^snnnM^, ^^^^^^^^^^ccCo^ '^^^^n^^^^^l WKK^k^ g^H ^Kks^^ '-^S^H L I B R A. K Y <1F TIIK Theological Seminary PRINCETON, N. J. C^PV 647 .D3 1848 c.l Davidson, Samuel, 1806-1898. *' The ecclesiastical polity of Bo the New Testament unfolded i THE CONGREGATIONAL LECTURE, THIRTEENTH SERIES. THE ECCLESL^STICAL POLITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT UNFOLDED. By the REV. DR. DAVIDSON. ION DON : Bt.ACKBUKN AND PARDON, PRINTEftS, HATTON GARDEN. THE ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT UNFOLDED, ITS POINTS OF COINCIDENCE OR DISAGREEMENT WITH PREVAILING SYSTEMS INDICATED. SAMUEL DAVIDSON, LL.D. LONDON: JACKSON AND WALFORD, 18, ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD. 1848. " Cedat consuetudo veritati." — Augustine. " CONSDETDDO SINE VERITATE VETUSTAS ERRORIS EST." Cyprian. PREFACE. TiiEEE are some phenomena in the rehgious world, which appear to discourage a timid writer, at the present day, from attempting to discuss the subject of the following Lectures. And when these symptoms dissuading from its examination are of a cheering aspect to the pious mind, it becomes a matter for serious reflection whether the topic should be pubhcly agitated. But yet the Author cannot believe that the religious sects now existing are better prepared, in reality^ to amalgamate with one another, than they were half a century ago ; or that an examination of the topic is likely to impede their future incorporation, should that incorporation be deemed desirable or near. It is possible, indeed, that the narrow-minded adherent of a party may magnify the importance of belonging to his own denomination so highly as to look on all others with an evil eye, or with profound pity, as if they were deeply involved in serious error ; but the man who VI PREFACE. endeavours to rise above the views of interested partisans, will treat the subject in a more liberal spirit. While indicating his own preferences, he will be careful not to provoke the bitter recrimination of those who differ from him. A few years ago, the Author was led to investigate the New Testament in regard to its teachings on the disputed question of Church Government. Ever since that period, which forms an important epoch in his hfe, the subject has been seldom absent from his thoughts. He has revolved it in his mind with an earnest desire to know it fundamentally and fully. Had he been disposed to proceed per- functorily, he should have been satisfied with a shorter period of gestation, and consequently a shorter book ; but a determination to search out every important part of the subject, prompted a slower and more cautious progress in arriving at results. If he knows himself aright he can honestly affirm, that he has sincerely endeavoured to ascertain the truth and to adduce it, irrespectively of its agreement or discordance either with the denomination to which he belongs, or with any other. By the production now submitted to the public, he has no selfish interests to promote — no self-exalting purpose to serve. On the contrary, he expects to be blamed for it by almost every section of the universal church, because, in some minute particulars, he happens to dissent from prevalent notions. PREFACE. VU It is necessary that the reader should distinctly remember the nature of the work undertaken, which is not to explain or defend the opinions and practices of any one denomination on the subject of ecclesias- tical polity, nor to identify the polity of the New Testament with modem Congregationalism ; but to investigate the volume of inspiration with the view of unfolding its teachings, and to point out their agreement or discordance with the principles and usages of modern sects. For this purpose, the Author has endeavoured to keep his leanings in perfect subservience to the divine word; and he is not aware that they have misled him in his explanations. If they have done so in any instance, it has been unconsciously. The reader is therefore entreated to recollect, that the Lecturer stands before him, not as the advocate of Congregationalism in particular, but as an humble, and he trusts an honest, inquirer into the revealed will of God. If he expects to find the thorough defender of any other system than what is sanctioned by infalhble authority, he will be grievously disappointed. Hence the Writer alone is accountable for the sentiments advanced. The opinions advocated, are not to be charged on the denomination to which he has the honour of belong- ing. They possess no official authority. The Lecturer is not an expositor of the prevailing sentiments held by the Congregational body. Many of his brethren would probably disagree with some of the statements. Vlll PREFACE. At all events, they must not be held responsible for them. Whether true or false, the burden of them rests on the shoulders of him who makes them. It will not be out of place to remark, that the Lectures were written, in the first instance, without reference to any other book than the New Testa- ment. The conclusions were educed from it, irre- spectively of interpretations assigned by the expositors of systems. After certain results had been obtained, the works of others were consulted, for the purpose of learning the modes of interpretation to which they are attached. These varying expositions were then incorporated in their proper places, with a refutation of them appended, wherever they appeared to require it, A few notes are annexed, consisting chiefly of passages which were found to coincide with the opinions of the Writer, after he had himself arrived at a fall conviction of the correctness of the latter. If they serve no other purpose, they may at least be useful in teaching the admirers of learned men and weighty names, that the sentiments set forth are neither novel nor frivolous. Such as look for authorities in favour of the views propounded will see that they are not wholly wanting. Had the Writer been desirous to give his book the appearance of learning, many more annotations of a similar cha- racter, might have been added. But his wish was to PREFACE. IX free it as much as possible from the encumbrance of erudition, in order that every part might be perfectly clear to the apprehension of the unlearned reader. It is not meant exclusively for ministers of the Gospel, but for the intelhgent and thoughtful of the people also, on whom he places large reliance in the promotion of healthful reforms. The Author can hardly cherish the hope of being exempted from considerable animadversion. He has counted the cost of manifold censure. Truth must not be sacrificed to usage or party. It is better to comply with the suggestions of conscience, than to please men. The favour of others, gained at the expense of conceding what conscience disallows, is too dearly purchased. But he is averse to polemics. He will not hastily allow himself to be dragged into controversy. So much of misrepresentation and asperity is mixed up with it, as to render it a most unprofitable and injurious employment. Neither is it worth while to reply to persons who nibble at minute particulars or things immaterial, while they are unable or indisposed to grapple fairly and fully with the main principles inculcated. As for those who condemn without reading, or affect to be witty at the expense of another, without so much as the semblance of calm and close reasoning, or the power to prove any radical unsoundness in his production, they cannot expect to be noticed, especially when they write anonymously. Fair and manly criticism is A3 X PREFACE. as obvious, as it is generally acceptable to the candid interpreter of God's holy word ; while the sciolist is readily detected by the magnitude of his assertions in connexion with the littleness of his performances. The Author is glad to find, that the long-expected treatise of Dr. Wardlaw, on the subject of the church government, has just made its appearance, and he only regrets that it did not come to hand till this day, after the present work had been printed. Doubtless it has received luminous treatment from that able and elegant writer. For the Index and Analysis he is indebted to two of his young friends and pupils, Mr. J. Hodgson and Mr. N. Hurry, who kindly relieved him of this labour, in the midst of his other . pressing engage- ments, and whom he thus pubhcly thanks for their seasonable aid. Lancashire Independent College, January 8th, 1848 ADVERTISEMENT BY THE COMMITTEE OF THE CONGREGATIONAL LIBBARY. The " Congregational Library " was established with a view to the promotion of Ecclesiastical, Theological, and Biblical Literature, in that religious connexion with whose friends and supporters it originated. It is also designed to secure a convenient locality for such associations as had pre- viously existed, or might hereafter exist, for the purpose of advancing the literary, civil, and religious interests of that section of the Christian Church to which it was approjjriated. Without undervaluing the advantages of union, either with Evangelical Protestants, or Protestant Nonconformists, on such grounds as admit of liberal co-operation, it was never- theless deemed expedient to adopt measures for facilitating the concentration and efl&ciency of their own denomination. In connexion with these important objects, it was thought desirable to institute a Lecture, partaking rather of the character of Academic prelections than of popular addresses, and embracing a Series of Annual Courses of Lectures, to be delivered at the Library, or, if necessary, in some contiguous place of worship. In the selection of Lecturers, it was judged proper to appoint such as, by their literary attainments and ministerial reputation, had rendered service to the cause of Divine truth in the consecration of their talents to " the defence and confirmation of the Gospel." It was also supposed, that some might be found possessing a high order of intellectual competency and moral worth, imbued with an ardent love of biblical science, or eminently conversant with theological and ecclesiastical literature, who, from various causes, might Xll ADVERTISEMENT. never have attracted that degree of public attention to which they are entitled, and yet might he both qualified and disposed to undertake courses of lectures on subjects of interest and importance, not included within the ordinary range of pulpit instruction. To illustrate the evidence and importance of the great doctrines of Revelation; to exhibit the true principles of philology in their application to such doctrines; to prove the accordance and identity of genuine philosophy with the records and discoveries of Scripture; and to trace the errors and cor- ruptions which have existed in the Christian Church to their proper sources, and by the connexion of sound reasoning with the honest intei-pretation of God's holy Word, to point out the methods of refutation and counteraction, are amongst the objects for which "the Congregational Lecture" has been established. The arrangements made with the Lecturers are designed to secure the pubUcation of each separate course, without risk to the Authors; and, after remunerating them as liberally as the resources of the Institution will allow, to apply the profits of the respective publications in aid of the Library. It is hoped that the liberal aud especially the opulent friends of Evangelical and Congregational Nonconformity will evince, by their generous support, the sincerity of their attachment to the great principles of their Christian profession; and that some may be found to emulate the zeal wliich established the "Boyle," the " Warburton," and the "Bampton" Lectures in the National Church. These are legitimate operations of the " voluntary principle" in the support of religion, and in perfect harmony with the independency of our Churches, and the spirituality of the kingdom of Christ. The Committee deem it proper to state, that whatever re- sponsibility may attach to the reasonings or opinions advanced in any course of Lectures, belongs exclusively to the Lecturer. Congregational Library, Blomfield Street, Finsbury, January, 1848. CONTENTS. LECTURE I. VIEWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. (Pages 1—53.) Introductory remarks — Tradition not authoritative — Scriptm-e alone the standard of appeal — The views entertained by Christians of eccle- siastical polity, classed under three heads — First, that no one system is laid down in the New Testament, or obligatory on believers — Secondly, that nothing is left to human discretion, but that a precise model is set forth — Thirdly, that a jiattern is delineated in outline — Examination of the first-ojunion — Presumptive evidence in favour of an ecclesiastical system — Man incompetent to frame laws for Chiist's kingdom — Intimate connexion of church polity and Christian doc- trine — Virtual tendency of this hypothesis — Inconsistency of its advo- cates — Its supposed tendency to jiromote Christian union — StiUing- fleet's view examined — Ecclesiastical polity not exhibited in a logical and systematic method— The question of polity one of relative value — Examination of the second hypothesis — Its impracticability — Its con- traiiety to the genius of the New Testament — Its want of adaj)tation — Third hypothesis advocated — Objections to it answered — Its vague, indefinite character — Its infringement on the sufficiency of the Scrip- tures — Its tendency to endanger important doctrines — Criteria for distinguishing characteristic from subordinate features — 1. Eegula- tions set forth with clearness and directness — 2. Diversity of the rea- son of a thing in two analogous cases — 3. Accidental circumstances — 4. Precedents not necessarily connected with the conservation of true religion — 5. Cessation of miraculous gifts — 6. Minute points in which the apostolic churches may have differed from one another — The general outhne of apostolic organisation distinct and authoritative — Neauder's view examined — True expediency consistent with an un- alterable constitution — The constitution of the Clu'istian church not boiTowed ii'om the Jewish synagogue — Observations on the views of Vitringa and others. XIV CONTENTS. LECTUEE II. THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. (Pages 54—136.) Social worship founded on the constitution of man — Dnty and advan- tages of chui'ch relationship — Two meanings of the work eKKKrjcria, church, as appUed to assemhlies convened for religions puiiioses — First, denoting the whole body of believers — Secondly, a number of believers habitually assembling in one jilace for worsliip — The true materials of a church — View and practice of Presbyterians — Charac- teristics of a scriptm'al church — 1. Adoption of scriptiu'al doctrines — 2. Maintenance of religious instruction and ordinances — 3. Main- tenance of discipline — National chiu'ches necessarily unscriptural — Erroneous senses attached to eKKkrja-ia — The church at Jerusalem, did it consist of more congregations than one — Examination of the state- ments of Brown and others in regard to it — 1. Number of members — 2. Of ministers — 3. Diversities of language — Assumption that the apostles alone assembled in Solomon's porch — dSeX^oi designating Christians generally, not ministers alone — Review of the church at Jerusalem — The condition of the church at Ephesus — Arguments of the Westminster divines, maintaining — 1. That it contained more congi-egations than one — 2. That there were many elders over these con- gregations as one flock — 3. That these congi-egations were one church under one presbyterial government — Meaning of " a chiu'ch in the house" — Examination of the arguments separately — The church at Corinth — Examination of the arguments of the London ministers, that it contained more congi-egations than one — The chm'ches of Jerusalem, Ephesus, and Corinth, were congregational, not presby- terial or prelatic chiu-ches — Exceptions to the rule that all the Christians in Jerusalem and Ephesus met always in one place — No exception in the case of the ch urch at Corinth — at iKKhrja-iai, churches, never applied to the Christians in Jerusalem and Ephesus, even when it is said, in relation to the latter city, that Aquila had a church in his house — Reason of this — Ajtp'^irent but not real exception to the fact, that churches are contemporaneously spoken of in the same city, di'awn from the case of Nymphas having a church in his house at Laodicea — No exception in the case of PhUemon, who bad a chiu'ch in his house at Colosse — That the believers in a city should, on all occasions, meet together for worship and the observance of ordinances is a point of Httle importance provided they have the same teachers and governors in common — Presbyterians by their procedure render it of imjiortance to insist on the fact — In what respect they are wrong — In what resjiect the usage of Congregationalists is ex- ceptionable — In what way the Christians in a city or town should CONTENTS. XV be conformed to the spiiit of the primitive practice as seen in these city-chm-ches — Refutation of other meanings of the word church — National chiu-ches not apostolical — " Visible church universal or a baptized society" unscriptui'al — The number of believers consti- tuting a chiu-ch — General positions on the subject of churches. LECTURE III. OITICES APPOINTED IN THE EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. (Pages 137—194.) All apostolic duties do not pertain to ordinary pastors — The apostolic office contained all inferior offices — The principle for determining what pertained to the apostolic office alone — Office-bearers essential to the ivell-heing of any society, but not to its heing — Office-bearers of a church — Extraordinary, apostles, evangelists — Prophets and teach- ers explained — Office not strictly predicable of prophets and teachers — Their charisms not permanent — Ordinary, bishops or elders and deacons — Reason for supposing these officers to be perpetual — Angels of the seven chiu'ches in Asia Minor not diocesan bishops — What is denoted by these angels — New Testament persons identified with modern bishops, Epaphras, Archippus, Epaphi'oditus, Sosthencs, Crescens, ApoUos, Diotrephes, Timothy, Titus, James — Deacons — Passages in the New Testament relating to them — Two questions discussed — 1. Were the office-bearers mentioned in the sixth chajjter of Acts the first deacons? — 2. Were they identical with the officers mentioned in the fii'St Epistle to Timothy, and called expressly SiaKovoi ? — Were they allowed to preach and teach ? — Deaconesses — Division of elders into preaching and ruling — Examination of the passages supposed to show the distinction — Considerations disproving the office of lay-eldershii). LECTURE IV. ELECTION OF OFFICE-BEARERS IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. (Pages 195—216.) Election of officers in the early chui'ches — Passages relating to election — Examination of theii* unport — Matthias elected by the whole company of the disciples — Examination of the opinion that the apostles only were concerned — The seven chosen by the whole multi- tude — The evidence from this instance not conclusive for the election of elders — The election in Acts xiv. 23 ambiguous — Primary significa- tion of xe'poToi"70"ai'T-ej — In regard to this word, three significations XVI CONTENTS. have been assiuned — First, to elect by the suffrages of the people — Reasons for rejecting this interpretation — The ordinary use of the word was different when Luke wrote — The persons electing were Paul and Barnabas — Secondly, to ordain by imjiosition of hands — Objec- tions to this signification — There were no elders in these churches previously — This usage of the word is not coimtenanced by Gi'eek writers of that period — Such signification is arbitrary — It would render the subsequent paragraph superfluous — Third signification, to appoint generally, apart from the votes of the people, or lifting uji of their hands — Paul and Barnabas elected, but the popular will was not contravened — The example in 1 Cor. viii. 19 refers only to the election of a delegate — These instances afford indirect, not direct, proof that elders were elected by the popular voice — Is the principle of a hierarchy recommended by apostolic injunction and practice ? — Rea- sons why there is so little dii'ect proof in the New Testament in favour of popular election — Because the churches are voluntary societies — Personal responsibility requires freedom in selecting religious teach- ers — Circumstances and allusions in the New Testament affording a presmnption in favour of the peoj)le's right to elect — The hierarchical principle adverse to spiritual freedom — Objections to election by the people — Practical remarks. LECTURE V. ORDINATION OF OFFICE-BEARERS IN THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHES. (Pages 217—262.) Ordination — What it signifies — Opinion of the Church of England — Of the Church of Rome — Of the Church of Scotland, and the Assembly of London Ministers — Of Congregationalists — The word ordination rej)resented by six different terms in the original Greek — Modern opinion — Improbabihty that six diflerent terms could sjinboHse one act of unique character — What ordination does 7iot mean — What it does signify — The solemn invocation of the Divine presence and assistance — Whatever blessing is communicated at the time is im- parted in answer to prayer — Ordination does not invest with office — It relates to the time of entering on ofiice — Why it should be continued, though not expressly enjoined — There is no reason for dej^artiug from apostolic custom — The mode of ordination — Form not precisely the same in the case of deacons and elders — Should imposition of hands be retained? — Was a supernatural gift always conveyed at the time of laying on hands ? — Examination of passages relating to this point — Miraculous gifts were generally conveyed at the time of the cere- mony — Bestowed only by the apostles — The custom may be properly CONTENTS. XVll retained — Abuse to be guarded against — Imposition of hands not essential as a mode of induction to office — The person or persons tvho should ordain — Opinion that it is confined to the apostles and their successors — Belongs to the presbytery of the church — Timothy or- dained by Paul and the elders conjointly — The example of the church at Antioch does not prove ordination to be in the hands of a pres- bytery — Ordination by a presbytery not the only scriptural mode — Examination of the phrase "lay hands suddenly on no man" — When there is no elder, then the ordination devolves on the members of the chui'ch — Objections answered — Should the pastors of other churches be invited to ordain ? — Eo-orcUnation appropriate in case of the same individual being elected by another church — The person to be ordained — Tbe case of missionaries considered — Are persons refusing ordina- tion disorderly? — The act of ordination should take place at the time of appointment to office — Misconceptions that have arisen in regard to ordmation — The mystery of modern ordination unknown in the apostohc age — Passages referring to ordination — The practice of modern Congregationalists considered — Advantages and disadvantages of this practice. LECTURE VI. THE POPULAR BALANCE OF POWER SUBSISTING IN A CHRISTIAN CHURCH. (Pages 263—307.) The question under discussion not the power of one church, in regard to foreign jurisdiction, but the balance of power within itself — Ambiguity in regard to the tenn power — Importance of bearing in mind the dis- tinction between the functions of apostles and those of ordinary elders — The title ambassador peculiar to apostles — Officers not necessary to the being but to the well-being of a church — It is the inherent right of every one to j)reach the gospel — View of TertulHan — The authority of church rulers comes from God, and is founded on the capacity for office ^"ith which he has endowed them — The union formed between pastor and people may be severed by one or both — Lawful groimds for such a severance — Opinion of the Westminster divines that the authority of pastors is ministerial and subordinate — The ideas included in the government of elders — 1. They preside in all meetings of the church — 2. They call the attention of the mem- bers to the laws laid down by Christ, and insist on obedience to them — 3. They instruct and persuade the church — 4. They re- prove, rebuke, and exhort, with aU authority — 5. They propose regulations tending to the welfare of the church — 6. So long as they preside over a church nothing done by it in theii- absence is XVlll CONTENTS. valid, unless they have given their consent to such an arrangement — 7. They formally pronounce sentence or censure in the presence of the church — The authority of elders is executive, not legislative — Duties natiu-ally devolving on elders — The power of ordaining office- bearers — The privDege of presiding at the Lord's supper — Of ad- ministering the ordinance of baptism — The presence of an elder not essential to the validity of baptism and the Lord's supper — The power of discipUne belongs to the chiu'ch together with its rulers — The law of Christ in regard to private offences — In regard to public oflPences — Examination of the case of excommunication performed by the church at Corinth — The conduct of the disciples at Jerusalem in relation to Saul — All the members have an equal right to express their sentiments and to vote — Examination of the opinion that the power of discipline is vested in the office-bearers alone — Power of binding and loosing — Meaning of the phrase " keys of the kingdom of heaven" — Of remitting and retaining sins — Eecapitulation. LECTURE VIL AUTHORITATIVE COURTS OF REVIEW EXAMINED AND DISCUSSED. (Pages 308—344.) Authoritative couils of review — Alleged scriptui-al basis — Keasons ad- duced for supj^osing the narrative in Acts xv. to be the model of a synod or council — 1. There was a proper ground and occasion for ajvu'idical synod — 2. Proper members of a synod were convened — 3. As all were convened by like ordinary authority, so they acted by like ordinary and equal power — 4. Here was the ordinary way and method of synodical proceedings by the apostles, elders, and brethren — 5. Several authoritative and juridical acts of power were put forth in this synod — Kefutation of these reasons — (a.) Such synods are never noticed in any other part of the New Testament, even when their appearance might have been expected — (b.) This assembly was composed in part of apostles — Lispii-ed and infallible men — Examination of the argument that the apostles acted not as inspti-ed men but as ordinary elders, such as that Paul and Barnabas were sent by the church at Antioch and submitted to its deter- mination, that there was disi^utation in the assembly, that other members of the church at Antioch were sent as delegates — The opinion that the apostles acted sometimes as apostles, sometimes as ordinary elders, shown to be untenable — The root of this arbitrary division lies in the notion of succession — The fallacy of the allegation that the apostles themselves distinguished between their extraordinai-y and their ordinary character — The true successors of the apostles are CONTENTS. XIX they whose doctrines and sjiirit are the same with the apostles — Reasons why the elders were associated with the apostles in this assembly — Meanings attached by Presbyterian wi-iters to the term brethren in this connexion — The decision of the assembly emanated virtually from inspii'ed men, the elders and brethren approving — (c.) The question which occasioned the meeting was one j^ecidiar to jnimitive times — {d) The mode in which tlie decision went forth is peculiar — [e.) The account is very brief — The affirmation of some that the history of the Acts of the Apostles affords a warrant for courts of review generally — Such warrant cannot be found — The opinion that this assembly, though no model for the standing use of synods, is a warrant for the occasional use of such meetings for advice and consultation — Consultative assemblies should be ad vocated on the gi'ound of expediency, not on the basis of Scripture — This account viewed in the light of a parallel passage in the Epistle to the Galatians — Relation of chm-ches to one another — Two extremes to be avoided — The kind of intercommunion which is alone de- sirable — Different expedients for carrying out the principle of inter- commimion of churches — American modes of doing so — The evils and benefits attendant on these modes. L-ECTURE VIII. THE NUMBEE OF OFFICE-BEARERS IN A CHRISTIAN CHURCH. (Pages 345—379.) Remarks illustrative of the usage of language — Nouns are employed in a general and specific signification — A word cannot be taken in its ajjpropriated and unapproi3riated sense conjointly — Plurality of elders in the apostolic chm-ches — Reasons adduced for supposing there was not such an institution — Refutation of them — Advantages arising from the primitive method — 1. The people would be better instructed — The objection of Dr. King considered — The custom of the New England Fathers — 2. Pastoral visitation would be properly attended to — 3. A gi-eater impression would be produced on the surrounding popidation — 4. The imsettled state of those sustaining the pastoral office would be materially lessened — 5. The Associations commonly called Coimty Unions would be, in a great measure, superseded — Was a plurality of elders intended to be perpetuated? — Examination of the plea that a j)lurality of elders originated in the circmnstances of the early chtu'ches, and may be conveniently laid aside in modern times — The early rise of episcopacy confirms the fact of a jilurality of elders — The churches not furnished with a supreme bishojj by the apostles — Jerusalem the birth-place of episcopacy in the times immediately XX CONTENTS. succeeding the apostles — Jerome's view of the origin of the episco- pate—Suggestions as to a plurality of elders, and the mode in which they might harmoniously co-ojierate — The exact number of deacons in a chm-ch is left indeterminate, like that of the elders. LECTURE IX. THE CONGREGATIONAL SYSTEM REVIEWED AND DEFENDED. (Pages 380—418.) Review of the principles developed in the preceding lectures — These principles constitute the Congregational system — Advantages it possesses — Scripturality — Simplicity — EflBciency for the maintenance and diffusion of truth — For preserving the liberties of Christian men — Tends to prevent clerical ambition — Stimulates the activity of jjastors — Promotes general intelligence — Importance of separating the essentials from the circumstantials — The Congregational system adai)ted to all states of society, especially to a fi-ee constitution — Examination of an assertion of Richard Watson, respecting church government — Some examples of things indifferent in the worship of God — Has a church power to decree rites and ceremonies? — Ob- jections to Congi-egationalism answered — 1. It is impracticable in some respects — 2. The sentence of one church in regard to excom- munication virtually controls the whole community — 3. It is unsiiited to the imity of the chiuch as a visible body — 4. The system is a pure democracy — All that is good and venerable among the members is placed not at the feet of a democracy, but at the feet of Christ — Concluding observations and counsels. Notes AND Illustrations Pages 41 9 — 452 ^N^vVt*-*'-.*.'.., LECTURE I. VIEWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. " HE THAT HATH AN EAR, LET HIM HEAR WHAT THE SPIRIT SAITH UNTO THE CHURCHES." Rev. ii. 7. In commencing a course of lectures on Ecclesiastical Polity, it is necessary to declare the principle or prin- ciples by which we purpose to conduct our examina- tion of the subject. The standard of appeal must be unequivocally stated. We do not mean to inquire what is the voice of early ecclesiastical tradition. Immediately after the apostles' death, changes in the ecclesiastical practices of the early Christians were introduced, which continued to develop themselves until the hierarchical system was consolidated. Early tradition is vague and indefinite. Even if its testi- mony respecting church-government could be clearly ascertained, it could claim no authority. The obli- gation of Christians living in the present day to follow it, is a thing that may be freely questioned. Our standard, therefore, is not early ecclesiastical tradition, 2 VIEWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY however venerable or hoary. Neither do we purpose to examme primitive practices in conjunction with Scripture, whether they be taken to elucidate the New Testament, or the New Testament be regarded as shedding light on them. The inventions and usages of uninspired men should not be combined with the word of God in this form, or placed on an equahty with it ; because that were to assign equal authority to a Divine revelation and the opinions of falhble creatures. We will not allow the Bible either to be subordinated to early human writings, or to be placed in the same lofty position with them. Scrip- ture alone is the authority we acknowledge. As far as tradition accords with it, our interpretations of the latter are strengthened ; but early ecclesiastical senti- ments or practices must not dictate what we shall follow, or resfulate the mode in which the New Testament shall be imderstood. The Bible is, to a great extent, a self-interpreting volume. The Christian takes it by itself, and uses his best judgment in dis- covering its meaning. It will thus be apparent that the field we intend to occupy does not consist of the writings of the Fathers. We leave their ponderous folios in undisturbed dignity. It is the ecclesiastical pohty of the New Testament which we seek to develop ; not the ecclesiastical polity of the post-apostolic period. The Fathers of the early church throw little light on the form of church- government exhibited in the apostohc age. Indeed, it may be questioned whether they do not tend to obscure and perplex it. It is certain that they cannot, ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. 3 in any view, be regarded as its legitimate expositors. As such, their aid must be repudiated by the impartial historian. We are now concerned with the New Testament alone. What says that Booh on the subject of ecclesiastical polity ? Is it silent respecting it ? Or does it speak so vaguely that nothing plain can be collected from its utterances ? Or, again, does it contain sufficient directions for the regulation of social worship in all ages? In answering these questions a wide field opens up to view, which it is our intention to prosecute in the spirit of calm inquiry, undeterred by the difficidties of the path, if haply it may be cleared from the obstructions of men who love their own system better than truth. In introducing a subject to the notice of the reader, it is usual to dwell on its importance, or to magnify the difficidties attending it^ In the one case, writers virtually plead for an attentive hearing, on the ground that their theme demands and deserves it ; in the other, they indirectly convey the impression, whether consciously or otherwise, that they are competent to discuss what they propose. In both instances, we fear that the leading desire often is, to exalt self in the estimation of others, although that idea never enters into the mind of some holy men. At the commence- ment of the present series of lectures, we do not purpose to enlarge on the importance, or to enhance the perplexity of the topic. Probably aU wiU admit that it is neither frivolous nor uninteresting ; but that it demands a place in the thoughts of the intelhgent Christian, however entangled it may appear in some B 2 4 VIEWS or ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY of its parts. The views entertained by professing Christians of ecclesiastical polity may be classed under three heads. First. Some suppose that no system of church- government is laid down in the New Testament, and that it is vain to expect a Divine model to regulate the condition of all churches. They beheve that the arrangements of Christian societies should be adjusted by expediency ; the particular order which is suited to one country being ill adapted to another. They look at the fact, that what flourishes in one district does not succeed in another. Where the civil government is monarchical. Episcopacy or Presbytery should be established ; where it is popular or republican, Inde- pendency. Not that the advocates of this sentiment would associate these forms of polity with the specified modes of human government in every instance. They have been selected simply as an illustration of the varying polities which might be established in different circumstances. According to the hypothesis in ques- tion, no Divine pattern is obligatory on Christians generally ; but they are perfectly free to follow their own judgment in the matter, and to modify the government of churches, under the present dispen- sation, as the genius of the age or country may seem to suggest. Expediency is the only rule by which everything should be settled. The discretion or wisdom of men must mould and shape the arrange- ments of social worship. Seco7idly. Others think that nothing is left to human discretion, but that a precise model is laid ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. 5 down, which we are bound to copy in every parti- cular. They assume that the New Testament is a full and complete guide in all matters pertaining to the constitution and order of churches ; — that Christ has left nothing indeterminate, having supplied all in- formation that could be required on the subject ; — in short, that nothing should be added to, or subtracted from, the precedents and precepts of apostoUc times. They believe that the practices of the first churches are recorded in Scripture for our imitation — that they constitute an entire system adapted to all ages and circumstances, to which the churches of Christ should rigidly adhere, amid the endless vicissitudes of human society. Thirdly. Others advocate the opinion that the New Testament was designed to exhibit a pattern of ecclesiastical organisation and discipline in outline., not in detail. They maintain that certain features, forming the essential parts of a system, are traced ; while minor hues are dimly shadowed, or left entirely to the judgment of Christians. The principles of church-order are clearly propounded, while the appli- cation of them is left to ordinary discretion. In filling up the outline with traits and tints most appropriate, a wise expediency should be consulted. The platform may, therefore, be completed in various ways, without impairing its scripturality. It may be adapted to the exigencies of all times, without losing its essential character ; though some inferior points of primitive arrangement be altered to render the principles coin- cident with the utilities of particular states of society. 6 VIEWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY The ideas entertained on this subject by professing Christians, at the present day, will be found to harmonise with one or other of the hypotheses now mentioned. More opinions might, possibly, be enu- merated, were it expedient to distinguish minor shades of sentiment ; but it is sufficient for our purpose to reduce them to three classes. Let us consider each separately. The first opinion has many able advocates, of whom we need only mention Stillingfleet and Camp- bell. Those who belong to established churches often adopt it. It is an Erastian notion. That it com- mended itself to the Bishop of Worcester, at least in his younger days, there can be no doubt in the minds of those who read the " Irenicum," in which he says : " I conclude, then, according to this sense of jus, that the Batio regiminis Ecdesiastici is juris divini naturalis, that is^ that the reason of church-govern- ment is immutable, and holds in all times and places, which is the preservation of the peace and unity of the church ; but the modus regiminis Ecdesiastici, the particular form of that government, is juris divini permissivi, that both the laws of God and nature have left it to the prudence of particular churches to deter- mine it."" The remarks of Campbell are to the same effect: he terminates a very able discussion of the primitive form of church-government, by saying : " It will be observed, by the judicious and the candid, that what has been advanced does not affect the law- ° See Note I. ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. 7 ftilness, or even, in certain circumstances, tlie expedi- ency of tlie episcopal model ; it only exposes the arrogance of pretending to a jus divinum. I am satis- fied that no form of polity can plead such an exclusive charter, as that phrase, in its present acceptation, is understood to imply. The claim is clearly the offspring of sectarian bigotry and ignorance. In regard to those polities which obtain at present in the different Christian sects, I own, ingenuously, that I have not found one, of all that I have examined, which can be said perfectly to coincide with the model of the apostolic church. Some, indeed, are nearer, and some are more remote ; but this we may say with freedom, that, if a particular form of polity had been essential to the church, it had been laid down in another manner in the sacred books. The very hypothesis is, in my opinion, repugnant to the spiritual nature of the evangelical economy. It savours grossly of the conceit, with which the Jews were intoxicated, of the Messiah's secular kingdom — a conceit with which many like-minded Christians are intoxicated still."" Those who look to the diversities of worship ex- isting among professing Christians often fall in with the opinion in question. Had one form of church order been set forth for general adoption, they infer that so many sincere and upright men could not have differed so widely respecting it. The Deity could not have intended to have established any one " Lectures on Ecclesiastical History. Lect. iv. p. 81. 8vo. London: 1834. 8 VIEWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY system, even in outline, from whicli none should be at liberty to depart, else the directions respecting it had been far clearer and less liable to be misunder- stood. Surely the Author of revelation would have made it so explicit on this subject as to preclude much difference of sentiment. On that supposition, his precepts and examples must have been more luminous. Influenced by these and like considerations, many sincere individuals persuade themselves that Christ has instituted no particular form of polity for his people on earth. And, indeed, the hypothesis in question saves a world of inquiry. It precludes the necessity of laborious investigation. It is a very convenient weapon in defence of a favourite dogma. What need is there to hunt after the principles and practices of the first Christians, when they are in- volved in so much obscurity, and cannot, after all, be of any moment to us ? Thus many perfunctory men rest satisfied with the present view of the subject. It suits their superficiality, their dreams of union among Christians before truth and principle have obtained due homage^ and that passive quietude of mind which is alike indisposed and unable to take a firm grasp of any theme, however important it may be to the true welfare of man. In an age of which haste is a prominent characteristic, faith in the future having become feeble, it is easy to foresee that it will obtain many votaries and bid fair to prevail. Strong intellect^ deeply imbued with the study of the Bible in all its comprehensiveness, and keenly alive to evan- gelical purity, may not relish it ; but an ordinary ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. V observer of sects, who is, at the same time, an ordinary reader of the Bible ; a pious and peace-loving man, will always be incUned to embrace this supposed "weapon-salve for the church's wounds." It has peculiar charms for minds of a certain order. And yet it appears to us to be singularly unphilosophical, as well as fraught with injurious consequences. We might expect, a priori^ some regulations from the Head of the church relative to the organisation and government of his people. As King, he reigns over a great multitude of obedient subjects on earth whom he has subdued unto himself by his grace; and it were anomalous in a spiritual governor to propound no laws for the guidance of his disciples in various relations connected with the advancement of his kingdom on earth. When, therefore, we consider the character and offices of Christ, we should expect certain rules for the proper direction of his people in their social capacity. He has shown no indifference regarding his subjects; nor has aught conducive to their welfare been neglected. Hence it is improbable that he could have manifested no concern or given no intimation of his will respecting the nature of his kingdom on earth. The character of members be- longing to his church, whether worldly or spiritual, could scarcely have been a matter of indifference to Him who shed his blood to redeem to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. If it were a trifling matter whether that kingdom should be pure or corrupt, it might be asserted that human discretion is the sole standard of polity ; but the revealed 10 VIEWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY character of tlie Kedeemer and the entire genius of his rehgion forbid the supposition. God gave precise and minute directions respecting his worship under the ancient dispensation. He did not leave it to be regulated by the caprice of the Jews, but jealously guarded it from their inventions. It was sacred in his eyes. He would not allow it to be profaned by additions, or to be altered by his own people. Hence a presumption arises that he would give some directions concerning it under the new dis- pensation. The change in his procedure would be too great — unwarranted even by the change of cir- cumstances — if he prescribed every part of social worship in one case, but in the other, gave no pre- cept about the constitution and conduct of Christian societies. The mode of this procedure can be satisfactorily explained by the fact that he gave positive precepts to the Jews, and moral laws to the Gentiles ; but the latter do not coincide with the hypothesis which assumes that the order and discipline of churches have been left wholly undetermined. Again, no society can exist without laws. And as every church is a society selected from the world, it could not subsist except there be fixed laws by which it is governed. Now that the wisdom of man is incompetent to frame the best regulations respecting the kingdom of Christ, is apparent from the character ascribed to him in the Scriptures, and the conduct he has pursued in times past. Prone to err, he could scarcely foresee the best forms in which spiritual ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. 11 religion could be conserved and conveyed to future ages. His understanding is weak in spiritual things. He cannot perceive the full influence of rites and modes of religion on the essence of that religion. The Jewish people in ancient times, who were con- tinually following their own devices in the service of Deity, and swerving from the rules given them by Moses, are a type of humanity under all circumstances. And then the consequences of man's deviation from the word of God in the early age of Christianity, sufficiently expose his folly when he thinks fit to pursue his own course. Antichristian errors arose. The pure worship of God degenerated. Rites and ceremonies were multiplied to such a degree as to obscure holy truth. The papacy was gradually con- sohdated. Disastrous results followed the abandon- ment of the disciplinary forms of apostohc Chris- tianity. When these forms, admirably adapted as they were to the fresh and vigorous faith of the first Christians, gave way to others deduced from cold reason and experience, or from the written word itself by inferential processes, the practical spirit of Christianity rapidly declined. The moral was over- powered by the speculative. The external was enlarged and magnified ; while the vital principles, to which a simple vehicle is best suited, were overburdened with human enactments. Thus a departure from primitive forms operated most injuriously in the province of religion by opening up a wide inlet for antichristian systems. The preceding observations involve the idea that 12 VIEWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY religious polity affects and influences the great doc- trines of Christianity. The mode in which a church is governed will inevitably give a turn to the modes of thinking and general manners of the members. This is seen in the different existing forms of civil government, where a philosophic mind may frequently trace peculiarities of thought and action to the genius of the constitution under which the people exhibiting these peculiarities Hve. And there is nothing to prevent an exemplification of the same fact in forms of ecclesiastical government. Let a Christian sect habituated to a polity of a secular nature be compared with another governed as a strictly spiritual society, by spiritual laws, and the opinions of each will appear with a variety of tinge. And as opinions must find their corresponding expression in conduct^ the life must necessarily be influenced by the particular form of government under which it is manifested. Is it likely, then, that Christ would leave to human dis- cretion, entirely, the mode in which his churches should be governed ? But we will go farther, and affirm that erroneous sen- timents frequently insinuate themselves into a church through the channel of an unscriptural constitution. The farther a particular society of professing Chris- tians departs from an association of primitive believers in the arrangement and administration of their eccle- siastical concerns, the greater will be their temptation to recede by httle and little from the apostolic stand- ard, even in precepts pertaining to faith and conduct. It is easy to see that if perverse modes of interpreta- ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. 