THE

CHRISTIAN MINISTRY,

CO!llIDI....D IIf u,u.nOH TO

"1'1 ..U .. CUolI:K 01111....710" I .. aOTIoL 'J.n:mtooo."

1 Pet. it. 9.

LONDON:

LONGHANS, GREEN, READER, 4; DYER.

NOTICE TO THE READER.

THE following is an abridgment of a work published

about ten years &gO, in Amerioa, under a somewhat

different title. Various alterations have been made in

the original text, which, without affecting the general

oharacter of the work, will, it is believed, tend to re­

move oooasional obsourities in the style, and to bring

the subjects treated on-subjects especially important

at the present day-still more olearly before the mind

of the reader.

TI

CONTENTS.

OHAPTER I.

PRIESTHOOD.Page

§ 1. Definition .. 1§ 2. Prerogative of Priesthood common to all Chris-

tians ... .•. .., ... ... ... ... ..• ..• 7§ 8. Why so little said of Chmch Government in the

Scriptures ... ... .. . .. . . .. .. . •.. 12§ 4. The Churoh Fruits of the Holy Spirit.. . ... 18§ 6. What kind of Government recognized in the Acts

an~ the Epistles ... ... . .. ... ... ... 15§ 6. Where we are to look for the Law of Chmch

Government ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 16§ 7. The Doctrine of a Christian Priesthood apart

from the general body of Believers reoeivesno oountena.noe from the earliest History ofChristianity ... .., ... 18

OHAPTER 11.

TIlE APOSTOLATE.

§ 1. Position 8Bsumed§ 2. Position denied

2426

vi. C01f~E1fTS.

C H APT E R I I I.

MINISTRY.Page

§ 1. Prevailing Notions ... ... ... so§ 2. The true Idea of :Ministry as set forth in the

Scriptures ... ... ... '" ... ... ... ... SI§ 8. Examination of Scripture Terms relative to

Ministry 4t5§ 4.~... 46

§ 6. DiakoMo ... 61§ 6. Diakono,... 54

§ 7. The Office of Deacon 67§ 8. lfinistry as implied in the term ~eer.u 66§ 9. Imposition of Hands ... ... 67§ 10. Administering the Sacraments 68§ 11. Preaching the Gospel 70§ 12. Ordination ... ... 78§ 13. General Remarks on Ministry 87§ 14. Tendency of Clerical Rule ... 99§ 15. The Clerical system espeaially out of place

among the C~gationaJists 103

§ 16. The Evil Effects of the Distinction in Question 104

CHAPTER IV.GBNEBAL RESULTS ••• ••• .•. . •• ...... 106

THE AP08TLlD PAUL TO THE CHURCH IN ROKE.

"Alwe bave muymemben In ODe body, and all members have Dot thesame oftlce; 10 we belng many, U'e ODe body In 0brIIt, and e,ery ODe mem­ben one of another. HavlDI then gifta dlft'erJDI accordtDI to the grace that11 given to as, whether prophecy, let UI propheey aecordinl to the propor­tion of falth; or min1ltry, let UI walt on our mlDJ8terlng; or he that teaebethOD teaching; or he that ahortetb, OD ubortatlon. He that glveth, letbim do it with simplicity; h. that ruletb, with d1UIence; he that Ihowethmercy, with cheerfalD_."-BoK£1fS sUe " 6, 6, 7, 8.

CHAPTER I.

PRIESTHOOD.

§ 1. Definition.

IT will be important to settle in limine the meaningthat is ordinarily attached to the word cc Priest." A.priest is a person consecrated to the priestly office,by &11 order of priests already existing, and sup­posed, in virtue of this consecration, to be endowedwith a character, giving him privileges in divine'things above those of his fellow-worshippers whoare not consecrated as he is.

In the Levitical institutions, we find the priestgreatly exalted in the service of God above thepeople, because the Levitical order was, till thecoming of Christ, a type of the company of the faith­ful under the High Priest, who was eminently atype of Ohrist Himself; the whole of the worship,the burning of the offerings on the altar, the pre­senting of every zeback and mmc'ka, of every korbcmand olGk-in the temple, and the performance ofeveryreligious ceremony, were the exclusive privilege and

.duty of " the priests, the sons of Aaron." The most

• Zebach, .the slaughtered-offering; Mincha, the meat­offering of inanimate things offered by fire j Korbcm, anoffering generally; Olah, a burnt-offering.

B

2 PRIESTHOOD. [CHAP. J.

important of the Levite's sacerdotal functions wasto make an atonement for the sins of those thatcame t<;> him to have their sins removed throughhis mediation. "And the prie,t ,hall make an atonfJ­ment for llim concerning kill nn, ana it ,kall he for­given, kim." (Lev. iv. 20.) ".And it shall be, whenhe shall be guilty in one or these things, that heshall confess that he hath sinned in that thing; andhe shall bring hi~ trespass offering unto the Lordfor his sin which he has sinned." (Lev. v. 5,6.) .

In the above definition of "a priest," we havestated that such an one "is & pe1'8on consecrated tothe sacerdotal office by an order of priests alreadyexisting." This is deemed absolutely indispensableto constitute & human priesthood; whereas everytrue member of the church of Christ, who has re­ceived the seal of the Spirit, is a priest in the'gospel sense; and if, with that seal, he has re­ceived also the gift of preaching, and the churchaccept his gift, he is a "prophet," and may deliverthat knowledge which he has received. Paul de­clares he was an apostle, "not of men, neither by-man;" that is, he was no priest according to thereceived ideas and ancient custom; nobody hadordained him; no son of Aaron had anointed himwith oil, and arrayed him in the consecrated ~phod ;the corporation of priests were not at all concernedor consulted in his ordination. If he had thoughtthe apostolical succession indispensable in establish. .ing the validity of his' office, he might most easilyhave sought out the" archbishops " (ss the apostles .are deemed by some to have'been) and have received

8110.1J DEFINITION. 3

consecration from 'their hands. But he had otherviews, and what those views were he has stated veryplainly: "When it pleased God, who separatedme from my mother's womb, and called me by hisgrace, to reveal his son in me, that I might preachHim among the heathen, immediately I conferrednot with flesh and blood, neit~er went I up to Jern­salem to them which were apostles before me, butI went into Arabia." So he began preaching andteaching without human ordination; and so little didhe think it requisite to be ordained by the apostlesthat he purposely avoided it, as is clearly intimatedin the epistle to the Gslatians.

This, then, .is to be " an apostle not ofmen, neitherby man," and is the true apostolicaJ succession, forthe honour of which the church of Christ has goodreason to be jealous.

To distinguish, by a broad line of demarcation,between Cl the clergy" and "laity;" to act as ifwe supposed that a certain order of men had thepower of admitting candidates into their bodycorporate, or that their interference, 'or even assis-

· . tance, was indispensable in opening the door ofthe ministry to those whom the grace of Godhad previously selected to teach the truth, is, infact, to take away from the glory of Him who sendsthe rod of his strength out of ZioD, and who, bythe gift of repentance and remission of sins, rules8S a Prince in his Israel, and anoints all his trueservants to be kings and priests to God and hisFather.

As one great aim of the Bon of perdition has beenB2

4 PRIESTHOOD. [OllA.P. I.

to destroy: the priesthood of grace, and exalt thepriesthood of man, and as this his work has too suc­cessfully transformed the oneness of the believingbody into "clergy and laity,tt so should it now be theunremitting labour of the servants of the Lord toundo his work; to go back again to tbe fountain oforiginal purity, and there, in a thorough cleansingof holiness, to recover the fair image of primevalsimplicity. And for this purpose it behoves usnot to tolerate any ancient custom, any receivedformulary of words, by which it is possible that theunderstanding of believers may be led, unawares,into a train of thought bordering on the old delu­sion. We have all an inherent tendency to thatdelusion: without this tendency, the papacy nevercould have achieved that mighty dominion which itformerly secured for itself: for, what is the papacybut an accommodation, in all things, to the un­hallowed desires of the natural man? How careful,then, should we be to avoid the paths whereinit is even p08sible to lapse into old errors! Howcautious to shun the stumbling-blocks which arethickly set by Satan in every high-road and by-pathof the journey! cc If any man be in Christ, he is anew creature: old things are passed away; behold,all tiling' are become new!" He comes to see themany privileges of the church; a spiritual temple, aspiritual altar, a spiritual High-priest, a spiritualcompany ofpriests anointed by God the Holy Ghost,and by Him appointed, and sent forth to exercisetheir gifts in any office He chooses for them; a frater­nity of spiritual kings, who shall reign with their

8Eo.1.J DEFINITION. 5

God for ever; enjoying spiritual union with the ex­alted Head of the church,-perfect God and perfectman,-who has taught his servants this unspeakablemystery, that they" are members of his body, ofhis :flesh, and of his bones."

Now, in order to recover these privileges, ourduty is to place the gospel ministry in a clearlight; to bring it forth in open day; and to de­prive it of the false effect produced by shadowyback-grounds, and the picturesque accompanimentsof antiquity. If the churches ofRome, of England,or other countries, have their orders-if they, inperfect consistency with their system, make theirpriests first breathe the sacerdota1life through thelaying on of prelatical hands-we" cannot be at alos8 for the line of conduct which we ought topursue, in ceasing to imitate or tolerate theirexample.

It is but justice to remark in this. connection,that one sect, if sect it may be called, has ap­proached perhaps nearer the truth concei-ning thepriesthood than any other, and, entirely levellingevery remnant of distinction between clergy andlaity, has at last produced a system framed on thefundamental doctrine, that "the old covenant"having " decayed and w:axed old," ought "to vanishaway." This sect is the Quake1'8; a body of menwho seemed determined to investigate this ques­tion, without the least regard to the trammels ofpreconceived opinions and settled customs; andthough, by such a method of investigation, they mayhave been in danger of running into Bome extra-

•

6 PRIESTHOOD. [CHAP. I.

v&gances, they were also sure to discover sometruths unknown, denied, or detested by their con­temporaries: for 80 great are the delusioDs of everygeneration, that he who systematically opposes theopinions of the age in which he lives, can h&1'dlyfail to liber~te Bome truths from the 'captivity oferror. The Quakers, then, are entitled to the wholecredit of having placed the sacerdotal controversyin its true light; and they not only stated thetruth, 'but acted on it, guarding their opinions withsuch a watchful discipline, that it became impos­sible for their successors to misunderstand or mis­interpret their meaning. To acknowledge a priestin any way, directly or indirectly, is, in fact, to ceaseto be a Quaker. And herein is their wisdom deserv­ing the highest admiration; for they acknowledgeand act upon this great maxim, that our Lord andSaviour J eallS Christ is the only Priest that hasany pre-eminence, and that the whole body ofbelievers are priests in perfect equality one withanother, in and through Him, their Head and Lord.One of'the early Quakers was, therefore, rightwhen he 8aid, "we are not persons that have shotup out of the old root into another appearance, asone sect hath done out of another, till many arecome up one after another, the ground still re­maining out of which they all grow; but that veryground hath been shaking, destroyed and is destroy­ing, removed and is removing in us."·

• Life of William Dewsbury t. London, 1836, p. 5.

SEC. 2] PREB.OGA.TIV:z OF A.LL CHBIBTIA.liS. 7

§ 2. Prie,thood the prerogative common to allOkristiMuJ.

