Lectures on apostolical succession in the Church of England, being an exposition and application of the teaching of the late Rev. Arthur West Haddan ... in his treatise on that subject (Rivingtons, 1869)

Front matter

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

LECTURES

Preface

The treatise of the late Mr. Haddan, entitled Apostolical Succession in the Church of England, has been one of the text-books in the department of Ecclesiastical Polity and Law in the General Theological' Seminary for many years. It has been used with a considerable measure of satisfaction, so far as could be ascertained, on the part of the students, and with an increasing appreciation of its value on the part of the professor. Considered as a statement of the doctrine of which it treats, and as an aid to those who seek to understand 'it, and to disentangle it from the misconceptions in which, by manifold controversies, it has been involved, it is singularly well adapted for a text-book— a book, that is to say, which a teacher may advantageously use as a text for the instruction which he desires to impart. It is characterized, too, not less by its candour and moderation, than by the comprehensive and exact learning, and the remarkable power of condensation, which doubtless led the late Dean Church to refer to it as the final authority on the subject. 1

But although first published so recently as 1869, it has been found of late a matter of some difficulty for the students, even with that observance of tradition to which they are proverbially addicted, to obtain a sufficient number of copies for use in the course ; and in the present year, there appearing

1 Quoted in the notice of Haddan in Stephens and Lee's Dictionary of National Biography.

4 PREFACE.

no likelihood of the issue of another edition of the work, the alternative was forced upon me, either to abandon its use altogether, or to give such lectures on it as would convey to the students at least a part of the valuable treasure which it contains. In the endeavour to carry out the latter plan, I subjected the book to a careful analysis intended to present, as far as possible, in an affirmative way, teaching which, in the author's method, is to a considerable extent negatively and defensively stated : and, in following the scheme thus indicated, I endeavoured to express the meaning of the author as I understood it ; using his language or my own, as seemed most suitable to the purpose which I entertained ; quite freely intermingling with the author's words my own turns of expression, and comments explanatory or additional — intent only upon imparting such knowledge of the subject as, with the instruction of the author, and others in the same line, might be in this way conveniently applied.

Nearing the conclusion of this endeavour I was urged to the publication of the lectures, on the ground of their probable usefulness not only to those who could not obtain the book, but also to some who might be so happy as to possess it ; for, with all its value, it is a book which cannot by many be clearly apprehended without labour, and which is on that account not unfit to be interpreted. In assenting to this request I have had no other wish than such as is implied in the reason assigned for it. I should earnestly deprecate the imputation of having endeavoured either to improve upon the book or to furnish a substitute for it. My effort, rather, has been to supplement and extend the usefulness of a work to which I feel myself under lasting obligation.

W. J. S.

Annunciation Rectory, New York, Feast of the Annunciation , 1893.

BIOGRAPHICAL MEMORANDA

NOTED FROM

Arthur West Haddan was born August 31, 1816. He entered Brasenose, Oxford, 1834; was elected Scholar of Trinity, June 15, 1835 ; graduated B. A., 1837, afterward taking the degrees of M. A. and B. D. ; and became a Fellow of Trinity College in 1839.

Haddan was deeply affected by the Oxford movement, and much influenced by Isaac Williams, then a tutor in Trinity. The special effect of the movement in that college was to lead its more distinguished advocates to the study of history, in order to maintain the historical position and claims of the Church. From the first, Haddan never swerved from his loyalty to the Church, or faltered in defence of its Apostolic character.

Ordained deacon in 1840, he acted for about a year as curate to John Henry Newman at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin, in Oxford. He was ordained priest in 1842, and about this time engaged in work for the Anglo-Catholic Library, editing, with great care and learning, five volumes of BramhaH's works, and six volumes of Thorndike's works, in that collection. He also brought out, in connection with Professor Stubbs after-

6 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMORANDA.

ward Bishop of Oxford, the first volume of the great work, Councils and Ecclesiastical Documents, founded on the collections of Spelman and Wilkins. His treatise on Apostolical Succession in the Church of England came out in 1869; and two editions appear to have followed his death, one in 1879 and the other in 1883. Though remembered chiefly for works on ecclesiastical history, his attainments were also great in biblical criticism, theology, philosophy, and classical scholarship. A man of singular modesty and unselfishness, he never obtained preferment, save to the poorly endowed living from his college, and the barren title of honorary Canon of Worcester. His devotion to study, and the toils of his literary pursuits, did not prevent him from engaging with earnestness in his pastoral work at Barton-on-the-Heath, to which he was much attached. He died February 8, 1873, aet. fifty-six.