13 tion be pursued in explaining away the incompatibility of modern regulations with those enjoined in the New Testament, there will be a tendency to transfer a similar method of exposition to the weightier state- ments of salvation. Errors in doctrine steal in through the medium of corrupt practices. Thus it is again improbable, that God should give no scriptural directions on the present subject. Christianity is a imiversal system. It was not intended for one coun- try or age, but for all times and circumstances. Its doctrines and precepts are adapted to all people, how- ever varied their mental habits may be. If, therefore, the doctrines and duties propounded in the New Testament have so general a bearing, why should all regulations regarding church order and discipline — some of which, at least, are closely connected with the nature of Christianity — be considered inapplicable to all countries and ages ? If aU forms are not equally fitted to promote edifi- cation, there is a presumption that the one which is best adapted to secure the great end of church-fellow- ship would be indicated, provided mankind could not arrive at it by the exercise of their own judgment. And that men are not competent to discover by their own unaided light, the best laws for a spiritual king- dom diverse from the kingdoms of the world, is proved by history. It is, therefore, consistent with the Ee- deemer's character as Head of the church, to indicate in what manner that church should be regulated, so as to fulfil its allotted functions on earth. It has been said, indeed, that different forms are ahke calculate^ 14 VIEWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY to advance the holiness of Messiah's subjects, one being best for one state of society and another for a different state. But the assertion is incapable of proof. We deny the truth of it. It has never been shown that the discordant forms of church government exist- ing in various countries have been a wise arrange- ment of Providence ; or that vital religion would not have progressed so well without them. On the con- trary, a spiritual religion requires a vehicle of a spiritual character ; and a diversity of spiritual vehicles, or, at least, of vehicles equally spiritual, has not been exemphfied in the world. We know of none save a single one that has not secular elements in it essentially. Still farther : the hypothesis is so vague as to have a virtual tendency to do away with the utility of many passages in the New Testament. Numerous instruc- tions in that volume are superfluous to succeeding ages, except as matters of historical interest. Why should Luke or Paul have detailed the manner in which various churches were set in order, had not that order been intended for the imitation of believers to the end of the world ? On that ground we can perceive no adequate reason for the insertion of numerous directions to the early churches in the New Testament. And then, those who advocate the view in question virtually abandon it in practice. It is surprising to see how anxious they are to have the apostles' coun- tenance as far as it will agree with the particular system of polity which they adopt in practice. The ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. 15 conduct of the majority of Cliristians shows, that they conceive some things relative to the organisation and character of churches to be determined by Divine authority, which they do not think themselves justi- fied in deserting. They have some regard, for in- stance, to the character of the members belonging to their society, to the existence of suitable officers for the general benefit of the body, and to the observance of certain ordinances, after the example of the primi- tive Christians. " Because man is changeable," says Dr. Arnold, " the church is also changeable ; change- able not in its object, which is for ever one and the same, but in its means for effecting that object ; change- able in its details, because the same treatment cannot suit various diseases, various climates, various consti- tutional peculiarities, various external influences. The Scripture, then, which is the sole and direct authority for all the truths of the Christian religion, is not, in the same way, an authority for the constitution and rules of the Christian church ; that is, it does not furnish direct authority, but guides us only by ana- logy!'''^ Here an anxiety to Hmit the changeableness of the church's constitution is apparent, although the writer has adduced the fact of the church being entirely variable, with the exception of a human priesthood, on several occasions. But did Erastian writers carry out their theoretical notions, they would not trouble themselves with investigations concerning " Christian Life ; its Course, &c. Introduction, p. 44. Fourth edition. 8vo. London : 1845. 16 VIEWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY the polity followed in Scripture, or incur the hazard of misinterpreting passages, lest haply those passages should speak against them. They would disregard the New Testament entirely; justifying the system they uphold on the ground of its wise adaptation to the circumstances of society. Yet how seldom is this procedure adopted ! Men who view the subject as one wholly left to human judgment, write elaborate treatises respecting the apostolic and primitive polity. Surely the fact of their so doing proves that they virtually attach some importance to what they find in the New Testament, as though it were desirable to have something analogous to old-fashioned usages in their own form of government. We have said, that many who sigh for unity among Christians advocate this hypothesis. Could all be brought to look on the subject as one purely indif- ferent, and attend to the vitalities of rehgion, it is thought that divisions and schisms should be healed the more readily. But the very opposite effect might result from the prevalence of the sentiment. Uniformity of belief and practice is ordinarily attained by a Divine model, not by the absence of it. It is contrary to the constitution of the human mind to conceive that coalescence of sects, resulting from perfect harmony of behef in the latter days of Christianity, and comporting with the great increase of knowledge by which those days will be characterised, can be efiected on this hypothesis. The diversity existing among evangelical Christians is too great to be done away in this method. " But ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. 17 if a model exists in the New Testament by which all churches ought to be regulated ; if each is occu- pied in imitating this, they will gradually approach nearer to one another ; and thus the numberless sects and parties which dishonour the religion of Jesus will be at an end."" These and other considerations are strong pre- sumptions against the hypothesis that no particular form of church government is laid down in the New Testament for imitation. The injurious conse- quences of it may be seen in the proceedings of those who adopt it. In churches of their order, worldly and spiritual, civil and sacred elements are mixed together very frequently. They do not uniformly adhere to the exclusively spiritual character of a Christian church ; but consistently deviate from the New Testament even in this particular, and corrupt the nature of true worship in consequence. In the preceding observations it is implied, that apostles and evangelists observed one course in settling the government of the churches. The New Testa- ment seems to sanction the idea, for it is written in 1 Cor. iv. 17, " Timotheus .... who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ, as I teach every where, in every church ;" and in 1 Cor. vii. 17, "And so ordain I in all churches^ The position, however, is disputed by StillingjQeet, who " A View of the Social Worship and Ordinances observed by the First Christians, &c., by J. A. Haldane. Second edition, p. 34. 12mo. Edinburgh: 1806. C 18 VIEWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY thinks it probable that they did not observe any one fixed course in estabhshing churches. The grounds of this singular opinion are — First, the different state, condition, and quantity of the chiu-ches planted by the apostles. Secondly, the multitude of unfixed officers in the church at that time, who acted with authority over the church where they were resident ; and, thirdly, the different customs observed in several churches as to their government, after the apostles' decease. These grounds appear to us quite insufficient to support the superstructure built on them ; and the illustration of them affords a feeble defence of that for which they are adduced. Under the first, he adduces the fact, that a smaU number of behevers did not require the same number of persons to teach and govern them which a large church did ; and that the apostles settled church- officers with a view to the increase of behevers in some populous places. This, however, is quite con- sistent with the fact, that the same government be- longed to all ; for it is not asserted that precisely the same number of office-bearers belonged to all churches. Uniformity of organisation does not involve sameness of numbers either in the members or officers. The latter is an accessory circumstance, which should not be taken into account. It would have gone far to establish his opinion if the writer had proved another statement, viz., that in churches consisting of a small number of behevers, where the probabihty of a large increase was not ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. 19 great, one single pastor, with deacons under him, was constituted by the apostles for the rule of those socie- ties. But what proof of this position is given ? Pas- sages from Clement of Rome, Epiphanius, Clement of Alexandria, and the author commonly called Ambro- siaster, are quoted. It is superfluous to follow him into an examination of the places in question, else it might be satisfactorily shown, that the words of Clement of Rome, at least, do not support that for which they are cited. And in relation to them all, we do not allow that the Fathers succeeding the apostles are sufficient of themselves to prove the nature of apostohcal practice. Their own practice varied from the apostohcal ; and they were, therefore, strongly inclined to transfer it to the original age of Christianity. In short, they are not generally com- petent witnesses of what was really apostolical. We have no assiu-ance that they did not furnish an im- perfect view, in their writings, of the apostohc form of government. We, ourselves, have the same means of discovering it which they had, viz., the New Testa- ment. Their advantages were not superior to ours ; for, though their nearness to the apostles' times is in favour of their testimony, yet other circumstances counterpoise the value of that proximity. We are prepared to prove, from the New Testa- ment, that there is no example of a single pastor, with deacons under him, being constituted by the apostles for ruling a church. If there be any such instance, let it be exhibited. It is easy to reason, from the smallness of the work to be done in some places, the c2 20 VIEWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY scarcity of suitable persons for settled rulers, and the necessity of unfixed officers for preaching abroad ; but such circumstances are nugatory when brought against palpable evidence of the fact being otherwise. Be- sides, it is unfair to conjure up small churches in the apostohc period, for the purpose of setting one pastor over them. The estabHshed churches of that day were not ordinarily small ; though separate congregations^ forming parts of them, may have been so. Neither does "the multitude of unfixed officers residing in some places, who managed the affairs of the church in chief during their residence," prove the position advocated by Stillingfleet. Apostles and evangelists provided that stated office-bearers should be appointed in the churches as soon as convenient ; so that apostohcal practice was uniformly to have fixed officers as soon as possible. It is unphilosophical to argue firom the extraordinary circumstances attend- ing the infancy of Christianity, or from the organisa- tion of churches still incomplete, against the sameness of that form of government which apostles and evan- gelists introduced as a permanent institution. In every point of view it is wholly improbable that the apostles themselves governed some churches, during life, without elders. They had, it is true, the care of all ; but they were ever anxious to have them fur- nished with their own governors and teachers, not being ambitious of retaining supreme authority in their own persons. It would be an insult to the understanding of the reflecting reader to refute the objection founded ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. 21 on the disagreement of Christians respecting the plan of church government laid down in the New Testament ; since it applies with equal force to all doctrines of the Bible, and would consistently lead to Deism. But there are many who stumble at the fact, that a particular form of polity is not exhibited in a logical^ systematic method. Such persons should recollect that the doctrines are stated in the same way. No system of theology is developed and arranged in due propor- tions. It has been left to the diligent research of Christians to collect the scattered statements, and to arrange them in their respective places, so as to form a harmonious body of doctrine. A system of ecclesi- astical polity, logically propounded, would have been out of place. General principles, and incidental allusions, are all that could have been expected. The subject could not have been treated formally ; since it woidd have been inappropriate to write a treatise to societies already formed, on the right mode of forming such societies. If we consider that Christians of all times are addressed in the persons of the believers to whom the epistles were originally sent ; it will be apparent that incidental notices alone can be looked ioi^ formal treatises being unsuitable. The wisdom of God is wiser than men. Let us beware of pronounc- ing the New Testament obscure or meagre in many points, lest in so doing we charge God with our own ignorance, because we do not see the best mode in which a topic should be discussed, nor the degree of systematic fulness rightly belonging to a proper 22 VIEWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY description of it. Infinitely wise reasons must have dictated the method in which the Scriptures touch on church order. After a comprehensive survey of the entire question, we cannot sympathise in the indifference with which many regard it ; or assent to the vague notions they entertain about it. The character and honour of the Redeemer, the interests of His kingdom on earth, and the nature of true Christianity itself, unite to justify the expectations of those who look for a particular polity in the New Testament ; while various inti- mations in the word of inspiration, in connexion with the uniform consistency of apostolic precepts and proceedings in planting and training primitive socie- ties, point to the same conclusion. The subject, it is true, occupies an inferior position to Biblical doctrine. But it should not be undervalued or despised on that account, as if it were unworthy of serious inquiry. It is the bounden duty of every man who professes to receive the Bible as divine or autho- ritative, to consider all the communications it contains . If the Deity has spoken of the external arrangements of His house, it is no more than right that man should regard the intimations of His will. " All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness," Far be it from us to magnify the importance of the view we advocate, as though adherence to it were essential to salvation. We are no bigots or slaves to system. We can separate the life of religion, and ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. 23 what is essential to it, from the external vehicle in which that vital religion is conserved and propagated. But yet there are relative degrees of importance; and it belongs to the philosophic student of the Bible to assign every topic its due place, neither over- estimating nor depreciating any. Each has its own position ; and the highest wisdom is to ascertain the exact place which the Deity intended it to occupy in the intellect and affections of His obedient creatures. In conclusion, we hesitate to agree with the lati- tudinarian notion that the entire matter of ecclesias- tical polity has been left to the judgment or caprice of mankind, else there would be a strange deficiency in the new economy. Surely the Eedeemer's care must extend farther than the advocates of this theory allow. Much of the edification and progress of God's people depends on the mode in which they express their united acts of adoration ; as well as on the means they employ for the promotion of purity, peace, and order among them. II. The second hypothesis on the subject of ecclesiastical polity consists of the opposite extreme. It has been advocated by Carson, Haldane, and others. It leaves nothing to the discretion of indi- viduals or societies, maintaining that every point has been arranged and settled by Divine wisdom : " Not only," says Carson, in his Answer to Ewing, " is there no warrant in Scripture for the interposition of human wisdom in the affairs of Christ's house — there is express proof to the contrary. Almost the whole 24 VIEWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY eleventh chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians respects order. Even such things as are taught us by the light of nature itself are not left to discretion." And again : " It is highly unreasonable to suppose that God would leave the smallest regulation to the discretion of men, seeing that it has been owing to this sentiment that the churches of Christ have been overwhelmed and lost under the heap of antichristian rubbish."" Here the possibihty of making new regulations, or changing apostohcal practices, is wholly precluded. It is maintained that the precedents and precepts of apostolic men and times relating to the constitution, discipline, and management of churches, should be reckoned a complete inodel for all future times, and therefore implicitly copied. The hght of nature is excluded by the alleged existence of a light superior to it, and superseding it in every case. But the hypothesis is untenable. While it appears to honour the word of God by exalting it to supreme authority, and holding it forth as an imchanging code in all circumstances ; we cannot but regard it as derogatory to the wisdom of the Divine procedure. Our first remark on it is its impracticability. It cannot be fairly carried out. It must be violated, and is, in effect^ violated by every Christian society. The New Testament, for example, enjoins the duty of social pubhc worship ; but the hours of meeting, " An Answer to Mr. Ewing's Attempt towards a Statement of the Doctrine of Scripture on some Disputed Points, &c. &c. pp. 33, 34. 12mo. Edinburgh: 1809. ENTEKTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. 25 the particular localities in which religious assemblies should be held, and the sort of structures they should meet in, are not prescribed. The precise mode and order of pubHc worship are not determined. Many- other particulars might be mentioned, regarding which we shall search in vain for an inspired pre- cept or precedent ; and therefore the judgment of Christians must be allowed to determine them. Again, it is contrary to the genius of the New Testament, which does not contain a book of Leviticus, Formal^ full, and minute directions, are not given in it. The religion of Christ is occupied with general principles applicable to all the circum- stances in which His people can be placed. Under the ancient dispensation they were treated as children in a state of pupilage ; and therefore specific directions were given them on all points pertaining to faith and worship. But under the spiritual economy intro- duced by Christ, moral precepts are laid down, whose apphcation to particular cases is left to the judgment of Christians. If, then, nothing relating to the external order of churches be left to discretion, there is an anomaly in the mode of teaching adopted in the New Testament. There is a departure from the ordinary mode of instruction which it follows. Its characteristic peculiarity is abandoned. Farther, the theory in question tends to deprive Christianity of that flexibihty which eminently fits it for all times and circumstances. If such be the precise form provided for it — a form consisting of enduring, unalterable circumstantials, as well as 26 VIEWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL TOLITY essentials^ it would not be capable of adaptation to the ever-changing manners of each successive age. On the contrary, it would appear imperfect, when viewed in connexion with the mutations and progress of society in every country. But, while minor matters are not prescribed, there is a wise accommo- dation to the pressure and moulding of circumstances through which the system has been destined to pass; the substantial form continuing the same. The vehicle preserves its identity, though the pins and nails of it be different. For these reasons, and others which will naturally suggest themselves to the reflecting mind, this hypo- thesis must be pronounced improbable. III. The third opinion commends itself to our judgment as the only proper and correct view of the subject. Agreeably to it, apostolic precept and example are our ultimate appeal, but not after a mechanical fashion. We are not reduced by it to the condition of those who have nothing else left them than to follow expressly and precisely in the line of apostles and of apostolic men. We follow Scrip- ture analogy, using our reason and discretion. We apply the general precepts to all cases that may arise ; and are more attentive to the spirit of forms, than to their letter. But objections have been urged against this hypo- thesis, which require to be noticed, inasmuch as they have perplexed many simple minds. Its vague^ indefinite character — a character involving looseness of application — has been largely insisted on. It draws ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. 27 no clear line between broad features, and unimportant particulars. It is impossible for its advocates to say with exactness, how far apostohc precepts and prac- tices should be followed, and at what point they should be deserted. " To receive whatever the Scripture contains, is a clear and precise rule, capable of being reduced to practice, wherever men are favoured with revelation : but once depart from this, and we are all uncertainty ; our practice cannot be in faith, and there- fore cannot be acceptable to God," Rom. xiv. 23."" We hesitate not to express our behef that there are the essentials and the circumstantials — the things that may not be accommodated to times, places, and circumstances — and those that may be so. No strict mathematical line is drawn between them, because that would be out of place in moral subjects. In distinguishing between the unchangeable and the mutable. Christian wisdom is fairly and properly exercised. Men endowed with sense, reason, and reflection, are to judge of the general features, as distinguished from the minor matters to which no importance attaches. If the objection were fairly carried out, it would militate against the important and saving doctrines of the gospel, viewed in con- nexion with those of minor moment; for no specific line is made between them, and Christians are left to general principles in judging of those with whom they should hold fellowship as believers in the faith of the " Haldane, in his View of the Social Worship and Ordinances observed by the First Christians, p. ] 3. 12mo. Edinburgh: 1806. 28 VIEWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY gospel. Some things must be believed in order to salvation ; wliile other doctrines have no necessary connexion with it, and may be either held or rejected, without detriment to individual safety before God. And yet no precise distinction between them is set forth in the Scriptures. How easy, then, for an objector to say, The hypothesis on which you profess to admit members to church-feUowship is vague and shadowy ! You require a profession of faith in some doctrines of the Bible, but not in others. Why do you not demand a behef in all the doctrines, whether they be of greater or less importance ? How can you draw the line between those intimately con- nected with saving faith, and others of inferior moment ? By what warrant do you speak of the essentials and non-essentials of vital rehgion ? It is farther objected that this view infringes on the sufficiency of the Scriptures. " If Christ," says Carson, in his Reply to Brown, " has committed any such subordinate legislative authority to church rulers, then their laws, which are the result of it, become equally binding with any part of the word of God. Consequently we have duties that are not contained in Scripture ; and notwithstanding all the warnings Christ and his apostles have given us not to submit to the commandments of men, he has, in fact, estabhshed them, and made it equally duty to obey the laws of the clergy as his own. Here the Scrip- tures are no longer perfect : we have only an imperfect revelation of the will of our King. But every thing not contained in Scripture is contrary to Scripture. ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. 29 For if the ' law of God is perfect,' every additional law supposes it imperfect."" Here the reply of the great Hooker is pertinent. " I trust that to mention what the Scripture of God leaveth unto the chiu-ch's discretion in some things is not in anything to impair the honour which the church of God yieldeth to the Sacred Scripture's perfection. Wherein seeing that no more is by us maintained, than only that Scripture must needs teach the church whatsoever is in such sort necessary as hath been set down, and that it is no more disgrace for Scripture to have left a number of other things free to be ordered at the discretion of the church, than for nature to have left it to the wit of man to devise his own attire, and not to look for it as the beasts of the field have theirs." The expression legislation is not fairly applicable to our view, and, therefore, we disclaim it. And that we impugn the sufficiency of Scripture is not true. It is a sufficient guide in all things pertaining to the nature and acts of God's worship; though silent as to many attendant circumstances belonging to that worship. General principles, comprehending particular cases, are enunciated. In the apphcation of these, it is true that abuses may be introduced ; but that is no valid argument against them. "Let all things be done to edifying." " Let all things be done decently and in order." The wisdom of the Christian will keep such directions in mind. He will look at « pp. 24, 25. 12mo. Edinburgh: 1807, 30 VIEWS or ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY the tendency of every measure that may be intro- duced in the government and discipHne of churches ; and should it contribute to the edifying of the society, or to its proper compactness, symmetry, and increase, he will not hesitate to adopt it as accordant with the mind of Christ. Thus in instituting and arranging all things relating to social worship, we go wherever the precepts and precedents of the New Testament point, satisfied with hints where no clearer insight is given, and making use of general principles virtually comprehending many particulars and furnishing free scope for the exercise of holy enlightenment and devout discretion. Another objection to our theory is, that it prepares the way for the rejection of important doctrines. This objection resolves itself into the argument against the use of a thing from the abuse of it. Its innocu- ousness will appear if it be understood that we are not at liberty to deviate from the general principles ; or to fill up the outline according to our own caprice. The outhne, indeed, may he differently completed by different Christians. In some cases alterations in the primitive model may be made to suit sentiments foreign to the spirit of true religion. Secular elements will probably be introduced. Unworthy motives will prompt the enactment of regulations impregnated with the spirit of the world. But this does not deter us from affirming that the outlines should be filled up in a manner consistent with the general tenor of the Christian religion^ the reason of things being duly attended to, and the essential separated from the acci- ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. 31 dental. The Divine platform may he filled out in a variety of methods all conducive to edification and promotive of order, without the addition of regula- tions obviously injurious to the platform itself, or without the abandonment of such as have an inherent tendency to advance spirituality. And here the inquiry naturally arises. How is it possible to distinguish characteristic from sub- ordinate features ; or in other words, the essential outhnes of church polity from the minor par- ticulars not obligatory on Christians universally? On the former an enduring character is enstamped, while the latter are mutable. In the one case we are not at hberty to deviate from the Divine formula ; in the other, a holy expediency judges that certain things may be laid aside ; and different means em- ployed for attaining the same end. The following propositions are offered as a reply to the difficult question proposed. 1. Whatever is set forth with clearness and direct- ness — especially in the later parts of the New Testa- ment, when the nascent state of Christianity had passed — may be presumed to belong to the essential features of the Divine system. The reasonableness of this proposition will be apparent to him who reflects on the mode in which the Deity has suited his revela- tions to the imperfect apprehension of his creatures. The laws of Ms procedure and the known character of his revelation are in harmony with it. It is necessary, then, to mark the things that are plainly laid down in the New Testament, comparing them 32 VIEWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY with such as are discoverable only by the aid of inferential reasoning. If there be regulations whose existence is deduced by a process of inference, and is consequently less certain than if it had been lucidly stated, it is natural to attach less importance to them, or to conclude that they do not belong to the things which were meant to be obligatory on all believers to the end of time. The institution of bishops and deacons in every church may be taken as an example. The existence of these officers is so definitely brought before the reader's notice in various passages, that there can be little doubt of their belonging to the essential con- stitution and welfare of every society properly and fully constituted. 2. Another test is where the reason of the thing is not the same in two analogous cases. There Scrip- ture precedent is not obligatory. " The first Christians," says Fuller, " met in an upper room, for they had no proper places of worship. But it does not follow that we who have more convenient houses should do so. The first Christians were exhorted to ' salute one another with a holy kiss.' The reason was, it was the custom in the east for men in general in this manner to express their affection, and all that the apostle did was to direct that this common mode of affectionate salutation should be used in a religious way. In places where it is a common practice it may still be used to express the strength of Christian affection ; but, in a country where the practice is nearly confined to the expression of affection between ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. 33 the sexes, it is certainly much more liable to miscon- struction and abuse. And as it was never a Divine institution, but merely a human custom applied to a religious use, where this custom has ceased, though the spirit of the precept remains, yet the form of it may lawfiilly be dispensed with, and Christian affection expressed in the ordinary modes of saluta- tion."« 3. Accidental circumstances — in other words, such as may or may not accompany an institution — may be dispensed with. Many things connected with the observance of the Lord's supper are of this nature. It was originally celebrated with unleavened bread, but it is indifferent whether the bread be leavened or unleavened. So, also, the wine may be fermented or unfermented. 4. Precedents and regulations, having no inherent tendency in them to conserve and diffuse true religion, may be presumed to belong to the local and the tem- porary. Such was the institution of deaconesses^ arising out of the state of society in the East. There is now no need for a similar institute ; the wives of deacons, or certain female members of the church, being quite competent to transact any business that may call for female co-operation. The existence of such an order seems to have no necessary connexion with the maintenance and diffusion of spiritual religion, or with the true prosperity of a church of Christ, 5. Allowance should be made for the cessation of « Works. Vol, iv. pp. G21, 022. 8vo. London; 1831. D 34 VIEWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY miraculous gifts in the primitive churches. In all that relates to or is essentially connected with tliem^ nothing can be viewed as a pattern for succeeding ages. Thus gifted brethren were allowed freely to address assemblies ; but these spiritual gifts having been with- drawn, the brethren should not consider themselves warranted to speak in the public assemblies, in pre- sence of their official rulers and in opposition to their desire. 6. If it be ascertained that all the apostolic churches were not constituted or governed exactly ahke, the points in which they differed from one another must be of no importance or interest to Christians in these days. The features in which they were similar should be retained, if no other circumstance indicate their mutability ; but the particulars in which they vary may be freely discarded. We are not prepared to say, that all the apostohc churches were constituted or ruled precisely in the same manner. Perhaps the church at Jerusalem dif- fered in several smaller points from the church at Antioch. But there is no ground for supposing that they were not essentially ahke. There was substantial though not perhaps minute resemblance. These propositions may assist the inquirer in ascer- taining the general platform of church-government, or those features which seem to be of universal obligation, amid details of a mutable nature. Ingenious or meta- physical men may easily perplex themselves and others about the separating hue, and dwell on the aUeged vagueness of the subject with abundance of illustration ; ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. 35 but the humble, anxious inquirer, who seeks for truth alone, with singleness of heart, will find httle difficulty in perceiving his path, and filling up the outhne fur- nished by Scripture with details best harmonising with the right end of Christian churches. Guided by the wisdom that comes from above, he will avoid incongruities by keeping as near the divine model as a due allowance for difference of times, man- ners, and countries, will allow. He will not idly seek for an express and positive precept respecting every particular ; but rather bear in mind the apostolic injunction, "Let all things be done decently and in order." That the ordinances delivered by Paul to the churches were uniformly the same, and considered of importance by him, may be inferred, not only firom his own words expressive of their sameness, but by his praising such as adhered to them ; while it is suf ficiently plain that the mind of Christ is declared in the practice of the apostles and their assistants, in the organisation of the early churches, and the directions given for their right government. Let the considerations formerly adduced in favour of the existence and obligatory character of an eccle- siastical pohty as divine^ be taken in connexion with the particular hypothesis we have been advocating, and it will not perhaps be thought unreasonable to maintain, that a departure from principles and practices uni- formly followed in the erection, worship, and disci- pline of the apostolic churches, is unwarranted. If these early precedents were not meant for the imitation u 2 36 VIEWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY of succeeding times, many details have the appearance^ if not the reality of being superfluous. The space occupied in the canon of the New Testament might, as far as we can see, have been better filled than with the copious instructions given to Timothy and Titus relative to officers and churches. It is hazardous to neglect the use that might be served by the narrative of certain facts in the Acts of the Apostles, and by various counsels addressed to ministers and churches, on the ground of their obsoleteness. Let it never be forgotten, that many things are brought out incidentally^ not formally; and that a general pattern is all that can be reasonably pleaded for. But while the outlines alone can be collected, agreeably to which all details should be fitly framed in subservience to the increase of righteousness, we cannot suppose that even they were intended to be temporary and mutable. On the contrary, they ap- pear to be the guiding, essential features of churches to the end of the world. They indicate the Master's will concerning the order of His house ; and we pre- fer to have a chart once employed with success, when Christianity sprang forward from its infancy to its strength with amazing celerity, to those ingenious ex- pedients which have stunted its growth since the apostles' decease. " If we find any direction or act of Christ, or his apostles, respecting the government of the church, why are we not to regard it as express- ing his mind or the mind of his inspired apostles, as to the proper manner of administering our eccle- siastical affairs? And why is not an expression of ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. 37 the Divine will as obligatory on us relative to this subject, as to any other ? How can we feel ourselves at liberty to disregard the precepts or the example of our infallible guides in this case, more than in any other ? If, in regard to any of the particular forms of proceeding in church-government, we are left without any definite instruction from the word of God, we are. so far at liberty, yea, we are under obligation, to make a proper use of oiu: own judgment and dis- cretion. In the case supposed, (and I think such cases really occur,) it is manifestly the will of God that we should proceed according to our conviction of what is proper and expedient. But if we find general principles of ecclesiastical government estab- lished in the word of God, those principles are to govern us. They constitute what we may call the Constitution of Church Government!'' "■ Some minds in the present day rest too much on forms of ecclesiastical government, as if one were the exclusive channel through which grace is imparted. The episcopal polity has been so exalted by several of its advocates. But the spirit of religion is the chief thing demanded by Christ. Yet we cannot avoid thinking that there is an opposite danger, that of disregarding forms of government as things of little importance, to be constructed or taken down by the mind of Christians as may appear best fitted to pro- mote their individual edification, and to harmonise " Lectures on Church Government, by Dr. Leonard Woods, pp. 9, 10. 12mo. New York : 1844. 38 VIEWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY with the state of society they live in. We are fully convinced that this is an erroneous idea. Even those who entertain it are reluctant to say that every thing is changeable. Most of them adhere to the spiritual nature of a Christian community^ maintaining that none except such as give evidence of their religious knowledge, and their obedience to Christ, should pro- perly belong to it. But, then, they aver that the way in which it is governed may be freely altered — an asser- tion too latitudinarian to be correct, at least in the sense in which it is propounded. There may indeed be slight variations in the mode of ruling a Christian church which affect not the fundamental principles of its constitution ; but alterations liaving an unavoid- able and necessary influence on the very nature of the society, so as to change that nature sooner or later, are reprehensible. Here we contend for im- mutability. It is of little consequence, for example, whether the college of elders belonging to a church endeavour to preserve their parity by labouring in different departments of the ministerial work allotted to each, every one presiding in turn in matters of common concernment to the entire body ; or whether one person be invested with perpetual presidency by a voluntary arrangement on the part of all. Either method may be adopted without infringing the spirituality and independence of the society. But it is not a matter of indifference whether the government of the church be vested in men not elected by the members themselves; because it is possible that they may be unfit to edify and rule the church over which ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. 39 tliey are appointed. The choice of pastors should not rest with those whose best interests are not involved in that choice, but solely with the persons whose instruc- tion calls for the election ; else the growth of the members will be frequently retarded, and corruption introduced into their midst. Neither is it a matter of indifference whether the government of the church be monarchical or republican. The vesting of abso- lute authority in one man over a church, be it great or small, without accountability to all the con- stituents of it, is too great a modification of the primi- tive form to be allowed. While, therefore, we can go a little way with Neander in affirming, that " under the guidance of the Spirit of God, the apostles gave the church this particular organisation, which, while it was best adapted to the circumstances and relations of the church at that time, was also best suited to the extension of the churches in their peculiar con- dition, and for the development of the inward prin- ciples of their communion. But forms may change with every change of circumstances. . . . Whenever at a later period, also, any form of church-government has arisen out of a series of events according to the direction of Divine Providence, and is organised and governed with regard to the Lord's will, he may be said himself to have established it, and to operate through it by his Spirit, without which nothing per- taining to the church can prosper ;" " — we cannot approve of the view to the extent advocated by the ** Introduction to Coleman's Church without a Prelate. London edition, pp. 5, 6. 40 VIEWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY learned historian. Agreeably to his sentiments, the Episcopal, the Presbyterian, and the Congregationalist polities, may all be divine in important features. But there must be authority for the divinity of these discordant modes of ecclesiastical government, ere they can claim a heavenly sanction. One form, viz., that which apostles, acting under the immediate guidance of Christ, gave to the early churches, has a just title to be considered divine ; but systems involving material deviation from that primitive one cannot be placed on the same eminence, without an express warrant for their heavenly origin. Good men with pious pur- poses may frame them ; but the piety of the con- structors does not argue the divinity of their schemes. Simple, therefore, as the original constitution of the church was, and popular as the mode of its govern- ment is admitted to have been, in perfect adaptation to the civil government of the Romans and the peculiar state of society, it is arbitrary to aver that other forms, different in genius and spirit, may be advantageously or innocently substituted in its stead. Manners and customs are perpetually changing; civil governments present great diversities in different lands; modes of life are more or less artificial throughout Christendom ; and yet, while Christ's kingdom is 7iot of the world, it is wiser to follow the approved principles of the primitive age in the erection, government, and discipline of churches, than to accommodate our procedure in this respect to those shifting circumstances around us in which pure religion has little sympathy. ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. 41 The cliurch is not bound to a certain system of government solely by its expediency to fulfil the object of her mission, or exclusively by the force of enactment. It is by representing the one or the other of these as the first principle of church government, that the entire subject has been perplexed. The two have been set in opposition to each other; some con- tending for the one, others maintaining the other. We cannot avoid thinking that the advocates of both are injudicious in contrasting them, or at least in the one-sided view they take of each separately. Both should be combined. They are not antagonistic. They are virtually identical. Christ intended that a certain constitution and government should belong to his churches, because that constitution and government are the best for accomplishing their mission. Here expediency and the will of God coincide. He willed certain ordinances because he saw their eternal adaptation. The great stumbhng block to some is the prominence of expediency in the original appointments. Ordinances they observe to have been made to meet emergencies. And they were continued, not because a statute made them obligatory, but because they fulfilled the object for which they were called into existence. Now we are ready to admit that the sense and sagacity of spiritual men in the infancy of Christianity led them to adopt means for the achievements of the great ends con- templated by every church of Christ. Thus far it is in things spiritual as in things natiural. The fitness of means to accomplish certain purposes was perceived 42 VIEWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY in the exercise of a sound spiritual discretion. God sanctioned and blessed the means adopted in such circumstances, teaching us thereby that they were adequate to the time and season. But then it is argued that, unless there be a positive enactment ren- dering the same means imperative at all times, they may be laid aside in other circumstances by the exercise of a sound discretion also. Experience may prove their inapphcability to states and conditions of society wholly different from those existing when they were originally introduced. Even the express divine authority of a constitution at the season and in the place of its introduction, is said to constitute of itself no authority, divine or human, for that constitution abiding in the actual state of things." Here we dissent. We fear that the writer to whom we allude, and others of hke philosophical spirit, are misled by the mode in which primitive regulations are described as originating, and the absence of their being pro- pounded as law. But there is surely no necessity for the form of law. Can we limit the Deity to a certain mode of expressing his will regarding the perpetuity of the churches' organisation ? The Christian system is not characterised by the peculiarity which would require positive precepts in matters of church-order; and it is therefore unreasonable to make the absence of the statutory characteristic, a ground for casting off the obligation of primitive precedents. " See a sermon entitled the " First Principle of Church Govern- ment," by A. J. Scott, M.A., p. 51. 8vo. London : 1845. ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. 43 There is no incompatibility between a true ex- pediency and an unalterable constitution. There are things always expedient. It is possible to conceive of a mode of government the best under every state of society. The constitution of the first churches was adopted because it seemed the best fitted in the eye of common sense to promote the great ends of such societies, and the Deity sanctioned the means so suggested ; but how shall the wisdom of succeeding churches know when these means are no longer appli- cable ? How shall it fall on other plans which heaven may likewise bless as conducing to the same ends in other circumstances? In the former case the Divine will is clear, because inspired men were present, following certain rules ; the experience of apostles and apostolic men proved their utility : but how shall the Divine will be ascertained in the latter case ? The wisdom inherent in the majority of primitive appointments — indeed, in all which we regard as unalterable — is a wisdom proceeding from the Holy Spirit in a more direct and unmistakeable way than the wisdom now resident in spiritual men ; for apostles suggested what they should be precisely, in the circumstances that called for them. The early Christians, with all the extraordinary gifts they pos- sessed, would not probably have been able of them- selves to employ so good an organisation. Thus other times are destitute of an unerring intuition which belonged to the primitive period. It is true that com- mon sense, natural sagacity, and experience, are in the churches of Christ now — they have spiritual men for 44 VIEWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY spiritual work — to mould spiritual organisations, to impart fresh forms to social religion ; but the frail and falhble element mingles with all in far greater pro- portion than formerly, when, in the youthful freshness of Christianity, apostles, gifted with unerring wisdom, set societies in order. With the full perception of this difference between the churches of apostolic and of succeeding times, let it be supposed that the latter agree to lay aside ancient forms, and to assume others deemed more befitting, the question still recurs. How shall it be known whether the Deity sanctions the change ? The answer probably will be; by the fruits resulting from it. The fitness of the new organisation can only be tested by the con- sequences with which it is attended. In this view experience has ever contradicted the theory. The history of Christianity in the world, for eighteen hun- dred years, exhibits no exemplification of its justness. Facts hitherto have not reahsed it. That it is capable of realisation is possible ; — but, as yet, it is a mere theory, that has failed as far as it has been brought into action. Radical changes in the original organisa- tion and government of churches have contributed more to their secularisation than to the work of God for doing which on earth they primarily and properly exist. Thus we bring the question out of the region of shadow, and reduce it to one of actual history. We ask the ingenious advocate of expediency alone to show the favourable aspect of history towards it. During the last eighteen hundred years, have the progress and consequences of events indicated the pro- ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. 