Ohristianity can never be fully developed, norcan the points of difference between Christ andAnti-Christ ever be fully settled, till the liberty ofthe ministry to all believers, and the ordination bythe Holy Spirit of all the members of the mysticalbody be fully understood, and admitted 88 entirelyvalid and sufficient. This is the axe that strikes attbe root of the tree of Popery, indestructible by anyother instrument, but, by this, ultimately to beuprooted. To deny all distinction between clergyand laity, prohibits, in limiAuJ, the advance of anyother papal heresy; neither Pope nor Prelate canpla.nt his feet where this is held forth and acted on ;it meets him with confutation and expulsion at thedoor of the sanctuary; and, by referring to thesole priesthood of the divine Head of the Church­who brings into union with Himself all bis people,and invites them "with boldness and confidence"to enter "the holiest of all," as "priests to Godand their Father"-renders it impossible for any" clergyman" to usurp functiOn! which his brethren,anointed with the Holy Ghost, may not performwith an authority and validity fully equal to anythat he can claim.

But it is marvellous to see h~w this importanttruth of the Gospel has been neglected, and howChristians have, in almost all Protestant denomi.nations, set themselves to the work of consolidatingsuch a form of church government 88 should reduce

8 PRIESTHOOD. [CHAP. I.

the priesthood of the whole body of believers to anaked theory, and make that a mere idea, abstractedfrom anything practical or tangible, which was in­tended to be a governing principle of the churchupon earth., Protestant Dissenters are of all others the most

deeply interested in this question; both becausethey profess to have seceded to the utmost distancefrom Rome on purely Scriptural grounds, and alsoto have secured to themselves an ecclesiasticalpolity free from the evils incident to the systemswhich elsewhere prevail. Still their practice andtheir principles seem not to be consistent with eachother. Their principles would lead to a pluralityof ministers in each church; and we know not thatsuch a plurality has ever been denied, in theoryat least, by any respectable writer· of their class.Nevertheless, the great body of Dissenters have,in practice, rejected the plurality of ministers, andhave settled down into the one-man system, withoutthe semblance of an argument in favour of such anarrangement.

But we take still higher ground. We pleadnot merely for the plurality of ministers, but for thefull and free acknowledgment of the liberty of minis.try to the whole Ohurch of God; by which all maybe placed in such a position " as that all may pro­phecy, that all may learn, and all may be com­forted." (1 Oor. xiv. 31.) We plead for the abro­gation of that law, or, which amounts to the samething, of that jl:&sd cuatom which commits to aclerical order, the whole duty of teaching and

BEC. 2J PBEllOGAtI'IVE OF ALL CHBISTIANB. 9

ministering to the spiritual necessities of a con­gregation, and substitutes for tb~ mutual exhor­tations of the church, the studied orations of pro­fessional theologians. We plead for the plenaryrecognition of the church-privileges of all the peopleof God; that they may, if called to the work andgifted for it, preach the word (Acts viii. 4); thata saving faith in Christ may be admitted 88 proofof that anointing, which institutes into the evnn­geli~ priesthood-for no one can say that Jesusis his Lord but by the Holy Spirit-and that therule of the Apostle may be revived and acted on,cc We, having the same spirit of faith, according88 it is written, I have believed and therefore haveI spoken, tDlJ alBo beZitme Mid tltJrttfors apelik." Ifthe New Testament is to give us any light in thesematters, this is plain, that the whole body of be­lievers are, by it, regarded as exercising di1Ferentministrations: cc The manifestation of the Spirit isgiven to every man to profit withal; for to one,is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; toanother, the word of knowledge by the sameSpirit; to another, faith by the same Spirit; to'another, the gift of healing by the same Spirit;to another, the working of miracles; to another,prophecy; to another, discerning of spirits; toanother, divers kinds of tongues; but all theseworketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividingto every man severally u he will: for as the bodyis one, and hath many members, Bnd all the mem­bers or that body, being many, are one body, 80

also is Christ: for by one Spirit are we all baptized

10 PRIESTHOOD. [CHAP. I.

into one body." (1 Cor. xii.) This importantpassage proves the whole argument,-that the HolySpirit does baptize all believers into the body ofChrist; making them priests in the sanctuary, byvirtue of their union with Him; and that theHoly Spirit imparts to each the gifts of ministra­tion, according to the will of God.

Again, it is written, cc Every one of you hath apsalm, hath a doctrine, bath a tongue, hath a revela­tion, bath an interpretation: let all things be doneunto edifying,1 Cor. xiv. 26." Now, whatever maybe said ofthe miraculous gifts to which there is herean allusion, this is certain, that these passages con­template the whole church in action, in miniltr.tion ; and it would be presumptuous indeed toassert that the modem practice of restricting theministry to one individual, however pious, learned,and respectable that individual may be, was known,or even thought of, in the mra when the New ·Testament was composed under divine in1luence.Incidental directions are continually occurring inthe Scriptures, indicating th~t the work of the·ministry (i. 8. the edification of the church byexhortation, experience, doctrine, warning, counsel,faith, &c.) was with all believers: cc As every manhath received the gift, even so minister the sameone to another, 88 good stewards of the manifoldgrace of God" (1 Pet. iv. 10); "not forsaking theassembling of ourselves together, as the manner ofsome is, but 6$lwrting one MWtker." (Heb. x. 25.)But whilst passages like these are of frequen~

occurrence, there is no record of a fact, nor of any .

SEC. 2] PREROGATIVE OF ALL CHRISTIANS. 11

thing like an incidental passing allusion, which canauthorize even the most resolute partizan to assertthat the order existing in these days existed also inthe days of the apostles.

But here we encounter the usual argumentsadvanced for the power, authority, and pre­eminence of the clergyman, whether he be cailedBishop, Priest, or Deacon, Minister, Pastor, orSuperintendent. Now, as nearly all denominationshave substantially, 88 it relates to the laity, thesame ~use to defend, it is no matter of surpriseto find them all supporting their common theoryby precisely the salne arguments. There is indeeda wide difference in the eztent of power which theyclaim for their clergy; and Rome and Oxford8uperinduce the aid of tradition to make theircase still stronger; but all agree in quotingthe same texts for the establishment of the clericalorder. "Remember them which have the ruleover you, who have spoken unto you the wordof God; whose faith follow, considering the end oftheir conversation. (Heb. xiii. 7)" "Obey them thathave the rule over you, and submit yourselves; forthey watch for your souls as they that m.ust giveaccount; that they may do it with joy, and not~th grief." (Heb. nii. 17.) "We beseech you,brethren, to know them which labour among you,and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;and to esteem them very highly in love for theirworks' sake" (1 Thess. v. 12, 18) ; and others of asimilar import.

12 PRIESTHOOD. [CHAP. I.

§ 8. WAy'o Zittle 'aid of OkurCh Governmentin the Scripture8.

In contemplating this question of early churchgovernment, we are too apt to bring to it our ownideas and practices 88. a medium through which toview the subject. The object of most personswho engage in this inquiry, is to discover theexact degree of authority which the Elders, orDeacons, or Bishops of the church respectivelypossessed; to know and define, with precision, allthe laws and customs of church polity; to restorethe discipline and recover the canons ofecclesiasticalregimen. Some writers will tell us that there wasonly one Bishop, and that he ruled the Priests ;others, that there were no Priests, but many Elders,who were the same as Bishops; others, that therewas one Bishop, above the rest, in every church;others, that the brethren might elect, or might notelect, to clerical offices; that the Deacons had thisor that office, or this or that duty; and diversother points of that sort, which have been investi­gated with laborious research, and sustained withno little animosity in ecclesiastical controversies.But how comes it, if this indeed were the realmatter of inquiry, that it is left undefined, un­certain, intangible, in Scripture; that churchgovernment is nowhere clearly described; that weare constrained to make our discoveries as well aswe can, by the very unsatisfactory help of passingallusions or incidental remarks; and that thatwhich seems to be the very soul of modern division,

SBc.4J CHURCH FRUITS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. 13

and the life of controversy, and the strength of allBeets, should have no definite shape in the canon ofthe New Testament P

The church government of the Mosaic Law isclear beyond dispute. There are, in the Law, notmerelya few detached and questionable allusions,butwhole chapters and books expressly on the subject :but in the Gosp~l, which is a more glorious minis- .tr&tion, which is a better, a clearer, a more life­giving system, the whole question of church govern­ment is Dever once directly handled! Howahall we account for this P Simply by this ex­planation; that our Lord Jesus Christ is Himselfthe Head of the church, and that He raises upwhom lIe will by the giit of the ij:oly Spirit, toedify the church according to bis own purpose;that He' never designed that it should be governedby a code of human laws and a book of canons, butthst He did intend, and will effect that which Heintended, to rule by his Spirit the church which Hepurchased with his own blood.

§ 4. The Church Fruit, of tke Holy Spirit.

Where the Holy Spirit is imparted, there willbe seen' the fruits of it, "love, joy, peace, long­suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness,temperance;" and, with such fruits 88 these, therewill be no lack of church order. There will beElders and Teachers; yea, there will be Epucopoior Overseers of the Hock; but their power will bethat of love; they will, with the mitre of meekness,and the P8ltoral staff of humbleness of mind, with

141 PRIESTHOOD. [CHAP. I.

the knowledge of the deep things of God, and, withthe strength of prayer, seek to lead the flock to stillwaters and green pastures, and to keep them closeunder the eye of the great Shepherd and Bishop ofsouls. They will sit enthroned in the affections oftheir faithful brethren: and, amidst the royal priest­hood, the holy nation, the peculiar people, they willrule with priestly sway. Who can doubt it P Whodoes not wish that so it should be P Dare we nottrust the promise of the exalted Head of the church PAre we unable to believe that He will magnify hisword above all his name, and that He will, accordingto his word, be with his people to the end of theworld P And are we at all doubtful that, if wecome together with one mind and with one spirit,having no other desire than to live and die for theglory of Him who died for us, that He will not onlyraise up Pastors to take care of us from amongst ournumber; but will supply all other gifts needed forthe different branches of edification and ministra­tion P

That is very simple in itself which to many per­sons is a problem of inextricable difficulty. TheHead of the Church will, by the agency of theHoly Spirit, raise up spiritual men into those officeswhich are for edification. Wherever there are giftsof preaching or teaching in the brethren, there theywill, by that IBme grace by which faith was firstimparted, be ultimately made manifest. Everyman will stand in his proper position: each willfall into the ranks of the church according to thestation for which he is adapted. The grave, the pru-

SEC. 5] THE AOTS AND EPISTLES. 15

dent, the watchful, perceptive character will takehis natural place for government; the brother, whohas a gift of utterance, and who is well instructedin the Scriptures, will become a preacher or teacher;some, by general superiority of understanding, willprecede others; and some, by faith and patience, andothers by the gift; of prayer, will be in that place oftrust in the church which is evidently theirs, with­out any ceremony of election, or imposition ofhands. The true authority is that of the messagedelivered and the character of him who deliversit. There is one Spirit which anoints them all forthe priesthood, and sanctifies their faculties andcalls them forth according to their adaptation,for the edification of the church. CaiuB may havemany qualifications for government or for teaching,either conjointly or distinctly, which Lucius hasnot; whilst Lucius, a very dear brother, will takesome other station, and be exceedingly valued bythe church in his proper capacity. And thus itwill come to pus, that, in the kingdom of love,eaius will be an overseer (epiBCOP08), and he willtake the oversight of the brethren· by ruling intheir affections.

§ 5. Wnat kind of Government is recognized in tke.Acta and tke EpiBtle8.

To us, it is obvious that both the Acts and theEpistles were written with a view to churrh govern­ment such as this ;-a church government, not withmy fixed laws or defined polity, but avowedly underthe direction of the Holy Spirit, ruling by the

16 PRIBSTHOOD. [CHAP. I.

principle of love; which, if it were understood andfelt, would effectually Bettle all disputes aboutecplesiastical regime, and show the utter emptinessof all those interminable questions concerning theministerial office, which have indeed filled manybooks, but have not advanced the settlement of thequestion one degree further than it was in the daysof Luther and Calvin.

§ 6. Where we Me to look for tke Law of CkwrciG01JtJNI,mtmt.

