, involving the theory that every man
as a result of the fall is in such a condition that he can take no steps
in the direction of salvation until he has been renewed by the divine
grace given in baptism, and that he cannot continue in the good thus
begun except by the constant assistance of that grace, which is mediated
only by the Catholic Church. This decision was confirmed by Pope
Boniface II., and became the accepted doctrine in the Western Church of
the middle ages. In the East, Augustine's predestinationism had little
influence, but East and West were one in their belief that human nature
had been corrupted by the fall, and that salvation therefore is possible
only to one who has received divine grace through the sacraments.
Agreeing as they did in this fundamental theory, all differences were of
minor concern.

In general it may be said that the traditional theology of the Church
took its material from various sources--Hebrew, Christian, Oriental,
Greek and Roman. The forms in which it found expression were principally
those of Greek philosophy on the one hand and of Roman law on the other
(see CHRISTIANITY).

6. _Organization._--The origin and early development of ecclesiastical
organization are involved in obscurity. Owing to the once prevalent
desire of the adherents of one or another polity to find support in
primitive precept or practice, the question has assumed a prominence out
of proportion to its real importance, and the few and scattered
references in early Christian writings have been made the basis for
various elaborate theories.

In the earliest days the Church was regarded as a divine institution,
ruled not by men but by the Holy Spirit. At the same time it was
believed that the Spirit imparted different gifts to different
believers, and each gift fitted its recipient for the performance of
some service, being intended not for his own good but for the good of
his brethren (cf. 1 Cor. xii.; Eph. iv. 11). The chief of these was the
gift of teaching, that is, of understanding and interpreting to others
the will and truth of God. Those who were endowed more largely than
their fellows with this gift were commonly known as apostles, prophets
and teachers (cf. Acts xiii. 1; 1 Cor. xii. 28; Eph. ii. 20, iii. 5, iv.
11; _Didach[=e]_, xi.). The apostles were travelling missionaries or
evangelists. There were many of them in the primitive Church, and only
gradually did the term come to be applied exclusive