45 bability of its truth? Has human wisdom been so wise as to be able to metamorphose the entire form of churches, to the blessed increase of true righteousness ? Let then the usefulness of a system be recognised as its authority in the manner in which God recognised the institution of judges appointed to assist Moses; or as the schools of the prophets, which He amply blessed ; or as the synagogue, owned and hallowed by Jesus, in the character of a religious assembly ; and we shall accept that system as an emanation from the power of the Spirit who still breathes into every true church the life that finds expression for itself in appro- priate forms. "■ But where shall we find expediency so sanctioned in churches that have cast off the ordinances of apostolic times? Where are the pure churches that have largely departed from the simphcity of early forms of worship ? Where are the societies that have most signally contributed to make man one with Godf Are we to look for them in churches established by law? Certainly not. Where are those who, with all the appliances of evangelical doctrine, have failed to realise the great ends of their mission in deviating from the platform of disciphne adopted in apostohc times ? May we not suspect that the truth which is in them has been obscured and straitened by the altered forms assumed? May we not attribute their failure wholly, or in part, to their want of wisdom in not adhering to ancient, well-tried regulations ? " See Scott's Sermon on the First Principle of Church Govern- ment. 46 VIEWS or ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY It ouglit to satisfy even the pliilosophic mind that the light of nature in man is not mechanically re- strained by the declaration of certain principles per- taining to the order of rehgious societies, which are indicated in a mode so incidental and unstatutory-hke, that common sense has full scope in educing them, in judging of their application to individual cases ; in modifying, altering, or adding whatever may be needful, so as to construct a system out of the essential lines revealed in Scripture. The nature of the acts to which modes and ceremonies are applied, with the subservience of all forms to general edification, will aflbrd exercise to human discretion in receiving or rejecting such additions as may be suggested for adoption. Here there is nothing stiff or mechanical. There are an unchangeable foundation and general directions for rearing the superstructure required by it. The vital energy and spiritual wisdom of the church in completing her own regulations are not unduly straitened. They have sufficient freedom of action. No manacles are put on them. We need not stop to show that the office of the ministry in the church is of divine appointment. The fact is unquestionable. Let the reader who wishes to satisfy himself of it, only turn to the words of Paul in the Epistle to the Ephesians (iv. 11, 12): "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists ; and some, pastors and teachers ; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry; for the edifying of the body of Christ." These words properly imderstood afford an ample warrant ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. 47 for the perpetuity of gospel ministers. Christ gave gifts to men for fitting the Saints for the work of the ministry^ in order to the edification of his body. Gifts are distributed among the saints that those on whom they are bestowed may be quahfied for the work of the ministry; each one for that pecuhar service in the church to which he is best adapted. As long there- fore as the church needs to be built up, so long are persons necessary for the ministry. Hence the per- petuity of the office is coincident with the perpetuity of the evangelical state. The same apostle, in the second epistle to Timothy, writes — "And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same com- mit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also." The perpetuation of office implies the continuance of churches ; and in the book of Revelation, where our Lord speaks from heaven to various societies in the state in which they had been organised by apostles, or their assist- ants, he addresses them as though they should strive to keep themselves as pure as they had been at first. No intimation is given of the desirableness of a change in their management and discipline as occasion might require ; while the alterations that have receded farthest from early simphcity have proved detrimental to the advancement of genuine religion in the world. The speedy defections from the primitive pattern did not operate beneficially. Hierarchism and formalism choked the inward vigour of the church's essential principles. 48 VIEWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY We now proceed to inquire, whether the constitu- tion of the primitive churches was modelled after the Jewish synagogues. Since the time of Grotius, and especially of Vitringa, whose work is the most elaborate on the subject, the affirmative has been generally maintained. The great majority of learned names are ranged on that side of the question ; because the Dutch theologian is supposed to have demonstrated the fact, as far as it is capable of demonstration. It may therefore be deemed a hazardous thing to object to an hypothesis supported by the weight of so many writers. Yet we are free to confess, that it does not commend itself to our judgment, either as probable or certain. Plausible and natural as it may appear to many, there is ground for hesitation. It is exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain the condition and form of the Jewish synagogue in the time of Christ. Those who have tried to describe it, can go no higher for definite information, than to writers of the second century; Philo and Josephus furnishing very meagre notices ; while authors be- longing to the third, fourth, eighth, and ninth, even Moses Maimonides in the twelfth, are appealed to. All these are too recent to be of much weight, or entitled to implicit credit. Jewish writers of a com- paratively late period, were scarcely competent to give an accurate account of the synagogue service and government in the time of Christ, especially as they were accustomed to transfer later customs to much earlier times. Doubtless the mode of worship ENTEKTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. 49 in the synagogue was considerably changed after the Jewish pohty became extinct. It is also generally admitted that the Jews borrowed, it may be uncon- sciously, several things from the practice of Christians, particularly of Christian apostates. That uncertainty attaches to the sources whence our knowledge of the synagogue has been derived is apparent from the fact, that Vitringa and Lightfoot differ in their opinions on several important points of its constitution; that the former is compelled to resort to conjecture in not a few cases, for the purpose of making out an analogy ; and that occasional assertions are made, virtually amounting to a concession of the untractableness of the argument undertaken. The entire hypothesis seems to us unsupported by proof. No hint or allusion in its favour, appears in the New Testament. All that Stillingfleet or Whately adduce as arguments on its behalf, simply amount to this, that the thing may have been. But whether^ it was so in point of fact^ has not been shown. Even the former, with all his ability, has been able to say nothing of weight on that side of the question. There is, in truth, an absolute lack of evidence ; and it is therefore surprising how the point has been taken for granted with quiet unhesitatingness by modern authors. Doubtless there is a general similarity between the synagogue and the Christian church. But all assemblies who meet for the worship of God, and possess a copy of his revealed will, will unavoid- ably follow several usages that are alike. The light E 50 VIEWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY of nature leads them to do so. We need not say that this is a different thing from the one being an express copy of the other. A few examples will serve to verify these general statements. And here it will not be necessary to go farther than the two learned Hebraists already named. Vitringa in particular has brought an amount of learning to the question truly wonderful, though it might perhaps have been better employed. Si Pergama dextra defend! possent, Etiam hac defensa foissent. This writer lays down three types of the govern- ment of the synagogue. One is monarchical; but this he rejects as the pattern of the Christian church. The second is also discarded ; but the third, which is oligarchical^ is fixed on. Here it is easy to see that his previous ideas of the constitution of Christian societies led him to choose out of the varying forms of synagogue organisation, the particular one that best accorded with his own sentiments. Lightfoot, however, seems to have had a different type in his eye; and hence arises mainly the collision of opinion between them. Lightfoot compares the chazan of the synagogue with the £7rt(TK07roe, or overseer; whereas Vitringa contends that he is analogous to the ^laKovoq^ or deacon. According to the latter, the term chazan is never used in the writings of the Hebrews as a title of honour, but uniformly as one of ministry, and for the most part, of ministry of the lowest order. But ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. 51 this is inconsistent with a passage in Ehas Levita which says, that the chazan presided over the assembly in the pubhc prayers, and was so called from the idea of seeing^ because it was his duty to see how the lessons were read, and whom he should call forth to read. Thus it would appear from Elias Levita that the chazaris office was not an inferior one, but almost equivalent to that of elder. Farther, sheliach tsihhur^ " the angel of the church," is identified by Lightfoot with the bishop and the angel of the church in the Apocalypse ; but Vitringa, not being an Episcopalian, dissents from the former position. Yet many ancient authorities seem to support Lightfoot in identifying the chazan and the sheliach tsihhur; so that Vitringa is obliged to admit, that the terms are used interchangeably in Jewish writers, though he tries to prove a wide distinction between them. Again, Lightfoot asserts that there were three deacons or almoners, on whom devolved the care of the poor, called parnasin, or pastors ; but Vitringa thinks that the appellation was general, meaning pastor or ruler — a learned man — who governed and taught in the synagogue. It is by no means clear that the people in the syna- gogues appointed their own officers to rule over them, notwithstanding the laboured attempt of Vitringa to prove it; or that the ruler of the synagogue was only primits inter pares, holding no official rank above the college of elders. Other specimens of the diversity of opinion between Lightfoot and Vitringa might be presented. Indeed the confusion pervading many E 2 52 VIEWS OF ECCLESIASTICAL POLITY parts of the latter's work, — a confusion produced in instances not a few by the attempt to carry out his system of analogy, may lead the reflecting reader to hesitate and pause, until the real constitution and form of the synagogue, in the apostles' time, with its leading and subordinate office-bearers, after which the Christian church is said to have been modelled, be definitely settled. Till then, we doubt whether a fixed form belonged to it. Great mutability seems to have cha- racterised it. We have said that conjecture has often been resorted to for the purpose of helping analogies. On this point Mosheim has appositely referred the readers of Vitringa to the chapter on the customs of the early Christians in their houses of worship praying towards the east, which the Dutch theologian assumes to have been taken from the Jews ; though the fact is more pro- bable that the latter turned towards the west. Nothing in the shape of argument is employed to prove the derivation. The learned writer merely exercises his ingenuity. When anything becomes unmanageable in his hands, he reminds his readers that the usages of the ancient churches were not uniform ; or, where the traces of analogy are feeble, he avers that there was a considerable modification of synagogue forms to suit the state of believers under the New Testament. The variation of synagogue usages on the one hand, and those of the early Christians on the other, are very serviceable to his purpose." " See Note II. ENTERTAINED BY CHRISTIANS. 53 In short, the clear and undisputable resemblance of the two things compared, consists of a few features so general as to be suggested by the light of nature and the ordinary rules of Scripture, both to the Jews under the ancient, and to Christians under the modern economy. The peculiarities of Christian societies, while they are accordant with common sense, must yet be traced to the apostles acting under infallible superintendence. We do not say, with Owen, that it is dishonourable to the apostles and the Spirit of Christ in them, to think or say that in such things they took their pattern from the Jews ; but this we are bold to affirm, that the case has not been made out. One thing, and one only, seems to have been bor- rowed from the Jews, viz., the title elders^ irpi-a^vTipoi^ corresponding to the Hebrew D''JpT This title was employed in the Jewish-Christian churches ; while bishop^ kiTiaKOTTOQ^ was adopted in the Gentile commu- nities. It would be out of place to enter more fully into the details of the present question. The result of our investigation has been stated generally ; a result by which we are constrained to abide, till better proof of the opposite be presented. LECTURE II. THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. " PAUL UNTO THE CHURCH OF GOD WHICH IS AT CORINTH, TO THEM THAT ARE SANCTIFIED IN CHRIST JESUS, CALLED TO BE SAINTS." 1 Cor. i. 1, 2. Man is a social being. He has not been created for himself, or sent into the world as a child of solitude. His nature prompts him to hold intercourse with his fellows. There is a strong inclination within him to act with others. Hence masses of human beings congregate, bringing themselves under com- mon obligations for the accomplishment of certain objects. The social propensity discovers itself so early and with so much uniformity in man, that he cannot have been designed for solitariness by the Author of his being, but for the active duties which bring him into contact with those who bear the same image with himself Placed in a world peopled with beings hke himself, one family, owning a com- mon Parent, is formed of all. But he is a religious as well as a social being. He has some apprehension of a superior Intelligence to NATURE OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 55 whom he owes allegiance. The light within him teaches him that there is a God presiding over the world, whose favour it becomes him to secure. En- dowed with certain capacities of perception and feel- ing, he is necessarily disposed to offer reverence to a higher Existence. This appears in the savage as well as the civilised state of humanity ; for the idea of a God arises very early in the mind, and is never entirely dislodged from it. Thus the foundation of social religious worship lies in the nature of man. It is the dictate of his intel- lectual and moral constitution to render religious homage to the Supreme Being, not merely in the sohtude of his own meditations, but in the company of his fellow-creatures. The susceptibilities bestowed on him impel him to manifest to others and in union with them the religious sociabihty of his nature ; just as he exhibits his energies in the civil affairs of hfe, in the society of his fellow-men. There is no reason why he should act in concert with others in the one case, and not in the other. He finds it conducive to his interest to commune with those around him in all concerns about which his moral nature awakens sohcitude. Numbers concentrate their energies and efforts in the pursuit of objects immediately connected with their temporal comfort. They meet together and consult how they may increase their advantages in the present hfe. And why should they not also unite and evince equal carefulness in the business of rehgion ? Are they not prompted to do so by the religious and social tendencies of their nature ? 56 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS Reason suggests that they will reap advantage by combining their efforts. Accordingly they do assem- ble, and present homage together to the Great Creator. But the duty of entering into church-relationship is not wholly left to the common sense of mankind. It proceeds from higher motives, and is based on surer principles. Revelation commands and confirms it. It arises out of the Christian life. Hence Christ himself, during his stay on earth, collected a little band of learners, who may be regarded as the first exemplification of a church under the New Dispensation. He called dis- ciples out of the world to follow Him. To them He imparted religious instruction. It was given them to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. In their presence He observed the Jewish passover, and instituted the last supper, the distinguishing mark of disciples till His second coming. In accordance with the command and example of Christ, exhortations addressed to Christians on the subject are scattered throughout the New Testament, implying that the duty is a dictate of their renewed nature, not to be neglected. Hence the apostles and their assistants gathered the new converts together, organised fixed societies with office-bearers, and regu- lated their social worship by word or epistle. In the conduct of the primitive disciples there is ample warrant for a similar course, in all who profess the like faith ; since the commands given to them were not intended for themselves alone, but for all who OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 57 profess obedience to the same Lord, and walk in the way of His commandments. And then the benefits arising from the church relation, render it a duty to enter into it. The advantages it confers are too apparent to be mistaken. Here the gifts and graces of Christians are improved by exercise. Here their faith is strengthened, their languor dispelled. From continued intercourse with the like-minded, they receive an impulse to renewed activity in the divine life. Their security and comfort are mightily promoted. They are better fitted for enduring opposition, and making advances into the territories of darkness. Finally, it is their duty to enter into this relation because by it the Saviour is glorified. Christ is glorified in his saints individually ; but he is eminently glorified in them, when they are met together to show forth his praises and declare his works. Thus man is prompted to enter into the church relation by the dictates of his renewed nature, the commands of Christ, the exhortations of apostles and prophets, the example of the first Christians, and a consideration of the benefits resulting from union. And when he thinks of the glory accruing to the Saviour from a church with its hallowed operations, he will not fail to avail himself of the privilege. Happy is the man, who in the communion of the faithful, finds himself borne onward by a holy stream of love descending on the members, while each is tenderly watched and strengthened by his fellow- traveller to Zion. He thinks not of the duty of 58 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS entering into the relation, but of the privilege lie enjoys within the sacred enclosure of a Christian community. The word sKKXtjaia, churchy apphed to an assembly convened for religious purposes, has two significations in the New Testament. In the first place^ it is used to denote the whole body of behevers, the true people of Christ on earth and heaven. Thus in the Epistle to the Ephesians, — " And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the churchy which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all." So likewise in the same epistle : " For the hus- band is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church." In this sense the term is applied to what is commonly called the chwch universal.^ including all the saints on earth and in glory. It is of importance to attend to the Scriptural notion of the church universal^ because it has been frequently mys- tified by scholastic distinctions. It consists, as has been just stated, of two parts, one on earth, the other in heaven, — together constituting the one mystical body of Christ. Whenever a sinner beheves in the Saviour he becomes a member of this spiritual household, and is invested with the immunities of heavenly citizen- ship. None but saints belong to it. Hypocrites may be found in the assemblies of professing Christians on earth; but no unbeliever can possibly belong to the church universal, since he cannot have a living con- nexion with the true Head. " That church of Christ which we properly term his body mystical, can be but OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 59 one ; neither can that one be sensibly discerned by any man, inasmuch as the parts thereof are some in heaven already with Christ, and the rest that are on earth (albeit their natural persons be visible) we do not discern under this property whereby they are truly and infallibly of that body. Only our minds, by intel- lectual conceit, are able to apprehend that such a real body there is, a body collective, because it containeth a huge multitude ; a body mystical, because the mystery of their conjunction is removed altogether from sense. Whatsoever we read in Scripture con- cerning the endless love and saving mercy which God showeth towards his church, the only proper subject thereof is tliis church. Concerning this flock it is, that our Lord and Saviour hath promised, ' I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hands.' They who are of this society have such marks and notes of distinction from all others, as are not objects unto our sense ; only unto God, who seeth their hearts and understandeth all their secret cogitations, unto him they are clear and manifest."" Secondly. The term church signifies a number of believers habitually assembling for the worship of God in one place. Thus in the second Epistle to the Thes- salonians : " Paul, and Sylvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." So also in the Epistle to the Colossians : " Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, " Hooker: Ecclesiastical Polity, Book iii. 1. 60 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house. And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans." The word uniformly bears this signification when applied to any of the separate assemblies of Christ's servants on earth. The two meanings in question exhaust the entire range of acceptation belonging to the word. There is no passage in which one or other is unsuitable or inappropriate. We are therefore warranted to infer that it does not bear any other sense." The connexion and nature of a passage generally indicate, with sufficient clearness, how the term should be understood. This view is confirmed by the fact, that when the spiritual worshippers of a country, district, or province, are mentioned in their associated capacity, they are con- stantly styled churches {sKKXriaiai) ; whereas the be- lievers belonging to a town or city are described as a church (t/cfcXrjCTta). The New Testament, accord- ingly, speaks of the churches of Judea, Galatia, Achaia ; but of the church at Corinth, Ephesus, Smyrna, &c. In the former case, distinct assemblies of saints are meant ; but in the latter, one society met together to observe the ordinances of Christ. The materials composing a church are definite and peculiar. The only members properly belonging to it are such as give evidence of their obedience to the Lord Christ. The edifice is intended to be an holy habitation, and holy are the living stones of which it ° See Note Til. OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 61 is composed. The regenerate alone should be ad- mitted into fellowship. This is a cardinal point that ought never to be overlooked. To show that it is amply supported by Scripture we need look no farther than the surface of the New Testament. Thus Paul writes : " Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints." In like manner he writes to the church of Ephesus : " To the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus." So also to the Colos- sians : " To the saints and faithful brethren which are at Colosse." Such are the genuine materials composing a church of God, according to his own word. They are saints by effectual calhng ; men and women who profess subjection to the laws of Christ, and whose practice accords with their profession. Here the strictest jealousy should be maintained. Nothing can compen- sate for the absence of piety in one desiring admission into a church. No intellectual endowment should be allowed as a substitute for it. No amount of religious knowledge, or familiarity with the doctrines of the Bible, or fluency of conversation on serious themes, should cover over the want of religion, and serve for introduction into the community. Here all the officers and members of a church should concentrate their enlightened energies in bringing the condition of their fellowship as near the scriptural rule as the imper- fection of humanity will allow. If pastors have a sincere desire to act according to the revealed will of Christ, to be faithful and conscientious in the over- 62 THE NATURE AND CHARACTEEISTICS sight of a flock, and to preserve the minds of the dis- ciples from contamination, they must be especially careful of purity of communion. And the members also should take the same lively concern in the matter as the pastor himself It is their province, no less than that of the elders, to guard against the intrusion of carnal men. Interest, as well as duty, should urge them to do so. Let them not suppose that it mainly or wholly concerns the bishops of the flock, or the bishops together with the deacons, to examine and judge of character, while they may quietly acquiesce in all the doings and decisions of their ofiicial bre- thren ; but let them equally maintain a watchful care over their fellowship, lest they be corrupted by un- worthy associates, or dishonour the Master whom they profess to obey. We presume that few professing Christians of the present day, except the advocates of civil estabhsh- ments of religion, would object to this account of the qualifications requisite in church members. Formerly Baillie and Rutherford appeared in opposition to it, reasoning to a large extent from premises which the early Congregationalists did not assume. Imperfectly acquainted as they seem to have been with the true ground taken by John Cotton and his brethren, they combated opinions which were neither held nor avowed by the advocates of purity. It will not be needful, therefore, to adduce the arguments of these Scottish authors out of the neglected volumes in which they have slumbered. The advocates of the Congregational polity do not deny that hypocrites will OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 63 be occasionally found in churches; or that ungodly men will appear there, after all the caution habitually exercised to exclude them. The members and office- bearers of a spiritual society do not pretend to in- fallibility, nor to judge of the Christianity of a candi- date otherwise than by life and profession conjointly. They are wont to make due allowance for infirmities and imperfect attainments which are not absolutely incompatible with the reality of spiritual life in the soul. Hence such v/riters as Bailhe and Rutherford wasted many of their arguments on the air. Presbyterians of the present time, particularly such as are unconnected with the State, allow that the members admitted into churches should be such as profess their knowledge and faith in Christ, together with their subjection to him in ordinances ; or in other words, those who are true Christians in the judgment of charity. We fear, however, that though they admit in theory the scriptural qualifications of church- members, they forget them in practice. Their system, however favourable it may seem to the scriptural standard on this vital point, has never secured hohness in the members to any considerable extent. As long as a palpable line of distinction is not drawn between the hearers composing a congregation; and while can- didates for the ministry enter on their studies for the office without giving evidence of personal holiness; this Denomination cannot pretend to attain the cha- racter they admit to be so desirable, Congrega- tionalists have hitherto had a clearer apprehension of the qualifications necessary for church-members, and 64 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS have best acted in conformity with their creed. And yet they too should proceed more discreetly and faith- fully. The spirit of the world is continually pressing into their churches. There are times when opposition to worldly maxims on the part of churches generally is faint and feeble. We fear that the practice of some churches among us has not been a true index of their acknowledged sentiments. The barrier between them and the world has not been sufficiently definite. Their zeal for political privileges has crippled their piety. Oh that all our churches would habitually reflect on the Saviour's words to the angel of the church of Ephesus : " I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil, and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles and are not, and hast found them liars ; and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love." The relation borne by a true church to Christ the Head is plainly indicated by the following language: " Ye are the body of Christ, and members in par- ticular." — " Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy ; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." — " I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." Such was the character of the Corinthian church. Of the church of Ephesus the apostle writes : " Ye also OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 65 are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." " Be ye, therefore, followers of God as dear children," is an exhortation addressed to the same community. Thus the members of the primitive churches are called the body of Christy the temple of the Holy Ghost, the spouse of Christ — expressions de- noting the closest connexion with the Redeemer. How then can any professing to follow the New Testament model admit members into fellowship who give no evidence of spiritual union to Christ, the Life of his people ? Let those who respect the Master's authority, and the apostolic conduct in the regula- tion of the earliest churches, pause, ponder, stand in awe, as they read such descriptions of the early converts in their associated capacity. From the scriptural qualifications of members the following characteristics of an apostolic church are deducible. 1 . Adoption of the doctrines contained in the word of God. If every rightly constituted assembly of Christians on earth be part of the universal church which is built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ himself being the chief corner stone ; they are bound to receive whatever has been revealed con- cerning Christ or his kingdom. The Redeemer has spoken to men unfolding high and holy principles which they could not have otherwise known; and it becomes those who profess to be animated by his spirit to adopt his maxims as well as to act on them with simple faith. F 66 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS 2. Another characteristic is its maintenance of rehgious instruction and ordinances. A primary object of the union of believers in a church capacity is mutual edification and encourage- ment. Hence a neglect of the appointed means of instruction must tend to destroy their character. " Wherefore, comfort yourselves together," says the apostle Paul, " and edify one another, even as also ye do," On another occasion he asks, " How is it, then, brethren? When ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying." No association of pro- fessing Christians can exist long without dihgently attending to the ordinances of God's house. There must be among the members mutual exhortation, incitement to increasing hohness, exposition and hearing of the word, spiritual oversight of the body by persons specially entrusted with the charge, the exercise of prayer and praise, and observance of the symbolic institutions. These will be maintained in the society, else the souls of the disciples will become lean, and their spiritual life rapidly decay. 3. Intimately connected with the preceding charac- teristic is the maintenance of discipline. " Ye are a chosen generation," says the apostle Peter, " a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people : that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvel- lous light." A church of Christ, proceeding on the principle of selection as its basis, must maintain the OF A SCRIPTUKAL CHURCH. 67 purity which it was called out from the world to exhibit. It is necessarily distinct from the world, having no fellowship with ungodliness. Erring members are faithfully dealt with by the body. In the case of offenders, rebuke and censure are employed when necessary. Violation of God's commandments is not allowed to pass unnoticed. Should a hypocrite be detected within the sacred enclosure, he will be excluded as unworthy of discipleship ; or should any walk contrary to their profession, they must be treated as offenders. These are the characteristics of a true church ; and wherever one of them is absent, the others will also be deficient; for they are exhibited in U7iited operation wherever an assembly of believers meets for worship. They are evidences that the body is built on Christ, the true foundation. They show the divine Hfe animating the members. A fundamental point is the existence of faith in the persons ad- mitted into a church, however small the measure of that faith may be. If saving knowledge be secured in the members, all will be well; and the character- istics of a Christian church will be manifest. But if this essential qualification be dispensed with, there will soon be a deficiency in the characteristics we have mentioned ; barrenness will blight the com- munion ; it will be seen that it has a name to live, but is dead in the cause of Christ. If this description of a rightly constituted church be correct, it is apparent that no national church can possess a scriptural character. Every church esta- r 2 08 THE NATUEE AND CHARACTERISTICS blished by law must be more or less secular. It must proceed, to a great extent, on the principle of com- prehension, rather than selection. It is controlled from without ; and cannot exhibit that purity required by the New Testament. It either sets up no barrier between itself and the world, or a very feeble one. Professing to be co-extensive with the population generally, all are considered as belonging to it; except perhaps those who have attached themselves to a dissenting denomination. " The first churches," says Kelly, " were select and spiritual. Our national church is, and ever will be, and from the nature of an establishment must be, comprehensive and secular. Whenever the first churches ceased to be select and spiritual., they ceased to be what their principles required. Whenever a national church ceases to be comp7^ehe?isive and secular, it ceases to be itself. It becomes like the first Christian churches, a collection of spiritual companies living in the midst of the world, distinct from it, and showing forth the praises of Him who has called them out of darkness into His mar- vellous light. That is, it ceases to be an establish- ment, it affords no temptation to avarice and ambition, and it supplies none of the means of selfish indulgence. At least this is the case, as much as it is possible for it to be."« The truth of these observations is amply verified by the history of every establishment. A true church " A Plea for Primitive Christianity, &c., by Thomas Kelly, pp. 13, 14. 12mo. Dublin : 1815. OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 69 of Christ, therefore, need not be sought in any national church. These state-machines will always be per- vaded, to a large extent, by worldly elements, whence they become unlike the primitive churches. In their composition they will ever present admixtures foreign to " a congregation of faithful men." The pure gold in them will bear a small proportion to the wood, and the hay, and the stubble, reserved for the fiery trial. Our grand objection, then, to an esta- blished church, is its diametrically opposite character to the churches of the New Testament. We deny not the existence of true Christians in these national institutions ; but that is an accident belonging to them, not an essential requisite in their constitution. They are not formed on the principle of admitting within their pale none except those who give evidence of repentance and faith ; but on the contrary recognise as Christians all who simply acknowledge the truth of Christianity. The true idea involved in being a Christian^ lies far deeper than their superficial cognisance reaches. Two meanings have been specified as alone belong- ing to the word eKKXr^aia^ church, in the New Testa- ment, viz., that spiritual assembly which comprises all true believers in all ages, usually denominated the universal church ; and, a congregation of Christians assembling for worship in one place, or, a particular church. Other senses have been frequently annexed to the term. Thus it is said to denote a number of congre- gations united under one government, each^ the mean- 70 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS while, having its own teaching ruler. These separate assemblies may belong to a city, a district, a province, or a country. Their number and territorial occupancy are subordinate points ; it is sufficient that they are all united into one church. Thus we read of the church at Jerusalem, at Corinth, at Ephesus, &c., each consisting of various churches or societies under the same rule, whether that rule were prelatic or presbyterial. Hence, also, has arisen the customary phrase, church of England, church of Scotland, Pres- byterian church in America, &c. We shall first examine the case of the church at Jerusalem, which consisted, according to Episcopalians and Presbyterians, of more separate churches or con- gregations than one, because the believers were more numerous than could possibly meet in any one building. It will be necessary to trace this church from its origin, as far as various notices of it in the Acts of the Apostles furnish the materials of its history. In Acts i. 15 it is stated, that the number of the disciples was one hundred and twenty, whom Peter addressed regarding a successor to Judas. " And when the day of Pentecost was fiiUy come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting." (ii. 1, 2.) "Then they that gladly received his word were baptized : and the same day were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 71 stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul ; and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common ; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart ; praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." (ii. 41 — 47.) Here a great increase was made to the few disciples. Three thousand were added to the one hundred and twenty. Yet they met as one body having fellowship in Christian ordinances. ^''All that believed were together, and had all things common." Even the place in which they usually met is specified in the forty-sixth verse : "They continued daily with one accord in the temple." They were still the church to which the Lord added the saved. When it is said that they broke bread from house to house, it is in- timated that, besides meeting in the temple, they met in private houses, in little companies similar to family circles, where they partook together of the daily meal, and celebrated the supper of the Lord. Again, it is written, "Many of them which heard the word believed ; and the number of the men was about five thousand." (iv. 4.) From three thousand the believers now amounted to Jive, "And when they had prayed, the place was shaken 72 THE NATUEE AND CHAEACTERISTICS where they were assembled together ; and they were all tilled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soul : neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own ; but they had all things common. And great grace was upon them all ; neither was there any among them that lacked." (iv. 31 — 34.) Here all the disciples are represented as assembled together, having one heart and one soul, having all things in common. They were a united body, assembling for worship and other purposes con- nected with their welfare. " And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people ; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. And of the rest durst no man join himself to them : but the people magnified them. And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.)" (v. 12 — 14.) Here again the temple is specified as the place Avhere they all met. The com- mon people magnified the apostles, but none of the higher classes durst join himself to them. Still farther ; when the multiplication of disciples gave rise to the election of deacons ; " the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God and serve tables, &c. &c. And the saying pleased the whole multitude, and they chose," &c. (vi. 2 — 5.) Here the multitude, i.e. the entire body of believers, is enjoined to select seven men for a par- OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 73 ticular piirpose. Doubtless this implies that all the believers met in the same place, for the apostles " called them to them" and addressed them together. In the eighth chapter of the Acts, a great persecu- tion is recorded, which may be supposed to have lessened the number of believers at Jerusalem. In the lifteenth chapter, Paul and Barnabas having come to Jerusalem, "were received of the churchy and of the apostles, and elders." (verse 4.) When the apostles and elders came together, to consider the question of circumcision, we read, that " all the multi- tude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul." (verse 12.) "Then it pleased the apostles and elders, with the whole churchy to send chosen men," &c. (verse 22.) These three verses imply that all the believers met together for the transaction of eccle- siastical affairs. Lastly, it is subsequently written of the Christians at Jerusalem, "the multitude must needs come to- gether," intimating that it was both possible, expe- dient, and necessary, that they should assemble in one place. These notices, scattered throughout the book of Acts, expressly state, or fairly imply, that the entire body of believers in Jerusalem met for the worship of God and the transaction of business in the same place. They lead us to infer that the number was never greater at one time than could come into the temple, or any other building, court, or area, to which they may have resorted. Sometimes the temple or Solo- mon's porch is mentioned as the place of assembling ; 74 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS and again, there is no intimation of the locahty. It is not, however, our business to find a building capa- ble of accommodating the multitude. Even supposing them to have met elsewhere than in the temple, it is sufficient for us that the voice of one man could reach the whole. The language uniformly applied to them proceeds on the assumption that they worshipped, partook of ordinances, and transacted ecclesiastical affairs together. "Is there a single passage in all the history in which they are said or supposed, either expressly or by implication, to have been divided into distinct congregations ? If there were really a dif- ficulty as to their niunbers, a difficulty can never destroy a fact, far less be the foundation of an opposite system."" We shall now allude to the mode in which the force of the entire series of passages relating to the disciples at Jerusalem is dissipated by Episcopahans and Presbyterians. Our observations will have special reference to the arguments and criticisms of Brown, in his vindication of the Presbyterian form of church- government, because he has made a most industrious use of the reasonings advanced by the Westminster divines as well as of Lightfoot's interpretations, diligently collecting all that can be adduced in opposi- tion to our view, and omitting nothing that the ingenuity or judgment of a strenuous partisan can possibly supply. * Carson, Reply to Brown, p. 261. OF A SCRIPTUEAL CHURCH. 75 It is argued that on the day of Pentecost three thousand were added to the original number of dis- ciples. These three thousand were not Jews who had come up to Jerusalem merely to attend the feast, purposing to return soon after to their native lands; but they were stated residents in the city, as is proved by the term KaTot/covirtc, dwelling^ (Acts ii. 5,) which signifies a fixed and durable dwelling. After this first great conversion, the Lord added the saved daily to the church (ii. 47). Subsequently, after a sermon of Peter's, the number of the men was about five thousand. These were not merely hearers^ but believers; and that, too, in consequence of the discourse which they had just heard. The five thousand were additional to the three thousand, because in every other passage of the Acts where Luke describes the number of the converted, he men- tions the new believers alone, and not the entire number. Besides, the word avSptc;^ men, (Acts iv. 4,) means no more than the males as distinguished from the females. Hence there was a multitude o{ female converts besides the men. Here, therefore, we have upwards of eight thousand believers, and a consider- able proportion of females. Reference is also made to Acts V. 14, and vi. 7. If a great number of the priests became obedient to the faith, " we may well suppose that the additions which, at this period, were made to the church, must have been uncommonly great. There is thus a collection of at least ten or twelve thousand Christians in the city of Jerusalem 76 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS who were all not only hearers but members of the church, and probably they consisted of a much greater number."" After the persecution recorded in the eighth chap- ter, which took few members (if any) from the church, we are informed that the word of God grew and multiplied (chap, xii. 24). According to Acts xxi. 20, there were many myriads or te7i thousands that believed ; for the word (.wpia^^q should be taken in its hteral acceptation. Allowing that only three myriads belonged to Jerusalem, "it will make the number of Jews who were connected with that church independently of converts who would be added to them from the Gentiles, no less than tliirty thousand. And considering the number of ministers who, for so long a space, had laboured amongst them, it is probable that their proportion of these 7riany ten thousands must have been considerably greater."^ Such is a summary of the circumstances adduced by Brown in order to prove the impossibility of all the members belonging to the church at Jerusalem meeting in one place. The course of reasoning adopted passes over those notices of the 'place in which the converts are said to have assembled, or touches them as lightly as possible ; while all particulars relating to the number and increase of the brethren are collected and understood in as wide a sense as " Brown, Vindication of the Presbyterian Form of Church Government, p. 203, 2nd edition. 12mo. Edinburgh: 1812. * Ditto, pp. 209, 210. OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 77 possible, that the entire number may be swelled to an extent rendering it impossible for them to meet in any one building. No allowance is made for strangers who were in the city at the feast of Pentecost ; nor are the circumstances which induce rapid and fre- quent changes materially affecting the number of in- habitants, taken into consideration. On the contrary, the number of the disciples has a stereotype character which is carried throughout the whole history. One number is added to another, the first continuing the same, although a considerable interval of time may have elapsed. If three thousand believers existed at one time, and two thousand were subsequently added, all the three thousand are counted as still belonging to the church; none having removed or died in the interval. Whatever period may have elapsed; what- ever-outward circumstances were brought to bear on the disciples; however shifting may have been the population of Jerusalem in consequence of its festivals ; notwithstanding all circumstances adverse to the church's very existence; there was little or no dimi- nution of the amount of believers. This will scarcely be considered the right mode of arriving at the whole truth. It is natural to understand all the passages which affirm that the whole company of brethren met in the temple, in their obvious meaning; and to carry the idea of the same locality into others where place is not mentioned, unless the contrary be suggested by the context. Nine times is the church and twice the whole church in Jerusalem spoken of; but we never read of the churches in that city. According to the 78 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS analogy of other passages where the term is apphed to the behevers in a city or town, we should expect it to be used in the same manner when predicated of the Christians at Jerusalem. If there be some diffi- culty in discovering whether all the converts residing in the city at any one time, could meet together and be addressed by one individual, is it not reasonable to infer that the obvious undisputed sense in all other instances, belongs to it in the disputed case of the disciples at Jerusalem ? Is there not, at least, a strong presumption in favour of the opinion that it bears the same signification in a doubtful and difficult case which it unquestionably exhibits in all simple and clear instances ? In opposition to this, Episcopahans and Presbyterians insist that the church at Jerusalem forms a remarkable exception, comprehending, as they believe, a number of separate communities or churches under one episcopal or presbyterial government. They are willing to build an essential part of their respective systems on the use of the word in regard to the believers at Jerusalem. Having made these preliminary remarks, we shall examine the statements of opponents which have been presented in outline. We deem it unnecessary to refute the untenable notion of Lightfoot and others, who regard the one hundred and twenty disciples assembled in an upper room as consisting of office-bearers alone, or more accurately, of the twelve apostles, the seventy disciples, and " thirty-eight more all of Christ's own country, converse, or kindred," appointed by him for OF A SCRIPTUEAL CHURCH. 