The law of church-government is to be found inthe general principles prescribed for the regulationofOhristian conductaand not in any canons or enact­menta of discipline. In texts like these we are todiscover it: "If we live in the Spirit, let us alsowalk.' in the Spirit; let us not be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, envying one another."(Gal. v. 25.) "Bear ye one another's burdens,and 80 fulfil the law of Christ: for if a man thinkhimself to be something, when he is nothing, hedeceiveth himself; but let every man prove his ownwork, and .then shall he have rejoicing in himselfalone, and not in another; for every man shall bearhis own burden. Let him that is taught in theword, communicate unto him that teacheth in allgood things." (Gal. vi. 2-6.) "Walk in love, asChrist also hath loved us, and bath given himselffor UB, an offering and a sacrifice to God, for asweet-smelling savor." (Eph. v. 2.) "Speakingto yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritualsongs, singing and making melody in your heart to

SEC. 6] LAW OF C~UBCH GOVBBXllENT. 17

the Lord; giving thanks always for all things untoGod and the Father, in the name of the LordJ eSllS Christ; submitting !louraclveB one to anotlatJ'rin t1u) fear of God." (Eph. v. 19-21.) "TheElders which are among you I exhort, who amalso an Elder." cc Feed the flock of God which isamong you, taking the oversight thereof, not byconstraint but willingly; not. for filthy lucre, but ofa ready mind; neither as being Lords over God'sheritage, but being ensamples to the flock; and,vhen the chief Shephera shall appear, ye shallreceive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto theelder; !lea, all l!f !loo be BUbJect one to OIIWtker, andbe clothed with humility." (1 Pet. v. 1-5.) "Put-OD, therefore, 88 the elect of God, holy and beloved,bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind,meekness, long-suffering; forbearing one another,and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrelagainst any; even as Christ forgave you, so also doye; and, above all these things, put on charity,which is the bond of perfectness: and let the peaceof God rule in your hearts, to the which also yeare called in one body; and be ye thankfuI." (Col.iii. 12..15.) " I am persuaded of' you, my brethren,that ye also are full of goodness, filled with allknowledge, able also to admonish one another."(Rom. xv.14.) "Now the God of patience andconsolation grant you to be like-minded one towardsanother according to Christ Jesus: that ye maywith one mind and one mouth glorify God, eventhe Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore

c

18 PBIESTHOOD. [CIIAP. I.

receive ye one another, as Christ also received 118_tothe glory of God." (Rom. xv. 5-7.)

§ 7. The doctrine ofa Okriatian Priesthood apartjrorn, tke gfJ'fl,eral boily of Believer8 receives fU)

countenance from tke earZie,t HiBtO'r!J of 01lriB­tianity.

On this head we make no pretensions to divedeep into the depths of patristic lore. Indeed, weplace very little stress on the historical argumentas compared with the Scriptural. It is of small

.lnoment to us what the most ancient Fathershal"e taug~t on a question that is finally tobe settled solely on the authority of Holy Writ•

. If they are to be summoned into court, it issimply that they may give testimony to matters of

. fact, and not to take the judges' seat and lay downthe la,v for the church. That we have to seekin the archives of Inspiration, and nowhere else.At the same time, if the collateral records· ofthe purest ages of Christianity go to confirm therel!ults of previous enquiry conducted wholly onother grounds, nothing forbids our availing our­selves of this fact. Happily there is ample evidencethat, though the apostolic polity was very early

. departed from, and the foundations of the hierarchy. thoroughly laid, yet in the really prima-primitive. days of the church the order for which we pleadwas the one that actually prevailed. The profoundand clear-sighted Neander, the honest Mosheim, theexact Gjeseler, are accounted reliable authorities in

SEC. 7.] THE EA.RLY OHURCH. io

this department, and they all concur in substan­tially the same vi~w of 'the non-distinction of theclerical and the laical classes in the commencementof the church's career. The following extracts,samples ofverymanyothers which might be adduced,will convince the reader that, in the averment nowmade, we do not "speak withoJlt book."

., What MOBes expressed as a wish, that the Spirit of Godmight l'est upon all, and all might be prophets, is a predictionof that which was to be realized thl"Ough Christ. By Him wasinstituted an economy distinguished from the constitution ofaU previously existing religious societies. There could be nolonger a priestly or prophetio office, constituted to serve 88 amedium for the propagation and development of the Kingdomof God, on which office the religious consciousness of the com­munity was to be dependent. Such a class of priests as exis~din the previous systems of religion, emp.owered to guide othermen, who l'emained, as it werf, in a state of religious pupilage,having the e:cclurive oare of providing for theh' l'eligious wants,and serving 8S mediators, by whom all other men must bepla~ed in conneotion with God and divine things,-such apriestly caste could :find no place withiJl Christianity. • • • •When the apostles applied the Old Testament idea of the .priesthood, this was done invariably for the simple purpose ofshowing that no such visible partioular priestllood could findplace in the new oommunity; that since free access to God

. and to heaven had been, once for all, open to believers by oneHigh Priest, even ChI"jst, they had, by virtue of their union toHim, become themselves a eph·itual!)eople, consecrated to God j

. their calling being DODe other than to dedicate their entirelife to God 8S a thank-o:ffering for the grace of redemption, topublish abroad the power aud gt"ace of Ifim who had calledthem out of the kingdom of darkness into his ma.rvellous light,

. to make their life one continual priesthood. • • • " Eaehsociety was a whole composed of equal melnbers, all the mem­bers being but organs of the community, as this was the body

c2

20 PBIESTHOOD. [CHAP. I.

quickened by the Spirit of Christ. All those m~mbera, organsof the whole and of the one Spirit that gavt' it life, were to co­operate each in his appropriate place, for the oommon eDd:and some of the members acted in this organization of parts asthe pre-eminently guiding ones. But it could hardly workitself out in a natural way from the eS8p.noe of the ChriatiaDlife and of Chl"isuan fellowship, that tllu (JUidantJ6 8houltJ beplaced in tke ha1uU elf 011.111 one individual. 1'1I.e monarchicaZform o.f gov8r'll,'1Il61lt 1VU 'Itot mitet/, to the Oh'rUtian com,nunitllof Spirit. The preponderance of one individual at the head oCthe whole might too easily operate 8S. cheque on the freedevelopment of the life of the church, and the free co-operationof the different organs, in whom the oonsciousnesl ofmutual independence must ever be kept alive. The individualon whom every thing depended, might acquire too great animportance for the whole, and 80 beoom.e a oentre round whichall would gather, so 88 to obscure the sense of their commonrelation to that only One, who should be the centre for all."­.!VtJander'8 Cl". Hut., p. 179-183. TOPr8g'8 T".an8.

".All CltriBtWlIU, originally, had the right of pouring outtheir hearts before the brethren, and of speaking for theiredification in the public 88sembliea."-Id. Vol. I., p. 186.

" The duty of teaching, as an office, was by no means incum­bent on the elders, although the apostle wishes that theyshould be apt to teacl". The capacity for instructing andedifying in the auemblfes was rather considered 88 a free gift.of the Spirit, which manifested itself in many Chriati&lls,though in different modes. Stalk. ",111 tI di8tinDt pritJltZyorder kntJ'TDn at tAia time; fm' tluJ 'RJko~ ,oci8tV qf Okri8titM'flW'aea a r01/al prie8thood, Gotl, petnJ,lial' PtKJP~." GiUlUr,.EM. Kut., ch. ii. § 30. p. 90. Edin. Ed.

"The authority of the church constituted the dUFereucebetween the (olerical) order and tbe people. (Di1Ferentiaminter ordinem et plebem cODltituit ecole8be auotoritaa!')Ambl"Osiaster (Hilary the Deacon), about A.D. 800, thus

SEo.7.] THE EA.RLY CHlJRCH. 21

apeab in his Comment all Bpke, :-"At first all taught andall baptized on whatever days or whatever times it might beconvenient. • . • . As then the people grew and weremultiplied it was a privilege conceded to Iill at the outset toevangelize, to baptize, and to expound the Scriptures in thechurch. But 88 plac'es became :filled with churches, conven­tieles were established and directors appointed, and othel·011088 were created in the churches,80 that no one of tilenumber who was not ordained dared to take upon him an officewJrlch YOB not thus entrusted or conceded to hinl. The con­sequence was, that the church begun to be governed byentirely a difterent ordelo and providence, because if all were tobe vie\ved as competent to the same function, it would of coursebe esteemed i.orational, vulgar, and vile. Hence it bas happenedthat now neither do deacons pl·each among the people~ nor doolerics or lais baptize, nor aloe believers baptized on any andevel·Y duy, unless it be the sick."-Gieaeler, Vol. I. p. 91.

The grand question is the true sense of the Wordof God, and yet we are not indifferent to the suffragesof great and good men. Bro,Yn, the earliest of tbeEnglish Independents (from whom they were origi­nally called BrowniBt8) held the liberty of ministry,the equality ofChristian brethren, the Spirit's teach­ing and competency (and not man's appointmentor ordination), as the proper and only warrant forministry in the present dispensation. Milton alsomaintains entirely the spiritual priesthood of all trnebelievers, and utterly repudiates the idea of anyolraer of men whatever be tlieir name, being aJlowedto come in as prie8t8, between God and his peo­ple, as the medium of intercourse, and the link oftheir connection with hen:ven; maintaining, wbatthe Ne\v Testament so enlpbatically enforces, tlie

22 PRIESTHOOD. [OJLUl. I.

personal responsibility of every individual believerto God, and the impossibility of transacting, byrproxy, those matters which relate to God and thesoul, and can only be carried on by the aid ofthe Spirit, through the mediation of J esU8 at theright hand of God. So far Milton's principlesaccord with the principles of the New Testament:and many of his pungent remarks in the tractateentitled·u The Likeliest Means to remove Hirelingsout of the Church," deserve the grave and practicalattention of the pastors and people of all sectionsof the professing church. We quote 8 brief pas­sage from the close of it, commending the perusalof the whole to those who would see a clear andforcible exposition of the mischief which h88 beenwrought in the church, by the exhibition of lures ofany kind for inducing men to take upon themselvesa work which they should undertake "not by con­straint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre but of aready mind:"

" Heretofore, in the first evangelio times (and it were happyfOI- Christendom were it 80 again), ministers of the gospel weloeby nothing else distinguished from other Christians but bytheir spiritual knowledge and sanctity or life, for whicn theChUl-ch elected them to be her teachers and overseers, thoughnot thereby to separate them from '1IJhatever calling she thenfound them following besides; 8S the example of St_ Paul de­clares, and the .first times of Christianity. When once theyaffected to be called a clergy, and became, as it were, a distinctorder in the commonwealth, bred up for divines in babblingschools, and fed at the public cost, good for nothing else but\Vhatw88 good for nothing, they aoon grew idle; tllat idleneu,witb fuhw8S of brend, begat pride &nd perpetual contention

SEC. 7.] THE EA.RLY CHURCH. 28.

with their feeders, the despised laity, through all ages eversince, to the penerting of religion and the disturbanoe of allChristendom j"-of which" Christendom might soon rid her­self and be happy, if Christians would but know their owndignity, their liberty, their adoption, and, let it not be won­dered if I say, their apiritual prie8tkooa; whereby they haveall equally access to any ministerial function, whenever calledby their own abilities and the ChUl'ch, though they nevercame near commencement 01" university. But while Protes­tants, to avoid the' due labor of understanding their ownreligion, are content to lodge it in the breast, or rather in thebooks of a clergyman, and to take it thence by scraps andmammocks, as he dispensE's it in his Sunday's dole, they willbe ~ways learning, and never knowing; always infants;always his vassals,88 lay Papists are to their priests; or atodds with him, 88 reformed principles give them some light tobe not-wholly conformable."

24 THE APOSTOLATE.

CHAPTER 11.

