fied in asserting that
they represent the universal custom. The earliest distinct evidence of
the organization of Churches under a single head is found in the
Epistles of Ignatius of Antioch, which date from the latter part of the
reign of Trajan (c. 116). Ignatius bears witness to the presence in
various Churches of Asia Minor of a single bishop in control, with whom
are associated as his subordinates a number of elders and deacons. This
form of organization ultimately became universal, and already before the
end of the 2nd century it was established in all the parts of
Christendom with which we are acquainted, though in Egypt it seems to
have been the exception rather than the rule, and even as late as the
middle of the 3rd century many churches there were governed by a
plurality of officers instead of by a single head (see Harnack, _Mission
und Ausbreitung des Christenthums_, pp. 337 seq.). Where there were one
bishop and a number of presbyters and deacons in a church, the
presbyters constituted the bishop's council, and the deacons his
assistants in the management of the finances and charities and in the
conduct of the services. (Upon the minor orders which arose in the 3rd
and following centuries, and became ultimately a training school for the
higher clergy, see Harnack, _Texte und Untersuchungen_, ii. 5; English
translation under the title of _Sources of the Apostolic Canons_, 1895.)

Meanwhile the rise and rapid spread of Gnosticism produced a great
crisis in the Church of the 2nd century, and profoundly affected the
ecclesiastical organization. The views of the Gnostics, and of Marcion
as well, seemed to the majority of Christians destructive of the gospel,
and it was widely felt that they were too dangerous to be tolerated. The
original dependence upon the Spirit for light and guidance was
inadequate. The men in question claimed to be Christians and to enjoy
divine illumination as truly as anybody, and so other safeguards
appeared necessary. It was in the effort to find such safeguards that
steps were taken which finally resulted in the institution known as the
Catholic Church. The first of these steps was the recognition of the
teaching of the apostles (that is, of the twelve and Paul) as the
exclusive standard of Christian truth. This found expression in the
formulation of an apostolic scripture canon, our New Testament, and of
an apostolic rule of faith, of which the old Roman symbol, the original
of our pr