79 the ministry. Nothing is more extravagant than to assume that the behevers in Jerusalem at this time amounted to many hundreds if not thousands, meet- ing in several congregations ; and to convert the upper room into " the meeting and sitting-place for the presbytery of these elders that took care of all those congregations."" It borders on the puerile when the Westminster divines mention that the word ovo/jlutijjv^ names^ (not men,) may mean "men of chief note and eminence;" and that " possibly these were such, every one whereof was capable of election to an apostleship^ which was the ro ipyov of this meeting." There can be little doubt that the believers generally were present. AU the disciples were assembled. The phraseology employed at the commencement of the second chapter refers back to the company now met, and justifies this interpretation: "when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord together." Besides, as Neander has well remarked, " the great importance of the fact which Peter brings forward in his discourse, that the gifts of the Spirit, which, under the old covenant, were im- parted only to a select class of persons, such as the prophets, under the new covenant which removes every wall of separation in reference to the higher life, are communicated without distinction to all believers — this great fact would be altogether lost " Lightfoot's Commentary on Acts. See his Works, edited by Pitman. Vol. viii. p. 32, 8vo. London: 1823. 80 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS sight of, if we confined every thing here mentioned to the apostles."" The three thousand converted on the day of Pen- tecost are said to have been residents in the city, the verb KaroiKovvTsg apphed to them being appealed to in proof of the fact (Acts ii. 5). It is freely con- ceded that the Jews from neighbouring countries were not commanded to attend the feasts at Jeru- salem. The law did not require their presence in the metropolis at the Pentecostal season. It is probable, however, that many of them did repair to the sacred city on those occasions, esteeming it a privilege to worship with their brethren. We may reasonably suppose many to have been present at the feast of Pentecost, from religious motives. The word KaToiKio), to dwell^ does not denote of itself a longer^ as contrasted with a shorter^ residence. That idea lies in concomitant circumstances, not in the verb alone.^ In the present case, the ninth verse shows, that many of the inhabitants of other countries now at Jerusalem were still inhabitants of those countries ; and, consequently, they must have sojourned in the city only for a short period, probably during the con- tinuance of the feast. It is not said they that dwelt in Mesopotamia^ but, the dwellers in Mesopotamia {ol ku- ToiKovvTEQ Tw MtffOTTora^iai^). Hence they must have been sojourners in the city for a short period during « Planting and Training, &c. &c. p. 13, vol. i. of the original German, fourth edition, 1847. * See Note IV. OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 81 the continuance of the feast ; or longer, if they were attracted to the capital by the general expectation of the Messiah then so prevalent. This point is one of importance ; and might be readily overlooked by a superficial reader." In the fourth verse of the fourth chapter it is implied, not that five thousand first believed at that time ; but that the previous number was increased to five thousand. The language of the verse, so far from leading us to infer that the five thousand were additional to the three thousand, indicates the reverse. It is stated first, that many of them who heard believed the word ; and secondly, that the entire number of disciples now amounted to five thousand. The original literally translated is, " the number of the men became about five thousand." Had the five thousand been additional to the three thousand, we should have expected the language of the historian to be, " the number of the men was about five thou- sand."* It is no valid objection to our opinion, that Luke does not state in other places the entire number of believers, but of the new converts added to the church. Unless he employ on other occasions the same phraseology as here^ there is no reason for supposing that he intended to follow an unvarying method in noticing the additions made to the early church. The language employed in each particular instance « See Note V. * See Note VI, a 82 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS must alone determine whether Luke's descriptions have the immutable peculiarity of furnishing no more than the number of new converts. The word translated men (av^peg) is frequently employed in a general sense, including both male and female. When there is something specific, or when the writer intends to make it emphatic, it embraces males alone. In every case there is a reason for the restriction which must be gathered from the context." But here no cause exists why the writer should employ it in a limited sense. Why should he omit all account of the females in an enumeration of the converts ? Is the sex so insignificant as to deserve no notice? Or was the number of female converts so small as to justify Luke in passing it over in silence ? Judging by analogy, the females were more numerous than the males. And even if the interpretations of our opponents were correct; they could not at all invalidate the fact that all the disciples met in one place. The temple was capable of accommo- dating them. The language in Acts v. 14, and vi. 7, proves nothing more than that the number of the disciples rapidly increased in consequence of the apostolic preaching. It is neither afiSrmed nor denied that the multitude was too great to meet in the temple. In other places it is expressly stated that they were accustomed to meet in this building ; and where is the warrant for affirming that they were continually " See Note VII. OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH, 83 dispersed tlirougliout the city in distinct companies, in consequence of their unwieldy numbers ? The eighth chapter plainly proves that the mem- bers of the church were scattered by persecution, except the apostles : " And they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles." Some, however, are not satisfied with this plain exposition. They endeavour, accord- ingly, to represent the persecution as of very short duration and limited extent. It is even affirmed that the persecution was not protracted beyond the day of Stephen's martyrdom, because Luke says, eu sKsivy ry v/nepa^ on that day^ rendered by our translators at that time. In opposition to this we remark, that the per- secution is called a great persecution. The precise point which the writer wishes to express is not the duration of the persecution. His object is merely to show the time at which it arose. The duration of it is left indefinite ; while the point of its commencement is specified. It hegaii on the day of Stephen's death ; which certainly implies that it continued beyond the day. It is farther alleged, that the ministers^ not the members., of the church were dispersed, not by perse- cution, but of their own accord. They saw, it is thought, the storm gathering, and wisely took it as a signal to leave the city. This mode of exposition is not natural. The word eKKXrjtria is never appropriated to the office-bearers alone; and therefore the pronoun they must refer to the church generally. And not only is it stated that some members of the church were dis- persed, but all except the apostles were scattered. G 2 84 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS That the dispersion in question was voluntary is an assumption contrary to the laws of grammar and the obvious import of the passage. Surely the words, '' there was a great persecution against the church, and they were all scattered abroad," contain a reason why they were so scattered. The force of persecution compelled them to leave the city. This meaning is still more unequivocally expressed in Acts xi. 19: " Now they which were scattered abroad upon the per- secution that arose about Stephen," &c., or as it might be more literally translated, " by reason of the perse- cution;" the preposition denoting the cause of it. The persecution was not merely a signal for the church to disperse, but the cause of the dispersion. In the fourth verse of the eighth chapter no ground is furnished for the assumption that the dispersion was confined to ministers of the gospel. It is the right and privilege of every Christian to make known the truth — to com- municate the doctrines of revelation to all who will hear. The primitive Christians knew nothing of the episcopal or presbyterial license dispensed by men who claim the power of opening and shutting the mouths of believers competent or disposed to instruct those around them. We leave it now to the judgment of the impartial to decide on the correctness of the statement : " it is plain that the members whom it (the persecution) took from the church (if it removed from it any) pould not be considerable."" • Brown's " Vindication," pp. 206, 207, OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 85 With regard to Acts xxi. 20, the word nvpia^eg^ translated thousands^ is certainly used indefinitely of a large number in other parts of the New Testament. It is so employed, for example, in Luke's Gospel : " in the mean time when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people," &c. {tojv /nvpia^tov Tov o^Xov). It has the same indefinite sense in the Epistle to the Hebrews (xii. 22). Why should the word be restricted to myriads precisely, in the present passage ? Had the apostles at this time any reason to speak definitely of the number of believing Jews ? If the adjective be indefinite, should not the substantive be the same ? " But indeed it is not stated, neither is it probable, that these thousands of believers belonged to the church of Jerusalem. They rather belonged to Judea generally. All Judea would soon hear of the apostle's teaching; and the course prescribed for him would be equally necessary for those throughout Judea as for the residents in Jerusalem. The contrast between " the Jews which are among the Gentiles," in the twenty-first verse, and " the thousands of Jews," in the twentieth verse, shows that the latter mean the Pales- tinian Jews generally. It must never be forgotten that it was the feast of Pentecost, when many re- paired to Jerusalem from different parts of Palestine and from adjacent regions. Paul, we are informed, hastened to be at Jerusalem at the feast ; and it is pro- bable that his fellow-travellers, noticed in Acts xxi. 16, " See Note VIII. 86 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS were also going up thither to attend the festival. There is no evidence that the apostle's design was frustrated ; although such an idea is apparently favoured by the Westminster divines." But whether these be- lieving Jews, whose number was so great, belonged to Jerusalem alone, or to Judea, or to other countries besides, the context places it beyond a doubt, to the impartial reader, that it was possible for them to come together : " the multitude must needs come together ; for they will hear that thou art come." (xxi. 22.) If they did not actually meet together, the language just quoted imphes thus much, that they were not so un- wieldy in numbers as to render it impossible for them to assemble in one place. Had they been so very numerous as to make their assembling impossible, such expressions as, " the multitude must needs come to- gether," could not have been employed. It rests with our opponents to show that they did not meet in the temple even after the death of Stephen ; for it is nowhere said they were deprived of its use subse- quently to his martyrdom. And even though they did not assemble in the temple, it is uniformly men- tioned that they were collected in one place. There is no necessity to insist on this one place being an ordinary house, or an upper room. Any space or area is sufficient for the purpose. It is frirther argued that there must have been a plurality of congregations in Jerusalem, from the num- ber of ministers who laboured for a considerable time « See Note IX, OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 87 in the city. Here the reasoning of Episcopahans and Presbyterians proceeds on the ground of our supposing that each of the preachers ministered in turn to one congregation. We do not, however, represent the case in that hght. Hence their argumentation is based on a position not taken by those whom they combat. Mistaking the view of their opponents, they regard it as unaccountable ; and therefore erect numerous con- gregations throughout the city, in order to find em- ployment for so many preachers, one minister presiding over one congregation. But we are willing to take our representations from the sacred record itself. The apostles preached daily in the temple and in every house. (Acts v. 42 ; ii. 46.) In like manner Paul at E ph esus taught the converts publicly and from house to house, (xx. 20.) As to the prophets and teachers., (Acts xi. 27, 28, 30,) for whom Presbyterians find it necessary to erect congregations as well as for the apostles, they were seldom official persons. They possessed extraordinary gifts qualifying them to in- struct and edify the churches ; but properly speaking, they were not church-officers. Hence it is unwarrant- able to multiply congregations in proportion to the number of such teachers or gifted men. On any view of the subject, the apostles and their companions had sufficient employment at Jerusalem, because they were occupied not merely in the pubhc assembly, but privately, in the house. The entire argument founded on the number of ministers is of no force even in favour of the Presbyterian hypothesis. A large num- ber of disciples would require many pastors, whether 88 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS they met together statedly, or in separate congregations. It is the duty of pastors, not simply to preach in public at stated times, but also to visit from house to house. The latter is as necessary as the former. Hence their work, supposing the disciples at Jeru- salem to have been very numerous, would be equally onerous, although perhaps not entirely of the same kind, in either case. Every one not blinded by the attachment to a system will see that a counterpart of the dull and regular routine observable in modern congregations where several pastors labour, or in separate assemblies over each of which one bishop presides, should not be looked for in the church of Jerusalem at this time. The apostles and prophets of primitive times were very different from ordinary ministers. In many essential points their rights and functions were unlike those of modern preachers. It is absurd to think of the apostles as preaching every sabbath alternately, to one assembly; or as presiding, each one of them, over a distinct congregation. Let us think of the unsettled state of affairs at Jerusalem, the infancy of Christianity, the imperfect organisation of the Christian society; and we shall soon be convinced that the city presented abundant scope for the activities of apostles and the ardour of gifted teachers. The diversities of languages among the believers has also been adduced to prove that the church of Jerusalem consisted of several distinct congregations. It would appear, however, from the second chapter of the Acts, that all the dwellers at Jerusalem under- OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 89 Stood one language. Peter addressed them in the same language, not at different times, but at once. Hence it seems that they understood the current tongue, though all or even the majority may have been themselves unable to speak it with ease or fluency. "But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them. Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words." It is not necessary however to our argument, that all understood the apostles preaching to them in Ara- masan, or in Greek. The apostles may have spoken to the strangers belonging to various countries, first in one tongue and then in another, until they had suc- cessively expounded the gospel message to all present. The point on which we insist is, that all were to- gether." It is an inferior consideration, whether the collected multitude understood the same language at once, or whether all were made to hear the same truths by successive addresses in the same place. It is unquestionably implied in the words of the fourteenth verse of the second chapter, they were all together. It is scarcely worth while to notice other evasions of Brown for the sake of supporting his cause. Thus in Acts V. 12, he restricts the adjective, all^ to the apostles alone^ because of the context : " And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders Avrought among the people ; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. And of the rest durst ° See Note X, 90 THE NATUEE AND CHARACTERISTICS no man join himself to them : but the people magnified them. And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.)" " The same fear," says Brown, " which fell upon the multi- tude in general, and which, for a time, kept them at a distance from the apostles, is asserted, in the eleventh verse, to have fallen upon equally the whole churchy and we may naturally suppose would produce upon them a similar effect. But if the 7^est of the churchy as well as the multitude, durst not, for a time, join themselves to the apostles, is it not obvious that it must have been the apostles alone who are said to have been all in Solomon's porch?"" This is worse than trifling. There are two kinds of fear. There is a tormenting terror. There is also a holy and sacred awe. While the former might prevent the wicked from joining the fellowship of the apostles, because under its influence they looked only at the formidable power with which these messengers of heaven were armed ; the latter, on the contrary, would lead individuals to the apostles, or, at least, not deter them from such society. It is true, that the apostles are spoken of in the clause immediately preceding : " and by the hands of the apostles .... and they were all^ with one accord, in Solomon's porch," &c. ; but it does not hence follow that the all consisted of the apostles alone. Why should the apostles alone be in Solomon's porch ? In their case ought the word all to have been inserted? Does not this « Vindication, &c., p. 220. OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 91 adjective lead the mind beyond them to the whole church ? We admit that Peter and John are repre- sented in another chapter as going up to the temple alone; but it is added, they went to pray, or to join in the worship ; whereas the apostles could not have joined in the worship in Solomon's porch, since that was a different part from the court where the worship was conducted. If then they were alone in Solo- mon's porch, what business had they to transact; and how can the phrase, with one accord^ be appropriate to them? Were they occupied with business, which may be supposed to have created a division of opinion among inspired men ; or how were they employed ? The naturalness of the language, on the supposition that they and the brethren were together in one assembly, is apparent ; while the strangeness of the diction, if they were alone, strikes the most superficial reader," In relation to the words of Acts vi. 2, " Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said," &c., Brown affirms that the heads of the multitude, and not the entire community^ were sum- moned together and directed to choose deacons. This opinion is borrowed from Lightfoot, who dogma- tically asserts, " not the whole multitude of believers, which, at this time, were grown to very many thou- sands ) but the whole number of the presbytery." The hypothesis is unworthy of refutation. It is not stated that some of the disciples, or a few of them, or « See Note XI. 92 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS their leaders^ were called; but the multitude at large (to TrXnOog). That tliey were in one place, is obvious from the circumstance of their being addressed in the same language (verse 3) ; and, as if to show that not a part only, but the whole body, was assembled, it is added in the fifth verse, " and the saying pleased the whole multitude.''''^ To the proof derived from the fifteenth chapter, that the whole church was assembled at the apostolic conference, objection is made, because the term, brethren, a^tX(i>oi, is employed. We are reminded of the fact, that the word is frequently given to ministers as such, and to them alone. Happily, however, we are not confined to the one term, as though our proof that all the believers were present, rested solely or chiefly on it. In the twelfth verse it is afiirmed, that " the whole multitude, irav to TrXii^oc, kept silence ;" and in the twenty-second it is written, " then it pleased the apostles and elders with the whole church to send," &c. Here the phrase, the whole church, in the one verse, explains who are meant by the brethren^ in the next. In the one, are enumerated the apostles and elders, and the whole church ; in the other, the apostles, and elders, and brethren. Hence we infer that the whole church, and the brethren, are synonymous expressions applied to the same individuals. Inge- nuity may try to evade this conclusion; but it can only be of a perverse character. Still, however, the opinion that brethren, a^eX((>oij ° See Note XII. OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 93 is an appellation belonging to ministers of the gospel, is generally held by Episcopalian and Presbyterian writers. We are bold to affirm that it has no founda- tion in the New Testament. It is applied to all who believe in Christ, of whatever country, condition, or character they be; indicating the love they should cherish towards one another as children of the same Father in heaven. It is not appropriated to one part or section of believers to distinguish it from another part or section. On the contrary, it is equally and indiscriminately used in relation to all believers; whether to such as belong to a particular locality, or those constituting the true church of Christ throughout the earth. Brown quotes a few passages where bishops or overseers of the flock, preachers of the word, and evangelists, are addressed by the title, illogically deducing from them that it is given to ministers as such. By a similar argument he might easily shew that the apostles were deacons^ ^laKovoi; because the word is not unfrequently applied to them. Though used of ministers, it does not follow that it is appropriated to them. In opposition to the few passages he has quoted, we might adduce a great number where it is incontrovertibly applied to Chris- tians in general, synonymously with saints. Belonging as it does to all believers, it may be predicated of apostles, prophets, evangelists, bishops ; or of Christians bearing no office; just as the writer, in a particular context, speaks of the one or the other. It is marvellous to find how those who style them- selves the clergy^ par excellence^ are disposed to claim 94 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS for themselves all the titles which can be supposed to elevate them in their own opinion, or in the esteem of others. And yet, considering what human nature is, it is not surprising to see this phase of vanity. To say nothing now of other appellations, they will not allow the common people even the name brethren. They are the brethren ; but unofficial Christians, how- ever holy or intellectual, are the laity. The New Testament does not sanction this arrogance. The spirit of that book rebukes it. All Christians are brethren ; the humblest, poorest disciple, that ever listened to the voice of Christ, equally with the most exalted preacher of the word. God, who is no respecter of persons, is the one Father of both. He hears the imperfect, incoherent prayer of the one, as wilhngly as the fluent, connected address of the other. Yea it may perhaps be found at the great day, that many who pompously proclaimed the word of the Lord, magnifying themselves^ instead of their ojffice., shall be excluded from the society of the Redeemer who was meek and lowly on earth ; while poor laymen who heard the gospel and believed, though kept at a respectful distance from the assuming brethren^ shall be welcomed into the immediate presence of Him who is not ashamed to call all the sanctified, brethren. The preceding attempt to remove the objections adduced from the circumstances of the Christians in Jerusalem to the meaning we have assigned to the term churchy will perhaps be regarded as successful. It has been shown that the Acts of the Apostles afford no ground for believing that the church in that city OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 95 consisted of several distinct congregations with their respective elders. It resembled the other churches of the New Testament, whose members were wont to assemble in one place. The disciples were accustomed to meet for worship and the other ordinances, not in sections scattered here and there throughout the city, called congregations ; but together^ in the same place. Nor have " common sense and reason" been violated by placing such numbers in a single congregation. No " extraordinary sort of commenting" on the writings of the inspired penmen has been adopted. We are willing to abide by " the matter of fact." "■ In looking back at the history of this church, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, it is scarcely possible not to be struck with the idea of its indefinite and temporary organisation. Exposed to many extra- ordinary influences, and taught by many inspired men, it necessarily presents various features unlike those of fully organised societies in a land of evangehcal light. It seems probable, on the whole, that the Christians in the city, accustomed as they were to meet as a church in one place, received mutual edification in a variety of ways; even in private houses, where little companies assembled like famiUes. On these occasions they doubtless engaged in the usual exercises of worship without any formal distinction between teachers and taught ; except in the case of extraordinary ofiicers, to whom the believers naturally looked with veneration. Their state was in a great degree unsettled and in- « See Note XIII. 96 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS formal. It should be carefully noticed, however, that these small assemblies were not distinct churches. They were still parts of the one church, from which they did not separate. They belonged to the general body. " The epistles of the Apostle Paul," says Neander, "give the clearest evidence that all the Christians of one city, from the beginning and ever after, formed one whole church."" Our great objection to the views of the church at Jerusalem, taken by Episcopalians and Presbyterians, is founded on the fixed character they assign to it. In parochial style, they parcel it out into separate congregations, each with its own ruler or rulers ; while the college of elders sit in council to deliberate respecting the interests of these distinct societies. It is thus made to assume a stereotype form too inflexible to admit of the free scope of all the influences that must have affected it. Let us now consider the case of the church at Ephesus. '■'■First. That there were more congregations than one in the church at Ephesus appears by Acts xx. 31, where is mention of Paul's continuance at Ephesus in preach- ing for the space of three years ; and Acts xix. 18, 19, 20, where the special effect of the word is mentioned; and V. 10 and 17 of the same chapter, where is a dis- tinction of Jews and Greeks; and 1 Cor. xvi. 8, 9, where is a reason of Paul's stay at Ephesus until Pentecost ; and v. 19, where is mention of a particular " " Planting and Training," &c. vol. i. p. 176 (note), and p. 262 of the original. or A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 97 church in the house of Aquila and Priscilla, then at Ephesus, as appears Acts xviii. 19, 24, 26. All which laid together doth prove, that the multitudes of be- lievers did make more congregations than one in the church of Ephesus. " Secondly. That there were many elders over these many congregations as one flock, appeareth, Acts xx. 17—37. " Thirdly. That these many congregations were one church, and that they were under one presbyterial government, appeareth. Rev. ii, 1 — 6." These are the arguments employed by the assembly of divines who sat at Westminster, in their " form of presbyterial church government." In modern times nothing has been added to the weight or number of the proofs so adduced in connexion with the Ephesian church. Their validity, however, is mainly suspended on the ground of the title church being given to the assembly in Aquila's house, and to the other congre- gations supposed to meet in the city, conjointly, and at the same period. It is not sufficient to show that the converts in Aquila's house did not consist of the entire number of believers in Ephesus at a given time; or that there were different assemblies in various parts of the city. It is necessary to demonstrate that there were more converts in Ephesus than such as met in his house; that they formed distinct congregations of worshippers; that they continued in their separate capacity; and that as distinct coiigregations.^ each with its own pastor and ruling elders.^ under one government.^ they are denominated the church of Ephesus. H 98 THE NATUKE AND CHARACTEKISTICS The argument is wholly vitiated should it appear that the circumstances of the converts varied; so that although they may have met as separate assembhes for a time, they subsequently coalesced ; that the title church is never given to the separate congregations as associated ; but is applied only to the believers statedly meeting in Aquila's house, notwithstanding other believers may have met for worship in other parts of the city at the time it is so employed. What is meant by the expression church in the house of Aquila and Priscilla at Ephesus? The Westminster divines suppose that it denotes a congre- gation distinct from other assemblies in the same city ; and consequently that the Ephesian church consisted of several congregations ; while others think that it is apphed merely to their children and servants, and such inmates as lodged with them. In the latter sense it is equivalent to a Christian family; in the former, to an assemblage of believers worshipping in a church capacity. The New Testament mentions three persons who had " a church in the house," viz. Nymphas, Philemon, and Aquila. There must have been something pe- culiar in the circumstances of these individuals; else they would not have been singled out in such a manner. The interpretation which restricts the phraseology to a Christian family is not probable or appropriate, because the New Testament employs other diction in relation to pious families, such as " household," or " they of the household." Besides, many individuals are saluted by name in the epistles, who must be presumed to have had pious famihes. OF A SCEIPTURAL CHURCH. 99 Had godly households therefore been all that was intended by the phrase before us, they would not probably have been saluted as churches in houses. These considerations, with others that might be men- tioned, incline us to believe that the phrase denotes a company of believers meeting, in a church capacity, in the houses of Aquila, Nymphas, and Philemon. In large cities, where the disciples were numerous, the distances considerable, or the enemies of Christianity watchful and persecuting, it is quite probable that some met occasionally, or for a time, in the house of a particular individual ; or in an apartment otherwise convenient. Certain circumstances and peculiarities of situation may have prompted the brethren to sepa- rate for a time. The person at whose habitation a part of them assembled may have been an eminent teacher of righteousness ; or his dwelling may have presented peculiar advantages in the midst of perse- cution ; or his premises may have contained an apart- ment large enough to accommodate a considerable number. Thus Neander thinks that the nature of Aquila's employment required extensive premises ; and that, therefore, he could set apart a room for the use of disciples wherever he fixed his abode. When we also take into account his religious qualifications, it is natural to suppose that he frequently led the devotions of these small assemblies. He and his consort are styled Paul's fellow-workers. They were well ac- quainted with the gospel. They took Apollos, and expounded to him the way of God more perfectly. Aquila, in short, was a preacher of righteousness. H 2 100 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS Philemon, who is also said to have had a church in his house, was a wealthy member of the church at Colosse, distinguished for his hospitality towards Christian brethren, especially evangelists. Some think that he was a deacon ; others a bishop ; but it is now impossible to discover what office he filled, or in what rank he moved. He is styled by Paul a fellow- worker; so that we are inclined to dra"w the conclusion that he was a Christian teacher ; one qualified and accustomed to impart instruction. This is favoured by the usage of the word (jwtfjyoc in most, if not all the passages where it occurs. In consequence of the apostle directing him to prepare a lodging in a house hired in the city, it may be judged that his premises were not extensive; and therefore that all the be- lievers at Colosse did not ordinarily assemble at his habitation. A few of the disciples met in his premises, to whom he probably imparted instruction in religious things. It may be inferred that the circumstances connected with Nymphas and his house were similar ; although the New Testament furnishes no information respect- ing him except the incidental mention of a church in his house near Laodicea. In short, every view that can be taken of the matter shows that the expression "church in the house," denotes not merely the pious members of a single house, but a number of believers meeting in a private dwelling or in the premises connected with it, for conducting religious exercises in the name of the holy Redeemer. In the case of Aquila, who was a OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 101 tent-maker, his occupation may have rendered it necessary for him to have several workmen resident in his domestic establishment, most of them, perhaps, adherents of Christianity ; but we should not limit the phrase even to these ; since no analogous considera- tion can be urged in the case of Philemon. Neander quotes a passage from Justin Martyr that may throw some light on the difficult point before us. When this celebrated father was examined before the prefect Rusticus he was asked, " Where do you assemble ? " Justin replied, "Wherever it suits each one's pre- ference and ability. You take it for granted that we aU meet in the same place ; but it is not so, for the God of the Christians is not circumscribed by place, but being invisible fills heaven and earth, and is everywhere worshipped and glorified by the faithful." Rusticus then said, " Tell me where you meet together, or in what place you collect your disciples?" Justin said, "I am staying at the house of one Martinus, and I know of no other place of meeting besides this ; and if any one wished to come to me, I communicated to him the words of truth." The persons who thus re- paired to Justin's house for instruction constituted, according to Neander, " the church in Justin's house." Having thus endeavoured to explain the expression, "church in the house," in conformity with the opinion of the Westminster divines, we proceed to consider their statements respecting the church of Ephesus. Christianity was early planted in Ephesus by the apostle Paul, who, on leaving Corinth, came thither with Aquila and Priscilla. His visit was a brief one. 102 THE NATUEE AND CHARACTERISTICS Some success, however, attended his preaching ; and the comparatively few converts whom he collected seem to have met in Aquila's house. On Paul's leaving Ephesus, Aquila remained, either to attend to the new converts, or for the purposes of his trade, or for both. Whatever may have been the true cause of his continuance in the city, it is probable that he acted as one instructor of the company of be- lievers. During the interval between the apostle's first and second visit, the church was consolidated and built up on the faith. When the apostle visited the place a second time, we read of his finding twelve disciples there, (Acts xix. 7,) though the passage does not exclude, but rather imply the existence of others. Yet it is apparent that the whole number of the converts was comparatively few. On this occasion, extraordinary success attended his preaching. Numbers were converted to the faith of the gospel. Aquila's house was no longer able to afford them accommodation. Hence the materials of a new and second assembly were collected elsewhere, under the immediate superintendence of Paul and his companions. There was a large number of be- Hevers in Ephesus, when the apostle, writing thence to the Corinthians, during this second visit of three years' continuance, sends the salutations of Aquila and Priscilla, with those of the church in their house, (1 Cor. xvi. 19.) Hence we infer that about a.d. 56, all the converts at Ephesus did not meet for worship in one building or place. But when Aquila subsequently removed to Rome, OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 103 those who had met in his house appear to have joined the assembly in Ephesus, formed by Paul during his second stay. Now it should be particularly remarked, that the term e/c/cXjjo-ia, church, is not applied to the entire company of Ephesian believers when Paul speaks in the first Epistle to the Corinthians, of the church in the house of Aquila and Priscilla, a.d. 56. It is applied to some of the converts — to such as met in Aquila's house. We infer, therefore, that there were two congregations assembling in different parts of Ephesus, at this time. The next mention of the church at Ephesus is in Acts XX. 17 — 37. This passage relates to its con- dition in 57; and would lead us to believe that all the disciples met together^ for they are styled " the church," (not churches,) and "the flock," At this time, too, Aquila had removed to Rome ; as we learn from the Epistle to the Romans, which most scholars assign to 57. Thus when the church in Ephesus is mentioned, (Acts XX. 17,) Aquila had left the city, a fact in harmony with the statement already made, that the church in his house had incorporated itself with the other believers after his removal, and that the two congregations subsisting for a short space, formed thereafter one church meeting for worship in the same place. Several years afterwards we read again of the church of Ephesus, Rev. ii. 1. This was about a.d. 67 ; or as others with less probabihty believe, a.d. 96 or 97. 104 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS We have seen, then, that there are three passages referring to the Ephesian converts at different times. From the first, we conclude that there were two assemblies ; from the second and third, we learn that both had become incorporated. When Aquila re- sided at Ephesus, and had a church in his house after Paul's second visit; the organisation of the Christians in the city was not complete or final. It was after- wards completed, chiefly by Timothy, a little before the account of Paul's interview with the elders recorded in the twentieth chapter of the Acts. In A.D. 56, the term church is not applied to the whole company of the behevers, but simply to those in Aquila's house. In a.d. 57, the term is used to com- prehend all the converts. So also in 67. Thus the word is attributed to the entire body of the converts at a different period from that to which the single passage, apparently proving that it includes a number of distinct assemblies, specifically relates. It is scarcely fair to carry back the meaning of the word from one passage and time to another passage and time, except the same elements enter into both. It is hardly candid to argue from the perfect to the im- perfect organisation of a certain church. Let it be shown that the church in Aquila's house continued to exist at Ephesus when the elders were addressed by Paul, as recorded in the twentieth chapter of the Acts, and then the argument of the Westminster divines will have force ; but all the facts of the case are satis- factorily explained by the reasonable view that when Aquila removed to Rome, the church in his house OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 105 united itself with the more numerous body which had been gathered and immediately superintended by Paul during his second visit to the city. In connexion with this point it should be specially noticed, that the term church is never apphed to the whole body of converts in a town where any of the persons having churches in their houses then resided. Accordingly when Aquila and Priscilla lived at Rome, before they were banished by Claudius, the entire company of believers in the imperial city is not styled the church of Rome or at Borne contem- poraneously with the existence of a church in Aquila and Priscilla's house. (Compare the Epistle to the Romans xvi. 5, and the entire letter.) So also in the case of Philemon. At the time a church is said to be in his house, there is no mention of the church at Colosse. The example of Nymphas at Laodicea, is appar^ently an exception, but not really so, unless it can be proved that he lived in the city rather than its vicinity. We object to the view of the Ephesian church taken by the Westminster divines and their followers on the following grounds. In the first 2)lace^ it can never be proved, that each of the two sections, or rather two churches, which were soon after united, had one pastor or bishop specially appointed for itself. Aquila acted as the overseer of the few behevers that met in his house; but who shall say that he was their regular minister; or that there was any official distinction between him and the converts, resembling that marked line drawn 106 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS between the clergy and laity in the Episcopal and Presbyterian denominations ? When and where was Aquila ordained, for many lay great stress on this rite? It will be difficult to refer to any passage which proves, even by implication, that he received ordination from a presbytery. If, therefore, he was not thus constituted or set apart over a single con- gregation, the resemblance between him and the mem- ber of a modern classical presbytery essentially fails. It is easy to transfer notions derived from modern usages to primitive times, and nothing is more com- mon ; but it is not so easy to persuade an impartial inquirer that such later ceremonies are like those of the apostolic churches. In the second place, it can never be shown that a presbytery, in the modern sense of the term, met periodically in Ephesus to enact laws for governing the separate congregations in the city. Some preachers of the gospel in the present day are so smitten with the love of power, or inflated with ideas of their own dignity, that the notion of government continually haunts them. Thirdly, the body of the Ephesian disciples is termed " the flock," by the apostle Paul. The elders of the church whom Paul sent for from Miletus must have equally ministered to the same Christians, because they were neither apostles nor evangehsts. Elders are pastors only to one congre- gation or church ; and accordingly they are com- manded to feed the one flock in Ephesus. It will not suffice to say that flock in the singular number OF A SCRIPTUKAL CHURCH. 107 is put for flocks in the plural; although the West- minster divines suggest this when they allege, that flock in the singular number " is taken collective for such a flock as contained in it divers particular flocks, as we read expressly Gen. xxxiii. 13, Jacob saith of his, ' The flocks are with me, and if men should overdrive them one day, all the flock would die.' Here is a full parallel to Luke's ' the whole flock ; ' all the flock in the singular is said to have several particular flocks as parts of it. And so Christ's 'little flock' and 'one fold,' Luke xii. 32 and John X. 16, though both in the singular number, and so expressing one flock and fold in general, viz., the church catholic, yet comprehendeth many particular flocks and churches contained in it and under it, as we have in our former answers shewn there were many particular congregations in Jerusalem, and yet it's but one church and governed by one common presbytery."" To this we reply, that the passage in Genesis is not parallel, because both modes of expression — " the flocks" and " all the flock" — are employed in the same verse, the one explanatory of the other, a circumstance which does not occur in Acts xx. 28. The phrase " little flock" employed in Luke's Gospel, xii. 32, means the disciples alon^ to whom the Saviour then spoke, and not " the catholic church," as is supposed. In John X. 16, the word used is a different one from " Answer of the Assembly of Divines to the Eeasons of the Dis- senting Brethren, p. 105. 4to. London: 1648. 108 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS that in Acts xx. 28, and, therefore, furnishes no sup- port to the cause for which it is adduced. Thus none of the passages quoted by these divines proves that flock may here denote " divers particular flocks^ The elders are exhorted by Paul to feed the church at Ephesus. The right meaning of the verb Troi\xaivuv^ translated to feed^ is disputed. The dissenting brethren in the Westminster assembly appear to have restricted it to doctrine, or to the communication of spiritual instruction ;" while the Presbyterians in the same assembly understood it in the sense of ruling as well as teaching.^ It is more natural to include in it all the duties which the word denotes in other places. It is better not to divide the various duties of the office, unless there be some warrant to justify a sepa- ration of them. If then the verb -Koi^iaivuv mean to govern as well as to teacli^ it is natural not to separate the governing and the teaching in the same passage. Let the word be taken in aU its latitude, as the West- minster divines properly understand it. What then is the sense of the clause with which -jroiiiaivuv is con- nected? The elders are instructed to govern and instruct the flock over which the Holy Ghost had appointed them overseers. In the Presbyterian sense this is equivalent to saying that the elders were to feed the flock as far as teaching was. concerned, ^''par- titive^ that is, some one congregation, some another, and so amongst them the flock was fed ;" but that they were to govern the same flock, not in their partitive » See Note XIV. * See Note XV. OF A SCKIPTURAL CHURCH. 109 but collective capacity. " Ye elders whom I now address, take care that each one of you teach aright the particular congregation over which you have been appointed ; and see to it at the same time, that all of you in your presbyterial assembly govern the par- ticular congregations in their united form." This is the unnatural interpretation virtually given to the passage by the Westminster divines. If the verb TToiua'ivHv include, as they correctly suppose, the ex- ercise of all ministerial duties, it is impossible in that case to parcel it out into diiferent departments, and to say that such duties are to be exercised in different ways. If teacliing the flock should be understood partitively, governing the flock should, at the same time, be understood partitively; or if teaching the flock be taken collectively^ so also should governing the flock. The elders are exhorted to govern the members of the church in the way they are ex- horted to instruct them, provided we allow the same word to include teaching and governing in the same place. If this reasoning be correct, a modern presbyterial government of the church at Ephesus must be aban- doned. The words iravA rw TToiyui/tw, translated all the flock ^ denote close intimacy. They are averse to the idea of distributiveness. The elders addressed stood in a peculiar relation to the entire flock ; and the language cannot be taken distributively without violence ; as the Westminster divines would have known had they been better acquainted with the Greek language. The original words cannot mean 110 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS to every fioch. There is no room for the 'partitive sense." What support then is derived from the state of rehgion at Ephesus when the apostle wrote his first Epistle to the Corinthians, in favour of the notion that the term church is applied to a number of con- gregations with their ofiicers under one presbyterial government? It affords no countenance to it what- ever. As far as the circumstances of this city are known to us, the term e/c/cAi/o-m still signifies a multi- tude of believers habitually meeting in one place. In certain cases it may be allowed that the primitive Christians could not immediately procure a building in a large city, capable of containing them all when they increased to an unusual number. They met in such places as they could obtain, and in such circum- stances as were consistent with a due regard to their personal safety. We have seen that at one period in Ephesus, Aquila had a church in his house; while there was a very large assembly in another part of the city. But these were soon after incorporated. They formed one church belonging to the city. As soon as it was judged expedient, they met together for worship ; and then the title church belonged to them all. It is quite improbable, that these sections which existed for a time in Ephesus had their own bishops permanently appointed over them. Their organisation was neither complete nor regular. The different fellow-labourers of the apostles ; for example, « See Note XVL OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. Ill Timothy, Luke, Sosthenes, Gaius, and Aristarclius, in Ephesus, were employed in superintending all the believers in the city in such ways as were most con- venient. Each one had not a particular congregation assigned him, over which he alone was pastor. All were the pastors of the Ephesian converts; nor was there unholy rivalry or jealousy among them. Aquila had as much liberty to instruct any portion of the entire body of believers, as Presbyterians suppose him to have had over the church m his house. It is ad- mitted that when we read of the church in his house, all the brethren in Ephesus were not joined together in one suitable building. But they coalesced soon after; for when Paul sent for the elders we read of the church. It is probable that there were a thousand behevers, perhaps two thousand, but they were all together. They had several pastors or bishops, who would naturally take upon themselves such duties as they were best fitted to discharge. In this manner was maintained a large and healthy church; not one of those sickly, feeble things, which is spiritually fed, or rather starved, in modern times by one overseer, and propped up by a county union. It is puerile to suppose that because there was a distinction of Jews and Greeks among the Ephesian converts they were therefore necessitated or accus- tomed to assemble in separate localities, the Jewish Christians apart from the Gentile Christians. The church consisted chiefly of Gentiles, though hke most other primitive churches it embraced Jews also. 112 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS At that time both understood the Greek language, the Jews having learned it by intercourse with the Greek- speaking population. The circumstances connected with the church of Corinth have also been adduced to prove that the term church is applied to several congregations united in one " presbyterial government." The following arguments are stated by the London ministers." " 1. The multitude of believers. 