THE ApOSTOLATE.

§ ,I. Position a88Umetl.

"CHURCH Government," says Prof. Schaaff, in hisHistory of the Apostolic Church, "has its founda­tion in the Christian Ministry, which is originallyidentical with the Apostolate and contains thegerms of all other church offices." Such, brieflystated, is the theory which constitutes the strong- .hold of the advocates of a priestly and clerical caste.It supposes that our Lord, in giving his last com­mandment to the disciples to go forth and proselyteall nations, gave it to them as 8 kind of corporation,or apostolic college, set apart under 8 special eccle­siastical organization, instead of giving it to themmerely as individuals. Nearly all theologians haveinterpreted our Saviour's words in the former sense,implying a special commission to the apostles 88 anecclesiastical corporatioa...and authorising them, as8uch, henceforth to preside over the whole body of'believers; having power, in virtue of that position, t·oexpound the doctrines of the Christian faith, tO I

administer the sacraments, and especially to ordain

•

SEC. 2] POSITION DEXIJ:D. 25

other persons to the performance of the sanle func­tions; thus perpetuating the clerical order as longas the church should endure on earth.

§ 2. Positio1~ denied.

The above statement brings the great questionbefore us. Is it an undoubted fact that Christ didconstitute the apostles an ecclesiastical corpora­tion P The determination of this question involvesthe most serious consequences, since the clergy·resttheir claims, as a body of men consecrated by divine­appointment to perform certain flIDctions, on the8ssumption that the apostles themselves were 8

corporation; for unless they were so constitutedthey could not confer corporate powers upon those­who succeeded them in point of time. Everyimportant passage that is quoted from the NewTestament, as implying commission, authority, orpower to the clergy or ministers of the gospel,consists of words addressed expressly to theapostles. But no one- has 8 right to apply to taeclergy at large words 8pok~n by Christ specially tohis apostles, unless he can also show that the apostleswere a corporation, and that as such they com·­municated the powers or authority which theythemselves had received. Were they such a body PDid they communicate such a power P That twelveapostles were, in a special manner, individuallycommissioned to COMMENCE the work of proselyting­mankind, is evident from tIle New Testament his-

26 THE APOSTOLA.TE. [CHAP. IT.

tory; but that they were appointed to this work asan apostolic corporation, with powers to perpetuatethis corporate authority by ordination, is a doctrinefor which we :find no adequate evidence in the;Scripture.

In the first place, we have sought in vain for anypassage in the New Testament that either speaks of,or implies, any ~uch corporate action of the apostlesas a distinct body. There is no plan for theorganizations of such a collegiate body laid down inthe apostolic writings~ nor rules given by which it-should be regulated. In warning the disciplesagainst false prophets who would in time appearamong them, our Lord gave them no other instruc­tion bywhich to determine the cbaracterofthesefalseteachers than that of judging them "according to,theirfruits." The theory of the appointment of such.an apostolic college empowered to teach or govern"with a special authority is also at variance with what-t~eLord says to his disciples, Matt. niii. 7-10, cc Beye not called Rabbi, for one is !lour Master, evenOhrist, and all !If) are brethren. And call no man!lOfllr

.father upon tho earth, for one is your father whichis in heaven. Neither be ye called masters, for onei" your master even Christ." Is it possible forwords to bear 8 more direct testimony against abody of teachers so constituted than the circum­-stance, that the very words which imply the neces­:SarY superiority of such teachers are positivelyforbidden to be used P

. Secondly. That there could have been no organi-

SBo.2] POSITIOlf D:BNI:aD•.

zation of the apostles, as a corporation, is evident .from the statement made by Paul, who expresslytells us (Gal. i. 15, &c.) that, after his miraculouscall to the apost1eship, he held no conference what­ever with those who were apostles before him, butwent into Arabia in the work of the ministry; andDot until three years after did he go up to Jeru­salem, where he conferred only with Peter, andmerely mentions having seen James of aU the otherapostles•

.Thirdly. Neither did the other apostles know,during these three years, that Christ had appointedPaul to be an apostle with them; for when he firstwent up to J ernsalem (Acts n. 26, 27) and " assayedto join himself with the disciples," they were allafraid of him, not believing him to be even a convertto Christianity, till Barnabas cleared up the matter.It BeemB incredible, then, that the apostles shouldhave been a corporation when, for three years, theydid not even know so eminent a member of their own

.bod,..Fourthly. It is to be observed that Paul, in the

.gzeater number of his epistles, associates with him.self in the address, Timothy, Bylv&nus, or- Sos­thenes, who were. his ordinary attendants on hismissionary excursions. In other epistles he writesin his own name, and never uses any expressionimplying the concurrent authority of an apostolicbody. It is the same with Peter, James, and John;they each write as individuals only. These factsare ineoDBistent with the hypothesis that the

28 ~JDC UOSroLA.TE. [CHAP. ll.

apostles constituted 8 corporation, which WBB to bethe fountain-head of ministerial authority.

The popular theory, therefore, that the minis-­terial function centered in, and originated with~

what is termed the" apostolic college," viewed as adivine corporation, is, we think, totally irrecon-·cilable with the statements made above. Nor doesthe filling up of the vacancy occasioned by the­defection of Judas in the election of Matthias, a&

related Acts i. 15-26, invalidate in our minds thisconclusion. The election does not appear to havebeen made by the apostles exclusively, but by thewhole body of the disciples; and moreover it mustbe borne in mind that Christ Himself selected Paulfor the vacant apostleship by a direct and super­natural appointment: The description (in Rev. xxi.14) of the city of the celestial Jerusalem states thatits foundations bore the names of cc the twelve'apostles of the Lamb." If Paul was included inthis enumeration, then certainly Mattmas was not,for then there would have been thirteen apo8tles~

and if Matthias was included, then by the samere880n Paul was not. The same remark is appli­cable to what is said by our Lord respecting thetwelve apostles sitting upon twelve thrones, judgingthe twelve tribes of Israel. .

From the various considerations now adduced wedeem the conclusion justified, that Christ calledthe apostles as individuals, and commissioned themto act in this capacity, and in this only. As such·they went forth into the world, as it were upon 'so

•

:SEC. 2.] POSIl'ION DENIED. 29

many diiferent missionary enterprizes, wherein eachacted in accordance with his own views of religiousduty, and not according to any enactments of an.spostolical conclave. Consequently the theory of apermanent or perpetuated body of clergy originatingfrom this source has, in our. opinion, no founda­tion.

30 :MINISTRY.

CHAPTER Ill.

MINISTRY.

§ 1. Prevailing Notion8.

THE setting aside of any other prie8tlwoiJ in the­ChristiaI;l church than that of our Lord Himself stillleaves the institution of a mini8try untouched, andour inquiry now concerns that subject. What then.is the general and popular idea of "ministry," andwhat is the divine teaching concerning it P Withthe multitude it is a wide undefined term, meaningan office equally undefined, held by one who is·termed a priest, clergyman, minister, or preacher.With the uninstructed, "priesthood" and "min-·istry" are the same thing. Whoever will take the·trouble to institute the inquiry, will find that thepopular idea of "ministry" is like the popular ideaof" church"-all dimness and confusion. A notion.prevails that whatever is said about priests andlevites in the Old Testament, and about bishops.and ministers in the New, is to be applied to the·Christian ministry,-that a minister is a priest, and.8 priest 1\ minister; that. the person holding this.office is, in some way, to be ordained to it by other'priests or ministers; that by virtue of his office he-

SEC. 2] SCRIPTURAL REPRESENTATION. 31

is to preach and pray for the people, to visit thepoor and the sick, to look after the salvation ofmen's souls, and more or less to secure it; that heis to be more pious than "the laity;" to wearofficial apparel; to be called" Reverend;" andgenerally to take the management of everythingthat belongs to "religion."

This is, with very little variation, the popularidea of " ministry," among all bodies of Christians ;and it obviously is not the interest of the clerical·department, in any sect, to clear up the popularmistakes on a subject which, if rightly understood,·might tend to subvert all established arrangements,and to restore God's order over the ruins of theorder of man.

§ 2. PIle true Idea ofMinist171 a~ set forth in tAe8criptu1~e8 .

The first and most obvious duty attached to aministry by all parties is, ofcourse, official teaching;except, indeed, in the Roman Catholic persuasion,where performing the sacrifice of the mass, andadministering "the sacraments," take precedence ofpreaching and teaching; but now we are writing of

·Protestants, and amongst them-in all their deno­minations-teaching and preaching constitute, ofnecessity, a large portion ofthe ministerial functions.Let us now see what the New Testa~ent says ofthese functions, their origin, and the persons towhom they are assigned. We find all this statedin 1 Cor. xii. " Now concerning spiritual gifts,brethren, I would not have you ignorant .•.• Now

32 llINISTBY. [ CHAP. Ill.

there are diversities ofgifts, but the same Spirit; andthere are differences ofadministrations (or services),but the same Lord; and there are divenities ofopera­tions, but it is the same God which worketh all inall. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given toevery man to profit withal; for to one is given bythe Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the wordof knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faithby the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healingby the sanle Spirit; to another the working ofmiracles; to another prophecy; to another dis­cerning of spirits; to another divers kinds oftongues; to another the interpretation of tongues :but all these worketh that one and the self-sameSpirit, dividing to every man severally as he will."

This statement is very clear: we are here veryplainly informed that the Holy Spirit bestowsvarious gifts on the members of the church; that thedonation is not to a privileged class, separated fromtheir brethren, nor according to man's appointmentor election, but that the selection is made out of thewhole body, according to the unrestrained will ofthe sovereign Distributor. " The manifestation ofthe Spirit is given to every man, to profit withal"(v. 7), and in consequence of this divine regula­tion, one man receives wisdom, another knowledge,another faith (v. 8,9). There are, indeed, other giftsmentioned, but with them we are not now con­cerned, as the church confessedly does not nowpossess them; but wisdom, knowledge, and faithmust, in degree at least, exist, otherwise there\vould be no ministry or teaching a.t all. IC Now all

SEC. 2.J SCRIP'rUnA.r~ REPRESENTA.TION. 88

these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit,diDiding to elJery man severaJIy as he will." (v. 11.)

If this be a true description of the church as itwas at the first, then it clearly bears no resem­blance to the arrangements p~vailingat the presenttime, when the division of ministry is not by the

. will and' appointment of the Spirit, but by thedirection and choice of man. This is indeed 80

plain, that almost all commentators seem quietly toyield the point,-that the ministry in the Corinthianchurch was of an order now lost, and that allexisting churches have adopted another system.They speak of the Corinthian order as a patternknown only in the Scriptures; it is, in fact, terra in­cognita 'to them, and so accustomed are they to thearrangements introduced by tradition, that the dis­tribution of gifts by the Spirit to eve..ry man in thechurch, they regard as some strange phenomenon ofthe days of miracles. Amongst the yarious deno­minations we do indeed see quite another system.In the churches of Rome and EngI8nd, the bishopsappoint to the ministry; in the kirk of Scotland,the Presbytery is the fountain of clerical functions;amongst dissenters generaJIy, the people, or thechurch as it is called, elect the minister, and otb~l'

ministers ordain him after he has been elected;whilst amongst the Wesleyans, the Confere~ce,orsome power deputed by the Conference, selects andgoverns all the ministers and preachers.. Now, itmust be clear to everyone, that neither bishops)popular elections, presbytery, nor conference, cansupersede the functions of the Holy Spirit; .. and '

D

.34 lIINISTRY. [CHAP. In.

beyond this one need not push the inquiry, in orderto be satisfied that nearly all secta, from the statelychurch of England, down to the lowest denomina­tion of dissent, are gone far astray from the orderrecorded in the New Testament. If the Scriptures,then, are to be our guide: we have already advancedfar in the ~olution of the problem before us; and.we have only to apply the statements in the NewTestament to facts before our eyes, to assure us orthe accuracy ofour deductions. For instance, let U8

try the existmg church of Rome, by Paul's descrip­tion of what that church was in his day. Paul, inwriting to the Romans, (chap. xii.) says, "We, beingmany, are one body in Christ, and every one mem­bers one of another," having different gifts-somebeing evangelists, others pastors, teachers, rulers,or helps. But now all that can be said ofthe churchof Rome is, that it is entire}y clerical; that theHoly Spirit does not appoint to the ministry, andthat every thing there is under the supreme controlof the Pope. The church of Rome, therefore, haslost the order set forth in the Scriptures; and so itis with others also; for we do not find it written,"He gave some bishops to rulfl dioceses; or Hegave rectors and curates for the care of parishes ;or He gave ordained ministers," &c., but some­thing very dissimilar in every respect. Protes­tants, therefore, as well as the church of Rome,have departed from the authority of Scripture intheir arrangements in regard to ministry.

