and the Epistle of Polycarp prove the very
reverse. And yet Dr. Lightfoot is at a loss to understand what
single fact relating to the history of the Christian Church during
the first half of the second century can be regarded as
established, if we reject his baseless assertion!


2. _The Genesis of Prelacy._

Jerome gives us the true explanation of the origin of the
episcopate, when he tells us that it was set up with a view to
prevent divisions in the Church. [62:1] These divisions were
created chiefly by the Gnostics, who swarmed in some of the
great cities of the empire towards the middle of the second
century. About that time the president of the Presbytery
was in a few places armed with additional authority, in the hope
that he would thus be the better able to repress schism. The new
system was inaugurated in Rome, and its Church has ever since
maintained the proud boast that it is the centre of ecclesiastical
unity. From the Imperial city Episcopacy gradually radiated over
all Christendom. The position assumed by Dr. Lightfoot--that it
commenced in Jerusalem--is without any solid foundation. To
support it, he is obliged to adopt the fable that James was the
first bishop of the mother Church. The New Testament ignores this
story, and tells us explicitly that James was only one of the