2. The plenty of ministers. 3. The diversity of tongues and lan- guages. 4. And the plurality of churches at Corinth." 1. In reasoning from the multitude of believers in the city, modern notions regarding the extent of a congregation have been transferred to apostolic times. Great uncertainty, however, attaches to such argu- mentation. No consideration, possessing the least claim to probability, has yet been advanced in con- nexion with the multitude of believers in Corinth at any one time, to show that there were distinct congre- gations. Attention is directed to the circumstance that " Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, be- lieved on the Lord, with all his house : and many of the Corinthians hearing, believed, and were baptized." Acts xviii. 8. The words, " Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but " The Divine Right of Church Government asserted and evidenced by the Holy Scriptures. By sundry Ministers of Christ within the city of London, p. 226, second edition. 4to. London : 1647. OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 113 speak, and hold not thy peace ; for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee, for I have much people in this city," are quoted for the same purpose. We are also reminded that Paul continued at Corinth a year and six months. Finally, the two statements — " they that believed at Corinth were baptized," (Acts xviii. 8,) and " I thank God that I baptized none of you but Crispus and Gains, lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name. And I baptized also the household of Stephanas ; beside, I know not whether I baptized any other," (1 Cor. i. 14 — 16,) are brought into juxta-position, from which " divers congregations" at Corinth are conjured into being " for the word and sacraments to be dispensed in." But who does not see that conjec- ture has supplied the place of argument in the present instance? No proof is adduced here to show that there were various congregations in consequence of the multitude of believers. Hence we pass by one-sided argumentation of this nature. 2. From the fact that Corinth had many preachers, the inference is drawn, that it had various congrega- tions forming one presbyterial church. This argument is invalid, even though it could be shown that the church of Corinth had different pastors at the same time. It should be recollected that the gifted men or prophets which it had, were not the fixed pastors and ministers of it. Indeed they were not office-bearers at all. At first they supplied the place of officers ; but properly speaking they were gifted brethren — men not invested with official authority, but furnished with I 114 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS extraordinary gifts for special purposes and places. It is true tliat Rutherford has adduced eight argu- ments to prove them ordinary pastors ; but the so- called arguments are weak and futile, undeserving examination. We hold that there was a plurality of elders in each separate assembly of Christians, cor- rectly designated a church; so that if it could even be demonstrated that " there was plenty of ministers and preachers in the church of Corinth" at the same time, (which has not been proved,) the fact would fail to attest the existence of separate congregations under one presbyterial government. 3. Here it is assumed that those who spoke with tongues did so for the edification of " divers congi'e- gations." Why they could not employ the gift for the edification of one assembly of behevers, we are not informed. 4. The plurality of churches mentioned in reference to the church of Corinth, is advanced for the purpose of proving " a plurality of single congregations in this one presbyterial church," for it is written, " Let your women keep silence in the churches." In this argu- ment there is some plausibility ; although in con- sistency with their own view, Presbyterians should render the words, " Let your women keep silence in the congregations^ It is awkward to say regarding the one city, that the same word is employed to denote all its congregations associated together under one govern- ment forming a pr^esbyterial church, and each one of these congregations apart. In this view, it denotes both the presbyterial church of Corinth and a separate OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 115 element of the same associated body. We have hence a very loose application of language on the part of an inspired apostle, equally contrary to his usual method and to the philosophy of language. The word cannot be appropriated in two different significations on the same subject in one place. The use of language forbids it. The expression, " Let your women keep silence in the churches," is explained by Glas" of the different meetings or assemblies of the one body of men and women that came together from time to time to eat the Lord's supper, and to teach and hear. But the word £/cK:X>/(Tta, church., signifies the body assembling., not the assembly of the body., as he understands it. Hence it cannot be referred to the various private meetings which may have taken place among different members of the church in various places of the city. The term is sufficiently interpreted by the preceding context. The apostle gives a rule which he intends should be followed " in all the churches of the saints." He uses the plural number because he has in view all other churches as well as that of Corinth. In opposition to the reasoning of the London minis- ters we venture to affirm, that the word church is applied to the entire company of behevers at Corinth as meeting habitually in one place, not in distinct congre- gations. Hence the apostle describes the whole church as coming together for the purpose of edification : " If, therefore, the whole church be come together, and all » Glas's Works, vol. i. pp. 193-4. 8vo. Perth: 1782. 1 2 116 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS speak witli tongues," &c. But if all could not hear, tliey could not possibly receive instruction. Again, the Christians at Corinth are spoken of as coming together habitually to eat the Lord's supper. They are also exhorted to tarry one for another when they came together to eat; a statement which plainly proves the church to be no larger than that all could partake together of the ordinance in one place." On reviewing our examination of the churches of Jerusalem, Ephesus, and Corinth, we have no hesi- tation in stating our decided conviction that none of them consisted of several distinct congregations with their own pastors^ united under the jurisdiction of one prelate, or of a college of presbyters. They were neither prelatic nor presbyterial churches. They were congregational churches, or societies of Christians, giving credible evidence of their obedience to Christ, and usually meeting for worship in one place. The word f/cKXjjo-t'a, churchy descriptive of them individually, means an association of Christians accustomed to assem- ble in one body. And yet the state of the believers in Jerusalem, particularly soon after their conversion, makes it probable that they occasionally assembled in small companies, here and there throughout the city. They were afraid of the enemies by whom they were surrounded. The distinction, too, between the church and the family^ was not marked then as it was after- wards. This fact is accordant with a passage in the " See Note XVII . OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 117 Acts of the Apostles (ii. 42 — 46,) where it is said, that they brake bread from house to house, partaking of their food with gladness and singleness of heart. But even here, where the idea of their assembling in private houses is clearly implied, it is also stated that they met daily in the temple. The entire narra- tive in the book of the Acts shows that it was their habitual practice, when they were properly organised as a Christian community, to meet as one body, except compelled to disperse by the pressure of un- toward circumstances. The members of the church commonly met together ; all their feelings tending to prevent them from separating into smaller groups. When, therefore, they did assemble in larger or less quantities, as they were able, such meetings must be regarded as the exception^ not the rule. Again, Aquila had a church in his house at Ephe- sus for a time ; but on his removal, it coalesced with the general body, so that all became truly one chuixh assembling in the same place. Whatever temporary convenience may have caused the division of them into two companies, it is apparent that it was not in harmony with their desires that they should remain always apart. No alleged convenience could have compensated for lengthened or perpetual separation. With respect to Corinth, it is tolerably clear that the behevers there never met except in one place. They were not compelled by the force of circum- stances, or of a pressing convenience, to divide them- selves into sections on any occasion. And then it should be recollected, that the term 118 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS £/c/cX)7(rta, churchy is always applied to the entire body of believers in Jerusalem, The plural, t/c/cArj- a'lai^ churches^ is never used. So also in regard to Ephesus. The narrative does not exhibit al kKK\r]aiai^ even when it is stated that Aquila had an eKKXrtaia, church, in his house ; because it was not the divine will that the Christians should continue apart, being two or more kKKknalai permanently. The same remark applies to the case of Nymphas, although it might be supposed, at first sight, that part of the Christians in Laodicea are termed an t/cKArjcria, church, in the very passage where the church of the Laodiceans T] Aao^iKeiou f/cKrXrjo-i'a, is also mentioned (Coloss. iv. 15, 16.) Bahr's supposition is not probable, that the whole church of Laodicea met in Nymphas' house ; although the words of the record will bear that inter- pretation. But we have no evidence that Nymphas hved in the city of Laodicea. According to Grotius and Steiger, he hved in the vicinity of it ; and had a number of Cliristians meeting in his house for worship and ordinances — a daughter church, distinct from the mother church in the city of Laodicea. The church at Colosse, in like manner, is not termed kKK\r\aia contemporaneously with the existence of an kKKXnaia in the house of Philemon. Thus the position, that two kKKknaiai are never spe- cified as being in the one city or town at the same time, even though there were separate congregations of worshippers in it, appears impregnable ; as if on purpose to show that two independent societies of OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 119 believers, two proper e/c/cXjjat'at, should not be in the one place, except under very peculiar circumstances. 'EkkXiktiu is applied to part of the Christians in a place ; but the remaining part is not termed, contem- poraneously, an £/CK:X>j(rta. We feel ourselves, therefore, on secure ground when asserting that all the members of the churches in Jerusalem and Ephesus ordinarily met together. In pecuhar circumstances they assembled in Httle bands here and there ; but it is certain that all were accustomed to worship together when practicable — to come together on all occasions of common interest and concernment. Their natural state, as the Christians of one place, was to be together in the various ordi- nances of God's house. Divided in sacred exercises, they were placed in unnatural isolation. It is not, in fact^ a point of great importance whether the believers in a city or town meet together for worship and the observance of ordinances on every occasion, provided they have the same teachers and governors in common. But it has been converted into one of importance by the anxiety of modern dis- putants to represent the state of the prominent apos- tolical churches as precisely analogous to that of their own. As long as Christians belonging to the same place feel that they are called to assemble on every occasion of common interest — that their Christian privileges are not abridged by their meeting in distinct companies — that they stand in a relation of brotherly equality to all the other believers belonging to the 120 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS otlier sections worshipping in their locality, little dis- advantage would arise from sometimes worshipping apart. Why then, it may be asked, has an elaborate attempt been made to show, that the Christians of Jerusalem, Ephesus, and Corinth, met habitually in the same place, if the matter be of little consequence ? And why have so much pains been taken to present the ordinary rule of assembling, if it be vitiated by exceptions ? To this we reply, that the habitual meeting together becomes a matter of importance, when, by departing from it, congregations or churches are constituted, distinct from, and independent of one another. It is not of importance, as long as the college of elders are considered equally the teachers and rulers of all, their services being distributed among the whole body ; but when they become appropriated to particular portions, though bearing, perhaps, a loose relation to all conjointly, then does the departure from stated meetings of all together, prove injurious. It is possible to have various assemblings of the Christians in different places, without a virtual violation of their relationship to one another as one church; and in that case only, the deviation from meeting in one place is of little moment ; but when it is perceived that the custom of assembling in different localities has a tend- ency to change the character of the one church, by sphtting it up into a number of companies, which are, to all intents and purposes, self-regulated churches; then does the meeting of all in one place appear a OF A SCRIPTUKAL CHURCH. 121 wise and important measure. The habitual assem- bling of these early Christians together, shows the value attached to unity, compactness, and mutual acquaintance — a value so great as to make it the rule at all times ; but the hind of separation of the one church, made by our opponents dividing it into distinct congregations or churches, each with a single instructor and governor aided in the Presbyterian system by various other rulers, and owning subjec- tion to a peculiar government constructed out of all the separated congregations, with their respective pastors and rulers — this kind of separation^ we say, is unlike the occasional division of the church at Jerusalem into little companies worshipping as they could. Supposed convenience is studied too much ; — oneness, too httle. The disjoining in question is complicated and artificial, appearing everywhere, and under all circumstances ; so that a mighty influence is lost. Churches are made out of one church. In the case of these apostolic churches, the excep- tions to the assembling in one place do not vitiate the rule, because the little bands were never regarded as wholly self-governed, independent churches, with teachers and governors for themselves alone. But it were incongruous with the spirit of the New Testament churches to introduce such an arrange- ment into a city as that of modern Presbyterians, who have converted the exception into the rule^ and altered it besides. Because the people of God in Jerusalem and Ephesus were compelled by circum- stances, or urged by the pressure of a convenience 122 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS almost amounting to necessity, to meet sometimes in small companies ; Presbyterians have made it a part of tlieir system to erect sucli separate congregations, and to furnish each with a single pastor. They are right in maintaining that all the believers together constitute no more than one church ; but they are wrong in keeping them so distinct as to make them separate churches at the same time. They are right in affirming that all the congregations are under the government of a college of elders ; but they are wrong in assigning to each society its own elder to teach it alone ; since all the elders should as much teach as govern the Christians in common. They are right in holding them to be united as one body ; but they err in introducing such artificial distinctions as virtually destroy that unity ; because all do not together partake of the Lord's supper, nor, indeed, ever meet together, except by the unscriptural mode of a few representa- tives. Their arrangements are too formal. They mar freshness, freedom, and energy. Thus Presbyterians are far from proving the found- ation of their system, even though they should be able to show that the churches in cities were larger than could conveniently meet in one place. Unless they can demonstrate that they were cantoned into various worshipping societies, each with its own teaching elder and other office-bearers, and subject to another government besides, they fail in laying a proper basis for their ecclesiastical practice. TJie distinct and fixed congregations into which they convert the little bands of believers, who sometimes OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 123 met in various places, and assembled at such times as they could, in consequence of the adverse influ- ences by which they were surrounded, were undoubt- edly a later, or post-apostohc arrangement. Origin- ally they looked on themselves as one body ; separated though they might be for a season. They regarded all the elders as their teachers and governors in common. They had no particular pastors, each group one for itself; nor did each congregation consider itself independent of the others. They were hke the limbs of one body, rent asunder for a time, but longing to resume their natural position of compact union. The usage of Congregational Independents is also exceptionable in regard to this point ; but our business is to elucidate principles^ not to defend prevailing practices. They are right in maintaining that all the believers in Jerusalem, the t/cKXijata, met together habitually under the government and instruction of various elders, but are wrong in splitting up what ought to be one church, the company of believers in modem towns, into several churches each with its own pastor, which in their independent individuality are patches and shreds, often incapable of a right self-government, because they have lost sight of the unity and kind of government existing in the earliest churches. By so doing, they have thrown away much of their strength ; and what is more, their views have been narrowed. Every man, thinking, moving and acting in the midst of his httle society, becomes con- tracted in his ideas of men and things. It is very difficult for him to avoid being sectarian, selfish. 124 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS unsocial in spirit ; because liis sphere is so narrow. Comprehensive and liberal views of Christianity are not readily nurtured in the small canton which the preacher looks on as pecuharly his own. All Christians in a town or city should be one church having several teachers and rulers in common, as was the case in Jerusalem. There are no pecuhar circumstances sufficient to justify their separate, self- governing association in the present day, except the absolute impossibihty of obtaining a place sufficiently large to accommodate all, and capable of being filled with the human voice. The entire church should always meet in one place for worship and ordinances ; while congregations for the purpose of bringing sin- ners under the power of the gospel, and adding them to the churchy might, at the same time, be regularly gathered. The preaching of the word might be con- ducted in many places ; but the peculiar privileges of Christian assemblies composed of believers, should be enjoyed together. It is unnecessary to show that the word church is improperly applied to the united congregations of a province or country, because the Scripture always speaks of the churches of a district. Hence we read of the churches of Judea, Galatia, Asia, not of the church in each of these territories. A churchy com- posed of the united congregations of a province or country, is a thing unknown to the New Testament. Provincial and national churches arose after the apostolic period. The only instance of a national church under the gospel which we have met with, is OF A SCEIPTURAL CHURCH. 125 given by Stillingfleet, who finds in Egypt converted to the faith of Christ, a true church of God. As this example of representing an entire nation professing Christianity to be a proper Christian society, is a curious one, not apparent to an unlettered reader of the Bible, it will be desirable to cite the author's own statement : '"''Isaiah xix. 19, 21, 24, 25. We have Egypt's pro- fessing the true faith, and enjoying gospel ordinances, vers. 19, 21, which, according to the prophetical style, are set down under the representation of such tilings as were then in use among the Jews : by an altar in the midst of the land, v. 19. The altar noting the true worship of God ; and being in the midst of the land, the universal owning of this worship by all the people of the land. God owns them for a church, V. 25. Whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt, my people. The very name whereby Israel was called while it was a church. ^O^, Rosea ii. 1; and when God unchurched them, it was under this name ^D^~^<'7, ye are not my people. As much, then, as Israel was a church when God owned it for his people, so should Egypt be upon their conversion to the faith of Christ, which was done upon Mark's preaching at Alexandria not long after the death of Christ."" In reply to this singular explanation it is sufiEicient to remark, that the best commentators on Isaiah do not refer the passage to the gospel dispensation. It should have been proved, not assumed, that the " Irenicum, p. 157. 126 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS prophecy was fulfilled in Egypt's conversion to the Christian faith. Nor is Egypt denominated a churchy in the words, Blessed he Egypt^ my people^ either directly, or by implication. It is true that the terms, my people^ are applied by Jehovah to Israel, which was a national church; but the simple fact of their being applied to another nation, does not show that it is also a true church of God. Eusebius says that Mark first established chwxhes at Alexandria itself ; not that he preached throughout the country generally, or that he collected believers into churches in any other place. The church universal has been often called the invisible church. It was probably owing to this appellation that some discovered distinct intimations in the New Testament of a counterpart to it in the world, which they denominated " the visible church universal," " the cathohc church," or, " the visible company of the baptized." Where, it may be asked, is a church described as consisting of " the visible company of the baptized ?" Where is the warrant for asserting that it contains not only true members chosen of God to eternal life, but ungodly men who have neither part nor lot in the spiritual blessings of salvation ? In answer, we are referred to various passages. Thus in the parable of the marriage feast, where the king's servants went and gathered both bad and good^ so that the wedding was furnished with guests, there is a delineation of the church. " To this wedding," says M'Neile, " the church is expressly likened by her Lord, and the conduct of the servants, OF A SCRiPTUllAL CHURCH. 127 in gathering a mixed multitude, is not a device of their own, disapproved of by the Master ; but a dutiful comphance with the Master's orders."" It is sufficient to characterise this assertion as incorrect, llie churchy or an kKK\i](j'ia^ is not hkened to the wedding. On the contrary, the inspired writer says : " T]ie kingdom of heaven is hke unto a certain king which made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his servants," &c. The expounder has made two assumptions that ought to have been proved, viz., that tlie ki7igdom of heaven is identical with a church on earth ; and also that the church is compared to the company consisting of good and had. Till this, however, be done, the argument is nugatory. The figure of the wedding- garment represents a thing that cannot be known by man ; an internal, invisible quality, which the Searcher of hearts alone can infallibly discover. We deny not that hypocritical professors may be received into Christian societies, because the true state of the heart cannot be always known correctly. But God will detect and punish them. The servants of the king gathered all they could. They summoned bad and good to the wedding ; all were alike invited ; but this furnishes no warrant for us to constitute churches consisting of bad and good men together ; or to admit professors indiscriminately. We judge by appear- ances, and are therefore deceived occasionally. But that is no reason why we should not use as much caution as possible. All are invited to partake of the " Lectures on the Church of England, p. 18. 8vo. London : 1840. 128 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS gospel blessings, whatever be their character ; but all should not be knowingly admitted into churches, because the individual in the parable happened to be received among the guests. We should endeavour to receive none, except those who have the wedding- garment of true righteousness. Another parable adduced for the purpose of proving the existence of a " visible church universal," or of " a baptized society" as a scriptural church, is taken from the parable of the tares and wheat, Matt, xiii. 24 — 40. Here again it is " the kingdom of heaven which is hkened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field," &c. Impurity of communion has no support in the passage. The field is inter- preted by our Lord himself to mean " the world," or habitable globe, not the church. The tares and the wheat, the righteous and the wicked, are together in the world ; and not till they bear their peculiar fruit are they truly known as such. In infancy they are not distinguishable ; but when they grow up, unfold- ing their character, the difference is at once percep- tible. And yet both are allowed to live together in the world. Christians must not persecute those living in sin around them. It is not their prerogative, but that of the great Judge, to remove the ungodly. At the great day they will be separated for ever ; but, till then, they must be permitted to five along with Christians. Thus the parable forbids persecution. Again, in another parable, evidence is found of a society or church called " the church visible," where the kingdom of heaven is compared to a net cast into OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 129 the sea, " which, when it was full, they drew to the shore, and sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away, Matt. xiii. 47, 48."'* The gospel of the kingdom being preached, will induce many to make a profession of Christianity, who shall be cast away at the day of judgment. The fact that the net enclosed good and bad, was not intended to be a rule of duty to Christians in con- stituting churches, else the plain exhortations of other Scriptures would be invalidated. It was meant simply to show that many professors will be hereafter re- jected — many even in the churches of Christ — whose hypocrisy was not detected. But such persons never truly belonged to the kingdom of heaven. The point of comparison is the effect of both ; of the proclamation of the kingdom in the world, and the putting forth of the net into the sea. The two things are not compared in regard to their character' or nature.^ but their visible results. Much misconception has arisen from ignorance of the right principles of interpretation. The points of resemblance in a parable have been multiplied beyond its proper scope. " The figure holds good only to a certain extent. It should neither be carried through every part, nor urged too far. A minute and sys- tematic parallel seems not to have been designed by the sacred writers. Each feature of the picture should not be insisted on, as though it had a corresponding " Garratt's Inquiry into the Scriptural View of the Constitution of a Christian Chui'ch, p. 18. 12mo. London : 1846. K 130 THE NATUKE AND CHARACTERISTICS and literal counterpart. It will be generally found, that some one point or principle is illustrated by a lengthened comparison, and that several traits are added to fill up the picture.""' Hence in explaining such parables as those referred to, we must be careful not to imagine a universal likeness between the things compared, as if they resembled one another in all their properties and circumstances. One leading feature in them is sufficient to justify and interpret the parabolic representation. On the whole, there is no evidence in the New Testament of the term k/cXrjcrta ever being applied to a visible baptized society consisting of a mixed multitude, godly and ungodly. Even the plirase, " kingdom of heaven," does not denote such a society. Hence it may be fairly concluded, that " the visible church universal," or " the baptized society," is a phrase equally improper and unscriptural. Particular climxhes may be called visible churches ; but a visible universal church is an inadmissible phrase. There is one invisible church : there are visible churches where- ever worshipping assemblies composed of " faithful men" exist. The use of the epithets visible and invisible^ in relation to churches, cannot be recom- mended. Mistakes have arisen in consequence of them. They have tended to introduce confusion into a subject, where clear ideas are of the first importance. It were desirable, therefore, that they should be laid aside. The mode in which the hypothesis of a visible « Sacred Hermeneutics, pp. 309, 310. 8vo. Edinburgh : 1843. OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 131 universal church probably arose, is not calculated to recommend it ; while the pernicious use made of it has produced lamentable perversions of truth. How often have passages applicable to the itivisible church alone been applied to the visible^ and a door thus opened to the admission of error !" The only scriptm^al representation is, the church universal consisting of all saints on earth and in heaven ; and a particular church composed of Chris- tians usually assembhng in the same place. The theory of Scripture is that the latter taken together constitute that division of the church universal which is found on earth at any one time. That it is not fully realised is owing to the disobedience of man, not to the will of God. The church universal is visible just so far as the churches on earth consist of real Christians. That society belies its title which admits false as well as true professors of Christianity. The more worldly it becomes, the farther does its practice contradict its name. Agreeably to this representation, do we find the terms uniformly apphed to the members of apostolic churches. They are styled saints^ holy^ &c. Some unconverted individuals may have occasionally be- longed to them ; but this was a manifestation of departure from the standard to which the language descriptive of the church is not accommodated. The complete and proper idea of the society is preserved by the Holy Spirit ; and so far as it is lowered or « See Note XVIII. K 2 132 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS corrupted by the admixture of nominal Christians, the church is untrue to its character. With respect to the number of behevers consti- tuting a church, there is no express information in Scripture. It varies according to circumstances, or the judgment of Christians. It was held by the Jews, that less than ten men of leisure could not make a congregation ; and some have thought that the Saviour's words. Matt, xviii. 20, were directed against this notion. It is doubtful, however, whether they were intended to be antago- nistic to the Jewish tradition. John Cotton, Cotton Mather, and other early Congregationalists, imagined that seven is the least number capable of entering into a church relation for the enjoyment of all ordinances. This number was fixed on, because they considered it impossible to carry out the rule respecting discipline in Matt, xviii. 15, 16, by fewer persons ; and also, because the body of a church should consist of more individuals than the officers. Others have endeavoured to find so much informa- tion in the New Testament regarding a church, as to hold that it may consist of two or three believers. According to them it is not stated how many members should constitute a church ; while at the same time the lowest possible plurality is assigned in the declaration, " where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Agreeably to this interpretation, a church may consist of any number of believers above one ; of two or three Christians. The statement of Christ is taken in its OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 133 most comprehensive sense. It is supposed to imply that in meetings of behevers, piibhc or private, in a church capacity or otherwise, the Saviour is present to answer the disciples' joint request. The terms of the promise are taken to include every kind of meeting. No limitation is introduced by these expositors, because they find none in the passage itself, or in the context. Hence they lay it down as a principle that two or three are sufficient. More than these, they say, are not absolutely necessary. This reasoning is plausible, and in a great degree correct, although the conclusion in which it results is suspicious. Indeed the inference scarcely follows legi- timately from the interpretation of the passage pre- sented. The twentieth verse contains a general declaration made to confirm the particular promise adduced in the nineteenth verse. "If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." The general declaration in the last sentence does not determine what a church is, or of how few it may consist ; it merely asserts Christ's presence with two or three behevers met in His name. Although the promise is applicable to the meetings of churches, yet it does not fix the lowest number of which a church may be composed. The two or three individuals are sup- posed to be members of a church ; but the passage neither proves nor implies that they are tlte all neces- 341 THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS sary to constitute a scriptural church. At the meet- ing of a church where none but two or three are present, the declaration may be fairly used as an encouragement and warrant to expect the Saviour's presence ; but the proposition is far diiferent that, according to the declaration, none except two or three are absolutely necessary to constitute that fixed, spiritual society rightly denominated a church of Christ. The interpretation given by Cotton, that the two or three are considered as a sufficient number of witnesses to join with an offended brother in convincing and admonishing the brother that gave the offence, appears inadmissible. It is vain to fix what has been left indefinite by the Holy Spirit. The matter must be regulated by Chris- tian discretion. Experience proves that a large church is ordinarily desirable. Few of the churches men- tioned in the xsew Testament — indeed, none of them that preserved its individuality for a length of time — were small or feeble. Oiu" investigations regarding the primitive churches have led to the fuU conviction, that they were volun- tary societies ;" that they were of a spiritual character, existing for purposes of edification, worship, and disci- pline ; that they were not in connexion with civil governments, or under their control ; that in the time of the apostles there were no provincial or national churches ; that there was no external ^'isible unity " See Note XEK. OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. 135 among tliem, farther than a sisterly relation ; that they were not subordinate the one to the other ; and that they were complete in themselves. That they were voluntary societies is admitted even by those who think they ought not to be such in the present day. " The churches of Christ in those days were of necessity voluntary societies : but it does not thence follow, that they were always so to continue." * The language in which they are uniformly described attests the truth of the proposition, that they were of a spiritual character. " Know ye not," says the apostle of the Gentiles, to the members of the Corinthian chmxh, " that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you ? " That they were unconnected ivith civil governments is universally conceded. All the governments of the world were opposed to them. So far from being assisted by civil power, they were persecuted by it. We never read of proviiicial churches. On the contrary, the churches of Asia are mentioned ; the churches of Judea ; the churches of Macedonia. Hence there is no record of the church of Achaia, although several churches existed in that province, as those of Corinth and Cenchrea. The advocates of 7iational chiwches do not plead for their existence in the time of the apostles. There is nothing to show an external visible unity among the churches of the apostolic period. All indeed were under the superintendence of the apostles " Garratt's Inquiry, p. 277. 136 NATURE OF A SCRIPTURAL CHURCH. generally ; but whatever unity they had, consisted in holding the same faith, and in serving the same Master with one spirit. Their unity was in having one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Neither were they subordinate to one another. No example of this subordination has yet been adduced from the New Testament. Even those called mother- churches, such as were at Jerusalem and Antioch, did not claim or exercise power over others. All were distinct, independent societies. The preceding propositions imply that the churches were complete in themselves. For example, the church of Ephesus possessed within itself the power of self- government ) as is implied in Paul's address to the elders of it, and in the exhortations given to it at a later period, through John the apostle. So also with the church at Corinth ; as may be fairly inferred from the two epistles addressed to it, especially the language of Paul relative to the treatment of the incestuous person. Any exception that may be taken to this statement by those who understand the word church to mean something else than a congregational church, will be dissipated in the following Lectures. LECTURE III. OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. "having then gifts differing according to the grace that is GIVEN TO us, whether PROPHECY, LET US PROPHESY ACCORDING TO THE PROPORTION OF FAITH; OR MINISTRY, LET US WAIT ON OUR MINISTERING; OR HE THAT TEACHETH, ON TEACHING ; OR HE THAT EXHORTETH, ON EXHORTATION : HE THAT GIVETH, LET HIM DO IT WITH SIMPLICITY ; HE THAT RULETH, WITH DILIGENCE ; HE THAT SHEWETH MERCY, WITH CHEER- FULNESS." Eom, xii. 6 — 8. Before proceeding to consider the office-bearers of a churcli, it will be expedient to allude to a point connected witli tliem, by way of introduction. Some disputants commonly put ministers of the gospel into the place of apostles by assuming that they may do what apostles did. Because apostles transacted certain matters, they infer that it belongs to church- rulers in modern times to perform the same duties. But many things were done by apostles which ordinary pastors ought not to do. The latter should not arrogate to themselves the same authority which belonged to the twelve. They should not place themselves in the same position. They have their own appropriate sphere. On the other hand, many 138 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE things were performed by apostles that elders should perform in the present day. The duties devolving on apostles were partly peculiar and partly common to them with others that should come after, especially with elders of churches. The question therefore arises, by what means can the line of separation be determined ? What duties, rights, or privileges, belong to the apostles exclusively; and what to other ecclesiastical officers in common with them ? How is it possible to know the boundary beyond which the claims of modern presbyters cannot go without intruding into the sacred enclosure peculiar to the few whom our Lord immediately selected as his followers? The elucidation of this point is of some moment. Important results hang on a clear apprehension of it. By arriving at a fixed principle respecting it, much fallacious and incon- sequential reasoning will be refuted. The common error of quietly assuming that such and such things belong to the province of church- officers because they belonged to that of the apostles, will be effectually exposed. The arrogant pretensions of the clergy will be seen in their proper light. Men will begin to sift the affirmations of such as are of like passions and therefore hke ambition with themselves, rather than acquiesce in them unthinkingly. The apostolic office may be said to have included in itself all inferior offices. An apostle had a right to do all things which an evangelist, a presbyter, a bishop, a pastor and teacher, and a deacon, were called to perform in virtue of their respective offices. EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 139 He was furnislied with an extraordinary commission, universal in its range. He was empowered to preach the gospel infallibly, to work miracles in attestation of the divinity of his doctrine, to found churches, and to give them such constitution as should best subserve the great purpose for which they were established. In organising Christian societies he was divinely guided, so that he could not err. He acted under the express direction and approval of the great Head of the church ; and therefore his arrangements were of necessity right. But since apostles were extra- ordinarily called and equipped, some may think that their ecclesiastical transactions are no guide to us. We may not imitate them because they have no proper successors. This idea is unscriptural and latitudinarian. They ought to be imitated by those who come after them. Both ecclesiastical officers and private Christians should do much after their example. Apostles were not placed so far beyond the reach of humanity as to render it presumptuous in us to consider and imitate their conduct. Yet it were false reasoning in a church-member to say — ' Here is a thing done by an apostle, and as he was a church-member of every Christian society, there- fore I may do the same.' It were equally censurable in an elder to affirm with regard to a certain apostolic transaction, ' An apostle acted in this manner, and as he was an elder., I may assuredly do what he did.' It is marvellous to observe how quietly elders are often put into the place of apostles. They are made to assume imperceptibly the same privileges and like 140 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE power. As soon as it appears expedient to find authority for doing a certain act, some passage is adduced where apostles are represented as performing a similar one. But the right mode of proceeding is to ascertain from the plain description given of elders' duties, and from their approved proceedings in the New Testament, how far their office extends — the point up to which it reaches. So with regard to the duties of deacons, and of church-members. It must be discovered from the injunctions addressed to them, or from approved examples of their lives, how far their range of duty extends. In this man- ner we may be able to tell the line of demarcation between the apostolic office and all inferior situations. The separate scriptures relating to elders, deacons, and church-members must be carefully examined for the purpose of educing the appropriate province of each class. And when the aggregate duties involved in the inferior offices of elders and deacons are subtracted, what remains is pecuhar to the apostohc office. An example will render these observations more palpable to the reader. In the sixth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles we read of the apostles ordaining deacons : hence it is concluded that modern prelates alone may ordain. But ordination was not peculiar to the apostles, for on examining what is said about elders we find that they too ordained. In the same manner the presbyter's office may be said to include the duties belonging to a private church-member. An elder has a right to do not only what belongs to EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 141 the office he sustains, but also wliat is required of a believer who sustains no office in the church to which he belongs. How far a private member may come up towards the peculiar duties of the elder s office can only be known by examining the duties common to both, and subtracting from them those of the elder. These remarks may serve to put the reader on his guard against a mode of acting tacitly embodying a mode of reasoning not uncommon. Persons do cer- tain acts, and authoritatively undertake certain duties which do not rightfully belong to the situation they occupy as professing Christians. Pastors enact laws because the apostles did so, without inquiring whether the pastor's privileges reach so high as that point ; or whether the enactment of authoritative rules be not pecuhar to the apostolic office. Again, private mem- bers of a church claim the right to perform certain duties done by elders ; although these particular duties may be peculiar to the office of elder, and therefore beyond the sphere of the unofficial Christian. Human nature is prone to exalt itself. The man occupying a lower and less privileged position, often usurps the rights of a higher. This procedure has a tendency to disturb and disarrange the proper relations sub- sisting between the different parties composing a Christian church. Jealousies and unhappiness are generated by it. But we must advert to the opposite extreme, although it is less frequently exemplified, viz., an over- sensitiveness about apostolic succession. The apostles 142 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE do not appear to have commonly stretched their authority as extraordinary officers to its highest point. They did not often insist on their pecuhar pre- rogatives. They rarely exercised all the official power which they undoubtedly possessed. They did not prominently put forward their claims as apostles. It is quite possible, therefore, to refrain from doing things which we may legitimately perform, from the fear of virtually occupying the position of a successor to them. Ordinary pastors may do very many things which apostles are described as doing. Laymen may assist in planting and organising churches without exposing their deeds to the charge of invalidity. The affairs of churches may be set in order by elders without these elders incurring the imputation of in- truding into the province of an evangelist. It is of little consequence by whom Christian societies are formed, organised, and regulated, provided the work be properly and scripturally done. If " the ordinances be kept," the spirit of primitive regulations main- tained ; the chief actors need not be fearful of stepping beyond their legitimate sphere into that of extra- ordinary officers, and thereby invahdating their eccle- siastical proceedings. When a church has been formed it will naturally be the duty of the members composing it to look out for persons possessing the requisite scriptural quali- fications, whom they may invest with an official character. No corporation can exist long without office-bearers or without persons who virtually become EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 143 such. A worshipping society may indeed recognise no officer. It may repudiate the very name of ruler or overseer. But there will soon be persons who, in reality, and for all practical purposes, will obtain the authority possessed by ordinary office-bearers ; else the society will fall into disorder. The light of nature no less than the word of God prompts the appointment of a class of men to bear rule in a church. At the same time undue importance should not be attached to officers as though an assembly of Chris- tians could have no pretension to the scriptural character of a church without them. We see from the fourteenth chapter of the Acts, that churches existed without elders for a considerable time, till Paul, returning from preaching the gospel in other places, appointed this class among them (23rd verse). It is also apparent from the directions given to Titus (i. 5), that there were churches in Crete without elders. Elders, therefore, are not essential to the heing^ but to the well-being of churches. They are chosen, not because a spiritual community is incompetent to do all before^ which it does after obtaining them ; but because the ordinances and commandments it is en- joined to observe can be done better with than luithout them. That they should be created in a spiritual corporation is a matter of order and wise arrange- ment, for the purpose of securing the best possible management of its interests ; and therefore the light 144 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE of nature, irrespectively of the word of God, would lead to their appointment." In peculiar circumstances a church may exist for a time without them. In that case the members should observe all the ordinances even in the absence of spiritual officers, because they are both compe- tent and bound by duty to attend to them always. But in ordinary circumstances, overseers are needed for the right administration and stability of a church, which cannot be considered as completely or per- manently organised without them. They are a divine ordinance as much as any other arrangement of God's house ; and accordingly men are furnished with suit- able qualifications by the great Head for discharging the functions to which they may be duly called by their brethren in the faith. In the New Testament two kinds of office-bearers are set forth, extraordinary and ordinary. The one class, being no longer necessary to the progress of Christianity in the world, has ceased ; the other, being required for the edification and prosperity of the churches, continues as long as these societies exist. The former were temporary^ the latter are permanent officers, under the Christian dispensation. The extraordinary office-bearers were apostles and evangelists ; to whom some add prophets and teachers. The apostles were those who had seen Christ, and could therefore be witnesses of his resurrection ; they « See Note XX. EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 145 were called immediately by himself; their commission was universal, authorising them to preach the gospel and organise churches throughout the world ; and they were peculiarly fitted for their work by an inspi- ration which rendered them infallible in expounding the will of God, and by the power of working miracles in attestation of their divine mission, as well as of conferring miraculous gifts on others. It is sufficiently obvious from these qualifications, that the apostolical office was not intended to be perpetual. Vacancies were not filled up as they occurred. Evangelists were companions of the apostles, assist- ing them in their various labours. Their chief em- plopnent consisted in preaching the gospel and gathering new churches among the Gentiles. They seem to have been usually chosen by the apostles, who entrusted them with special commissions as occasion required. They had the gift of tongues, enabling them to preach the gospel to every nation in its own language ; and also the gift of miracles, for confirma- tion of their doctrine. Timothy and Titus were evangelists. So also Philip the deacon, who is recorded to have wrought miracles. Judging from the example of Timothy and Titus, evangelists re- ceived specific directions from apostles; though in the case of Philip there is no notice of instructions. Although the office of evangelist corresponded with that of a modern missionary^ it may be fairly inferred that it was temporary^ being so connected with the apostolic functions, that when the latter ceased, it neces- sarily ceased at the same time. There are no apostles L 146 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE in the present day to send forth evangehsts on special errands ; neither do men possess the extraordinary gifts which belonged to the primitive evangelists. Paul makes no mention of them along with bishops and deacons, in his directions to Timothy. The office in question, like that of an apostle, was not confined to one church ; whereas no ofiice-bearers intended to be permanent in the Christian dispensa- tion belong to more than one church. Modern mis- sionaries, improperly said to be ordained before their departure to heathen lands, sustain no office. They do not become office-bearers till a Christian church invite them to take oversight of them in the Lord and they accept the call. Prophets {wpocprnai) were persons who spoke by an immediate impulse of the Holy Spirit, their minds being subject to an instantaneous afflatus whence the hearers were impressed with the same sudden power. In regard to the matter of their communi- cations, they unveiled mysteries, or in other words, revealed things future, as well as the secret counsels of the divine will. They also uttered things adapted to instruct, quicken, animate, and confirm believers; or to produce faith in such as were previously un- beheving. Their exhortations and addresses were various, as the Spirit prompted ; but, in all instances, there seems to have been an unwonted energy cha- racterising their appearances in Christian assemblies. The essence of the projjhetic condition consisted mainly in the tnroKaXvxfjig tCjv nvaTr]piijjv (1 Cor. xiii. 2, EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 147 compared with xiv. 30 fF. ) though there was much variety in their addresses.