after its formation, the Church presented the appearance
of one great and harmonious brotherhood, as false teachers had hitherto
failed to create any considerable diversity of sentiment; but when many
of the literati began to embrace the gospel, the influence of elements
of discord soon became obvious. These converts attempted to graft their
philosophical theories on Christianity; not a few of the more unstable
of the brethren, captivated by their ingenuity and eloquence, were
tempted to adopt their views; and though the great mass of the disciples
repudiated their adulterations of the truth, the Christian commonwealth
was distracted and divided. Those who banded themselves together to
maintain the unity of the Church were soon known by the designation of
Catholics. "After the days of the apostles," says one of the fathers,
"when heresies had burst forth, and were striving under various names to
tear piecemeal and divide the Dove and the Queen of God, [561:1] did not
the apostolic people require a name of their own whereby to mark the
unity of those that were uncorrupted? .... Therefore our people, when
named Catholic, are separated by this title from those denominated
heretics." [562:1]

The Catholic system, being an integral portion of the policy which
invested the presiding elder with additional authority, rose
contemporaneously with Prelacy. When Gnosticism was spreading so
rapidly, and creating so much scandal and confusion, schism upon schism
appeared unavoidable. How was the Church to be kept from going to
pieces? How could its unity be best conserved? How could it contend most
successfully against its subtle and restless disturbers? Such were the
problems which now occupied the attention of its leading ministers. It
was thought that all these difficulties would be solved by the adoption
of the Catholic system. Were the Church, it was said, to place more
power in the hands of individuals, and then to consolidate its
influence, it could bear down more effectively upon the errorists. Every
chief pastor of the Catholic Church was the symbol of the unity of his
own ecclesiastical district; and the associated bishops represented the
unity of the whole body of the faithful. According to the Catholic
system when strictly carried out, every individual excommunicated by one
bishop was excommunicated by all, so that when a heresiarch was excluded
from fellowship in one city, he could not be received elsewhere. The
visible