Aiain: supposing, for argument's sake, thatsuch tt. form of the church did exist as has beeR

SEC. 2.] SCRIPTURA.L REPRESENTATION.'. 35

described. in the twelfth chapter of the first epistleto the CorinihiaDa-that there was no " ordained ~

ministry, no clerical or official appointments, noclergymen or "ministers" consecrated or chosen toact 8S functionaries for the people, but that all thepeople, without any recognition of ojJitMZ distinc­tion, met as a gathering of believers, to receive anycc diversity of gifts" which the Holy Spirit mightdispense amongst them; that "wisdom" "know­ledge," "faith," were exhibited here and there,without man's direction, and wholly independentof it; and that those so gathered had no idea ofany other order; would not such a church resemblea body in active and vigorous life; every limb, everymember, contributing, in proper proportion, to thelife and activity of the whole body? Now this isexactly the similitude selected by the apostle Paul,to describe the church of the Corinthians. cc. Thebody is not one member, but many. If the footshall say, Because I am not the hand, I am Dot ofthe body; is it therefore not of the body P And ifthe ear shall say, Because.I am not the eye, I amnot of the body; is it therefore not of the body PIf the whole body were an eye, where were ·thehearing P If the whole were hearing, where werethe smelling P But now bath God set the memberseveryone of them in the body, as it hath pleasedhim. .And if tkey fDM6 all 008 member, where werethe body P But now are they many members, yetbut one body. And the eye cannot Bay unto thehand, I have no need of thee: nor again, the head

n2

36 m.1STHY. [CHAP. nx.

to the feet, I have no need of you. . • • . Now yeare the body of Christ, and members in particular. tJ

(1 Oor. xii.)But let us uk,' how can this portion of Scripture

apply to the generality ofProteatantdenomiDatioDS PID them there is no body at aJ.l, if ~e are to followthe apostle's illustration of the life and visibilityof the church as manifested in the vitality ofall the members, for the· apostle plainly tells us,that" if they were all one member there would beno body;t' and who is there that does not see inthese words a condemnation of the clerical system,which presents tbe body in the form of one memberonly-THE MINISTER,-the ordained, official,and salaried minister, who, whetber he be appointedto his office by a prelate or popular election,supersedes all other spiritual gifts in the church?In such a system as this, the body is dead, allthe members are inanimate, the "honorablo" or"feeble" are alike useless, and one individual iseye, mouth, ear, hand, and foot. " The eye cannotsay unto the hand, I have no need of thee; nor againthe head to the feet, I have no need of you." Thisis the illustration of the apostle; whereaa, applyingthis illU8~ation to the arrangements of the presentday, we see that one member .ys, "I will be eye,hand, head, and foot: entrust all your funetioDs tome, ye separate members, for I will be the life ofthe whole body." This is a figurative descriptionof tke fact presented to us by the ministry of tke

..one man '!I,tem, and in ,such & sY8tem the supre-

SEo.2.] SCKIPTUlUL UPBBSENTATIOlf. 37

macyof the Holy Spirit cannot be owned, nor canHis distribution of gifts "to every man accordingto his own will " have any place.

Paul says, "The body is not one member, butmany" (ver. 14). Now, the various sects prac­tically, though unintentionally, deny this; andthey ought, in keeping with their practices, to readthe text thus: "The body is one member, and Memany." The apostle afterwards proceeds thus:cc Now ye are the body of Christ, and members inparticular. And God hath set some in the church,first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers,after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps,governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apos­tles P are all prophets P are all teachers P" &c.This is a full explanation of all he had previouslyurged. Every member has not 'all these gifts, buteveryone is in a condition to receive any w~ch theSpirit may impart; some may have one gift, othersmore than one. Teaching, helping, governing, maybe separated or united, just as the Lord chooses;but not one word of this could be understood, ifwewere to suppose that one or two individuals actedofficially and permanently in lieu of the whole body·of believers. Suppose, only for argument's sake,that there was a ministry in the apostle's days,luch &8 we see in these times, then would it be im­po88ible to comprehend Paul's meaning; but if onthe other hand we dismiss the idea of a clericalorder, and admit the fact that the whole body ofbelievers waited for such ministry as the HolySpirit migbt please to apportion to them, dividing

38 llINIBTBY. [CHAP. UT.

to every man severally aB He chose, then we canunderstand all the argument of the apostle.

In the fourteenth chapter of the same epistle, Paulincidentally lets us know the result of the churcb­oMer 8S it eDsted in those days. (Ver. 28-31~ .."If therefore the whole church be come togetherinto one place, and all speak with tongues, andthere come in those that are unlearned; or unbe­lievers, will they not say that ye are mad P But ifall prophesy, and there come in one that believethnot, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all,he is judged of all. How is it then, brethren Pwhen ye come together, tJfJety 0'ntJ of !lOll batha psalm, hath a doctrine, bath a tongue, bath arevelation, hath an interpretation. Let all thingsbe done unto edifying. If any man speak in anunknown tongue, let it be by two, or at themoat by three and that by course; and let oneinterpret. • • • . Let the prophets speak two orthree, and let the other judge. If anything berevealed to another that sitteth by, let the firsthold his peace. .llw!lB may all propAelg one by OftB,

that all may learn and all may be comforted."The meaning of this passage is evident: Paul sup­poses it to be p08sible that in the meetings of thechurches all the believers might be 80 injudicious ..to use the one gift which would be intelligible onlyto themselves, but wholly unintelligible to cc th~

unlearned ot unbelievers" (ver.28). This possiblemistake he corrects by recommending that only twoor three should speak in an unknown tongue; butat the same time be mentions, with manifest appro-

BEC. 2.] SCRIPTURAL BBPRESENTATIOY. 39

bation, the possible fact of all prophesying, nay,he plainly S&ys, that" all might prophesy one byone, that all might learn, and all be comforted;"and whilst he says this, he never alludes to theexistence, in the Corinthian church, of official pas­tors, ordained ministers, or clergymen; his thoughtsnever go that way at all; be does not, as is thecustom now, addre88 his remarks 88 a matter ofcourse to "the minister," meaning thereby eitherthe parish priest or the popularly-elected preacher,but he directs his precepts to the whole Corinthisnchurch, as the ministering body. He takes it forgranted that gifts would be visible in tke body-thegifts of kno\vledge, wisdom, faith, teaching, help,government, evangelizing, and the rest; andthat the appointment to those gifts must be bythe Holy Spirit, that same Spirit by which, as betells us, in introducing the subject, every believerhas been enabled to say that J eaus is the Lord.(1 Cor. xii. 8). And indeed it is well worthy ofobservation that Paul, in writing to the Romans,Corinthians, Ephesians, GaIatians, Thessalonians,Philippians, and ColossiaDs, never directs his lettersto "the minister;" he never even names luch anindividual; and this fact alone, if duly weighed,would go far to settle the question of an " ordainedministry," wherever there is a disposition implicitlyto believe and obey the word of God.

Are we then to follow the Scriptures in thesematters P Are we to test "churches" as they arecalled, by the precepts and arrangements which wefind in the Scriptures P If 80" let us see how, with

40 lIDfIBTBY. [ CHA.P. Ill.

any intel1j~ble meaning, the following words couldnow be addressed to the congregations assembled forworship whetber in church or chapel :-" Brethren,when ye come together,evSfY O1Ie of!lfJ1l hath a psalm,hath a doctrine," 1 Cor. xiv. 26: "To one is given bythe Spirit the word of wisdom, to another the wordofknowledge by the same Spirit, to anotber faith bythe same Spirit..•.. But all these worketh that oneand the self-same Spirit, dividing to e1JB'r!l man Beve­rally aB he will." 1 Cor. xii. "AB 6fJety man bathreceived tbe gift, even 80 minister the same one toItnotbel', as good stewards of the manifold grace ofGod; if an.,! 'lnan speak, let him ~pt'ak as the oraelesof God: if an.,! man minister, let him do it as of theability which God giveth." 1 Pet. iv. 10, 11.

There are two other chapters in the New Testa­ment in 'which the subject is fully set forth. To theRomans Paul writes, "For I say through the peegi\"en unto me, to every man that is among you,not to think of himself more highly tban he oughtto think; but to think soberly, according as Godhath dealt to every man the measure 'of faith. Foras we have many members in one body, and allmemhers have not the same office; so we, beingmany, are one body in Christ, and everyone mem­bers one of another. Having then gifts differingaccording to the grace that is given to us, whetherprophesy, let us prophesy accordin~ to the propor­tion of faith; or ministry, let us wait on our minis­tering; or he that teachetb, on teaching; or hethat exhortetb, on exbortati~; he that giveth, lethim do it with simplicity; be that ruleth, with

•

BEC. 2.1 8CBIPTUB.A.L REPBBSE:NTATION. 4.1

diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerful­ness" (xii). Here Paul enumerates some of thegifts :-prophesy, mini~try, teaching, exhorting,giving, ruling, showing mercy; now whatevermay be our opinion about the precise character

. of some of these gifts, this is certain, that ministry,exhortation, teaching and ruling-four offices, whichin these days are always assigned to one person,and which are always deemed to be the peculiarprerogatives or duties of "the minister "-are de­clared by Paul to be gifts" differing according to thograce that is given." Now his precepts and admo­nitions cannot, in. the least, be understood, unless itbe admitted that these offices are distributed amongthe members of the church, instead of being con­ferred on one individual only. His remarks are tothis effect: "Do not.any ofyon, in the church whichis sojourning in Rome, be elated with your gifts; forif you have any gift, whether that ofministry, teach­ing, exhortation, prophesy, or power of government;understand that it is a donation of grace, a manifes­tation of the Spirit dividing to every man severally88 He will. You are but members of one body; themembers have each their proper office assigned tothem, and when each member performs its func­tiODs, the whole body is in a state of harmoniousand healthy vitality."

This being the same Bubject as that which Paulhandles in his epistle to the Corintbians, it is in­teresting to notice that on both occasions he enforceshis thoughts by similar illustrations,-the subjectleading him, as jt were of necessity, to refer to the

42 lIINI8TBY. [CHAP. nI.

body and its members for an intelligible and con­vincing similitude. Again, in his epistle to theEphesians, we :find the same statements: "There isone body, and one Spirit ..••. But unto everyone of us is given grace according to the measure ofthe gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, when heascended up on high, he led captivity captive, andgave gifts unto men . • • . . . And he gave someapostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists,and some pastors and teacbe~ ; for the perfecting ofthe saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edify­ing of the body of Christ: till we all come in theunity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Sonof God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of thestature ofthe fulneu ofCbrist • . . • and may growup into him in all things, which is the head, evenChrist j from whom the whole body fit1y joinedtogether and compacted by that which every jointsupplieth, according to the effectual working in themeasure of every part, maketh increase of the bodyunto the edifying of itself in love." (iv. 4-16.)

