generated a multitude of errors.
If ministers are priests they must offer sacrifice, and must be
entrusted with the work of atonement. It is true, indeed, that the
monstrous dogma of transubstantiation was not yet broached, but it
cannot be denied that forms of expression which were exceedingly liable
to misinterpretation, now began to be adopted. Thus, the Eucharist was
styled "a sacrifice," [645:1] and the communion-table "the altar."
[645:2] At first such phraseology was not intended to be literally
understood, [645:3] but its tendency, notwithstanding, was most
pernicious, as it fostered false views of a holy ordinance, and laid the
foundation of the most senseless superstition ever imposed on human
credulity.

Every genuine pastor has a divine call to the sacred office, and no act
of man can supply the place of this spiritual vocation. God alone can
provide a true minister, [645:4] for He alone can bestow the gifts and
the graces which are required. Ordination is simply the form in which
the existing Church rulers endorse the credentials of the candidate, and
sanction his appearance in the character of an ecclesiastical
functionary. But these rulers may themselves be incompetent or profane,
so that their approval may be worthless; or, by mistake, they may permit
wolves in sheep's clothing to take charge of the flock of Christ. The
simple fact, therefore, that an individual holds a certain position in
any section of the visible Church, is no decisive evidence that he is a
true shepherd. Such, however, was not the doctrine of Catholicism.
Whoever was accredited by the existing ecclesiastical authorities was,
according to this system, the chosen of the Lord. When certain parties
who had joined Novatian were induced to retrace their steps, they made
the following penitential declaration in presence of a large
congregation assembled in the Western metropolis--"We acknowledge
Cornelius bishop of the most holy Catholic Church _chosen by God
Almighty_ and Christ our Lord." [646:1] Cyprian asserted that, as he was
bishop of Carthage, he must necessarily have a divine commission.
Nothing, indeed, can exceed the arrogance with which this imperious
prelate expressed himself when speaking of his ecclesiastical authority.
To challenge his conduct was, in his estimation, tantamount to
blasphemy; and, to dispute his prerogatives, a contempt of the Divine
Majesty. Once, in a time of persecution, he retired from Carthage, and
he w