This 1900 edition has been reset in a modern font and some spellings have been updated for the convenience of the reader. This is NOT a scanned copy. How did the church respond to the vacuum left by the death of the apostles? This book studies the process that was followed by the early church to preserve the theology of the apostles. As radical ideas were introduced the church responded with increased organizational control. The new leadership of the church protected it from without and from within, but there were consequences as the power of the Bishop increased. James Falconer traces the evolution of the office of the priest in the Roman Catholic Church as he discusses its history and issues.