ch; "not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but
patient, not a brawler, not covetous; one that ruleth well his own house,
having his children in subjection with all gravity." 1 Tim. 3:3, 4. The
seventh verse adds: "Moreover he must have a good report of them which are
without." Such a bishop must be, in the very strictest sense, to be a
light in the world. Here was a bishop, of perhaps the strongest Christian
congregation in the world, almost everything to the contrary. How true the
Savior's prophecy: "The moon shall not give her light, and the stars of
heaven shall fall." Paul, of Samosata, became so wicked he was deposed
from his office and became a "fallen star."

Sabine speaking of divisions and their causes says: "In this century the
general church was rent in twain. This century also produced a train of
other officers (beside bishops and deacons), such as subdeacons, who were
all to the deacon what the presbyter was to the bishop; acolytes, persons
to attend at service time on the ministers; ostiaries, doorkeepers;
readers, men who were appointed to read the Scriptures in public;
exorcists, officers of weak and superstitious appointment, whose business
was to pretend to expel the devil from the candidate for baptism. All
these encroachments and changes mark, strongly mark, a great decline in
the spirit and power of primitive Christianity."

All of these things, and many more similar ones, were occurring in the
latter part of the third century.

In the year of our Lord 248 Cyprian was ordained a presbyter in the church
at Carthage. Ten years later he laid down his life for Jesus. It is said
of him that he "displayed a benevolent and pious mind and evinced much of
the character of the Christian pastor in the affectionate solicitude with
which he watched over his flock." In epistle eleven he says: "It must be
owned and confessed that the outrageous and heavy calamity which hath
almost devoured our flock, and continues to devour it to this day, hath
happened to us because of our sins, since we keep not the way of the Lord,
nor observe his heavenly commands, which were designed to lead us to
salvation. Christ our Lord fulfilled the will of the Father, but we
neglect the will of Christ. Our principal study is to get money and
estates; we follow after pride, we are at leisure for nothing but
emulation and quarreling, and have neglected the simplicity of faith. We
have renounced this world in words on