IRVINGITES, the common but improper designation of a body of Christians who object to any designation which implies sectarianism, and therefore use no other name than the Catholic Apostolic Church. In the winter of 1829-30, the rev. Edwtrd Irving (q.v.), then a minister of the Scotch church, Regent square, London, delivered a series of lectures on spiritual gifts, in which he maintained that those which we are in the habit of calling "extraordinary" or "miraculous" were not meant to be confined to the prim. itive church, but to be continued through the whole period of the present dispensation. About the same time, as if to confirm the views of the great preacher, there occurred at Port-Glasgow, in the w. of Scotland, certain strange phenomena. It was alleged that miraculous acts of healing had happened, and that the gift of tongues had reappeared. After what seemed to be a sufficient investigation on the part of some of the members of Mr. Irving's church, it was concluded that the manifestations were genuine. Similar manifestations shortly after occurred in his own church, which were also pronounced to be genuine. They were held to be of two kinds: 1st, speaking in tongues, and 2d, prophesying. As the former bore no resemblance to any language with which men were conversant, it was believed to be strictly an " unknown tongue," the Holy Ghost " using the tongue of man in a manner which neither his own intellect could dictate, nor that of any other man comprehend." The latter, "prophesying," consisted chiefly of "exhorta tions to holiness, interpretations of Scripture, openings of prophecy, and explanations of symbols." After some time, Irving was deposed from his office for heresy by the church of Scotland, but meanwhile the religious opinions with which his name is associated had been assuming a more definite and ecclesiastical shape. The final result was the Apos tolic Catholic Church, the constitution of which is briefly as follows: There are, as in the apostolic times, four ministries: 1st, that of "apostle ;" 2d, that of " prophet ;" 3d, that of "evangelist;" and 4th, that of "pastor." The apostles are invested with spiritual prerogatives; they alone can minister the Holy Ghost by the lay ing on of hands; to them the mysteries of God are revealed and unfolded to the church; and they decide on matters of order and discipline. Nothing that transpires in any
church m the way of "prophetic utterance" can be authoritatively explained save by them; and the various "angels of the churches" are bound to bring all such utterances under their cognizance, in order that they may be rightly interpreted. The function of the "prophet been already indicated. The work of an " evangelist " mainly con sists in endeavoring to "bring in" those who are without. The " angel "of the Catholic Apostolic church corresponds with the bishop of other Christian denominations. The ministers of each full congregation comprise an angel, with a fourfold ministry (consist ing of elders, prophets, evangelists, and pastors), and a ministry of deacons to take charge of temporal matters. This ministry is supported by tithes, the people giving a tenth of their income for the support of the priesthood. Church affairs are managed by n council of ministers of all classes, whose selection and arrangement are conceived to have been foreshadowed in the structure of the Mosaic tabernacle.
The Catholic Apostolic church does not differ from other Christian bodies in regard to the common doctrines of the Christian religion; it only accepts, in what it comic' rs to be a fuller and more real sense, the phenomena of Christian life. It believes that the wonder, mystery, and miracle of the apostolic times, were not accidental, but are essen tial to the divinely instituted church of God, and its main function is to prepare a people for the second advent of Christ. A very special feature of the Catholic Apostolic church is its extensive and elaborate symbolism. In regard to the sacrament of the Lord's Supper; the doctrine of the objective presence is held, but both transubstantiation and consubstantiation are repudiated.
The Catholic Apostolic church has established itself in England, Scotland, Canada, the United States, Prussia, France, Switzerland, Ireland, Belgium, Russia, Denmark, Sweden, Australia, and India.