And such a thought certainly was not entertained by the Christians of the first 300 years, any more than by the Apostles; who were not even countenanced by governors, but in things spiritual “resisted unto blood,” and were charged with “turning the world upside down,” rather than submit to men in aught that pertained unto GOD. Even as late as the fourth century, the great president of the Nicene Council thus declared to the Emperor the Christian doctrine: {26a} “GOD has put dominion into your hands. To us He hath entrusted the government of the Church; and as a traitor to you is a rebel to the GOD who ordained you, so be afraid on your part, lest usurping ecclesiastical power you become guilty of a great sin.” And again: “Meddle not with Church matters; far from advising us about them, rather seek instruction from us.” “Remember that you are a man.” “Fear the day of Judgment.” And nothing can be plainer than the language addressed by St. Hilary to the Arian bishops. “O ye bishops, I pray you, what suffrages did the Apostles make use of? Did _they_ receive their dignity from the palace?” {26b} And, after all, this is the unanswerable argument. St. Paul was not received as an Apostle, _because_ he was allowed to preach to “Cæsar’s household.” St. Luke was not admitted as a Minister simply because he was an educated man. We do not find the enquiry in Scripture or antiquity, How shall men preach except they be “respectable?” or, how shall they preach except they be favoured by the State? or, how shall they preach except they have literary distinctions? Necessary and useful as all these qualifications may be, the distinctive question concerning the Ministry is, “How shall men preach except they be SENT?” Now we before observed, that the popular notions, such as these just considered, concerning the Christian Ministry, seem, with all their variations, to be the result of a common principle. The principle, that is, of reducing Christianity to a bare code, or system, of intelligible precepts or dogmas. And the advocates of these various notions are obliged, in some way, to lay out of consideration whatever they meet with, in Scripture or elsewhere, which is inconsistent with this principle. The further development of these remarks may serve more clearly to elicit, and by contrast elucidate the Catholic doctrine of the Ministry.