CATHOLIC APOSTOLIC CHURCH. The proper designation of a body of Christialls who Object to any designation which implies see tariansm, and therefore to their common desig nation Irvingites, which is given to them from their connection with Rev. Edward Irving (q.v.). In the winter of IS'29-30, Irving. then a minister of the Scotch Church, Regent Square. London, ddivered a series of lectures on spiritual gifts, in which he maintained that those which we are in the habit of calling 'extraordinary' or 'iniratiu loos' were not meant to be confined t 3 the primi tive Chureh, but to be continued through the whole period of the present dispensation. About the same time, a, if to confirm the views of the great preacher, there occurred at Port Glasgow, in the west, of Scotland, certain strange phenom ena. It wasthat miraculous acts of heal ing had and that the gift of tongues had reappenied. After what seemed to be a sufficient investigation on the part of some of the members of Irving's church, it was con cluded that the manifestations were genuine. Similar manifestations shortly after occurred in his own church, which were also pronouneed to be genuine. They were held to be of two kinds: first, speaking in tongues, and second, prophesy ing. 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 man ner which neither his own intellect could dictate, nor that of any other man comprehend." The latter, 'prophesying; consisted chiefly of "ex hortations to holiness, interpretations of Scrip ture, openings of prophecy. and explanations of symbols." After some time, Irving was de posed from his office for heresy by the Church of Scotland, but meanwhile the religious opin ions with which his name is associated had been assuming a more definite and ecclesiastieal shape. The final result was the Catholic Apostolic Church, the constitution of which is briefly as follows: There are, as in the apostolic times, four ministries: first, that of 'apostle'; second, that. of 'prophet'; third, that of 'evangelist': and fourth, that of 'pastor.' The apostles are in vested ith spiritual prerogatives; they alone can minister the Holy Ghost by the laying 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
transpiles in any church in the way of 'prophetic utterance' can be authoritatively explained save by them: and the various 'angels of the churches' are to bring all such utterances under their cognizance, in order that they may be rightly interpreted. The function of the 'proph et' has been already indicated. The work of an 'evangelist' mainly consists 'in endeavoring to bring in those who are without. The 'anger of the Catholic Apostolic Church corresi Mails with the bishop of other Christian denomina tions. The ministers; of each full maigregalion eomprise an angel, with a fourfold ministry (consisting of elders, prophets, evangelists, and pastors), and a ministry of deacon' 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 a council of ministers of all classes, whose selection and arrangement are conceived to have been fore shadowed in the structure of the Mosaic taber nacle.
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 considers 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 acci dental, but are essential to the divinely insti tuted 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 consubstantia tion 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. In the United States it has ten churches and about thirty ministers. Consult G. Miller, History and Doctrines of I•rinyism (London, IS78).