** Teachers {^i^aaKoXoi) were Christians in whom the gift of inspiration acted more uniformly and calmly. Having disciplined their minds by previous study of the Old Testament, they w^ere able, after receiving divine illumination, to develop the truth infaUibly in lengthened and continuous expositions. They were the subjects, not so much of extraordinary impulses, as of the Spirit's steadily acting power elevating the understanding to an unusual degree of apprehension. Hence they occupied a most important position as public instructors. The distinction between prophets and teachers was not always definitely preserved, for the ^i^aaicaXoi were sometimes excited to utter things which rather characterised the 7rpo(}>i]Tai. It can scarcely be affirmed with propriety, that the prophets were office-bearers. They are more correctly denominated gifted hreth7'en enjoying a pecuhar charism of the Spirit, by means of which the ordinary disciples were struck with irresistible force. It has been sometimes supposed that they confined them- selves to one church ; but it is more probable that they went about instructing the brethren. Neither can office be justly assigned to the teachers^ at their original appearance. They presented them- selves in particular churches and gave instruction to ° See Note XXI. L 2 148 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE the members ; but the charism does not seem to have been associated, in the first instance, with a distinct office. It is obvious that the prophets were a temporary class. They belonged solely to the apostolic period of Christianity. The charism they had does not appear in modern churches. The same observation may be apphed to the teachers^ — in a certain sense. Looking at them as they appeared originally with powers elevated by the Holy Spirit to an uncommon degree of adaptedness for the communication of knowledge, it may be affirmed that they belonged to the earliest development of Christianity. When the charism became an ordinary gift, such as might be attained by many Christians in the exercise of their abilities, it is probable that these teachers were often taken into the college of elders, and thus formally constituted officers. The charisms in question supplied to a large extent the place of definite church offices. Societies in which the gifts of tongues prophesying and teaching existed, would feel less need of stated officers because the possessors of them had an influence over the converts corresponding to their extraordinary illumination : an influence which may be regarded as the prototype of subsequent offices. The apostles were universal superintendents ; and any excesses arising from the liberty of speech allowed to the members generally could be checked by their presence or counsel. But amid their multiplied engagements they soon found it necessary to provide the newly-formed churches EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 149 with stated ministers. Deacons were appointed in Jerusalem ; and soon after, the circumstances of that mother-church required another class of men, to super- intend the spiritual concerns. The first mention of elders (Trp^nfivTEpoi) occurs in the Acts of the Apostles (xi. 30) in connexion with the Christian community in Jerusalem. The title was probably transferred from the ?''^i?.^ of the synagogue to the assembly of Jewish Christians. Of the mode in which they were elected, and the precise time when they first appeared, no record is left. It is even diffi- cult to discover the chief purpose for which they were originally instituted. All the circumstances however that have relation to the point conspire to show, that they were chosen in the first instance mainly for government. The gifted brethren in- structed the church according to the talents con- ferred on them by the Holy Spirit; but they do not appear to have had for the most part the gift of government (Kv[3ipvr]aig). The members gave free scope to their awakened energies in exhortations and addresses in the assemblies ; but something was wanting, in the absence of apostle or evangelist, to concentrate and control the religious activities of all. Even those Christians who had the gift of govern- ment, were not left for a long period to exercise their abihties of management among the societies to which they belonged without being expressly and formally appointed to the duties of superintendence and rule. It was expedient to create definite church offices corre- sponding to the charisms ; and thus from among the 150 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE persons who had already given evidence of abihty to rule, a class styled elders were appointed, doubtless by the brethren themselves, or at least with their fuU concurrence, to maintain a general superintendence over the church, to check excesses, control the exercise of extraordinary gifts, which was not always managed with discretion, and to regu.late the general pro- ceedings of the society. No definite routine of duties was assigned them beyond which they should not go. The guidance of the spiritual machinery was en- trusted to them as experience and wisdom, subject to apostolic direction, might judge most expedient. They possessed the gift of government in a peculiar degree, a gift which cannot be called extraordinary or miraculous like those of speaking with tongues and prophesying, but which ought to be regarded as the development of their own mental constitution aided by the Spirit's illumination. The name bishop (fV/cr/coTroc) was of later origin than elder. It was first applied in Gentile churches. The same reasons which led to the erection of a definite church office in the mother-church at Jeru- salem, gave rise to bishops in Gentile communities. But the Jewish-Christian title would have sounded strange in the ears of the latter. Hence the term bishop {kwiaKoiroq) with which they were familiar, inasmuch as it denoted an office in the Athenian state, presented itself as a suitable substitute." That the one was current among the Jewish- Christians, the « See Note XXII. EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 151 Other among the Gentiles, is clear I'rom the fact, that Peter and James who laboured among the former, invariably use elders not bishops (^-npia^vT^poi not kiriaKOTToi).'^ The office of both was exactly the same. The names are used synonymously; the only dis- tinction consisting in this, that the one refers to the dignity^ the other to the duties of the office. A few passages in the New Testament will show that presbyters or elders (irpeafivTipoi) and bishops or overseers (iiridKOTroi) are designations of the same office : " Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood." These persons are called the elders of the church of Ephesus in a preceding verse. In the Epistle to Titus it is written: " For this cause left I thee in Crete that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city as I had appointed thee — for a bishop must be blameless." So also writes Peter : " T7ie elders which are among you I exhort who am also an elder — feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof ;'' or as the original signifies, acting as bishops. The same conclusion un- questionably follows from the third chapter of the first Epistle to Timothy, in which Paul, after speaking of the qualifications required of a bishop, proceeds to notice those of deacons, without any mention of elders. " See RotLe, Die Anfange der christlichen Kirche. § 28. 8vo. Wittenberg: 1837. 152 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE But ill the subsequent chapters he mentions elders^ as though they were identical with bishops. The identity of elders and bishops is commonly admitted by impartial theologians of the Protestant Episcopal and Roman Catholic denominations. We need only mention Whitby belonging to the former ; and in the latter Mack, author of a commentary on the pastoral epistles." As long as there were prophesying and teaching besides other spiritual gifts in the primitive churches, the elders would probably devote themselves to the work of general superintendence and rule much more than to that of instruction. They acted as presidents, baptized, presided at the Lord's supper, assisted the poor and sick, maintained purity of doctrine and con- duct in the members, and settled disputes. In the preceding remarks it has been assumed on the ground of numerous passages, that definite church- offices were not established in all the churches at their commencement. Thus the church at Corinth seems to have had no elders when the apostle addressed his first epistle to it. But the fittest persons to be en- trusted with the distinct duties of office would soon appear by the exercise of their peculiar gifts; and when it was found necessary to institute definite offices in particular communities, the gifted brethren might frequently be chosen. They had already sup- plied the place of such offices ; and it was meet that " Commentar iiber die Pastoralbriefe. 8vo. 1836. EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 153 their talents should be thereafter exercised in a more marked circle of duties. In this manner elders or bishops occupied a position corresponding to that in which those members who had the charisms of govern- ment and of teaching {^i^ayj]) previously stood; some of them in the presbytery of a church assuming the department of instruction, while others ruled and presided. The various duties of the one compre- hensive office were distributed among them ; each bishop following out the direction of his own talents so as to subserve the church's prosperity. When we look at the settled state of the churches, after charisms had generally ceased — when the minds of Christians were no longer elevated and enlightened by extraordinary influences of the Spirit — when all that remained of the gifted brethren appeared in the elders — men favoured with less remarkable manifesta- tions; we shall find no other office-bearers besides them than those attending to the secular affairs. Bishops and deacons were intended to continue in the churches of Christ ; other offices were tem- porary. This opinion rests mainly on the following grounds. First. Bishops and deacons alone are mentioned in the Epistle to the Philippians, as belonging to the church in their city. Had there been other office- bearers in it when Paul wrote, it is most probable that he would have mentioned them; since no adequate reason can be assigned for specifying a part, not all. It cannot well be supposed that the Philippian church 154 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE was not fully organised at that time. To account for the mention of some office-bearers only, after this fashion, would be exceedingly arbitrary. Secondly. In the pastoral epistles, which contain the most copious directions respecting the regulation of churches, no officers are noticed except bishops and deacons. However unsettled the state of the Christian societies may have previously been, they had then assumed a fixed and permanent form ; for those epistles were written at a comparatively late date. The events recorded in the Acts of the Apostles indicate the nascent, extraordinary state of Christianity; whereas the letters in question apply to it after it had been estabhshed in a great part of the then civihsed world. Even on the assumption that the extraordinary gifts possessed by many Christians presupposed an imper- fect and temporary constitution of the religious com- munities, the pastoral epistles cannot be reasonably thought to depict that condition. The lateness of their composition, as well as internal evidence, con- tradicts the idea. They apply to a condition of Chris- tianity which would be likely to exist at all times ; and were doubtless intended to regulate the affairs of churches throughout the present dispensation. In the fourth chapter of the Epistle to the Ephes- ians, mention is made of pastors and teachers; and it has been disputed whether they were ordinary church- officers or spiritual and gifted men. The point how- ever is of little importance, since both views are essen- tially coincident. Those who possessed the charism of teaching., had a gift corresponding to the later EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 155 cliurch-office designated as the eldership^ or at least to part of the duties included in the elder's office ; and when offices were instituted in the churches, teachers were frequently invested with the eldership. Hence we have no hesitation in taking pastors and teachers as titles descriptive of ordinary office-bearers, especially as it is added that God appointed apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edify- ing of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ;" language peculiarly applicable to permanent office-bearers in the church of Christ. It has been also debated whether these terms refer to the same office, or to two distinct orders of spiritual officers. Pelagius, Ambrose, Calvin, Beza, Whitby, the Cambridge Platform, and the Savoy Confession, adopt the latter view ; while Jerome, Augustine, Riickert, Harless, Olshausen and others, embrace the former. Those who regard them as distinct, suppose that the teacher's peculiar duty is to attend to doctrine, while the pastors is to attend to exhortation. In the language of the Cambridge Platform, "the pastor's special work is to attend to exhortation, and therein to administer a word of wisdom. The teacher is to attend to doctrine, and therein to administer a word of knowledge." The form of the words favours the idea that both names are indiscriminately apphed to the same persons, in relation to the different capabilities 156 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE they possessed, or the different duties which they usually performed. Had the contrary been intended, we should have expected the passage to have stood thus, "and some pastors, and some teachers," just as it is said, "he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangehsts." Two classes of duties belong- ing to the same office are denoted by the terms in question. In the apostolic age these duties may have been performed by different individuals oftener than by one ; because there was a greater division of pas- toral labour at that time ; but it is natural to suppose that the teaching and pastoral duties were also exer- cised by the same person. Thus pastors and teachers are the same office-bearers with eldei^s or bishops. In the Acts of the Apostles the elders of the church of Ephesus are exhorted to feed the flock, (to act as pastors or shepherds of it, TToif-uuvuv — TToiiidveg elvai) over which the Holy Ghost had made them bishops, (overseers, English version ;) and in feeding the church, or acting as pastors, they not only 7'ided but taught. In being pastors, they were teachers of the flock. We have seen that four nouns were used inter- changeably, viz. elder {^vpia^VTipoq), bishop {eTriffKOirog), pastor (ttoi^uV), and teacher (SiSao-KaXoc), all being applied alike to persons who presided over a congre- gational church. They were employed as general terms of designation ; without being strictly defined, as technical names generally are. In the primitive period they had not acquired that exact appropriation to office which they subsequently received ; although EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 157 they were so appropriated to a great extent. The fact that the names were used interchangeably indicates with sufficient clearness, that the duties they symbolised belonged to one and the same office. They implied equal rank and authority. There were no gradations of office among elde7\ bishop^ pastoi^ and teacher^ in the apostolic age. Character and talents were the only ground of distinction. There was then a simplicity in the arrangements of God's house, unhke the cumbrous- ness introduced in later times of degeneracy. From the identity of presbyters and bishops, it follows that scriptural bishops were not such as modern or diocesaji bishops.'* They presided over one church or community, not over many. Some, however, endeavour to find diocesan bishops in the New Testament. The angels of the seven churches in Asia Minor are represented as bishops of those churches. This is the stronghold of those who find diocesan episcopacy in the Scriptures. It is not necessary, however, to spend many words on the argument. Archbishop Potter, who reasons from the title as adroitly as any of liis followers, endeavours to show that the seven angels were so many single persons, and that they were men of chief authority in their churches. He argues that they were not the whole church in their several cities, because the churches are repre- sented by seven candlesticks, whereas the angels are seven stars : they were not a select body of men, " See Note XXIII. 158 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE because they are mentioned as single persons : the angel of Thyatira was a married man, as is inferred from the words thy wife Jezebel^ tw ywalKa o-ou 'It^a/BfX; all the rest are constantly addressed in the singular number ; and the titles of angels and stars are always applied in the Apocalypse to single men, while there is no example of their being given to any society or number of men. Such are the particulars of Potter's argumentation. If diocesan episcopacy have no clearer or more sure foundation than this, it cannot have been designed for a perpetual arrangement suited to all places and circumstances. The expression, angel of the churchy is universally allowed to be obscure ; and it were strange if a system, or at least an essential part of a system of ecclesiastical polity, should have been based on a single phrase of dark and dubious import. It is contrary to analogy that God should have intended to establish diocesan episcopacy, and given no other revelation of his mind concerning it than the sole phrase, angel of the churchy at the commencement of the seven epistles. Mr. Garratt admits that there is no other instance of diocesan episcopacy in Scripture. It is needless to collect a multitude of opinions respecting the correct sense of the term angel in this connexion, since they are little more than conjectures. Obscurity will always envelop it. We shall simply state what appears to us the most probable meaning. Other parts of the New Testament show that these churches had several elders over them. For this purpose it is only necessary to refer to Acts xiv. 23, and xx. 17. EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 159 Hence some suppose the college of elders to be personi- fied by the title, migel of the church. But since all were equal in authority, none being permanent president or moderator, it is not likely that the singular number should be used. Besides, the instructions and warn- ings contained in the epistles were apparently intended for the members in general. Thus it is written in the second chapter, tenth verse : " Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast of you into prison, that ye may be tried ; and ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." Here the singular and plural number are intermingled, as though it were a matter of no importance which was used. It is vain to say with Potter, that the people are addressed where the plural is employed, and the bishop alone where the singular occurs ; and that the writer changes his style from the bishop to the people, and from the people to the bishop. The truth of the assertion is by no means obvious. On the contrary, the same person or persons are addressed in both num- bers, as far as the nature of the language will warrant a conclusion. Thus, it is first said in the singular number, " Fear none of those things which thou shalt sufierj" to which is immediately subjoined, "Behold, the devil shall cast of you into prison, that ye may be tried, and ye shall have tribulation ten days;" lan- guage which is surely explanatory of the things which were to be suffered. Hence the conclusion is most natural that the object addressed in the singular is identical with the persons spoken to in the plural, 160 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE especially as the singular is immediately resumed, — • " Be thou faithful unto death." Had one part of the verse been intended for the bishop, and the other part for the people, surely the distinction would have been more definite. In that case we should have expected a style of address appropriate to two portions of the church so far separated in power and dignity. Again, the language in the ninth verse of the third chapter is not so suitable to a prelate of the time of John the apostle as to the chiirch itself " Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet," &c. These words are appropriate, if the church itself be meant, to which the persons should come with humble reverence and attach themselves ; but they are scarcely in harmony with the spirit of the apostolic age, though we should suppose a diocesan bishop to be intended as the receiver of the homage. The general style of the book accords with a sym- bohcal interpretation of the title ; and since several parts of the epistles indicate that they were addressed neither to one president nor to several, it is probable that the title, angel of the churchy is simply a personifi- cation of the predominant and pervading spirit of each church. This will account for the formal address in the singular number, without the least necessity for resorting to the supposition of a single officer. It is also confirmed by the fact, that the New Testament epistles are generally addressed to the members of the churches rather than the presiding officers, even in cases where it must be reasonably inferred that office-bearers had been appointed. EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 161 When Potter argues that the angel of Thyatira was a married man, because the expression thy wife Jezebel is used, the interpretation is almost ludicrous. Surely the very name Jezebel, might have suggested the idea that the language is metaphorical ; the meaning being none other than that the spirit of Jezebel described in the first book of the Kings had been allowed to prevail. The doctrine of Balaam^ mentioned in another epistle, is analogous. If the word thy really belong to the text, it must denote the spirit which you have and cherish among you."' But the churches are represented by seven candle- sticks, whereas the angels are seven stars, consequently the angels are not identical with the churches them- selves. This objection is not formidable. It is quite consistent with our view to say, that the seven candlesticks are the seven churches, while the seven stars are the respective angels of those churches, or the characteristic spirit of each. Thus it is by no means obvious, as Mr. Boyd affirms, "that if each several candlestick represented a separate church, each several star should represent a separate minister of a church."^ The exposition now given appears to us more natural than any other, being perfectly accordant with every part of the addresses to the churches, with the genius of those societies as described in the New Testament, and also with the practice of the sacred « See Note XXIV. * Episcopacy and Presbytery, p. 109. 8vo. London: 1841. M 162 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE writers. If diocesan episcopacy be proved by this description of the seven churclies, its advocates may be congratulated on the ingenuity and strength of their reasoning powers, which can deduce a truth so important from the slender materials presented. The New Testament personages who have been iden- tified with modern bishops are Epaphras, Archippus, Epaphroditus, Sosthenes, Crescens, Apollos, Dio- trephes, Timothy, Titus, and James. The first of these individuals is noticed in the Epistle to the Colossians, i. 7, and iv. 12, 13 : " As ye also learned of Epaphras, our dear fellow-servant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ." " Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. For I bear him record that he hath a great zeal for you and them that are in Laodicea and them in Hierapohs." Those who can infer from these words that Epaphras was diocesan bishop of Colosse, must be very perspicacious. The weaker advocates of episcopacy alone adduce them as proof of a position incapable of legitimate demonstration. And why are they not consistent ? Why do they not deduce the conclusion from the same passages that Epaphras enjoyed the bishoprics of Laodicea and Hierapolis, as well as that of Colosse ? That Archippus was bishop of Colosse or Laodicea has been inferred by Dodwell, from the Epistle to the Colossians, iv. 17, and from the second verse of the Epistle to Philemon : " And say to Archippus, EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 163 Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it." " And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellow soldier," &c. The Apostohc Constitutions assign him the bishopric of Laodicea. He appears to have filled some office in the church of Colosse ; although the nature of it cannot be discovered at the present day. Many think that he was a deacon; perhaps because the word translated ministry is ttiv ^laKov'mv. It is more probable, we think, that he was a hisJiop ; not however a prelate or diocesan bishop. In relation to Epaphroditus, who seems to have been a different person from Epaphras, he is elevated by Theodoret to the rank of a prelate, because he is called an apostle, and on the ground of a passage in the Epistle to the Philippians, ii. 25 : " Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and companion in labour and fellow soldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered to my wants." But he was not an apostle in the proper sense of the word. He was the messenger of the Philippians. Besides, the commencement of the epistle shows, that the church at Phihppi had a plurality of bishops : hence they could not have been diocesan. A comparatively late tradition makes Sosthenes bishop of Colophon. The Sosthenes mentioned in 1 Cor. i. 1, was probably a different person from the ruler of the synagogue. Acts xviii. 17. All that can be gathered from the New Testament respecting him is, that he was a Christian well known to the Corinth- ians, and associated in the gospel with the apostle Paul, M 2 164 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE Crescens was also an assistant of Paul in preaching the gospel ; but this is all the information concerning him furnished by the New Testament. The traditions respecting him in the Apostolic Constitutions, and the writings of the fathers, rest on no foundation. Apollos was a preacher, chiefly at Corinth, but there is not a shadow of proof that he was a diocesan bishop. We know nothing of Diotrephes, except what is stated in the third Epistle of John. He seems to have been one of the members of the church, and ambitious to have the pre-eminence. When Brokesby states that to him " a pre-eminence was due, but he was too great an affecter of it, and an ill manager of it, in which he exceeded his bounds," he draws on his own imagination.'' Timothy was probably an evangelist He was requested at least to do the work of an evangelist, (2 Tim. iv. 5.) He attended Paul for a considerable time, assisting him in his labours, and sharing his dangers. Whitby admits that he did not hold an office identical with that of a modern prelate. Titus is not called an evangelist^ but it is probable he was so, because the directions given to him by Paul closely resemble those given to Timothy. He was left in Crete to ordain elders in every city, and to set in order the things that were wanting. Having finished the work for which he had been left in the *" Government of the Primitive Church for the Three First Cen- turies to the beginning of the Fourth. By Francis Brokesby, B.D., Fellow of Trinity College in Cambridge, p. 63. 8vo. London: 1712. EAKLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 165 island, he was sent for the next year to Nicopohs, (Titus iii. 12.) Tlius Timothy and Titus were employed by the apostle Paul to perform certain ecclesiastical duties, for which, doubtless, they were well quaUfied by the Holy Spirit ; but it cannot be proved that they were located at Ephesus and Crete as stated office-bearers presiding over dioceses, and having the kind of epis- copal jurisdiction which a prelate legally exercises. They were required to set in order the things that were wanting, and to ordain elders in every city, (Titus i. 5 ;) but, in doing so, they acted under the express direction of an inspired apostle, for Paul says, " as I had appointed thee." " Evangelists," says Stilhng- fleet, " were sent sometimes into this country, to put the churches in order there, sometimes into another ; but wherever they were, they acted as evangelists, and not as fixed officers. And such were Timothy and Titus, notwithstanding all the opposition made against it, as will appear to any that will take an impartial survey of the arguments on both sides."" Whenever an apostle shall appoint an evangelist or any other to do a work similar to that entrusted to Timothy and Titus, we shall render all due honour to men so called and equipped for their ecclesiastical em- ployment. Perhaps we might even concede to them the title and jurisdiction of a diocesan bishop. But we cannot metamorphose modern prelates into Timothys and Tituses, without a scriptural warrant. There is " See his Irenicum, p. 340. 4to. London ; 1662. 166 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE an essential difference between them in the mode of their appointment, the authority by which they are sent, the affairs committed to their care, and the power which they rightfully possess, or ambitiously usurp." James is said to have been bishop of Jerusalem. He who has been so styled was probably James the less, one of the apostles ; and there is nothing in the New Testament to show that he was superior to the other apostles, or to justify Baur's extravagant assertions respecting him, as if he were the bishop of all bishops^ more than an apostle^ the representative of Jesus himself. Like all the apostles, he had the care of the churches ; although he seems to have chiefly resided in Jerusalem, and watched over the disciples in that city.* In the apostolic council he does not occupy such pre-eminence as the arch- bishop of the metropolis would naturally possess in virtue of his office. On the contrary, some of the other apostles are as prominent as he. Paul and Barnabas were sent as a deputation from the Antioch- ian church, a second time, to the apostles and eldei'S. The whole narrative, in short, contained in the fifteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, plainly shows that the body of the disciples was present at the consultation of the apostles and elders. Hence the letter containing the decision was sent forth in the name of the apostles, elders, and brethren. Neither James, nor any other of the apostles, assumed eccle- " See Note XXV. * See Note XXVI. EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 167 siastical authority over the church. They cherished no ambitious designs ; ahhough they might have suc- cessfully executed many, had they been so disposed. Theirs was a nobler, because an humbler, spirit. Their tempers and characters were too deeply imbued with holiness to allow self to usurp that place in their desires which belonged to the Great Master whom they faithfully served. Deacons are mentioned in the Epistle to the Philip- pians, i. 1, and in the first Epistle to Timothy, iii. 8, 10, 12, 13. The office-bearers whose election is described in the sixth chapter of the Acts, have been usually regarded as deacons. Some, however, have viewed them in a different light. The proper answers to two questions will embrace all the particulars needful to be discussed in the present place. First: were the persons whose election is there noticed, the first deacons ? Secondly : were they identical with the officers mentioned in the first Epistle to Timothy and expressly called deacons yolCLKOVOl) ? First. Many writers have supposed that they were 7iot the first deacons. Mosheim, Kuinoel, Mack, Olshausen, Meyer, a writer in the Encyclopeedia Metropohtana, and Whately, are of this opinion. Li support of it, it is alleged, that traces of earlier deacons are discoverable in the fifth chapter of the Acts. The young men who carried out the corpses of Ana- nias and Sapphira were the deacons of the church at Jerusalem. In proof of this meaning assigned to the 168 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE word rendered young men (usdirepoQ)^ reference is made to Luke's gospel, xxii. 26, and to 1 Peter v. 5, where the same term signifies a public servant. In the former passage vatorepoc appears to be used synony- mously with SiaKovCjv. But the identity is apparent^ not real. In both cases there is a reference to age^ not to office. Accordingly, WyclifFe translates the words of Luke, " he that is grettist among you be maad as yonger." Inferior services, such as that speci- fied, seem to have been performed by persons under- taking them spontaneously. And who so ready to proffer their assistance in those matters as the young and active ? It is not probable that the same persons performed these duties on every occasion. There were individuals always willing to render assistance ; but it can scarcely be proved that they held a distinct office. We believe that the passages adduced by Mosheim and others do not establish the position for which they are quoted. Another argument advanced in favour of the same opinion is derived from the language of the apostles, " it is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables." There must have been some dispensers., either the apostles themselves, or special deacons. If, therefore, the apostles' words exclude themselves from having discharged the duty, there must have been special dispensers., or deacons. Such is the reasoning of a writer in the Encyclopaedia Metropolitana. To us it seems inconclusive. The assertion, " it is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables," does not prove that EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 1G9 the apostles had not officiated. It is quite consistent with their language to suppose that they took on them a general superintendence of the funds appro- priated to the poor and sick, leaving the details to others ; and it is highly probable that they did so. But when the number of believers increased, and conflicting interests began to appear ; when jealousies sprang up among the new converts, arising, in part, from the different modes of thinking characteristic of Jews and Gentiles — from the prejudices of the former; and the free spirit of the latter, often bordering on excess — the apostles saw the necessity of appointing persons who should relieve them of a burden partly inconsistent with their proper calling ; and at the same time allay the murmurings which had already broken forth, and from which they themselves could not hope to be exempted, should they continue to dispense alms. Hence arose a pressing necessity for special office-bearers. Attention is farther directed to the fact, that the complaint is called a murmuring of the Grecians or foreign Jews, against the Hebrews or native Jews, because the widows of the former were neglected ; and that the names of the seven are all Hellenist or Grecian ; whence the conclusion has been drawn, that they were only the first Grecian deacons, Hebrew deacons having existed before. It is thought that the latter had acted with partiality in the distri- bution of alms among the widows. They had neeflected the Grecians and attended to their own party. But from the fact of the names being Grecian, 170 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE it does not follow . that the seven all belonged to the Greeks ; for the Jews had often double names, the one Hebrew, the other Hellenistic. The very circum- stance, too, of the murmuring proceeding from the Hellenistic part of the church, might have led the church to choose Hellenists alone, that there might be no ground for alleging partiality in future, but that complete confidence might be established in the minds of the Hellenists. On the whole, we see no sufficient ground for doubt- ing that the deacons now elected were the first of that order. It is not probable that there were already Hebrew deacons. The distribution of alms had been superintended by the apostles ; but as they could not attend to details consistently with their spiritual duties, some of the disciples had been entrusted with the specialities of management, not always the same per- sons ; and it was almost unavoidable that they should have been Palestinian Jews, for of them was the church at Jerusalem chiefly composed. It cannot be ascertained whether the complaint was founded in truth, or merely in distrust of the Hebrews on the part of the Hellenists. One thing only is certain, that the discontent of the Grecians, whether well or ill-grounded, found expression, and led to the creation of an office, to which seven persons, well qualified, and possessing the church's confidence, were solemnly chosen. Secondly. Were these seven individuals identical with the office-bearers mentioned in the first Epistle to Timothy, and there styled deacons? The affirmative is generally assumed. They were originally appointed EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 171 ^laKovHv^ to serve^ to act as deacons to^ tables. And yet it is true that in the Acts of the Apostles, they are never called deacons (SiaKovoi), but simply the seven. Neither are the special duties for which they were appointed described by Paul when speaking of the office in the first Epistle to Timothy. Hence some have supposed that the office to which the persons mentioned in the sixth chapter of the Acts were appointed, was tem,porary^ as arising out of a special emergency; and that it did not correspond to the deaconship. This reasoning is of little force. It must be ad- mitted, indeed, that Luke in the Acts of the Apostles, speaks of the seven^ not the seven deacons^ (Acts xxi. 8 :) but the circumstance may be explained by the currency and commonness of the name belonging to the office. It was so well known that the writer did not think it necessary to append it. He omitted it for the sake of brevity. Thus in the first Epistle to the Corinthians, the twelve are named, without the addition, apostles. On the same principle, Paul, in his first Epistle to Timothy, omits to notice the primary duties to which the deacons were appointed. If the office had already existed for a considerable time, it was superfluous to say that the deacons were stewards and almoners. It was far more important to state the qualifications necessary in those who should be good deacons than the secular duties they were required to undertake ; for, unless the proper qualifications pre- ceded, it was superfluous to allude to the latter. The qualifications could not be defined too clearly ; whereas 172 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE tlie particular acts of service involved in the office were sufficiently marked in practice. In short, there is no good reason for dissociating the office mentioned in the sixth chapter of the Acts from that which is described in the first Epistle to Timothy. Nor was it of a temporary nature, confined to the Palestinian or Jewish Christian churches : it was in the church at Phihppi. If we beheve that bishops were designed to be perpetual in Christian communities, we must consistently believe that deacons were also intended to be permanent. The duties of the office consisted in the distribution of the church's alms, under the sanction of the apostles. The seven were appointed to serve tables, that is, to attend to pecuniary matters — tables for money not for food. It does not necessarily follow from the record of their appointment, that they were to distribute money to the poor widows alone ; but they were to receive the offerings of the brethren, to provide for the maintenance of the elders, and to distribute to such as were in need, the poor, the aged, the sick, and the in- firm. They acted, in short, as the church's treasurers and almoners. Thus the office was entirely occupied with temporahties. After elders were appointed, the deacons were sub- ordinate to their influence, as they had been before to that of the apostles. That they were subordinate to the elders is certain from Acts xi. 30, where it is related that pecuniary relief was sent by the disciples at Antioch to the elders. The contributions intended for the poorer members of the church were given into the EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 173 hands of the elders, not the deacons ; and it may be fairly supposed, with Neander, that the presbyters entrusted each of the deacons with a sum out of the common fund, for distribution in his own department. The fact is instructive, as showing that the elders were considered to have the general superintendence of all affairs belonging to the church. It has been made a subject of inquiry whether the deacon was allowed to preach or teach. Some have even elevated him to be a preaching officer in the church, referring to the case of Stephen who preached, and of Philip who both preached and administered the ordinance of baptism. In regard to the former, it is not expressly stated that he preached. Full of faith and power "he did great wonders and miracles among the people." Cer- tain classes of Jews with whom he came into contact disputed with him. Hence he justified himself and his cause from the accusations of the adversaries, en- tering at length into his defence. To speak correctly, he did not preachy or make a sermon, as it is now called. And even supposing that he did preach, or do all that is substantially implied in preaching, it was not by virtue of his office of deacon. He was en- dowed with remarkable gifts which it was his duty to employ, as opportunities presented themselves. In the infancy of Christianity, before the church of Jerusalem was fully and permanently organised, and when pecu- liar endowments were bestowed by the Holy Spirit on many disciples, we need not expect exact precedents for future times. The distinction between the laity 174 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE and the clergy did not then exist. It was the duty of every one who was acquainted with the truth to pro- pagate it as best he might. Not that the private member usurped the prerogatives of the elder, in a particular church over which the eldership had been appointed ; but that all were laudably employed in promoting the faith, as God gave them ability. And it is still the incumbent duty of every man who knows and feels the truth to make it known to his fellow- men. The circumstances of modern times and those connected with the introduction of Cliristianity are in many respects dissimilar ; while the meaning of preach- ing is so indeterminate as to preclude precision of argu- ment on the point in question. Looking at the case of Stephen we infer, that formal preaching^ like that which belongs to the elder's office in the present day, was no part of the deaconship ; although a deacon was not precluded by office from doing all that lay within the sphere of his influence to commend the gospel to those with whom he might converse, while discharging the duties of his appropriate work. The spirit of Stephen's example transferred to modern times, justi- fies us in affirming that a deacon should not refrain from occasionally preaching in a pulpit, when re- quested to do so by a Christian church, in the absence of an elder ; provided the duties of the deaconship be not neglected. For he must never engage in any work, as long as he continues a deacon, which would tend to prevent him from discharging his own office. Of Phihp it is expressly stated, that he preached EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 175 Christ to the inhabitants of Samaria. He had left Jerusalem. The whole church and the deacons — all except the apostles — had been scattered by the persecution following Stephen's martyrdom. He had thus virtually ceased to be a deacon. And who shall blame him for making known Christ wherever he went ? But he also baptized. Does not this show that the deacon was a preaching officer in the church, since none but a regular preacher is authorised to ad- minister the ordinance of baptism ? Some say that he preached and baptized by virtue of his office as an evangelist. He is certainly styled an evangelist in the Acts of the Apostles, (xxi. 8 ;) but it is doubtful whether he was an evangelist at the time he is men- tioned in the eighth chapter. The hypothesis is unnecessary; for the peculiarity of circumstances will more than justify his preaching and baptizing. Even those who take the cabalistic view of ordination should be satisfied with the explanation furnished by the character of the times. What is allowable and proper in unusual circumstances, furnishes no regular pre- cedent for ordinary ones. Should Philip be called a layman, he was justified both in preaching and baptizing, because he had gifts of God qualifying him to be a teacher. The administration of baptism was not then confined to the clergy. To use the words of Ambrosiaster, "At first all taught and all baptized, in whatever days and times there was oppor- tunity. Philip did not seek for a time or a day in which he might baptize the eunuch, nor did he inter- 176 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE pose fasting," &c." And there may be circumstances in the present day, in which a layman is authorised to baptize ; for we do not look upon baptizing as a pre- rogative necessarily involved in the pastor's office. Andrew Fuller was right when he said, "It appears to me that every approved teacher of God's word, whether ordained the pastor of a particular church or not, is authorised to baptize."