Chapter 73

1Concerning the Order of the Priesthood. Each one of you knows what we have ordained for you, and further ye know that there are some whom we name bishops, and others whom we name presbyters, and others are named deacons. With prayer we laid hand upon them, and we appointed to each an Order according to its different name. And among us there is no one who desires a filling of our hand, nor will he receive from us that which he wishes for of priesthood, as the priests of the oxen of lyurebe am, which were made as an abomination to God. Unless there had been a special Order for each according to law, one name would have sufficed for all the world ; but having been taught by God a guidance for all functions, we have separated for the bishops the ordination of the priesthood, for the presbyters the priesthood, for the deacons the service^ .... that the work of the service might be completed withal. It is not seemly for the deacons to offer the Oblation, or to baptise, or to give the Eulogia to small or to great. And the presbyter shall not ordain anyone, because he was not worthy (of anything) beside his Order. For God is not a God of confusion, so that the inferiors may not grasp (at office) with audacity. What work then will be completed by the imperfect } And they make a new law to the Arabic * insan,' * man,' being read for * etnain,' * two.' their own destruction, and do not know that it is a small thing which is in their power {lit. with them) ; and they kick with their feet in the net And if thus, they do not oppose us, but they oppose the Bishop of all the world, the Son of God, the Chief Priest Jesus Christ our Lord, j A chief priest, priests, and levites were ordained by Moses, the lover of God, and we the twelve Apostles were ordained by our Lord and our Saviour Jesus Christ, and we ordained for us Klementos and Ya'ekob and others with them, that we might send ' each one of them, and further, we all of us ordained withal presbyters and deacons. And the first Presbyter, the only true Chief Priest, is our Lord Jesus Christ, who did not grasp for himself the honour, but the Father ordained him. And as he is the Chief Priest for us, so he offered spiritual sacrifice to God the Father before he was crucified, and he commanded us to do likewise. And there were others with us who believe in him, but he does not grant to all who believe in him to be priests, nor to obtain the Order of ordination of priesthood like us. And after his Ascension we offered according to the ordinance of the holy bloodless Oblation. And we ordained bishops and presbyters and deacons in number seven, and amongst them Estifanos, the first martyr, who was not the least of us in his love of God : but he showed his service of God aj by faith and love of Jesus Christ our Lord, so much that he gave his life up for his sake ; and the wicked Jews, the murderers of the Lord, stoned him with stones for his name and killed him. But he was a man of such fervent unpointed Arabic 'send' instead of * describe.' spirit that he saw our Lord Christ at the right hand of God, and he saw the open gates of the heavens. And it is nowhere found that he did what was not suitable for him as deacon, that he offered sacrifice or laid hand upon anyone, but he kept to his Order of deacon unto the end. For thus it was proper for the martyr of our Lord Christ to fulfil the duties of his Order. And if there are any who blame Filepos the deacon and Hananya the faithful brother because the one baptised the eunuch and the other baptised even me, Pawlos, they are deluded as to what we say ; for we say that no one should take by force the ordination of priesthood, but he obtained it from God, as Malkasedek and Ya'ekob; or from the chief priest, as Aron from Muse ; therefore that Filepos and Hananya themselves took not ordination from themselves, but from our Lord Christ. They believed in the Chief Priest of God, with whom there is none to be compared.