ANALYSIS

PARI' L

APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION AS A DOCTRINE; AND AS MAINTAINED IN HOLY SCRIPTURE, IN THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH, AND IN THE CHURCH OF ENG- LAND : AND HEREIN,

LECTURE I.

IMPORTANCE OF THE DOCTRINE.

PAGE

I. Statement of the Doctrine, . . . .16 II. Grounds upon which the Doctrine Rests, . 16

1. Apostolical Succession essential to the being of

the Church.

2. Individual assent to the doctrine essential to the

full acceptance of the faith of Christ.

IV. Grounds on which the Doctrine is Assailed, 18

1. As meaning too little.

2. As meaning too much.

V. Religious Antagonism Indicated by the Objections, 18

VI. In what View the Doctrine Important to

be Studied, . 19

VII. The Issue Involved, 19

VIII. Tendency of the Issue, 19

8 ANALYSIS.

PAGE

IX. Implications Involved in the Doctrine, . 20

1. The continued existence and need of super-

natural gifts.

2. That these supernatural gifts are divinely in-

trusted to a corporate body.

3. That in the Church is a divinely constituted

ministry.

4. That this ministry receives its authority from

God by transmission through those who have themselves received it.

5. That the only authorized transmitters of this

authority are the Bishops.

6. That the transmission is unbroken in its con-

tinuity from the Apostles.

X. Unity of this Scheme, 23

XI. Consequence of Rejection of the Doctrine, 23

XII. General Tone of Dissent now as Contrasted with that of the Seventeenth Century, 24

XIII. Circumstances of the Present Day Requiring Special Attention to the Doctrine, 24

LFXTURE II.

OBJECTIONS TO THE DOCTRINE AS HELD BY THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

I. Objections Admitting the Doctrine and Denying the Succession 26

1. Roman Catholics object :

(a) On alleged historical grounds.

(b) On legal grounds.

(c) On captious grounds.

2. Eastern objections.

II. Objections Denying the Doctrine without

Admitting the Fact, 27

1. Various theories of denial.

2. Grounds on which these theories rest.

ANALYSIS. g

LECTURE III.

APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION AS A DOCTRINE.

PAGE

I. The Ministry in Relation to its Objects, . 29

1. The intervention of the ministry a help and not

a hindrance.

2. Authorized form essential to the preservation of

vital religion, not a substitute for it.

II. The Ministry in Relation to its Subjects, . 30

III. The Ministry in its Relation to the Church, 32

IV. The Ministry in its Relation to those to

whom it is Wanting, ..... 33

V. The Ministry as Conditioned by outward

Continuity from the Apostles, . . 34

1. Probability that God would connect His grace

with a series of facts.

2. The sufficient plainness of the fact of Apostoli-

cal Succession.

VI. The Ministry being not a Physical Necessity, but an Imposition of Moral Obligation, its General Authority cannot be Impaired by Exceptional Cases of Apparent Exemption from its Operation, 36

VII. The Doctrine Depends upon the Evidence of its Authority, not upon our Conception of its Consequences, . . . .36

LECTURE IV. apostolical succession scriptural.

I. New Testament Usage of E7ti6xo7to^ and

PAGE

II. Nature of Scriptural Evidence, . . .39

1. Comparison with evidence for the doctrine of

the Trinity.

2. Relation of Scripture to the Church.

3. Relation of doctrine to dogma.

4. Evidence of incidental allusion.

III. Polity in what Sense gradually Developed, 40 IV. Source of Power of Rulers, . . . .40

LECTURE V.

HISTORICAL POSITION OF THE DOCTRINE.

I. Nature of Patristic Testimony as to this

Doctrine, 41

1. St. Clement of Rome.

2. St. Ignatius.

II. Weakness of Negative Allegations, . . 45

III. Comparison of this Evidence with that for

Canon of New Testament and Creed, . 46

IV. Presumptions from later History, . . 47

LECTURE VI.

APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

I. Statement of Doctrine, 50

1. Articles.

2. Ritual forms.

3. Reformation documents.

ANALYSIS. ii

PAGE

III. Allegations to the Contrary, . . .56

IV. Acts Claimed to be Authoritative, . .57 V. Individual Opinion, ,58