^ From these remarks it will be evident, that preach- ing is not a part of the deacoris office^ though he may occasionally preach. But when he does so, he preaches not by virtue of his office, but by virtue of his attach- ment to Christ. The apostle Paul, describing the deacon's qualifications, mentions none connected with teaching ; while he says expressly, that the elder should be apt to teach. Thus the position of Archbishop Potter is correct, "It was not properly any part of the deacon's office to preach,"*^ although he was not debarred from giving free scope to his talents in the service of the church. Some American Congregationalists seem extremely solicitous of confining the deacon within his own sphere. Hear the following sentiments : "Although deacons in the absence of the pastor may take the lead in religious meetings, and may read the Scrip- tures and make practical remarks, the order and well- being of the churches require, that they be careful not to entrench upon what are appropriately pastoral duties ; and, therefore, they are not considered at « See Note XXVII. * Works, vol. v. p. 282. '^ Discourse of Church Government, p. 156. London edition: 1845. EAELIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 177 liberty to select a text and preach from it what has to the audience the appearance of a sermon, and is designed to be such ; nor is it proper for them to dis- miss the assembly with a formal benediction, such as is customarily heard at the breaking up of religious assemblies, from the hps of the minister."" Is not this an attempt to draw distinctions, proceeding from ex- cessive jealousy ? Do we not discern in the language now quoted, an endeavour to separate things almost alike — an expedient which common sense will repu- diate ? We leave it to the writer himself to specify the difference between "taking the lead in religious meet- ings, reading the Scriptures, and making practical remarks," and " selecting a text and preaching from it what has to the audience the appearance of a sermon." Why the deacon too, after reading the Scriptures and making practical remarks, should not dismiss the assembly with the Scripture benediction, is to us mysterious. It is enough to assert that the New Testament neither directly nor indirectly condemns the idea that a deacon, should the church request him to preach a sermon, is warranted to comply with the call, if he have reason to suppose that the absent pastor has no objection. And let him pronounce the benediction at the close, for there is nothing talismanic in the words issuing from the lips of an ordained minister. A private member of the church may preach under the same circmnstances. The deacon does so by virtue of his memberships not his office} « Upham's Ratio Discipline, § 42, p. 77. * See Note XXVIII, N 178" OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE We should not have alhided to a statement of the apostle Paul addressed to Timothy, had it not been recently readduced by Garratt to show that deacons preached the gospel generally, or under limitations. The passage in question is this : " They that have used the office of a deacon well, purchase to them- selves a good degree, and great boldness in the faith which is in Christ Jesus," viz. they that have used the office of deacon well, qualify themselves for a higher one, viz. that of elder. This interpretation is inad- missible, though sanctioned by a host of commentators ancient and modern. The phrase, " a good degree," does not mean a step to a higher office, but a good estima- tion or standing.*' The deaconship required pecuhar talents, especially the power of discriminating and managing various dispositions ; and therefore such as were successful naturally obtained the high esteem of their fellow-Christians. Although it is exceedingly difficult to ascertain the true meaning of the word rendered helps in the first Epistle to the Corinthians, (xii. 28,) avTiXr}4^Hq^ it seems to us most probable that it refers to the office of deacon. In that case it denotes such assistants as had charge of the poor and sick, in addition to similar duties. This opinion is adopted by Neander and De Wette. It appears from the Epistle to the Romans, (xvi. 1,) that there were official females in some of the apostohc churches : " I commend unto you Phoebe, our sister, ' See Note XXIX. EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 179 which is a servant {deaconess^ ^laKovou) of the church which is at Cenchrea." The following passage also seems to allude to the same office : " Let not a widow be taken into the number under threescore years old; having been the wife of one man, well reported of for good works ; if she have brought up childi^en, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have dihgently followed every good work. — But the younger widows refuse," &c. (1 Tim. v. 9 — 15.) It is generally admitted that Phoebe is styled a deaconess ; but many doubt whether the latter passage applies to an office held by aged females. That it does refer to deaconesses has been argued on the following grounds : 1. The word rendered by our translators taken into the number^ KaraXiyBaOw^ signifies literally, selected or chosen. The apostle begins to speak of widows at the third verse of the chapter, enjoining the church to provide for their support ; but at the nmth verse he says, let not a widow be chosen; referring apparently to some office to which she should not be chosen under sixty years of age. Here, therefore, another kind of widows is introduced, viz. an official class; unofficial widows having been described from the fifth to the ninth verse. 2. In the verses quoted, qualifications are men- tioned, the want of which could not reasonably exclude widows from the charitable contributions of the church provided they were desolate. In opposition to these considerations it is argued that only one kind of widows is spoken of throughout N 2 180 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE the entire passage, (verses 3 — 18.) It is urged that the sixteenth verse, as compared with the fourth and eighth, shows that two classes are not specified, but merely such as are aged and truly helpless. " If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them, and let not the church be charged ; that it may reheve them that are widows indeed." — " But if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to show piety at home, and to requite their parents : for that is good and acceptable before God. But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." It is also said that the age mentioned, sixty^ is inconsistent with Christian activity. If office were not undertaken till sixty, that age appears to render the female incapable of active service. The qualifi- cations described refer to past works, while nothing is said of present capabilities. And yet Phoebe is com- mended to the brethren to be assisted in whatever business she hath need of. Between these conflicting opinions it is difficult to decide. We are inclined to adopt the former, although Neander has reasoned strongly against it. Most of his objections are obviated, in part at least, by Rothe. There appears no valid reason for supposing that there was 2i formal office, with duties distinctly marked out, and regularly performed by certain females in the early churches. As we do not read of deaconesses in any other church than that at Cenchrea, it is hazardous to build on it and the passage in the first EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 181 Epistle to Timothy already considered, the proposition that a class of official females was as uniformly ap- pointed in all the churches as the deacons themselves. In consequence of the peculiar customs of society in the East, the women being much secluded, a deacon may have found it impossible, in many cases, to main- tain such intercourse with the female members of the church as his office required, without awakening evil surmises. Hence widows were chosen as assistants to the deacons in distributing alms to the female mem- bers, according to their necessities ; in visiting them when sick; and in otherwise ministering to their com- fort. Such were selected whenever the church per- ceived the necessity of them; but it is not probable that they appeared as a distinct class in all the primi- tive churches, or that they were designed to be per- manent officials. In that case we should have expected much clearer directions concerning them than those in the first Epistle to Timothy ; and besides, the usages of society, to which they chiefly owed their existence, are now altered. Doubtless delicate cases will occa- sionally occur in the present day requiring the presence and assistance of females ; but these can be managed by members of the same sex whom the church may select for the emergency." Many have divided elders into two classes, viz. teaching or preaching^ and ruling elders. It is admitted that all rule or govern ; but while some preach as well as rule, others, it is said, should confine themselves to ° See Note XXX. 182 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE government, having no official authority to expound the vi^ritten word. That this is a correct statement of the Presbyterian opinion will be seen from the words of Dick : " It belongs to one class to rule, and in ruling their whole duty consists. They are required to do nothing more than to administer the laws of Christ for the regu- lation of the conduct of his followers. Those of the other class are joined with them in the rule of the church ; but there is an additional duty incumbent upon them, in which the former have no concern, namely, to labour in word and doctrine, to preach the gospel, and administer the sacraments."*^ The most important passage adduced in favour of the class of office-bearers termed ruling elders^ is found in the first Epistle of Paul to Timothy, v. 17: " Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they that labour in the word and doctrine." " These words," says Dr. King, " could suggest to an unbiased reader only one meaning : that all elders who rule well are worthy of abundant honour, but especially those of their number who, besides ruling well, also labour in word and doctrine. Of course, the passage so interpreted, bears, that of the elders who rule well, only some labour in word and doctrine; that is, there are ruling elders, and among these, teaching elders, as we have at the present day."* Few would object to this reasoning, under- " Lectures on Theology, vol. i. p. 384. 8vo. Edinburgh: 1834. * The Ruling Eldership of the Christian Church, p. 54. 12mo. 2ad edition. Edinburgh: 1846. EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 183 stood in its obvious sense; for a distinction is mani- festly implied between those elders that rule well, and those who labour in word and doctrine. The point in dispute is, the nature of the distinction. Are they separated into two classes so widely different as that one may not do all the acts which the other performs ? Or, is the nature of the distinction merely such as arises from the possession of various talents directed to the discharge of different duties, while all have an equal right to perform the same functions ? The latter position we hope to render indisputable to all but those who are resolved to abide by their opinions in the face of reasonable evidence to the contrary. Let us look attentively at the words of the apostle addressed to Timothy. In the first place, the elders generally are mentioned — a class of persons officially distinguished by the name elders, in connexion with a certain department of their duty, by doing which well they are entitled to double honour. In the se- cond place, a part of this general class of elders is singled out as specially deserving such double main- tenance. The genus, if we may so speak, is first mentioned; and next a certain portion of it, distin- guished for certain qualities. Does the word especially (fnaXicTTa) mark two sepa- rate classes? Or, does it denote a distinction among individuals belonging to the same class? Unques- tionably the latter. The universal usage of the adverb will bear out the assertion : " As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men; especially unto them who are of the household of faith." Here 184 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE tliey who are of the household of faith are included in the all preceding ; they belong to the all, but are particularised. " All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household." Here again they of Ctesar's household are included among all the saints, and are simply particularised from among them. " We trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, especially of those that believe:" all men, especially they ivho believe, the latter being compre- hended in the former. " But if any man provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house," &c. : his oivn, embracing those of his own household ; the general appellation containing the latter. " The books, but especially the parchments;" the books, including the parchments. " For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision." They of the circumcision are selected from among the many unruly and vain talkers. " A brother beloved, specially to me." Onesi- mus was beloved by many, among whom was Paul. From these examples we draw the conclusion that the adverb in question precedes the mention of certain persons or things included in a more general appel- lation going before. A general term, denoting a class of persons or things, precedes ; and the adverb after- wards serves to direct particular attention to some of these persons or things. It is employed to single out certain individuals embraced in a general epithet. Let us apply these remarks to the passage in the Epistle to Timothy. " Let the elders that rule ;" such is the general appellation; "especially they that EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 185 labour;" words by whicli a certain part of the elders who rule are particularised as labouring in word and doctrine. The latter are included in the former, as in all the examples adduced. The elders who rule embrace those who labour in the word and doctrine. Those who labour in the word and doctrine also rule well ; but the former is a more important department of duty, as is implied in the term especially. It is not, however, the matter of a distinction between the preaching and ruling elders which is in dispute, but, as we have said, the kind of distinction. Among Presbyterians, the distinction is so marked as to constitute two offices. In their view the two classes are so distinct as to have separate duties to which they are restricted. Euling elders, it is contended, have no concern with preaching and teaching. That is a business beyond their province. They have no authority to go out of the governing department. Here, then, we join issue with them, and affirm that the distinction lies in different departments of the same office. The passage in Timothy states no more than that elders possessing the abihty to rule, as well as to labour in word and doctrine, deserved maintenance better than the elders who, while they also ruled well, were either deficient in the talent of teaching, or indisposed to employ it as they were able. The explanation given by Presbyterians violates the phi- losophy of language. If all were ruling elders, they must have been so in the same sense. All must either have been distinctively ruling elders, — the term imling describing their official peculiarity of situation, — or 186 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE else tliey must *all have been such elders as are termed ruling in regard to one department of labour. It will not suffice to take all these ruling elders as ruhng under different official characters ; some having none other employment than ruling; others having more important duties to discharge than those of govern- ment. Ruling well is a phrase that must be under- stood in the same way in the same passage ; so that all the persons spoken of, without exception, must be solely ruling elders in the appropriated sense of it, or all must be ruhng elders in an unappropriated sense, and consequently having other duties to perform. Either acceptation is fatal to the argument founded on the passage in favour of a class of officers whose sole department in a church is to administer the laws of Christ. Presbyterians gain nothing by proving that some elders in the primitive churches ruled while others preached. That is a position too manifest to be called in question. Other parts of the New Testament would warrant that conclusion, had the text in the Epistle to Timothy been wanting. In each church there was a plurahty of elders. Some were chiefly employed in teaching, others in ruhng. But when it is maintained that the latter did not teach because they were officially set apart to another work, and had therefore no right to do so, the view has no countenance in the New Testament. Those who ordinarily refrained from preaching are thus meta- morphosed into laymen or lay elders^ in opposition to clerical or preaching elders. Such is the true view of EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 187 Calvin and the Reformed cliurches. " This is the warpe and webbe of the laie Presbyterie, that hath so enfolded some men's wits that they cannot unreave their cogi- tations from admiring their newe found consistories. And in deede the credite of their first devisers did somewhat amuse me, as I thinke it doeth others, till .... I began more seriouslie to rip up the whole ; and then I found both the slenderness of the stuffe and loosenesse of the worke, that had deceived so many men's eies."" It is curious to observe how the main point is kept out of sight in " King's Treatise on the Ruling Elder- ship," where the real fact of debate between Congre- gationahsts and Presbyterians is never stated. In this modern production, the entire argument is occupied with showing that there was a distinction among the elders of the primitive churches, some of them labour- ing in one department, others in another. When a new work shall be written on the same side of the question, let the matter be properly treated. Let it be candidly stated that ruhng elders have nothing to do with the duties of the pastoral office except with government ; that they have no authority, divine or human, to preach or teach, or preside at the Lord's supper, or at church meetings, or to baptize ; for this is the true doctrine of the Presbyterian church. If there be elders whose sole office is to rule, why are they never allowed to preside at meetings of the church; or to be moderators of sessions, pres- " " BiLSON, Perpetual Government of Christ's Church; Epistle to the Reader." 4to. London: 1593. 188 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE byteries, and synods. One should suppose that their experience in ruUng, to which they are exclusively devoted, would give them a better title to preside at such assemblies than the preaching elders. But, as far as we may judge from practice, ministers of the gospel proceed on the supposition that they themselves are always superior in presiding and governing, although they have other weighty duties to perform, to men who have nothing to do with any other department of spiritual labour. Presbyterians have created a fictitious distinction among elders. Instead of contenting themselves with the assertion that some should generally rule, because they have special talents adapted to government, they have proceeded a step farther, alleging that these elders must confine themselves to the administration of law, abstaining from that of the word. The apostolic age knows no such elders. By virtue of their office all were equal in right and privilege. Any one elder had a right to do whatever any other did. But they found it expedient to apportion different duties belonging to the same office among themselves, in accordance with the capacity and experience of each; for the sake of promoting the highest interests of the church over which they unitedly watched. The following considerations disprove the office of lay eldership. 1. It implies, that a distinction between the laity and clergy was made in the apostolic period. That separation, however, is foreign to the New Testament. All the members of a Christian com- EAKLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 189 munity occasionally exercised their various gifts for tlie edification of the body. The mouths of none were closed up by persons arrogating to themselves the exclusive appellation of the clergy; God's inherit- ance^ according to the origin of the term. But when the mystery of iniquity began to develop itself, a separating line was drawn between two classes of believers in the same assembly, far larger than that which existed after the earhest appointment of definite officers ; and the privileges of the one were abridged in proportion as those of the other were enlarged. 2. Elders (Trjoeo-jSursioot) is the appropriated appella- tion of bishops in other places of the New Testament. It is therefore agreeable to usage to understand it of bishops alone in the present text. 3. Stated and ordinary bishops are elsewhere said to rule. "Remember them which have the rule (^ri-fovfxivoi) over you." "And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you and are over you in the Lord," or, as it might be properly translated, who rule over you (^TrpoiaTafxtvoi.) Hence it is natural to infer, that in the present instance, the phrase they that labour in word and doctrine^ is co- extensive with them that rule. 4. Double honour^ of which the elders who rule well are counted worthy, must mean, double mainten- ance^ as the succeeding context shows. But in no passage of Scripture do we find the least intimation or command towards contributing to the temporal " See Note XXXI. 190 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE support of an order of men wlio do not teach or preach in piibhc. Such contributions are due to pastors and bishops — to speaking^ not to silent elders. 5. In enumerating the quahfications of elders, the apostle Paul says of all, without exception or dis- tinction, that they should be apt to teach (^iSo/ctikoi.) But if some had no concern in teaching, this qualifica- tion was absolutely worthless. It is absurd to require that all elders should be fit to teach, and to affirm at the same time that some of them ought not to teach because they are laymen or lay-officers. These arguments are sufficient to overthrow the hypothesis of ruling elders, a class of officers whose existence is not recognised in the New Testament." The passage in Timothy simply recognises the fact that some taught, and that others commonly refrained from preaching; the college of presbyters being endowed with various gifts. Some excelled in prudent super- intendence of the people, others in public exposition. Seldom, if ever, was one bishop equally eminent in all departments of his office. How natural is it then to suppose, that those who had a talent for teaching should have chiefly devoted themselves to the cultivation of their talent ; while others venerable for their experience and piety managed the affairs of the Christian society I Hence it happened in practice, that some presbyters preached, and others governed ; the arrangement being simply a matter of wisdom and choice, not of inherent principle or privilege. In point of fact, not " See Note XXXIL EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 191 of right ^ a part laboured in word and doctrine ; while another part administered the laws of Christ for the regulation of the conduct of his disciples." Two other passages have been adduced by Calvin, and repeated by his adherents, in favour of ruling elders, viz. Romans xii. 8, and 1 Cor. xii. 28. It is unnecessary to dwell on them. The words in the Epistle to the Romans are these : "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith ; or ministry, let us wait on our ministering ; or he that teacheth, on teaching ; or he that exhorteth, on exhortation : he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity ; he that ruleth, with diligence ; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness." It is tolerably clear that charisms peculiar to the apostolic age are spoken of in the first three clauses; but it is not equally clear that the next four, or at least three, should be so understood. Instead of considering the fourth, fifth, and sixth, as the manifestations of the charisms spoken of in the former; or as distinct from them, yet still belonging to the same general class; we are inclined to refer them to the exercise of Christian virtues in believers generally. It is true that the charism of rule (^Trpoiaravai) may be aptly com- pared with that expressed by a cognate term in the parallel passage, 1 Cor. xii. 28, {Kv^epvriaiQ^) but this does not appear sufiicient to recommend the interpretation » See Note XXXIII. 192 OFFICES APPOINTED IN THE which Neander and Olshausen follow. In any case, no definite church offices are described in the passage, but only the charisms to which those offices afterwards instituted, corresponded. But even on the supposition that the phrase in question, he that ruleth^ denotes the ruhng elder, we may ask, by what process of interpretation is it dis- covered that he who "ruleth" has no right to teach? Why is the presiding elder thrust down among the laity as they are called? Could he not have been a bishop or elder who devoted himself to the depart- ment of governing because he had talents for it, leaving the preaching of the word to those who excelled in preaching ? Surely this idea is probable, as it is consistent with less obscure passages which allude to elders. Those who expound each clause of a distinct office in a Christian community forget the unsettled state of the churches in which various charisms existed, no less than the fluctuating nature of the gifts themselves. It is quite probable that these gifts were so connected with each other, that he who was at one time a prophet^ by virtue of the charism he possessed, became at another time a teacher^ by a change or extension of the gift. Or, on the other hand, one individual might possess two charisms at the same time not definitely separated, but yet dis- tinguishable. The passage in the first Epistle to the Corinthians is the following : " And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers ; after that miracles, then gifts of healing, EARLIEST CHRISTIAN CHURCHES. 193 helps, governments, diversities of tongues." Here governments are identified with ruling elders. " There is no other class of persons," says Dr. Dick, " to whom this title, used as it is in contradistinction to other office-bearers, will apply, but the ruling elder of Pres- byterians; and it is with obvious propriety that they are designated governors, as the sole business of their office is to govern the congregation over which they are appointed."" A weak cause requires unusual logic ; and we have httle hesitation in characterising that logic which makes governments synonymous with modern ruling elders^ as unusual. If the interpretation be correct, these officers are placed seventh in rank. Is not this remarkable ? The word translated govern- ments (/cuj3f|Oi'?jo-£fc), denotes, hterally, charisms of government, which were bestowed on various indi- " viduals in the early churches, qualifying them for ruling. Who these persons were, it is difficult to determine with certainty; but it is most probable that the elders or bishops are principally meant. " These two characteristics, the Trpocrrnvai and the Kv^ipvav (Epistle to Romans, xii. 8, and 1 Cor. xii. 28,) evidently exhaust what belonged from the beginning to the office of presbyter or bishop, and for which it was originally instituted."* The office now termed the ruling eldership was invented by Calvin. After creating it, he naturally enough endeavoured to procure Scripture proof in its favour. Dr. King quotes the usual passages from " Lectures, vol. iv. p. 381. * See Note XXXIV. O 194 OFFICES IN THE EARLIEST CHURCHES. Cyprian, Origen, and Hilary, to sliow that these fathers were acquainted with this office ; but the proof will not suffice to convince an honest inquirer. Surely if he had known the thorough examination to which these quotations have been subjected by E,othe and Neander, he would have allowed them to sleep undisturbed, rather than affix interpretations to them which they refuse to bear. We repeat our assertion, that Calvin created the office. Vitringa demolished it with learned and unanswerable arguments. Let the advocates of it refute him if they be able. The practice of those who have the office is incon- sistent with the very passage on which they chiefly build an argument in its favour. The word trans- lated honour (Ti/nn) means maintenance or support^ as the context clearly shows. But we have never heard that ruling elders received a maintenance from the church over which they presided. They are never paid for their services in governing. None but the preaching presbyter receives remuneration. Judging, indeed, from the actual duties done by ruhng elders, we should say that their services deserve no remu- neration. As far as our observation has reached, the majority are the tools of the bishop. In church courts they commonly vote as he votes. His senti- ments are their sentiments. Even when inclined to think and act independently, they are restrained in synods, and prevented in many cases from being troublesome^ as it is called by the clergy. LECTURE IV. ELECTION OF OFFICE-BEAKERS IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. " WHERE THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS, THERE IS LIBERTY." 2 Cor. iii. 17. Regarding the election of office-bearers there are few direct notices in the New Testament. We shall collect all that can be supposed to have any connexion with the point. In choosing an apostle to supply the place of Judas, Peter addressed himself to the entire number of the disciples, who were about one hundred and twenty, saying, "Men and brethren, this Scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus Wherefore of these men, which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us ... . must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, show o2 196 ELECTION OF OFFICE-BEARERS whether of these two thou hast chosen; that he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots ; and the lot fell upon Matthias ; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles." Here it is affirmed that they^ meaning the disciples — those addressed as men and brethren^ appointed two. They also prayed and gave forth their lots. Thus the whole company of the disciples, and not the apostles alone, elected Matthias in room of Judas. Again, when the sevefi were about to be chosen, the apostles called the multitude of the disciples unto them and said : " It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost, whom we may appoint over this business." The proposal pleased the whole multitude, and they^ i.e. the whole tnultitude, chose seven persons, and set them before the apostles. In the fourteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, at the twenty-third verse, another trans- action is recorded bearing on the topic before us : "And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they com- mended them to the Lord, in whom they believed." Here the word translated ordained (■^^eipoTovriaai'Teq) implies, it is alleged, that the choice of elders was made by the vote of the church or body of disciples. A fourth example of popular choice is recorded in the second Epistle to the Corinthians, viii. 18, 19 : IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. 197 "And we have sent with him the brother, whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches ; and not that only, but who was also chosen of the churches to travel with us with this grace," &c. The election of the brother in question was by the churches. In reviewing these passages every attentive reader must be forcibly struck with the paucity of evidence in favour of the popular rights. The first is scarcely appropriate, both because it relates to the appointment of an apostle^ and because the disciples merely pre- sented two candidates to the decision of Him who knows all hearts. They agreed in selecting two persons; but they did not choose the one successor to Judas. The fact, however, of the initiative act of the transaction being committed to the entire com- pany of disciples, is significant of the respect paid to the people's will. The apostles might justly have excluded them from all share in the contemplated appointment, and have taken the whole business on themselves. But so far from this, Peter, in the name of the other apostles, simply recommends an election. He requests the believers to look out among them for a suitable person to fill the place of which Judas had proved himself so unworthy. Here there- fore the popular voice is recognised by apostles themselves. The highest servants of Christ pay it deference. Men gifted with infallible authority in ecclesiastical arrangements respect and regard it. When the people are allowed to take no part in the settlement of a pastor over them, the spirit of this 198 ELECTION OF OFFICE-BEARERS arrangement is certainly contravened; althougli the parallelism of the case to that of choosing a scriptural bishop cannot be urged, inasmuch as the one relates to the election of an extraordinary and temporary, the latter to that of an ordinary and perpetual, officer. I am aware that Mosheim, Hammond, Sclater, and others, regard even the nomination or proposal of the two candidates as the act of the apostles. The noun cLTToaToXoi is made the nominative case to the verb iarrtaav ; the eleven appointed two. It appears however more natural and more accordant with the context, to refer the appointment or nomination to the entire company of disciples. Two considerations are stated by Sclater in favour of the other ellipsis. In speaking of Judas, Peter says, He was numbered with us^ and had obtained a part of this ministry, i.e. the apostolic ministry. "Was Judas thus numbered then with all the brethren there present, as partaker 'with them' of that apostohc function? or with St. Peter only, and the other ten apostles in the midst of whom he then spake? Surely this latter sense alone is the utmost the words can bear, when he says, ' he was numbered with us ; ' and consequently they were his apostohc brethren only, to whom he addressed them. "Again, Peter's words, 'of these men which have companied with us all the time, &c. must one be or- dained,' &c. Why not ' of some amongst yourselves ? ' or some words equivalent to that ; if the persons to be elected were not only to be chosen 'from among them' but themselves to be the electors also? That seems IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. 199 the direct expression for recommending the election to the bretliren, and enjoining them to elect one from among themselves too : whereas the other, which St. Peter uses, is as plainly an address to some other electors there present, to choose out of those very brethren before them, pointing at them, as it were, by that natural expression : Out of 'these' persons that have accompanied with 'us,' iScc""- The distinction here introduced seems to be strained and artificial. The words introductory to Peter's address are unfavourable to it : " And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said, (the number of the names together were about an hundred and twenty,) Men and brethren, this Scrip- ture must needs have been fulfilled," &c. The title brethren belongs to the whole company, who are equally addressed. There is no reason for looking upon it as appropriated to the ten apostles. To trans- late it with Sclater, 'ye men that are peculiarly my brethren,' is unnatural. How plausible soever there- fore the distinction may appear to some, the title of Peter's address favours the more obvious view of the passage. Even Cornelius a Lapide understands it in the common acceptation. The second example refers to the choosing of officers to manage the temporal affairs of the church. This is conclusive in favour of the people's right to choose, as far as deacons are concerned ; but it does not extend to the choice of higher officers. Some indeed affirm "■ An original Draught of the Primitive Church. 12mo. pp. 153-4. Oxford: 1840. 200 ELECTION OF OFFICE-BEAKERS that if the people had the privilege of choosing the one class, they had also the privilege of choosing the other. But the argument is not conclusive. On the contrary, they may have been entrusted with the lower prerogative and not the higher, because Divine wisdom deemed it unsafe to commit to them a thing of so much importance. The case however affords a strong presumption in favour of the popular suffrage in the case of elders; since there is no express ex- ception placing the election of spiritual officers beyond the province of the people's will. Analogy would seem to refer both cases to the same head. The third example is ambiguous. It has been frequently pressed into a service which it refuses to perform, viz. the direct support of popular election. Large criticisms have been expended on the word -^eipoTovnaavreg by Calvin, Beza, Erasmus, Owen, Doddridge, Coleman, and others, to show that it necessarily includes the idea of election by the suf- frages of the people. And yet it must be said, that not a few of the criticisms propounded by these writers, attempt to prove too much, and fail in con- sequence. There is so much of the artificial about them, as would lead a candid mind to pause before it should adopt them. In some points they offer violence to the philosophy of the Greek language ; and in others they make arbitrary assumptions. In short, the verb in question has been needlessly urged in favour of an opinion which may well dispense with dubious support. It is incumbent on us, however, to look at the IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. 201 passage witli minute attention. The term ^eipoTom)- (TavTEQ has been variously explained. Its primary etymological sense is to elect a person by vote, the vote being given by stretching forth the hand. It was usual in Athens for the people to give their suffrages in this manner. In process of time, the verb came to be employed in the sense of elect or appoint^ in any way, whether the appointment was strictly speaking an election or not — whether it were made by one person or several. In the present passage the participle has been taken in a threefold sense. 1. To elect by the suffrages of the people. This acceptation has been given by Beza, who translates " cumque ipsi per suffragia creassent," when they had elected by suffrage. So also in " Ratio Discipline, or the Constitution of the Congregational Churches," drawn up by Upham, we find it stated that " the original of the word ordained implies that the selection was made by the vote of the body of the disciples, [i. e. by the church,] and not directly by the apostles." This interpretation must be rejected for the fol- lowing reasons : — (a.) In the time of the New Testament writers the ordinary use of the word was different. The original etymological sense had been modified. This is shown by the mode in which authors who employed the same kind of Greek as that of the New Testament use the term. Philo says of Joseph, (BaaiXevg virapyoQ kyjcipoTovilTo^ he was chosen Pharaoh's heutenant ; 202 ELECTION OF OEFICE-BEAKERS and of Moses, ■nyep.ojv kyiipoTovuro, lie was appointed ruler of the Israelites. In like manner, Lucian affirms with regard to Alexander's kindness to Heph^Stion, Qtov ytiporovriaai tov TtriK^vKOTa, tO make him a god when he was dead. Maximus Tyrius says of Darius's horse, which by neighing caused his master to be made king of the Persians, ey^eiporov-naev avTov [Aapeiov']^ he appointed him, i.e. Darius. These examples are sufficient to prove that in the age to which the New Testament writers belonged, the usual meaning of the word was to choose or appoint in any manner, irrespective of suffirages, (b.) The persons who performed the act indicated by the verb were Paul and Barnabas, who could not be said to have elected elders by their own suffrages, because they were doubtless agreed. They did it by mutual agreement. It was their joint act. Neither could it be said that they elected these officers by the votes of others, because the verb y^eipoToveio is uni- formly applied to the persons themselves who give their suffrages., not to such as preside at the giving of them, or who superintend the voting and pronounce the final result. Probably Beza intended by the words per suffragia creassent., that Paul and Barnabas took the poll., to use a vulgar phrase, or presided at the voting; but this sense makes the construction clumsy and artificial; while the fact, that the verb is always used of the persons themselves who give their own votes, not of others, is unquestionable. Hence we arrive at the conclusion that the word before us does IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. 203 not convey the idea of Paul and Barnabas electing officers by the suffrages of others." 2. Others understand it in the sense of consecrating or ordainitig by the imposition of hands. Dr. Ham- mond paraphrases the clause : " And having conse- crated bishops for them, one in every city, by fasting and prayer, and imposition of hands." So also our translators seem to have understood it. We object to this acceptation of the word on the following grounds : (a.) There is no reason for supposing that there were elders in these churches previously. Had that been the case we should have expected a different text. (b.) Though later ecclesiastical usage sanctions this signification, yet the practice of Greek writers at or near the time of the sacred authors, does not coun- tenance it. Neither does the Greek version of the Old Testament commonly called the Septuagint, employ the word in that specific acceptation. (c.) It is an unnecessary, arbitrary restriction to confine the action involved in the verb merely to co7isecration or inauguration into office. Why leave out of view the chief part of the settlement of the presbyters in particular cities, and fix the mind on the ceremony of inauguration ? {d.) In this view the following words are super- fluous, or at least tautological : " Having prayed with « See Note XXXV. 204 ELECTION OF OFFICE-BEARERS fastings, they commended them to the Lord," &c. Here is an explanation of the same idea which is contained in the participle translated, when they had ordained. We admit that the interpretation is pos- sible, but it is neither natural nor probable. The succeeding clause, on the contrary, seems to express an additional idea. Paul and Barnabas performed the act involved in the word yiipoTovi](javTic^ and then ordained the elders, the description of the ordination being, " having prayed with fastings, they commended them to the Lord," &c. 3. Others explain the disputed participle in the general sense of choosing or appointing^ apart from the votes of the people, or the lifting up of their hands. Thus Paul and Barnabas appointed elders; and as they alone are said to have been the yiipoTovi^aavTiq^ the act cannot be termed a proper popular election. They themselves chose the pres- byters. The appointment was theirs. They first chose the elders and then ordained them. We cannot tell how they were nominated, nor are we solicitous about the mode. One thing is clear to the candid inquirer, that Paul and Barnabas appointed the elders in question. Some, indeed, may object that the word is used of a proper election in the second Epistle to the Corinthians, viii. 19. But in that case the context restricts the general idea of appointment to that of an electioti. Here there is no determining clause. An appointment by two persons is all that can be gathered from the passage. The verb also occurs in composition with a pre- IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. 205 position, (Acts x. 41;) but there it refers to an appointment or designation of wliicli God is the author, and therefore the suffrages of men are excluded. What then ? Did Paul and Barnabas choose elders for the churches? Did they place suitable persons as governors over the communities referred to? The passage states thus much. Did they proceed to do so without the concurrence of the churches themselves ? We think not. The spirit of similar transactions, and the general tenor of the New Testament, forbid the supposition. Even in appointing an apostle, the company of the believers took a prominent part. The apostles did not complete their own number of themselves. The popular will was consulted. So too in the case of deacons. Hence it may be fairly inferred that the appointment of elders here recorded was not made contrary to the wish of the disciples. It is impossible to discover whether the people signified their wishes to Paul and Barnabas, by pointing out to them individuals whom they judged to be qualified for office ; or whether the two did, in the first instance, constitute and set over the disciples Christians known to themselves, the people wisely concurring in the measure adopted for their edification by men divinely authorised to collect and organise Christian commu- nities. In either case the people's wishes were not contravened. Whether the initiative act originated with the members or the two apostles, we do not undertake to decide. One thing alone must be main- tained, that all was done with the full approval of 206 ELECTION OF OFFICE-BE AEERS the brethren. It is no disparagement to their know- ledge or judgment to affirm that Paul and Barnabas knew better than they, the persons most competent to discharge the duties of presidents. Whether imposition of hands was used by Paul and Barnabas on the occasion is quite uncertain. Mr. Garratt thinks that the word does include the notion of imposition of hands in this place, or rather that it was selected because the appointment was made with imposition of hands. This idea is problematical. The last example of popular choice is recorded in the second Epistle to the Corintliians, (viii. 19.) The passage, however, does not allude to the choice of an office-bearer ; it refers to the election of a delegate. The churches chose the brother in question to be Paul's travelhng companion, when the contribution raised by the Gentile churches was being carried to those for whom it was intended. The case is cer- tainly not parallel to that of electing a stated instructor. It merely shows how much deference was paid by Paul and the other apostles to the popular will. They were not forward to make appointments themselves, but submitted them to the voice of the churches ; and if they did so on the present occasion, with reference to the brother, there is a presimiption, at least, that the votes of the people were not disre- garded or despised in the appointment of elders. There is even a prohahility that the disciples had chiefly to do with their election. The result of our examination of these four pas- sages is, that none of them proves that the members of IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. 207 a cliiircli should elect their elders. They afford a strong presumption in favour of the fact; but they do not demonstrate it. They are not directly or precisely applicable to the point. Their bearing on it is indirect. In the apostolic epistles there is a like absence of definite information respecting popular rights, though there are many directions about ojficers and their quahfications — many precepts, too, enjoining obedi- ence on the part of the people to their authority. There is in truth no passage containing a clear injunction to the effect that the Christian disciples, composing a society, should choose their spiritual office-bearers, and dismiss them if found unworthy of the position to which they had been elevated. Popu- lar control of the pastor is not heard of in the New Testament, at least in explicit terms or definite phraseology. Is then the principle of a hierarchy recommended by apostolic injunction and practice? The principle is so recommended, says Isaac Taylor. The Epistles to Timothy and Titus contain it. The people have not the rights which many unwisely concede to them. It is not their province to call or dismiss a pastor. Such are the prelatic sentiments of this writer." Our pre- sent object, however, is not to refute them so much as to arrive at truth ; — not to combat the peculiarities of any denomination, but to discover the principles sanc- tioned in the New Testament. " Spiritual Despotism. Appendix to Section iv. p. 452. 8vo. London: 1835. 208 ELECTION OF OFFICE-BEARERS That a right conclusion may be drawn respecting the subject in question, it will be expedient to revert to the nature of a Christian society or church. A number of persons separate themselves from the world and enter into a voluntary union. This course they adopt, in obedience to the will of Christ, for the sake of mutual benefit. They deem it their duty to ob- serve all the ordinances which the Head of the church has enjoined on his followers in their social relations. This union does not infringe the rights of other men. Now all voluntary associations have obviously the right of choosing their own officers. It is agreeable to the light of nature that they should have the full exercise of the prerogatives arising out of the several relations they sustain. They possess natural, inalien- able rights, of which they cannot be deprived except by oppression and tyranny ; and one of them is the liberty to select their own office-bearers, and to frame such laws as may promote the order and stabihty of the body. It will not be denied that the church is a voluntary society, every member of which is individually ac- countable to God. Obeying the precepts of heaven the body is free; but at the same time responsible for the manner in which it follows the laws of Christ, the great Master. It is accountable to God alone. The New Testament gives no express precept about churches choosing their own office-bearers, because they are voluntary societies. It would have been superffuous, because the right to do so belongs to all such communities inherently and fundamentally. IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. 