oses and which he terms _the_ Church was in truth not complete,
for it cannot be proved that it extended to any regions beyond the
confines of the Roman Empire or that it even embraced all orthodox and
episcopally organised communities within those bounds.[181] But,
further, the conditions of the confederation, which only began to be
realised in the full sense in the days of Constantine, were never
definitely formulated--before the fourth century at least.[182]
Accordingly, the idea of the one exclusive Church, embracing all
Christians and founded on the bishops, was always a mere theory. But, in
so far as it is not the idea, but its realisation to which Cyprian here
attaches sole importance, his dogmatic conception appears to be refuted
by actual circumstances.[183]

_Addendum II._--The idea of heresy is always decided by the idea of the
Church. The designation [Greek: hairesis] implies an adherence to
something self-chosen in opposition to the acknowledgment of something
objectively handed down, and assumes that this is the particular thing
in which the apostasy consists. Hence all those who call themselves
Christians and yet do not adhere to the traditional apostolic creed, but
give themselves up to vain and empty doctrines, are regarded as heretics
by Hegesippus, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Clement, and Origen. These doctrines
are as a rule traced to the devil, that is, to the non-Christian
religions and speculations, or to wilful wickedness. Any other
interpretation of their origin would at once have been an acknowledgment
that the opponents of the Church had a right to their opinions,[184] and
such an explanation is not quite foreign to Origen in one of his lines
of argument.[185] Hence the orthodox party were perfectly consistent in
attaching no value to any sacrament[186] or acts esteemed in their own
communion, when these were performed by heretics;[187] and this was a
practical application of the saying that the devil could transform
himself into an angel of light.[188]

But the Fathers we have named did not yet completely identify the Church
with a harmoniously organised institution. For that very reason they do
not absolutely deny the Christianity of such as take their stand on the
rule of faith, even when these for various reasons occupy a position
peculiar to themselves. Though we are by no means entitled to say that
they acknowledged orthodox schismatics, they did not yet venture to
reckon them simply as heret