ecclesiastical synods. Most remarkable of all is the reluctance of the
churches to write down the essential, operative parts of the Mass.
Written copies are first mentioned in the fourth century, and it was not
until a much later period that the diversities of local tradition were
corrected by the issue of a standard text. It might be supposed that the
non-existence of official copies was due to the want of any device, such
as printing, by which they could be cheaply multiplied. But there is a
curious fact which suggests that publication was considered undesirable.
One section of the Canon of the Mass was called the secret part
(_secretum_), and was recited by the celebrant in an undertone, that it
might not become known to the congregation. Similarly, all literary
exposition of such central doctrines as the Atonement, or the Trinity,
was deprecated by early theologians, who pass by them with the remark
that they are known to the initiate.

This cult of secrecy engendered difficulties which are written large
upon the page of history. Disputes arose about the wording of the
creeds, about the canon of the Scriptures, about the number and nature
of the mortal sins, and the penances which they should entail.
Periodically a curious investigator raised a storm by claiming that he
had discovered a flaw in the traditional formulae, or a mistake in the
sense which was currently attached to them. The one way of meeting such
doubts was to compare the traditions of the older churches. This could
be done by a provincial synod or a general council. But of these
tribunals the former was unsatisfactory, as its decisions were of merely
local validity and might be overruled by the voice of the universal
Church. The general council was hard to convene, particularly after a
rift had opened between the Eastern and the Western Churches. It was
easier to select as the final arbiter a bishop whose knowledge of
tradition was derived from an apostolic predecessor. In the East there