209 The very nature of free communities involves a power to manage their own affairs. Revelation proceeds on the assumption of all the natural rights belonging to men in their individual or associated capacity." It takes them for granted. So far from abolishing, it confirms and strengthens them by showing their genuine tendency and proper ap- phcation. Individual responsibility to God is alone consistent with freedom in selecting those religious teachers who are thought best adapted to the spiritual wants of each. Whenever an external power or party steps in to furnish the Christian with ecclesiastical instruc- tion or religious teaching, it interferes with the obli- gation under which he lies to inquire and act for himself in matters between his conscience and his God. The fact of his being personally accountable binds him to judge and choose for himself in regard to spiritual instructors. No falhble man has the right or power to determine for another what is best suited to that other's condition, for none is keeper of his brother's conscience ; and the government that under- takes to delegate authorised expositors of truth, may be as readily deceived as the individual who selects his own teacher. In a matter of so much importance as personal progress in truth and holiness, delegated accountableness has no place. To his own master every one standeth or faUeth. Who then shall inter- fere with the Christian's volition in selecting the mode " See Note XXXVI. F 210 ELECTION OF OFFICE-BEARERS of instruction he deems most conducive to his highest interests? None but the tyrant who would lord it over the consciences of men; or the despotic govern- ment, which forbids a community to worship other- wise than it prescribes. If it be a first principle in religion that each owes supreme obedience to God, and will be judged by his own thoughts and acts, not another's — it necessarily follows that he should be left to his own judgment in all things relating to the worship of God. In choosing and rejecting modes of faith, he must determine for himself He knows what is best adapted to his moral condition. He is acquainted with the aliment which would be injurious to his spiritual health. Or, if he be not alive to these things, he ought at least to know them. The respon- sibihty cleaves to him notwithstanding his ignorance. Having the means of information, he is morally cul- pable in not availing himself of them. In short, the genius of the New Testament is opposed to every form of interference with individual responsibihty. All are addressed by it in language fitted to excite and encourage independent examination. It invites each one to decide for himself as in the sight of Omni- science, without hinting that he is amenable to human tribunals. If there be any truth in these observations they will account for the scanty information relative to the topic before us. Here precepts would have been needless because the Deity employs no unnecessary expendi- ture of means. Nor should it be forgotten, that many circumstances IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. 211 recorded in the New Testament afford a presumption in favour of the people's right to elect such individuals as they judge qualified for the task of instructing them. In addition to those already mentioned we may refer to the presence of the whole church at the deliberations of the council at Jerusalem ; and the virtual exclusion of the incestuous person from the Corinthian church by the members themselves. Inci- dental allusions implying the same right, also appear, such as : " Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God : because many false prophets are gone out into the world." Again, Paul in writing to Timothy says : " and let these also first be proved," i.e. the deacons should be proved by time as in the case of bishops. They should not be novices, but individuals tried and tested in their qualifications for the office. The hierarchical principle cannot be involved in the directions given to Timothy and Titus, except it can be shown that both proceeded to organise churches and appoint pastors without the concurrence of the believers. It is nowhere affirmed that the people were excluded from all share in the settlement of bishops among them. It is neither presupposed nor intimated that the Christians themselves were ciphers, whose will was not regarded. Apostolic arrange- ments were not of such a character as to offer violence to the acknowledged principles of humanity. If they respected the natural rights of man unsanctified ; much more did they respect those of the renewed man. Hence, although nothing be stated in the Epistles to p2 212 ELECTION OF OFFICE-BEARERS Timothy and Titus, respecting the people's suffrage or choice, the conclusion does not follow, that the popular element was absent. Analogy, on the con- trary, suggests the idea that the believers themselves concurred at least in the choice of their elders. The examples of election recorded in the New Testament expressly countenance that aspect of spiritual freedom, or harmonise with the assumption of its existence ; whereas the hierarchical principle involves a virtual opposition to it. Besides, it is too much to claim for modern prelates, or ecclesiastical dignitaries however high, the same prerogatives which were exercised by extraordinary officers in primitive times. Paul was an apostle^ Barnabas is styled an apostle too, and both appointed presbyters in the churches. Timothy and Titus were evangelists. Apostles and evangelists received their commission in another mode than modern prelates. They were not appointed by the civil power or by particular churches, but by Christ himself, or by men whom He immediately called. Show us apostles now ; and we shall give them all power in arranging churches and pro- viding them with office-bearers. Where are evan- gehsts now ; men called and gifted like Timothy or Titus ; and we shall submit to their ecclesiastical appointments? Apostles have long passed away. No provision was made for perpetuating that select band which stood in the most intimate relation to their Divine Master. Evangelists, too, have dis- appeared because they were necessarily associated IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. 213 with apostles, the extinction of the one class implying the cessation of the other. Others come after them, hut cannot do the same duties, because they lack the same gifts and authority. They perform indeed some of the acts which their predecessors did ; but they do so in consequence of other relations and cir- cumstances. They engage in them as Christians or as Christian ministers^ and not because they occupy the same position as apostolic men. It has been objected to the right of the people to choose their pastors, that it is equally absurd with the right of pupils to judge of the qualifications of their teacher. Will you allow, it is asked, persons to be taught — the ignorant and unlettered — the high privi- lege, of sitting in judgment on the capabilities of those who are to teach them? Who can believe that those seeking instruction are able to form a proper estimate of such as are best fitted to instruct them ? The cases are not analogous. The points of dis- similarity are so obvious, and of such a kind, as to destroy the force of the comparison, whose superficial plausibility can only deceive for a moment. Milton observes, that "many maybe able to judge who is fit to be made a minister that would not be found fit to be made ministers themselves ; as it will not be denied that he may be the competent judge of a neat picture or elegant poem that cannot hmn the like." When we look at the practice of many churches in choosing pastors, we cannot but think it injudicious and unfortunate. The prevailing fault is hastiness in electing. They select a person as pastor, before they be well- 214 ELECTION OF OFFICE-BEARERS acquainted with his character, attainments, and habits. Perhaps he has been recommended to them by some other minister whom they respect ; and therefore they are strongly drawn towards him. But recommenda- tions are precarious things to rest on. The recom- mender may be a personal friend ; and we know how friendship biases the minds even of pure men. Or, the adviser in question may have no right perception of the proper person needed by the vacant church. His judgment may be feeble ; or his ignorance of the church's position all but entire. In other cases, a pastor is chosen after the delivery of a very few sermons pleasing to the popular taste. But a few sermons whether made or borrowed, old or new, do not constitute a divine ; neither is preaching, which, according to Lord Bacon, "every man confidently adventureth to do," all the business that a minister of the gospel has to perform. " Should I say," says South, "that preaching was the least part of a divine, it would I believe, be thought a bold word, and look like a paradox, (as the world goes ;) but perhaps, for all that, never the further from being a great truth." We fear that preaching has been magnified among us superstitiously as if " the whole body of God's worship should be turned into an ear."" There ought to be more slowness of procedure. The church should be careful to have full trial of the candidate's gifts and graces. He should reside among them for a time. They ought to know his talents for other departments <» See South's Sermon on Matthew xiii. 52 ; vol. iv. p. 24. 8vo. London : 1715 — and Bacon on the Pacification of the Church. IN THE APOSTOLIC AGE. 215 of the ministerial office besides that of preaching a sermon. They should have a good idea of his general acquaintance with the Scriptures, which cannot be collected by the ordinary members of a church from one or two carefully prepared or industriously selected sermons. " It is not by sitting in hard judgment upon a candidate for a few Sundays that any body of hearers can ascertain his powers or his suitableness to their conditions. He may be eloquent for these occasions, and dulness itself ever after. He may be soundness itself while 'on trial,' and far below the standard of truth ever after. His prayers may be richness and variety for the few days on which the teacher is to crave from the pulpit the favour of the taught, and may ever after be but specimens of that monotony and feebleness which tell that a man may be equal to keep attention on the stretch for an occasion, and yet be without those resources which make a ministry arresting to the last."" In short, the candidate should have been walking with and among them in the fellowship of the gospel for several months at least, before the church can be competent to form a correct estimate of his full ministerial fitness. At the present time, the fact of his coming from a theological seminary where he has studied for a season, is deemed of itself a sufficient proof of minis- terial qualifications. This ought not to be. No col- lege, be it ever so watchful, can affirm that all the students who go forth from it into the ecclesiastical world are fitted to be pastors. Some of them are not ■ Boyd's Episcopacy and Presbytery, p. 262. 216 ELECTION OF OFFICE-BEARERS, ETC. SO. Many of them are greatly deficient in the talent of wise, judicious rule. And yet this is as essential to success as the talent of preaching well. The personal habits of some are repulsive. The piety of others is equivocal, their religious character appearing scarcely to be fixed. In other instances, literary attain- ments are so meagre as to be almost imperceptible. , On this subject we should learn wisdom from our fathers, if we be not disposed to think aright for our- selves. They were far more careful and cautious. Doddridge, more than a hundred years ago, writes : "An unordained minister is seldom chosen to the pas- toral office in any of our churches, for in the members of each of these societies the whole right of election hes, till he has resided among them some months, or perhaps some years ; preaching statedly to them and performing most other ministerial offices, except- ing the administration of the sacraments," And in reference to the practice of New England Congrega- tionalists in early times, Punchard informs us that it was "thought necessary for a candidate for settlement to spend months among the people of his prospective charge." Modern practice in New England has de- generated as well as in our own land, for the latter writer states, that "some churches are satisfied with an acquaintance of a few days only ; and some are ready to call a pastor without having had 2in.y per- sonal acquaintance with him." Well may he add, "This undoubtedly is one reason why there is now so little permanency in the pastoral relation. Are we not verifying the maxim, 'To innovate is not to improved' LECTURE V. ORDINATION OF OFFICE-BEARERS IN THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHES. " SANCTIFIED BY THE WORD OF GOD AND PRAYER. 1 Tim. iv. 5. In the treatment of this subject we propose to observe the following order, and inquire — First. What is meant by ordination. Secondly. Why it should be continued. Thirdly. The mode. Fourthly. The proper person or persons who should ordain. Fifthly. The person to be ordained. First. What is meant by ordination? To this question very different answers are given. According to the church of England, it is the act of conferring holy orders or sacerdotal power, by means of which office-bearers are made " a special order consecrated unto the service of the Most High in things wherewith others may not meddle." To priests and bishops the ordainer says : " Receive the Holy Ghost for the office and work of a priest or bishop in the church of God, 218 ORDINATION OF OFFICE-BEARERS now committed unto thee by tlie imposition of our hands. Whose sins thou dost forgive, they are for- given ; and whose sins thou dost retain, they are retained. And be thou a faithful dispenser of the word of God and of his holy sacraments," &c. The church of Kome takes the same view, except that she makes it a sacrament: " Quid est sacramentum ordinis ?" asks Dens. The answer is, " Est sacramentum nov£e legis quo spiritualis potestas confertur et gratia ad ecclesiastica munia rite decenterque obeunda."" The Presbyterian view, or that held by the church of Scotland, may be ascertained from the words of Dr. Hill : " Ordination is the appointment of Jesus Christ conveying a character by the instrumentality of the office-bearers of his church." And again : " Every one who is ordained by the laying on of the hands of the office-bearers of the church, becomes a minister of the church universaL He is invested with that character in a manner the most agreeable to the example and the directions contained in the New Testament ; and by this investure he receives au- thority to perform all the acts belonging to the character."* " Ordination," say the ministers of the Provincial Assembly of London, " makes a man a minister that was not' one before; and consequently the essence of the ministerial call doth consist in it, not in election."*' « Theologia, vol. vii. p. 36, 12mo. Dublin : 1832. * Lectures in Divinity, vol. ii. pp. 439, 440. 3d edition, 12mo. Edinburgh: 1833. " The Divine Right of the Gospel Ministry, p. 164, c. ri. 4to. London: 1654. IN THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHES. 219 The Cono-resrational view is thus stated in the Cam- bridge Platform : " This ordination we account but the solemn putting a man into his place and office in the church, whereunto he had right before by election: being like the installing of a magistrate in the Commonwealth."" It will be seen from the preceding statements, that professing Christians have different opinions regarding ordination. For this reason, and also because con- siderable mystery has been thrown around the subject, it will be needful to express our ideas with as much accuracy as possible. It will be expedient to divest the rite of cabalistic obscurity, in order that we may arrive at the exact nature and import of it. The word ordain^ as employed to denote designa- tion or setting apart to the duties of an office con- nected with the Christian religion, is represented by six different terms in the original Greek. "Jesus ordained twelve to be with him," eTroiriae SwSc/ca. Mark iii. 14. " Must one be ordained to be a witness," yeveaSai. Acts i. 22. " And when they had ordained them elders in every church," y^EiporoviicyavTBg. Acts xiv. 23. "By that man whom he hath ordained" wpKre. Acts xvii. 31. "Whereunto lam ordained a preacher," areBrtv. 1 Tim. ii. 7. " That thou shouldest ordain elders in every city," Kar aaTi)ar]Q. TltUS 1. 5. » See Note XXXVII. 220 ORDINATION OF OFFICE-BEARERS This induction affords an intimation, that ordination, in the scriptural sense of the term, differs from or- dination in the current use of it. At the present day, it denotes something tahsmanic and mysterious — a certain imdefinable process which metamorphoses a layman into a clergyman. A wondrous virtue or efficacy is assumed to lie in the act which it is employed to express. But had this been the New Testament usage, we should have expected that one word only in the Greek would have been uniformly adopted. A thing of so much importance and efficacy must have had its own appropriate representative. Six different verbs could scarcely have been found to symbolise a single transaction of unique character. In what then does ordination consist ? Does the essence of it lie in the imposition of hands, by a bishop or several presbyters, on the head of a person con- sidered to be fit for an office in the church universal? Or, does it he in that character, mark, power, authority, right, office, or gracious donation, which is given through a delegate or delegates by the Holy Ghost, at the time when hands are imposed ? It does not mean the mere laying of hands by one or more persons on the head of another. Imposition of hands is the ceremony used at ordination rather than ordin- ation itself. It was not even the peculiar^ distinctive ceremony of ordination in the time of the apostles, since it was employed on various occasions. It was an accompaniment or mode of ordination, neither exclusively pecuhar nor essential to it. In what then does ordination essentially consist? Is it in the mys- IN THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHES. 221 terious something conveyed — the spiritual powers imparted? Those who answer in the affirmative appear to us greatly in error. The essence of it is in the solemn invocation of the divine presence and assist- ance. The divine power is implored on behalf of the person on whom hands are usually laid." The Spirit's influence is entreated to rest on him who is publicly designated. There is no mystery in the transaction. It is palpable to the eyes of all. What- ever blessing is communicated to the ordained is imparted in answer to prayer, according to the faith of him who engages in the exercise, and the state of mind belonging to the ordained. The efficacy of prayer in his case, is analogous to its power in any other. The same promises are applicable. There is not one promise annexed to the ordaining prayer, as it has been called, and another adapted to prayer on general occasions. One class of promises was equally intended for the sacred exercise under all circumstances. K these observations be correct, it will be seen that many notions and modes of expression concerning ordination are most erroneous. It is not the inducting an office-bearer into an office which he did not possess till that precise time ; but a formal and solemn com- mendation of him to the Head of the church, when about to enter on the actual discharge of the functions included in office. As soon as he is called by the members of a church to be their bishop or deacon, and consents to the invitation, he really becomes their bishop or deacon. The election of him by the » See Note XXXVIH. 222 ORDINATION OF OFFICE-BEARERS bretkren constitutes him their office-bearer. Whenever he accepts the position to which he has been invited by a church of Christ, in the free exercise of their judgment, he possesses a full title to do whatever pertains to the new situation. He has a right to discharge all the acts appropriate to the office to wliich he has been chosen. He is invested with all the authority of office. Whatever respect or obedi- ence the people owe him afterwards, is due to him then. By virtue of their choice, and his own ac- ceptance of it, he has authority and power to do all things required of an officer in his circumstances. We object, therefore, to such phrases as receiving the Holy Ghost; investing with office^ or with pastoral authority, applied to ordination. The first appears all but blas- phemous, notwithstanding Hooker's defence of it. The others are unwarranted. All that is designated by pastoral authority is not received by an individual at the time of ordination. He had it before. It comes to him from Christ through the people who ask him to take spiritual oversight of them. When he enters into a sacred engagement with them ; or, in other words, into the pastoral relation, he is then as fully invested with all his rights and privileges as he can ever be scripturally. The ordaining person or persons do not invest him with " office-power," prerogative, and jurisdiction : he is already in office with all its prerogatives. It is necessary to observe that the rite of ordina- tion relates to the time of entering an office. It is not usual to speak of a person being ordained to an office, IN THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHES. 223 after he has been employed for a time in the discharge of its functions. An office-bearer is ordained at the commencement of his work. Should a similar rite be performed towards him after he has been actually employed in the duties of his situation, it cannot be properly termed an ordination; at least the customary use of language does not sanction the appellation. Secondly. Why should ordination be continued in the churches? There is no express precept enjoining its observ- ance in all future times. Yet it was practised in the apostolic age. It was performed by apostles, evan- gehsts, and others. If, therefore, it was divinely approved and practised in the first age of Christianity, it should not be laid aside without reason. Timothy and Titus, it may be inferred, ordained elders or ministers of the gospel ; and the former was enjoined to lay hands suddenly on no man : the term suddenly being inappropriate, if those entering on office were not to be ordained. Again, Paul charges Timothy to keep the commandment until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ ; that is, as explained by many, to observe the various precepts and instructions recorded in the preceding parts of the epistle, until Christ's coming. This passage, it is true, is not a certain proof that ordination should be always continued, because kvToXr] may allude to the particular commandment presented in the verses immediately antecedent, i.e. the eleventh and twelfth verses of the chapter. We admit that ordination is of httle importance in com- parison of election to the pastoral office; yet it cannot 224 ORDINATION OF OFFICE-BEARERS be inferred, on that account, that it is worthless or insignificant. Having Scriptural precedents, and the examples of apostles themselves, it is incumbent on the churches to foUovp- them in this case, as in others of a like nature. Thirdly. The mode of ordination. At the ordination of deacons in the church of Jerusalem, prayer and the imposition of hands were used. When Timothy and Titus laid on their hands at ordination, they doubtless prayed also. If the passage in Acts xiv. 23, relate to ordination, prayer and fasting are mentioned without imposition of hands. It would appear, therefore, that the form was not precisely the same in the case of deacons and elders. The slight difference consists in the use of fasting, which may have accompanied the rite at all times. Still the opposite opinion is more probable. It has been frequently asked, whether the impo- sition of hands should be continued in ordination. If it was employed only when spiritual gifts were bestowed, it should be laid aside, because these gifts have ceased ; but if it was used on other occasions, when nothing supernatural was imparted, it may be retained with proper explanations. Let us notice the passages in which the laying on of hands is mentioned, for the purpose of ascertaining whether a supernatural gift was always conveyed at the time. " Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost."'' Here the case admits of no doubt. " They » Acts viii, 17. IN THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHES. 225 shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover." " And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them." "Paul laid his hands on him and healed him."" These examples are obvious. " Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which v was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery."^ The meaning of this passage is not apparent. One thing, however, is generally admitted, amid the various interpretations of it, viz. that a charism., or something extraordinary, Avas communicated to Timothy when hands were laid on him. " Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee, by the putting on of my hands." ^ It is probable that some- thing peculiar had been conveyed to Timothy by the putting on of the apostle's hands. " And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostle's hands the Holy Ghost was given," '^ &c. This passage attests the same truth. " And Ananias putting his hands on him, said,"* &c. &c. Here the receiving of the Holy Ghost accompanied the act of Ananias putting hands on Saul. " Whom they set before the apostles, and when they had prayed they laid their hands on them."-^ The apostles laid their hands on the newly- elected deacons. In this instance it is not affirmed ^ that any supernatural gift was bestowed. Before the imposition of hands Stephen was full of faith and of the Holy Ghost ; the latter expression probably meaning, endowed with extraordinary gifts. After the " Mark xvi. 18; Acts xix. 6 ; xxviii. 8. * 1 Tim. iv. 14. '^ 2 Tim. i. 6. "* Acts viii. 18. " Acts ix. 17. ^ Acts vi. 6. Q 226 OEDINATION OF OFFICE-BEARERS ceremony, it is recorded that lie did great wonders and miracles among the people. The presumption here is, that nothing extraordinary was conveyed to him, although considerable uncertainty rests on the matter. " Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers, as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they minis- tered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away."" These words state that certain prophets and teachers laid their hands on two of the brethren, viz. Barnabas and Saul. Li regard to the latter, it is certain that he possessed extraordinary powers pre- viously ; and on the present occasion he does not seem to have received additional gifts. Probably Barnabas had spiritual gifts before. The narrative at least is silent with respect to the communication of spiritual powers. " Lay hands suddenly on no man."* V These words do not imply, that when Timothy laid hands on the elders they received any extraordinary gift. Probably they did not. " Of the doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands,""^ &c. This passage has nothing to do with ordination ; it refers to the laying on of the priest's hands on the head of the victim, under the Old Testament economy. « Acts xiii. 1, 2, 3. * 1 Tim. v. 22. ^ Hebrews vi. 2. IN TOE PRIMITIVE CHURCHES. 227 The result of our examination is, that miraculous or spiritual gifts were generally conveyed at the time of the ceremony. The apostles possessed such power, and also the privilege of imparting it to others. It is questionable, however, whether any other than they could bestow it. Benson and Lardner, who think that apostles alone were so privileged, are probably right in their opinion. Hence when others laid on hands nothing supernatural was bestowed. Such passages as Acts xiii. 1 — 3, and 1 Tim. v. 22, furnish examples of the practice apart from the com- munication of charisms. Is it proper, then, or is it becoming, to use the imposition of hands in modern times? We reply in the affirmative. It was, as we have seen, customary to 1 do so in the apostolic age, and did not involve on every occasion the conveyance of gifts. Had the latter been the case, it would have been improper and impious to retain the custom ; since neither gift nor grace can be imparted to Christians by mortals like themselves. But it is necessary to guard against its abuse. It should not be employed to foster super- 1 stition on the part of unenlightened people, or delusive vanity on the part of the individual who imposes his hands. The laity, who may be so ignorant as to associate some mysterious influence with the ceremony, should be dispossessed of their notion ; while it is the duty of the clergy^ as they are called, both from their knowledge and position, to ^ permit no pandering to priestly propensities in them- selves or their brethren. To minister to the diseased q2 228 ORDINATION OF OFFICE-BEARERS appetite of poor humanity, by quietly accepting the incense offered to their "consecrated" persons, is mean and dishonourable. It must never be forgotten that no virtue is derived from the person laying on his hands by him on whose head they are laid. No grace is conferred, no gift bestowed, no qualification com- municated. The mind of him who is ordained is in the same condition as before, as far as the imposition of hands is concerned. He has the same ministerial functions and equal executive power before as after it. In this manner we dissociate from the practice all ideas which priestcraft or superstition has attached to ordination. We divest it of the extrinsic and the accessory, now so intimately united with its very nature as to form an essential element^ in the opinion of the unreflecting. By those who are infected with the prevalent mysticism, we may be accused of making it a bare unmeaning ceremony, a mere empty form, a doctrine which leads, as an estimable writer has said, "by a necessary and very obvious, and very brief process, to absolute infidelity."" But the calm in- quirer can smile at such an accusation. There is a sensuous pietism, which clings to forms more than verities — to the outward and visible, rather than the inward and abstract. The former indeed should not be overlooked ; but it is inexpedient to siurround them with an air and aspect of importance, as if they were of supreme consequence. The ceremony in question " A Letter to the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, by the Eev. A. D. Tait, p. 24. 8vo. Edinburgh : 1840. IN THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHES. 229 is not an unmeaning one. It is symbolical and signifi- cant. Usage lias given it a meaning. It indicates designation to a particular office or enterprise. It is a sign by which the object of a people's choice is marked out, and specially commended to the grace of Him by whom he has been called. In this manner he is inaugurated ; the outward act being employed to affect the mind through the medium of the senses. With these views we are prepared to affirm, that the laying on of hands may be still retained, as in ancient days. It has been sanctioned by time. Al- though sometimes employed by men with the view of impressing the beholder with veneration for the ordainer's person ; yet when rightly understood it is seemly and decorous. It is perfectly simple in itself, without being incrusted either with priestly assump- tion, or with popular superstition. Imposition of hands is not essential as a mode of induction to the office of elder or deacon, since all that is properly meant by ordination is not necessary to give validity to office. It might have been inferred a priori^ that infinite wisdom would not have made an external rite conferring no grace or gift, indispensable to the legitimacy of office. And yet we are not left to a priori considerations. Matthias, ApoUos, and Paul, do not appear to have been formally inaugurated. In the case of an apostle, indeed, it would have been incongruous ; since the very idea of such an officer involves an immediate sending of him on the part of Christ, without the intervention of men. But in the case of Apollos, it would have been quite appropriate. 230 ORDINATION OF OFFICE-BEARERS There is no account of these three having been or- dained ; and in the absence of all proof it should not be assumed that they were so. Of Paul it is recorded, that Ananias put his hands on him at Damascus and said, "Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the wslj as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost ;" but this cannot be called ordination. On another occasion, he and Barnabas were set apart at Antioch by certain prophets and teachers ; although he had been an apostle before, and preached to the Gentiles with great power. The enterprise to which he was designated at that time was special. He had already discharged the functions of an apostle. He had been engaged in the ministerial work. He was now separated to a particular depart- ment of that office whose functions he had pre- viously performed in a general way. Hence it was not an ordination, but a designation of two persons as missionaries to the Gentiles. Paul and Barnabas were set apart to a new sphere of labour. ** In regard to Matthias, nothing is recorded of him after his election. ApoUos, again, was an eloquent and success- ful preacher, who mightily convinced the Jews, and attracted the cultivated heathen at Corinth. Not a word is said respecting his ordination. Those, therefore, who think it right to omit the custom of laying on of hands are liable to no censure. They act wisely in following the suggestions of con- » See Note XXXIX. IN THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHES. 231 science or the dictates of judgment ; and may well smile at the old heresy-hunting Presbyterians oracu- larly affirming, that they who "oppose imposition of hands may as well oppose the whole gospel-ministry, and therein overthrow Christianity itself " " The per- son on whose head no hands have been put, may be as scripturally ordained as he who has submitted to prevailing usage. The Bible does not sanction any one mode of ordination to the exclusion of every other. It countenances the imposition of hands, with- out discountenancing other forms. Fourtlily. The person or persons to be employed in the service. Who should set apart an office-bearer in a church? To this question different answers have been given. Some suppose that those only who can trace their line of succession up to the apostles should ordain. They think that apostles alone had this privilege at first ; those whom they appointed, after them ; and so on through successive generations down to modern prelates. "The apostles being bishops at large or- dained everywhere presbyters. Titus and Timothy having received episcopal power as apostolical am- bassadors or legates, the one in Greece, the other in Ephesus, they both did, by virtue thereof, hkewise ordain, throughout all churches, deacons and pres- byters within the circles allotted unto them."* It is unnecessary in the present place to refute this hypo- " Divine Right of the Gospel Ministry, p. 177. * Hooker; Ecclesiastical Polity, Book vii. chap. 6, pp. 259, 260. 232 ORDINATION OF OFFICE-BEARERS thesis, since it has been frequently disproved. It cannot be supported by vahd reasoning or legitimate arguments. It is unable to stand the test of an en- lightened scrutiny. The opposition presented to it by the word of God causes it to shrink from close in- vestigation. Apostles indeed ordained ; but they were extraordinary officers. So also did evangelists. Both classes of office-bearers have long since disappeared. That apostles ordained is apparent from Acts vi. 6 ; and that evangelists did also ordain is obvious from 1 Tim. V. 22, and Titus i. 5. It is in accordance with the New Testament to affirm, that ordination belongs to the presbytery of a church. When elders are already in a church it is appropriate for them to ordain office-bearers who may be elected by the same church. This opinion is sanctioned by 1 Tim. iv. 14: "Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery." Hence the Westminster divines state, that "ordina- tion is the act of a presbytery:" and in another place, it belongs to "preaching presbyters." The presbytery must therefore have consisted of preach- ing elders alone. And yet this is opposed to the constitution of a classical presbytery^ which is com- posed of ruling as well as preaching elders. Both form constituent parts of such an assembly. Those who argue for the right of a presbytery alone to ordain, forget to look at the constitution of the only presbytery spoken of in the New Testament, embracing no more than the elders of a single IN THE PRIMITIVE CHURCHES. 233 church. They argue for the existence of pr^s- byteries in the apostohc age, quoting for that purpose the present passage in the first Epistle to Timothy ; and such presbyteries they quietly assume ^ to be similar in constitution to modern conventions bearing the same name. But when ordination is to / be performed, and is claimed for ministers of the gospel alone, they found their claims on the same passage. If their reasoning were valid or consistent, ruling elders, as a part of the presbytery, should be associated with the preaching elders in the act of ordination. The words addressed to Timothy are ' suitable as a proof that "ordination is only in the hands of preaching elders," on the ground that the presbytery was composed of preaching elders alone. The charism bestowed on Timothy manifestly points to spiritual gifts which he had received. Something extraordinary was imparted when hands were laid on him. What the peculiar endowment was, we are now unable to ascertain. Some think that the gift denominated prophecy {-n-po^-nTua) was communicated ; for so they explain the words hy prophecy^ Bia 7rpo(j>y]THa^. But the original does not justify this exposition. U^oOrj ^la 7rpo|/'«s, 178; on the deaconess, 180; on the charism of rule, 191; on Paul's journies, 335, 336 ; on a plui'ality of elders, 355, 357. Nearepos : meaning of in Acts v. 6, 167. NjTnphas : the chm-ch in his house, 99, 100, 105, 120. Office-bearers : in the earliest churcn- es, 137 — 194; not essential to the being of a chmch, 143, 267; extra- ordinary, 144; election of, in the early chiu'ches, 196. Olshausen: on pastors and teachers, 155; on the office-bearers in Acts vi., 167; on the chaiism of rwZe, 191 : on the journies of Paul, 335. INDEX. 457 Ordain: expressed by six different terms in Greek, 219. Ordination: what it signifies, 217, 223; view of the church of Eng- land, 217 ; of the church of Rome, 228; of the church of Scotland, 218; of the ministers of the pi'o- vincial assembly of London, 218; of the Congregationahsts, 219; what it does not signify, 220 ; why it should be continued, 223 ; the mode of it, 224 — 231; was a supernatural gift imparted at the laying on of hands? 224, 227 ; the persons to be employed in ordina- tion, 231 — 251 ; the subject of it, 251 ; custom of American Con- gi-egationaUsts, 259. Owen : on the Christian church and the synagogue, 53 ; on xf'pofToj/jj- (TovTis, 200 ; on synods, 334. ILavTi Tw TToifjivico : meaning of, 109. Paraeus : on eKKXrja-ia in Matt, xviii. 15, 16, 295. Pearson: on Paul's journies, 335. Pelagius : on pastors and teachers, 155. Philemon : the church in his house, 99, 100, 105, 121. Philip, a deacon, 174, 175. Philo, 201. Phoebe, 178, 179. noifirjv, ]){isioY : his office, 156. Poj^ular elections: objections to, 213. Potter, Archbishop : on the angels of the seven churches, 157. Power : ambiguity of the term, in relation to a church, 264; of binding and loosing, 299, 330. Upea-^vrepoL : origin of the tenn, 53, 149 ; their office, 149 ; perjietuity of the office, 153 : the same as the eVio-KOTrot, 151, 156, 188. Upecr^vTtpiov : meaning of the term, 353. Privileges of the people, 305. IIpo(f)T]TaL, projihets, 146. Punchard, 216. Ratio Disciplinff! : quoted, 259. Reformed churches: their view of lay-presbyters, 186. Robinson : on ordination, 246. Rothe : on the early use of hislwp and elder, 151; on the office of deaconess, 180 ; on the ordina- tion of Timothy, 235 ; on a i)lur- ality of elders, 357; origin of ejiiscopacy, 371, 372. Riickert : on pastors and teachers, 155. Rutherford: on the qualification of church members, 62 ; on the church at Corinth, 114; on sy- nods, 309 ; on the term brethren, in Acts XV., 324. Sacred henneneutics, 130. Sanhedrim : not intended by (kkXt]- (Tia, 295. Savoy Confession : in regard to pastors and teachers, 155. Schmidt: on the journies of Paul, 335. Schott: on the journies of Paul, 335. Sclater : on the election of an apostle, 198. Scott, A. J.: "First Principle of Church Government," 41, 45. Scripture alone the standard of appeal, 2. Semler, 335. Seven churches of Asia Minor, 157. Sins : power of remitting and re- tauiiug, 302. Smith, Dr. Pye ; on the rise of epis- copacy, 372. Smyth, Dr. : on ordination, 238, 239 ; on the distinction between the authoritative and ordinary cha- racter of the apostles, 320; on the term brethren, in Acts xv., 324. 458 INDEX. Sosthenes: not a diocesan bishop, 163. South, 214. Steiger : on the chiu-ch in Nymphas' house, 121. Stephen : a deacon, 173. StUlingfleet : his view of ecclesias- tical polity, 6, 17 ; on the national church of Egypt, 125 ; on evan- gelists, 164; the origin of the episcopate, 374, 376. Synagogue : use of the term, 295. Synods : different kinds of, 308 ; arguments in favour of, 311. Tait : on ordination, 228. Taylor, Isaac : on the principle of a hierarchy, 207 ; on a j^lurality of elders, 357. Taylor, Jeremy: on apostolic suc- cession, 319. Teachers : theii- nature, 147, 156. TertuUian : on the right of the laity to administer the sacraments, 268. TifxT) : meaning of in 1 Tim. v. 17, 193. Timothy: his office as evangelist, 145, 164. Titus : his office as evangelist, 145, 164. Tradition : not authoritative, 1. United associate synod of the seces- sion church, testimony of, 405, 408. Upham : on the deacon's office, 176 ; on popular election, 201. Vitringa : on the primitive church, modelled after the Jewish syna- gogue, 48 ; the cliazan of the syna- gogue analogous to the Siukovos or deacon, 50, 51; on the ruling eldership, 193; on Matt, xviii. 15, 16, 296. Vogel : on Paul's journies, 335. Watson, Richard : on a popular form of church government, 396, 411. Wesley, 413. Westminster Divines : on the term Jlock in Acts xx. 28, 1 07 ; their meaning of the verb noifiaiveiv, 108, 109 ; on ordination, 232, 249, 253 ; the authority of pastors ministerial and subordinate, 273. Whately : on the office-bearers in Acts vi. 167; on the apostolic institution of episcopacy, 371. Whitby : on the identity of elders and bishops, 152 ; on pastors and teachers, 155; Timothy, not a diocesan bishop, 164. Winer: on Paul's joui-nies, 335. 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The esteemed author is too well known to need any elaborate commendation from us, and we therefore content ourselves with recommending this, his latest production, to the attention of our readers." — Biblical Review.- A New Edition, in foolscap 8vo, price 6s. cloth, DR. HENDERSON'S LECTURES ON DIVINE INSPIRATION; Or, the Supernatural Influence exerted in the Communication of Divine Truth, and its Special Bearing on the Composition of the Sacred Scriptures. With Notes and Illustrations. *' These discourses are written with great care, and display stores of information, both ancient and modern, which few theologians of the day could emulate, and very few, if any, could exceed." — British Critic. " No well-informed or well-principled persons, of whatever denomination of pro- fessing Christians, — at least, of those who hold the vital doctrines of the Gospel, — can be otherwise than gratified to see, in Dr. Henderson's work, that rare admix- ture of great learning and extensive research with unaffected modesty, and candour, and deep spirituality ; of enlightened views with soundness of doctrine and sobriety oi thought." — Preface to Bloomjield's Edition of Robinsons Greek Lexicon. List of New Publications. WORKS BY DR. J. PYE SMITH, NEW AND CHEAPER EDITION, IN TWO VOLUMES. Now ready, in two volumes 8vo, price 24s. cloth, the Fourth Edition (carefully revised by the Author) of THE SCRIPTURE TESTIMONY TO THE MESSIAH; An Inquiry, with a view to a satisfactory determination of the doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures concerning the person of Christ. By JOHN PYE SMITH, D.D., F.R.S. In the course of circulating the former edition, the Publishers have had occasion to observe the prevalence of a supposition, that this work is adapted only for the use of scholars and professional divines ; but they believe that they may with confidence affirm the contrary. Though the great subject is treated by a very close investigation of both evidences and objections, yet the whole process is conducted so as to be intelli- gible and interesting to all serious Christians, and many collateral topics of the highest importance in Theology and Religion are incidentally discussed. " The late learned Bishop of Oxford (L)r. Lloyd) stated, that he considered it to be the ablest treatise extant on the subject." — Christian Ilememhrunr.er. " Unquestionably the most elaborate defence and proof of the Ueity of Jesus Christ extant in our own language." — Home's Introduction to the Stiidii of the Bible. " Replete with the proofs of extensive reading, of great criiical learning, of sound and effective criticism, and of pure and enlightened piety, it is altogether a most elaborate production, and has deservedly received the suffrages which assign to it a place among tiie standard works of Theological Litei'ature." — Eclectic Review. " The Author would, especially, thus recommend an attentive perusal of the admirable Treatise of Dr. Pye Smith on the Scripture Testimony to the Messiah ; and this he the more readily does, from the circumstance, that that writer, though ao^reeing in every essential of doctrine, is yet, in discipline, unconnected with the Establishment, and may therefore, by many, be considered to exercise a freer and more imbiassed judgment." — Rev. W. I). Coni/beai-e, in his Preface to the Hecond Edi- tion of his Theological Lectures. By the same Author, Third Edition, fcap. 8vo, price 6s. cloth, FOUK DISCOUHSES ON THE SACRIFICE, PRIESTHOOD, ATONEMENT, AND REDEMPTION OF CHRIST. " To those students who have the leisure and means requisite for further investiga- tion, the critical and bibliographical notices contained in the supplementary matter •will be a valuable directory. JJut to the majority of readers, the volume will present a sufficient and satisfactory exposition of the subject." — Eclectic Review. " This volume should be in the hands of every biblical student, as an invaluable critical and bibliographical manual, in reference to the topics of primary importance which it embraces." — Patriot. " Both the Discourses and the Notes embody a large mass of scriptural argument; and the beauty and force of many particular texts of Holy Writ are exhibited to great advantage." — Wesleyan Methodist Magazine. Also, by the same Author, Third Edition, fcap. 8vo, price 7s. cloth, SCRIPTURE AND GEOLOGY; OR, THE RELATION BETWEEN THE HOLY SCRIPTURES AND SOME PARTS OF GEOLOGICAL SCIENCE. " Devoted to the truths of revelation no less than to those of science, and regarding them both as proceeding from the same Divine source, he (the Author) will allow of no compromise, distortion, or subterfuge, with respect to either." — Annals and Maga- zine of Natural History. " It places the justly-esteemed author in the very first rank of scientific and philo- sophical theologians, and has already procvxred the enrolment of his name among the members of two of the most learned societies in Great Britain." — Lancaster Guardian. Jackson and Walford's New Publications. In 2 vols. 8vo, \rith Portrait, price 1/. 4s. cloth, THE LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE OF JOHN FOSTER. With a Memoir, by J. E. Ryland, Translator of " Neander's Church Historv.'' and Notices of Mr. Foster as a Preacher and a Compaaion. By John Sheppari>, Author of " Thoughts on Private Devotion," &c. " Mr. Ryland has performed his allotted task with great ability and judgment, and furnished a con- tri'.iiition to modem English literature which will not easily, nor soon, be surpassed." — Wesley an Itltihudiat Magazine. In foolscap 8vo, price 4s. 6d. cloth, CURiE ROBIAN^, a Revised Translation of the Epistle to the Romans: with Notes, Explanatory and Critical. By William Walford, A uthor of " A New Translation of the Psalms," &c. " We must now express our deep sense of obligation to the learned and excellent author for his valuable Translation and Notes, and recommend with earnestness to our readers, and especially to ministeis and theological students, to procure and to study this CDUdeused corameutary." — Evan- gelical Magazine, In foolscap 8vo, price 4s. 6d. cloth, A SECOND SERIES OF LETTERS ON PURITANISM AND NONCONFORMITY. By Sir John Bickeuton Williams, Knt, LL D., F.S.A. Author of " Memoirs of the Life, Character, and Writings of Sir Matthew Hale, Knt." " These letters are spiritual in tone, scriptural in sentiment, discriminating in principle, while they breathe the most generous chaiity to all the followers of Ciirist. It is a volume lull of the most valuable information." — ScutUsh Congregational Magazine. In 8vo, price 14s. cloth, AN INQUIRY INTO THE NATURE OF THE SYMBOLIC INSTITUTIONS OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, usually called THE SACRAMENTS. By Robert Halley, D.D. Part I.— Baptism. Being the Tenth Series of the Congregational Lecture. *' Of the work in its general execution, too strong terms of admiration can scarcely he employed. The apt scholarship ; the scriptural erudition; the masculine argument— which form the manovv of this work, and the generous spirit, copious diction, vivid illustration, and chastened wit which irradiate and enliven its form, place Dr. Halley in the first rank amongst the champions of the faUh." — Scottish Congregational Magazine. In foolscap 8vo, price 6s. cloth. Second Edition, with a full Table of Contents, &c. THE EXISTENCE OF EVIL SPIRITS PROVED; and their Agency, particularly in relation to the Human Race, Explained and Illustrated. By Walter Scott, President and Theological Tutor of Airedale College. "We feel no scruple in saying, that, on the whole, we have no book on the subject in our lilera- ture so thoroughly good, and so little open to exception. It deserves to be read and to be well reflected on by the divinity student." — Eclectic Review. Fourth Edition, Foolscap 8vo, price 6s. 6d. croth, CHRISTIAN ETHICS; or, Moral Philosophy on the Principles of Divine Revelation. By Ralph Wardlaw, D.D. "Dr. W. has conducted his argument with profound theological wisdom, aud admirable philoso- phical acuteness." — Christian Guardian. In 8vo, price lOs. 6d. cloth, THE DOCTRINE OF ORIGINAL SIN; or, The Native State and Character of Man Unfolded. By the Rev. Dr. Payne, of Exeter; being the Eleventh Series of the Congregational Lecture. " Dr. Payne has added honour to an already lofty reputation, and what is more to be valued, has, with much power, and in an admirable temper, maintained one of the fundamental articles of tUo Christian laith." — Hcottish Congregational Magazine. JACKSON AND WALFORD, 18, ST. PAUL'S CHURCHYARD.