In 'this portion then of the Scriptures we haveagain the same subject with the same illustrations­the Holy Spirit divides to all as He chooses-theehureh is in a capacity to receive any gifts-everybeliever may help in the service of the church.Moreover, it deserves particular attention that "thegrowing up into the perfect man," and "the in­crease of the body," is presumed by Paul to be bothpossible and probable wken God'. order prevails.He brings forward these things to show the end andobject of such an .arrangement; if, therefore, we

SEC. 2.J SCRIPTUBAL BEI'RESEKTATION. 48

find professing Christians deliberately rejectingGod's order, and letting up a ministry ordained ofman instead, can we be surprised if there is notamongst them any visible"growing up into a perfectman," and that "the increase of the body unto theedifying of itself in love," is a mystery with whichthey are practically unaequainted r

And now, let us compare this teaching of Scrip­ture with the practices everywhere prevalent. Inthese days we hear clergymen asserting that theybold an office which makes them a class distinctfrom the body of believers; that to them, by theirordination, belongs the exclusive prerogative ofevan­gelist, pastor, teacher, and ruler amongst "theirpeople;" and that "the laity" cannot, withoutgreat irregularity, nay, not without sin, interferein functions belonging exclusively to the clericalorder. In church and chapel we hear this eitheropenly asserted or tacitly implied, according to thedegree of clerical feeling which prevails with thosewho hold ecclesiastical offices; but wherever we see aclerical order, do we not at the same time see apractical contradiction of the scriptural constitutionof ministry P How can a ministry appointed byman, barmonize with a ministry distributed by theSpirit P How can an ordained clerical ctIBte com­port with the free exercise of gifts on the part of thewhole body of believers P. We can, therefore, cometo no other conclusion than that "the churches" ofour days do Dot represent the ditJine order in theirministerial arrangements. The origin and historyof this great perversion ,,·e need not now examine;

lIINISTnT. [OHAP.III.

of the fact of 3 perversion-of an apostacy-therecan be no doubt at all in the minds of those whoare guided in this inquiry by the Scriptures ratherthan by tradition.

A formidable array of Scripture authority has,been produced to establish the truths fer which weplead: but what is the UBUoJ. reply to 80 much and tosuch clear evidence P Generally, an exclamation .ofamazement that we could have propounded anythingso strange &8 that, in the New Testament, there il

no such thing as human ordination to the ministry.It behoves us, therefore, to be still more explicit,that we may show both what Scripture does and doesnot teach on the subject-that we may prove ourpoint both negatively and positively. Here, then,let it be remenlbered that we are not to be deceivedby the use of words diverted from their propermeaning; for there is "ministry" in the NewTestament, and abundantly set forth too there, farmore abundantly than we are, for the most part,prepared to receive; but it has no reference to thatkind of ministry which is handed down to us bytradition: it is therefore important again to describethe traditional, before we further exhibit the scrip­turaJ. The ministry of professing Ohristendom, atthe present day implies a body of men set apartby a sacerdotal ceremony, and ordained into an officein which they have the exclusive right to preach,teach, feed, and tend the Hock, as well as to "ad­minister the 800rBlnents." We now proceed toinquire, if the ministry of scripture answers to thisrepresentation of it.

SEC. 3.] SCRIPTURE TERMS.

§ 3. Ezamination of Scripture Ter111B relative toMinistry_

In the New Testament the Greek words trans­lated cc ministry," except when predicated of Christhimself, Rom. xv. 8, Matt. xx. 28, Heb. viii. 6, areused to denote 1I'1&!I .erviC8 ofbeZitmw. to God aflllto liB Church, though in our English translationtheir meaning is occasionally weakened or perverted.The word "ministry" occurs in our New Testamente~hteen times, in all which instances, except two, itis a translation of the Greek word dia1coftill. In thefollowing pusuges m;""utry is given as the trans­lation of Zeitourgia, otherwise rendered 8BrDice:­cc But now bath he obtained a more excellent mini.­try (leitourgia) , by how much also he is themediator of a better covenant." (Reb. viii. 6.)'Moreover, he sprinkled likewise with blood both

the tabernacle and all the vessels of the minilltrg(l.eitourgia). (ix.21.) These two instances are theonly exceptions. There are, however, several in­stances in which tli.alconia is translated by someother word than "ministry j" and this fact may atonce enable us to understand how much confusionof thought may be introduced by a capricious trans­lation, made under the iD1iuence of preconceivedopinions. But in order to present the whole sub­ject in its clearest light, it will doubtless be expe­dient to bring before the reader the entire list ofpassages where the original terms for to minilltfYr,miniBtr!l, &c., occur in the New Te8tament~ Theactual usage will evince that nearly all the ndvan-

46 llINISTBY. . [CHAP. 3.

tage gained by the clerical theory is due to a subtleprocess of tec1vnicaZizing terms which were intendedto bear no other than their ordinary import. Thiaprocess ha been somewhat largely applied byecclesiastical and other dignitaries in the interpreta­tion of holy writ, but in no case perhaps moreglaringly than in regard to the words which we arenow about to consider.

§ 4. dialtonitl.

The word dialconia is found in the New Testa­ment thirty four times. In sixteen cases it istranslated cc plinistry"-in six, "ministration"­in four, "service"-in three, cc ministering"-intwo, "administratioDs"-in one, "oflice"-in one," relief"-and in one, "to minister."

Luke x. 4:0. .c But Martha wu cumbered about much ,tJ'I"Oiftg( tlisko,.ia)."

Acts i. 17. "IIad obtained part of this miniltt71 (tlialumia)."Acts i. 25. cc That he may take p\rt of this mini8trll (tlttJ­

konia)."

Ministry here is .errJice, service to God and hischurch; not a clerical or episcopal office, BB it is tobe feared the translators wished the readers tounderstand it, if we may judge by their unwarrant­able use of the word "bishoprick" in the 20th verseof that chapter.

Acts vi. 1. cc Were neglected in the daily .in.tltration(tliakonia)."

Acta vi. 4. .' Will·give ourseh"es continuaIlf to prayer and to

the fI~i"i8t'l'V (dia7wnia) of the Word."

BEC.4.] DIAKONIA. 47

In the general BertJice to be rendered by ail themembers to the church, that of expounding andapplying the Scriptures doubtless devolved moreespecially upon the apostles. So at the presentday, those whose gifts qualify them for it would, intrue gospel order, be called to the discharge of thesame functions.

Aota xi. 29. "Then the disciples • • • • • determined to send,.,zUj' (dioJlonia) unto the brethren whioh dwelt in Judea."

Acta xii. 25. " And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jera­.lem when they had fulfilled their .'nUt,., (diako"'''j,'·i."., had admini8tINd tAs ,."ugspoken of in the precedingpauage.

Aots ZX. 24. "So that I might finish my course with joy, andthe fAift"trV (ditJlumia) "hicb I have received of the LordJesus, to testify the g08pel of the grace of God."

This was the special aervice to which Paul wascalled; and every man who has an experimentalknowledge of the gospel, and it! gifted for the work,is called also to "testify" of that gospel to hisfellow-men; though the character of his miniBtty or.tWtJ1ce may not be the same with that of Paul.

Aots xxi. 19. cC And when he had saluted them, he declaredparticularly what things God had wrougbt among theGentiles by his alnilt"!I (dioAonia)," i.,., by hia iutrN­m"",tal ",.,,1ctJ.

Hom. xi. 13. cc Inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles,1 magnify mine q/fitJ, (difJionia)," i.,., my aervioe.

Rom. xii. 7. "Or miniltr, (ditUt.ollia), l~t us wait on our".inWerillg (diaJumia); or he that teacheth, on teaching.

Whatever is bere implied by miniBtrg or millister­ing, it is evidently some~~ing not precisely identical

48 KINISTRY. [CRAP. fiX.

with teaching, as tbe two are clearly distinguished.With the popular ideas of the ministry, 88 nowexisting, this distinction would not have been made.

Rom. xv. 81. "That my 6'''''ic. (ditlkonia) which I have forJerusalem may be accepted of the saints;" i.B., the cont1-i­butlon ofwhioh I am made the bearer.

1 Cor...U. 6. "And there are dUferenoea of tulmiaUtt-atItnu(tlitlJumio7J), but the aame Lord."

1 Cor. xvi. 15. "And that they have addicted themaelv8I tothe minUt,., (tliakonia) of the wnts;" i .•., to the ,WfJicsof the sainta.

I Cor. iii. 1. cc It the miniltratioJi (dilJJumia) or death,written," &0.

2 Cor. ill. 8. "HoW' shall not the .inim-tItioft (dill1umls) orthe Spirit be rather glorioua!"

2 Cor. Hi. 9. "For if the minWrtltio,,. (diaAoltia) or con­demnation be glory, much more doth the minutration (dia­llonitl) of righteousness exceed in gIol"."

Ministration or miniBtry as used in this connec­tion seems to be equivalent to eCOMfllI·· or tlU.ptJ1l,tJtWn.2 Cor. iv. 1. cc Therefore seeing we have this miftiltr!l (Ills­

1umia), 88 we have received mercy, we faint DOt;" i.B.,seeing we are called to act in connection with the O",w.z8tJrrice befof"tl spoken of.

2 Cor. v. 1. 8. .c, And hath given to us the miniIJtry (diaAonia)of reconoiliation."

I Cor. vi. S. "Giving no offence in anything, that the. flllniltrg (dlnkonla) be not blamed."2 Cor. viii. 4. "Praying U8 with much entreaty, that we would

receive the gift; and take upon U8 the· fellowship of theminiltring (if,iaAonia) to the saints;" 4•••, dording themrelief.

2 Cor. ix. 1. "Touohing the mlni8terillO (dioAonia) to the, laints ;" i.e., Bd obo'·c, ministering to thtair tempol·il1 wants.

811:0•.4.]

2 Cor. Ix. 11. cc For the t.atltIIi.iltNtiofl of tAi, ,,,.,,,. (ditJ­_ita t. lfttDurgia, tauta) not oD1y aupp1ieth tile want ofthe aainta," &0.

2 Cor. ix. 13. " While by the experiment of this minutratiofa(tlU&1unaia) they glorify God."

SI Cor. xi. 8. cc I robbed other churohes, taking wagee of themto do WOU 1tJrfM, (tlia1tonitJ).n

Bph. iv. 11, 12. "And he gave some apostles, and someprophets, and some evangelisUJ, and 80me pastors andteachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work ofthe ministry (tlioJumia), for the edifying of the body ofChriste" .

Prior to a close inspection of this passage in theoriginal we were not aware how far short thepresent rendering comes of exhibiting the truesense of the sacred writer. That rendering, it willbe observed, presents three distinct clauses, dividedby commas, embracing what the English reader'would take to be three separate, but closely relatedobjects to be accomplished by the divine appointmentof "apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, andteachers" in the church-the first, "the perfecting ofthe saints,"-the second, "thework oftheministry,u-the third, "the edifying of the body of Christ."It may, however, be fairly doubted whether thistruly expresses the meaning of the original. Thereis, as is well known. no apostolic authority for thePfl1l,DtuatioA ot the text. Moreover, the preposition" for n before cc perfecting ., is not the same word asthat before "work of the ministry," or that before"edifYing ofthe body." In the one case it ispro8, andin the other tU. In view then of the phrasing ofthe original, no other rendering appears to be

B

50 KIBISTBY. [CRU.IU.

legitimate than the following, or one equivalentto it: cc for the perfecting of the saints unto thework of ministry, unto the edifying of the bodyof Christ." The original is simply tlia1&oniaB, ofministry, without the article, and not of tl,:8 mill­utry, with the article. What more obvious thanthat the ministry here spoken of is a ministry per­taining to all the saints, and not the technical orclerical ministry which has been so generally under­stood by it P Christ gave these various offices tothe church for the express purpose of better quali­fying all his people to perform that ,,,",ice ormm;"try which should help to build up the wholebody into the fulness and completeness of the divinelife.Col. iv. 17. U Say to Archippus, Take heed to the mini8try

(tliaionia) whioh thou hut received in the Lord, that thoufulDI it."

