take. Did Christ also give His teaching-body the power of directing men according to the doctrine they taught? This power to direct men would be the power to rule men in those actions pertaining to the doctrines of Christ. 219. The power to rule is legislative, i.e., the power of making laws to govern men in their external activities. 220. The power to rule is judicial, i.e., the power to judge with authority, especially men's external activity, in order to find out if the activities conform to the laws or not. 221. The power to rule is coactive, i.e., the power of punishing offenders for external offenses against the laws. 222. Did Christ give these powers to His Apostles? In Matthew XVIII, 18, we read: "Amen, I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also in heaven." Here Christ promises to the Apostles the full power of binding with moral bonds and of freeing from them. Such power includes the making and unmaking of laws which bind man's will to govern his external acts in this or that prescribed way. This legislative power would be useless if judicial and coactive powers were not included in it; and certainly Christ did not mean that this legislative power should be useless. The Apostles had the power to legislate; and if they could not judge cases in accord with this legislation, and enforce it, the laws passed would be useless, since the purpose for which the laws were passed could not be attained. The legislative, judicial and executive departments of one government must work together towards a common good which is the purpose to be attained by the law. If offenders against the law cannot be judged, the law is senseless, and its purpose impossible. If offenders can be judged but not punished, again the law and the judgments according to it are senseless, and its purpose is still impossible. The three powers are really the one Christ gave the Apostles the power to rule, i.e., to bind man by obligations and to loose man from obligations, He gave the power to legislate, in which power are necessarily included the powers to judge men's actions according to the laws made, and to enforce the laws by proper sanctions. 223. Again, in John XX, 21, Christ says: "As the Father hath sent me, I also send you." Now, here there is an evident comparison of powers: "As the authority of the Father is in me, so my authority is in you.' But Christ has been given all power in heaven and on earth, and therefore He gave the Apostles the same powers as far as their mission demanded. 224. And the Apostles clearly understood that they had been granted such powers, for in Acts XV, 23-29, we read that they passed important religious laws; and certainly they would not have done this if they did not realize that they acted upon Christ's authority. 225. Again, in Matthew XVIII, 17, 18, Christ says of the offenders: "And if he will not hear them, tell the Church. And if he will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and publican. Amen, I say to you, whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, etc." Here we have the criminal, the accuser, the charge, the judge, the sentence, the punishment of the offender; namely, loss of reputation, and separation from the body of the faithful-everything that pertains to a judicial and punitive process in regard to an external action committed in violation of a law. The judgment is valid, and the punishment legitimately inflicted, for the reason that whatsoever the Apostles bind on earth is bound also in heaven. And this is true whether they bind by a law or vindicate a right or impose a punishment. 226. This power of the Apostles to rule is by its nature supreme and independent of any human authority. For, what the Apostles bind will be bound also in heaven, and hence will remain bound no matter what human authority strives to loose it; and, in the same way, what the Apostles loose, will be loosed also in heaven, and no human authority can bind it. 227. This power imposes the most serious obligations, since God ratifies what the Apostles bind; and hence the obligation is as serious as if God Himself bound or loosed. 228. This power is most universal. Christ said: "Whatsoever you shall bind," and, therefore, nothing is excepted from this power save what is clearly not required to obtain properly the purpose of Christ. 229. All the Apostles taken together as a body possess this power. But that each Apostle by himself also has it, is clear from the actions and teachings of the Apostles. Paul, for instance, taught and acted as one having this power, and we conclude from his actions that the other Apostles did the same thing. It is clear in history from the constant teaching of the Apostolic Church that each Apostle received jurisdiction over the whole Church, but the supreme and independent power is in all of them, when taken together and joined with Peter, their primate; and, again, as we shall show, this power is in Peter alone. 230. Besides the powers of teaching and ruling, Christ also gave the Apostles a third power; namely, that of sanctifying men by certain religious rites. It is true that the Apostles sanctify men by their teaching and ruling, but only mediately, i.e., by arousing men to believe Christ's doctrine and to do good works. The power of sanctifying sanctifies men immediately because the religious rites instituted by Christ immediately and of themselves confer sanctification. 231. From the fact that the Apostles received the power of performing certain religious rites, it is clear that they received the power of sanctifying men by these rites. Christ gave them, for instance, the power of ministering to men His Body and Blood in order to increase holiness in the souls of men (Luke XXII, 19; John VI, 54); and the power of conferring the Holy the power of forgiving sins in a judicial process (John XX, 20-23); and the power to baptize (Matthew XXVIII, 19). These are examples of the power granted to the Apostles by Christ to sanctify men. We shall see other examples when we treat, in another volume, of the means of sanctification. TEST QUESTIONS 1. Define legislative power. 4. Prove that Christ gave the Apostles the power to legislate. 5. Prove that Christ gave the Apostles judicial and coactive powers. 6. Give an instance showing that the Apostles actually legislated. 7. Why is the power of the Apostles supreme and independent? 8. Why is the obligation imposed by the power of the Apostles the most serious of all obligations? 9. Prove that this power of the Apostles is most universal. 10. Does each Apostle possess this power? 11. Does each Apostle possess this power as Peter possesses it? 12. What other power was given the Apostles? 13. Name some religious rites committed to the power of the Apostles. 14. Do you think that the Apostles have the duty to institute a ceremonial for the proper and dignified reception by men of the religious rites instituted by Christ? 15. Could you argue from what has been said that political rulers have no jurisdiction over the Apostles in the exercise of the powers granted them by Christ? 16. How would you show that a Church instituted by civil rulers, independently of the powers granted by Christ to the Apostles, is not the Church of Christ? LESSON XXXVIII THE LIFE OF CHRIST HARSH NAMES AND PUNISHMENT Notes. Matthew V, 17-26. 1. "Jot or tittle" seems to have been a proverbial saying; "jot" being the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet, and "tittle" being the small turns which were used to distinguish one Hebrew letter from another. "The law and prophets" means the Old Law. Christ altered nothing of the Ten Commandments; He obeyed the ceremonial law; He realized in Himself the prophecies concerning the Messias and His Kingdom. The Law was not a permanent thing, but something to be obeyed until Christ had fulfilled His mission and built His Church. 2. Even if a man is a teacher of the Law and yet violates it in his own actions, he will not enter heaven. The Scribes and Pharisees taught their interpretation of the Law and obeyed their own teachings only in externals. To teach and to do are necessary for entrance into heaven. 3. "I say to you" is a phrase by which Our Lord frequently contrasts His new teachings with those of the Old Law. They were preparatory to Him; He, the Lawgiver, is present with His message of the Kingdom, with His Church. The work of the Old Law is finished. 4. "Racca" is a Syriac word meaning "empty-head" or "spit-out,'' 3 term for heretics. 5. Among the Hebrews, to call a man a fool was an unforgivable offense, for it was the same as calling him an immoral man, a man wallowing in sin and depravities. 6. The adversary is a creditor. The meaning of the similitude is that we must reconcile ourselves with God before death, while we are still on the way of life, or retribution will follow us after death. The phrase also refers to courts of law. DOCTRINE CHRIST PROMISED TO GIVE PETER THE PRIMACY OF UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION 232. The Apostles Were a United Body of Men. Christ established them as one organization with the definite aim of |