Scholarly Reflections
McDonnell, Kilian & Montague, George T. "Chapter Sixteen: Apostolic Constitutions: Standardizing the Charisms." Christian Initiation and Baptism in the Holy Spirit: Evidence from the First Eight Centuries. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1991, 219-225.
In this chapter, McDonnell suggests the text of the Apostolic Constitutions, from about 380, could help us understand why Cyril seemed more receptive to the charisms in 348 than in his later works from the 380s (McDonnell & Montague 1991, 219). McDonnell takes the Apostolic Constitutions to be a composite document including, among other sources, the Didache, the Didascalia, and Apostolic Tradition. The text presents itself as coming from the apostles and makes an attempt to standardize use of ministry and spiritual gifts (McDonnell & Montague 1991, 220). There is a high view of ordination and the priesthood, while gifts such as prophecy are to be subordinated to the gatekeeping of the priesthood. Though prophetic signs as described in the long ending of Mark maybe possible, they are not linked to any of the three baptismal liturgies described (McDonnell & Montague 1991, 221).
In Apostolic Constitutions power is centralized in the persons of bishop and ordained clergy (McDonnell & Montague 1991, 222). In many ways, McDonnell considers the bishop to be described as the central character in the community, exercising a gift of the Holy Spirit by his very presence. This, according to McDonnell, is a result of categorizing the gifts in a standardized way, then assigning them different roles. Ordination then took precedence over the charisms, and they became the domain of the ordained clergy (McDonnell & Montague 1991, 223).
McDonnell hypothesizes that the compiler of the Apostolic Constitutions in Antioch may well have gone through a thought process similar to that of Cyril in Jerusalem. While the theoretical idea of the charisms was attractive and apostolic, some level of discomfort could spur both writers to place the gifts in the domain of the ordained clergy, thus providing some protection against abuse (McDonnell & Montague 1991, 224).