Had tlialconia been here translated " service" itwould have far more faithfully expressed the mean­ing of the original. Archippus bad been knownas one in 'enJice to the Lord and to his people;what that service was, we cannot now say, but itdoes not at all appear that it was preaching theGospel, or the exercise of the pastoral office.Archippus might have had no gift for teaching orpreaching; he might bave had no gift for govern­ment. What bis gift was it is impossible for usnow to determine; only this is apparent, that theservice for which he was known, he had "receivedin the Lord;" but such is the force of the cus­tomary notions, that his "ministry" is generally

8:£C. 5.] DUKono. 51

supposed to have been an ofticial pastorate; so thatministers of the establishment claim Arcbippus asone of their clergy, while others, with equal confi­dence, tell us that he was a minister of a congre-·gational church.

1 Tim. i. 12. cc For that he counted me faithful, putting meinto the minutf'y (eU tlioAonian);n lit. appointing tn8 to,Wt1ice, the article being wanting in the original.

2 Tim. iv. 5. "Make full proof of thy min_,., (tlWumia);lit. fulfil tAy lervice.

By "ministry" here is to be understood not theclerical function, but the whole of Timothy's service.What sort of service that is, we may learn by re­ference to the words of Paul respecting himself:cc I have fought a good fight, I have finished mycourse, I have kept the faith." This is the ilialconiawhich is so often in his thoughts and so much uponhis pen. Any service and all service is "ministry"in the New Testament diction.

2 Tim. iv. 11. "Take Mark and bring him with thee; for heis profitable to me for the mini8try (Bildiakonian);" lit. heis profitable to me tmto ,BrtJice, i.e., to serving or minister­ing to my neoe88itiea.

Heb. i. 14. "Are they not all ministering (leitourgico,) spiritssent forth to minuter (ei8 ditJlumian) for them who shall beheirs of salvation?" lit. sent forthfor ,ertJice.

Rev. ii. 19. "I know thy works, and charity, and ,ert1ios (tlia­konia)."

§ 5. tlialconeo.

The verb tliakoneo, to '8rV6, ~o miniater, occursthirty-six times, in twenty-two of which it isrendered by.mmilter, in ten by '6",8, in two by

:s2

52 KmIBTBY. [CHAP. III.

administer, and in two by uftrIg tu~ of la

deacon.

Matt. iv. 11. "Allacrels came and mi,.Ww.tltllo (tliMOtIn.)ki'1l~."

Matt. viii. 15. "She arose and minwwetl unto (tliektmea")them."

Matt. xx. 28. c, Even D8 the Son of Man came not to be minia­tered unto (diakonetkenai) but to ministtw (dia1unU'8QI1andto give hialife," &0. So also Mark x. 45.

Matt. xxv. 44. cc When saw we thee ••••• iD prison and didnot miniate-r unto (diekonuQmen) thee?"

Matt. xxvii. 55. "And many women were there ••••• whichfollowed Jesus from Galilee, miniltering unto (diakonouBai)him."

:Mark i. 13. "And the angels miniBtered unto (tlieko-noun)him."

Mark. i. 31. "The fever l~ft her and she minut".ed unto(diekonei) them." Luke iv. 30.

Mark xv. 41. cc Who also ••••• followed him and mi"I,i8teretlunto (diekonoun) him."

Luke viii. 8. "And mauy others whioh minutered unto(diekonoun) him of their substance."

Luke x.40. "My sister hath left me to 88r'tJe (diakonein)alone."

Luke xii. 37. "And will come forth and 8erve (diakone8ei)them."

Luke xvii. 8. ":Make ready wherewith I may sup, and girdthyself, and serve (diakonei) me."

Luke xxii. 26. "He that is chief, as he that dot'" 'Brt:8 (dia­konon)."

Luke xxii. 27. cc Whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat,or he that 8tlr'1Jet'" (tliakonon)."

Luke xxii. 27. "I am among you 8S he that 8e'rfJeth(diaJumon)." .

John xii. 2. cc There they made him 8 IUpper, and lIartbs,ervetl (tliekonn).u

SEc.5.J DIAXONBO. 58

John xii. 26. Cl If any man ,rtJs (tlialone) me, let him followme."

John xii. 28. "If any man ,.,6 (tli4Jums) me, him will myFather honor.ft

Acta vi. 2. "It is Dot reason that we Ihould leave the word ofGod and ''"'6 (diakonein) tables."

Aots six. 22. h Two of th~m that m',,,inered unto (tlWumoun)him."

Rom. sv. 25. "But now I go unto Jeru8alem to minUter(diakonon) unto the eaintB."

2 Cor. iii. 30 "Forasmuch 88 ye are manifestly declared to bethe epistle of ChrilJt, mini8tsred (dioJum.stkei8a) by U8."

2 Cor. viii. 19. "To travel with U8 with thi8 gloace, ",kick itQ,f/,mitti.uWBd (diakonoumma) by us to the glory of thesame Lord."

2 Cor.- viii. 20. " Which u admini8teretl (tlia1umOfMAena) byus."

1 Tim. iii. 10. Cl Let these also first be proved; then let tksmms tks ojJios of tI tleUOft, (tlioJumelt08o,n) , being foundblameleaa."

1 Tim. iii. 13 cc For they that have Ulell tM qfftce qf tJ dsacon(tlia1untuantu), well," &0.

In the two preceding texts a new phase is givento the rendering of the original word; our trans­lators having turned the term into the "exercise ofthe deacons' office," which they could readily dowhere it would especially suit tlleir purpose. Butupon the deaconship we shall dwell more at lengthin a ~ub8equent page.

2 Tim. i. 18. "And in how many things he mlnut",sd unto(die1w1W6fl,) me at EphesU8."

Pbil. 13. " That in thy 8tead he might M/VB miniatwed utatofn8 (tlia/unl,tJ) in the bonds of the Gospel."

Beb. vi. 10. "In that ye lIave minutsred to (dioJuJuaMtea)the IlLinta and do minUttr (dialumotlntu). tt'

54 KINISTRY. [ CHAP. lIT.

1 Pet. i. 12. cc But unto us they did, .ini8tw (tliekotaoun) thethings which are D:OW reported." &c.

1 Pet. iv. 10. "Even 10 minUtBr (d,ioJumountu) the same ODe

to another;" i.e. be mutually 8mJiceabk one to another.1 Pet. iv. 11. "If any DUUl minl8tlf' (tlitJJumsl,) let him do it.'''

&e.

§ 6. tlia1con08.

This word occurs in the New Testament thirtytimes. In twenty it is translated "ministers," iDseven, "servants," and in three, "deacons."

Matt. XL 26. "Whosoever will be great among you" let himbe your miniMer {dioAonoa}."

Matt. xxii. 13. "Then said the king to the 'srt1a.u (ilia­Jumou), Bind him hand and foot."

Matt. xxiii. 11. "He that is greatest among you sIian be youra,rvant (di0JuJn08)."

:Mark ix. 86. "If any man dflire to be first, the same shall belast of all, and 8ervant (tli41umoa), of all."

:Mark x. 43. "Shall be your minister (dlaJumo8.)"John ii. 5. "His mother saith unto the l8r1'am, (tlill1umoU)."John li. 9. "But the a,",ant, (tlia1umoi) whioh drew the.

water knew."John xii. 26. "Where I am, there shall 8180 my ,,,,,,ani

(ditJ,1r.onoa) be."Rom. xiii.4. "For he is the minWIf' (dia1ttmn8) ofGod to thee

for good." This is spoken of the oivil magistrate.Rom. xiii. 4. "For he is the mini8ter (dlaJumo8) of God, a

revenger," &0.Rom. xv. 8. "Noy I lay that J eSU8 Christ was a minUt".

(diakonol) of the circumcision for the truth of God."Rom. xvi. 1. "I commend unto you Phebe our sister which,

is a atJMJfMt {tliokonoa} of the ohuroh whioh is at Cenchrea.,.1 Cor. ill. 5. "Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but

mini8tBr8 (dialumoi) by whom ye believed!"2 Cor. ill. 6. "Who bath·also made us able min_er, (tlitJ­

'IuJnotu) of the New Testament."

SEc.6.J DUXONOS. 55

SI Cor. vi. 4. "But in all things approving ourselves theminister' (tlioJunwi) of God ;" i.s., as ,srt:aM8.

2 Cor. xi. Ui. "It is no great thing tfbis minut61" (diakonoi)also be transformed as the "dnUter, of righteousness i" l.s.,his 'WtJtmt8.

2 Cor. xi. 28. "Are they tniniBter, (tlialumol) of Christ!. . . . . I am more." ,

Gal. ii. 10;-. "Is therefore Ohrist the minUttlf' (dia/umo,)of 8in?"

Eph. iii. 7. "Whereof I was made a tni,.ilter {dioJumol}according to the gift," &to.

Eph. vi. 21. e' But that ye al80 may know my aft'aira, andhow I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful miniattlf'(tliaAon08) in the Lord shall make known.tt

Phil. i. 1. "To all the saints in Chris' Jesus whioh are atPhilippi, with the bishops and deuom {dilJktJfWi8).tt

Col. i. 7. "As ye al80 learned of Epaphras, our dear fellowservant who w for you. faithful minilt",. (ditJ1uwlM) ofChrist." Com. ch. iv. 7.

Col. i.23. "WhereofI Paul am made a .'nUt". (tlitiJumol)."80 al80 v. 20.

1 Thes. iii. 2. cc And sent Timotbeus, our brother and minllter(dialumo,) of God."

I Tim. iii. 8... Likewile must the deaconl (dioAonotJ,I) begrave." &0.

I Tim. iii. 12. "Let the tUtJCOfI,8 (tlialumoi) be the husbandsof ODe wife.,t

1 Tim. iv. 6. cc If thou put the brethren in remembrance ofthese things, thou shalt be a good minilttlf' (tJiaJumoI) ofJ eaU8 Christ.JJ

These are very important instances of the usageof a word which in fact is descriptive of all Christ'sdeacons, ministe18, or servants. Anyone that servesOhrist is his tlitJ1cOflO'. "I commend unto you Phebe,our sister, which is a MtJ1cOft08 of the church at Cen­chrea, (Rom. ni.I)." Even Bloom1ield, who seldom

66 KmlSTBY. [ CH.u'. III.

fails, wherever an opportunity oceDn, to give a highchurch interpretation, says upon Rom. xii. 6,"The words tlialcOft08, tlitJlconein, and tlialconia,though general terms and used of the apostles*hemselvt'l, are often, in the New TestameD~,

used of some certain rpecific office undertakenin the cause of the Christian church and exer­cised by those Christians who did not BO muchemploy themselves in ezplaining tke doctrine, orthe Gospel, as in 'fII,Q'NJgi'Ilg tke eztemal and t,m­po,.a~ affairB of the church and of individualB." Thisis a creditable conceuion for a member of thatchurch which so emphatically teaches that tlellCOfl(tlialcono,) is the title of one of the orders of theteaching priesthood. It is one of the accumulatedand irresistible testimonies to the fact, that thegeneral import of the term, in all its branches, is,enJictJ-,ermce of whatever kind-which is broughtinto requisition in building up the Lord's church OD

earth. But upon the usage of this term and on theoffice of deacon we shall have more to say shortly.

In view of the ample array of passages nOlf

adduced, is not the conclusion fair and unimpeach­able, that "miniBtef." 'MVW, in 0118 Bingle ~'MlC6 i1ltke New Te,tament, means a clerical functiont1llY ;tkat "mini..try" has tM meaning of ,enJiclJ in everyi1l8taMe w1wrtJ it iB u:pre.w6 of tkB tlCtiDAI ofOA.,v­titmB; Mid ,,",, it freqtI8AtZg re/Br' '0 t~ ,BnJica oftllZ beZiltJ6r' OIIe '0 MWtMr 1 This is our firm con..viction, and consequently we hold that the entireclerical system which has so long obtained in theChristian church has been, aB we have before~

SBo.7.J OFFIOE OF DEACON. 5'1

marked, the result of a process of t6cAnictlliang theimport of certain terms which were designed tobe taken in their more natural and ordinarysense. It is eMy to see how the operation ofcertain principles ot our fallen nature shouldhave led to the conversion, for instance, of theoriginal word for HnJtlnt into that of miflvtw 88

implying ecclesiastical rule, and of the simpleword ovtw,eer into that of bUMp; and so ofa multi­"tude of others, that have been made the ground­work of a pernicious system of hierarchy.

§ 7. Phe Office of Deacon.

But in order to make the general subject yetplainer we must clear up some mistakes that haveaccumulated ar~und the word tlialcOfl08, which,in the English Bible, appears as "minister," "ser...vant," or "deacon," as it suited the object of thetranslators to render it. Let it then be remem­bered that the translators had a double task to

. perform, not only to give an English version ofthe Scriptures, but BO to accomplish their task asnot to disturb the ecclesi~tical order of their owncommunion. That this was the case we know byhistorical record; for King James expressly com­manded them not to change "the old ecclesias­tical words;" and in their preface attached to thelarger Bibles, they thus express themselves: " Wehave avoided the scrupulosity of the Purit&1l8, wholeave the old ecclesiastical words and betake them­selves to others." The effect of this caution. ismost conspicuous in relation to the words "bishop,"

58 MINISTRY. [CHAP. lIT.

" overseer," " deacon," "minister," cc church," &e.,&c.; but at present we have only to investigatetheir mode of dealing with the words, ministry,minister, service, servant, deacon; a mode of deal­ing which, with them, was almost a necessity, sincein the preface " to the form and manner of making,ordaining, and consecrating bishops, priests anddeacons," published in the larger prayer-books, wefind this to be the first sentence, "It is evident-unto all men, diligent.", reading Holy Script'UlrlJ MUlancient autluw" that, from the apostles' time, therehave been these ortltJr, of miftiBttJrB, in Christ'schurch; bishops, priests, and deacons." Here is anappeal to Scripture, together with"ancient authors,"in support of the three orders of. the EstablishedChurch: we may, therefore, conjecture how theclerical translators would handle the text, when itpresented difficulties in the way of their system.

Dialcono8, a word employed thirty times in thethe New Testament, has not, in a single instancein the original, the technical and official meaning ofeither a deacon or a minister. The dialc0ft08 of theNew Testament, when used in reference to theChurch of God, is a person who, in any way, isserving God. In two instances it is applied toexpress an ordinary domeltic seryant. "His mothersaid unto the ,BnJcmt, ••••• tle ,enJcmtB whichdrew the water." (John n. 5, 9.) And in Rom.xiii. 4, the ruler or magistrate is called "tI ,tJrf'tMI(diakonos) of God."

The passages adduced will be sufficient to showthat the dialcono8 of the Greek text is a word gene-

SEC. 7.] OFFICB OF DEACON. 69

rally expressive of lIenJice, and that to translate itdeacon or miAuter in one passage, whilst in anotherit is rendered IIBrVtJAt, is not to represent the truemeaning of the original, but rather the ecclesiasticalprejudices of the translators. And ~ fact, the word, deacon," &8 descriptive of a special office, though,making a conspicuous figure in the English Bible, hasno existence in the original, as will clearly appearfrom what follows. The origin of the deacon's officeis generally traced to the transaction recorded inthe sixth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, wherethe whole church at Jerusalem, by the advice ofthe apostles, selected seven men "full of the HolyGhost and wisdom " to superintend the service ofthe tables, and to silence the murmurings of some,who thought that " their widows were neglected inthe daily ministration." The church chose sevenholy men for this duty; and when they werechosen, the apostles prayed and laid their hands onthem. But no mention is here made that thesepersons were called deacons; nor in any otherplace of the New Testament is this implied. Itbad reference to local and temporary circumstances,namely, the common table of the saints at Jern­salem; and as we read of no such peculiar circum­stances in any of the other churches, so must ithave ceased when the necessity ceased to which itowed its existence. This is discoverable by a closeattention to the text, which, from the original, is tobe thus read-" Look out among you seven men ofhonest report, whom we will appoint for this '/Nee,­lit,." In the English Bible we read it "this busi-

60 lIINI8TBY. [OHAP. fir.

ness;" but the word is cArBUJ, which, though itoccurs upwards of forty times in the New Testa­ment, is, in every instance but this, uniformlyrendered "need" or "necesaity." Now the dif­ference in the translation is important; as it8tands, "over this business," it leaves a generalimpression that c, the deacons" were appointed totake care of the poor in the church; but translate itcorrectly" for this necessity," and ,then it will ap­pear that it was a peculiar exigency-that the serviceof the common table at Jerusalem at that time re­quired special attention and care; and that, forthat necessity, and in order to prevent a spirit ofiliscontent arising amongst the multitude of be­lievers, they thought it expedient to choose. sevenapproved brethren, to whose wisdom and grace theymight leave all the arrangement and ordering of avery onerous duty.

There are indeed, some who, perceiving that theseven were appointed for a special purpose, and thatconsequently their special duties must have ceasedwith the circumstances which called them forth,nevertheless contend that the general duty ofdistribution may have devolved on the Seven, andthat we may .conjecttwfJ that an office similiar tothat of the Seven would be created elsewhere.But to this we reply, that "the general dutyof distribution" W88 not considered the specialprovince of the Seven, for in Acts xi. 29, 30, we aretold that the disciples at Antioch, "every manaccording to his ability, determined to send relief(or service, ditJlconitm) unto the brethren which

SEo.7.J OFFICE OF DEACON. 61

dwelt in J udea'~ which al~o they did, and sent it toeM EldtJr, by the hands of Barnabas and Saw."• • • • cc And Barnabas and Saw returned fromJerusalem when they had fulfilled their ,ennu(tlialconian)." (xii. 25.) Now the collection here'made (and doubtless that also referrred to in Rom.xv. 26), was not aent to the Seven, 88 the generaldistributors or bursars-general of the church, but totluJ tJldw.; and it is moreover apparent fromActs xv. 2, 22, 28, that the elders were distinct fromthe apostles; hence we conclude, ,that the generalministry of distribution fell rather within the pro­vince of the elders.

In what other place then in the New Testamentshall we find "the deacon" and his "office P" InPaul's Epistle to Timothy, our translators havegiven it a being: "likewise must the deacons begrave;" "let the deacons be the husbands of onewife" (1 Tim. iii.); and still more conspicuously," let these al80 first be proved; then let tkem Ul8

tie ojJice of(J tleQ,C()'fl" being found blameless." (v. 10.)But, as in the first instances, "the deacon" shouldbe "the servant," or, if you will, "the minister,"taking care that no clmcal meaning is attached tothe word; 80 in this instance " the office of adeacon" is wholly ideal: in the original it is, "let

,them 8tJ'NJe, or be in .ervics." Again, verse 18,instead of "They that have used tns ojJic8 of (J

Macon well purchase to themselves a good degree,"it should read thus, "~ey that have 8fWverJ wellsecure to themselves a good step." So that the onlypassages in the New Testament where, in the autho-

62 . KmISTBY. [CHAP. fil.

rized version, we find "the office of a deacon,"wholly fail to support it; and the term itself, whenexamined by the original, tums out to be the in.vention of the tranalators, introduced into the textto take the placeof a word expressing quite anotheridea!

But this may be put still clearer, for a, few versesfurtber on the translators have again found the wordtlialcDnOl j but there they give it another meaning." If thou put the brethren in remembrance of thesethings, thou shalt be a good miniBter of Jesus Christ."(iv. 6.) Why then is the worq in this verse nottranslated " deacon," when it had twice before beenso presented to us P Apparently for this reason,that as Timothy is, by the Episcopalians, pro­nounced to be "Bishop of Epheslls" (yea, by somedeclared to be "Primate of all Asia ")-his prelatictitles would have disappeared if he had been calleda "deacon" by the apostle Paul. We see ~hen

that deacon is an arbitrary word; that the originalword means simply any servant of the Lord inthe church; and that the translators introduce orkeep back the official "deacon" as it happens tosuit their purpose. If" they who serve well"(1 Tim. iii. 18), are " deacons," then 88suredly wasTimothy himself a deacon (iv. 16); but if he wasnot a, deMon, but only a servant of the Lord in thechurch, then "they who se:JVed well" were notofficial deacons, but servants of the Lord in thechurch as was also Timothy. In 1 Thess. iii. 2,Timothy is again mentioned as dialconoB.

After this, need we hesitate to pass judgment

SEc.7.J OFFICE 0:1' DEA.CON. 68

on the mistakes that exist on this subject? Inthe ordination of deacons in the Church of Eng­land, the bishop is made to say, that cc it apper­taineth to the office of a deacon to assist the priestin divine service, specially when he ministereththe holy communion; to read the Scriptures andhomilies in the church, to teach children the churchcatechism, to baptise infants, in tkB tih8tmCe of tAB

-priest, to preach, if licensed 80 to do by the bi,shop,and to point out the poor and sick of the parish tothe curate, in order that the curate may exhort hisparishioners to relieve them I" And all this we aregravely told is the office of the deacon, as appointedby the apostles, and recorded in the sixth chapterof Acts!

The Non-Conformists too have gone astray intheir endeavours to realize" the deacon's office."They are not indeed agreed amongst themselveswhether" the deacon's office" is to be traced to thesixth chapter of Acts; but they pretty generallyaffirm that the care of the poor is the proper dutyof this officer. cc I affirm," says the author of theOAurck Memher'8 Guide, "that the table of thepoor is the deacon's appropriate and exclusive duty.Whatever is conjoined with this is e~tra-dialc()'fl,al

service, and vested in the individual mere}y for thesake of utility."-The same writer further sa1s­"the deacons, from their being officers in thechurch, . . • • will be considered by every wiseand prudent minister as his privy council in hisspiritual government, and should always be ready

KmIBTBY. [CHAP. Ill.

to afford him, in a modest, respectful, and unobtru­sive manner, their advice."

'This last sentence could scarcely be put intoScripture language; for in making the attempt weshould thus read it: "The tlialconoi, from theirbeing officers in the church, .•.• will be con­sidered by every wise and prudent tlialcOfto" &c.It

Tradition has separated the deacon and the minister,but in the New Testament they are one and thesame word; and indeed so fully does tlialconia meanany service in the church, that, a8 used in theScripture, it is a synonyme also for" the office of abishop," as the English translators have fallaciol1s1yrendered. Compare Acts i. 17 with verse 20 ofthe sam~ chapter.

By this examination of Scripture we are nowcoming to daylight where much darkness had beenallowed to settle, and we are beginning to ascertainthat "ministry" is all manner of service in thespiritual government of the church of God: that" ministers" and "deacons" are simply servants:and that any believer, man or woman, who 8erve~

the Lord and his people, is a deacon or aminister.

Paul was, in this sense, a deacon, minister, orservant (2 Cor. xi. 23; Eph. iii. 7; Col. i. 23);and so also were Timothy, (1 Thess. iii. 2; 1 Tim.iv. 6); and Phebe (Rom. xvi. 1); and ApolloB(1 Cor. ill. 5); and Tyehieus (Eph. vi. 21); andall those who were in the service of the Lord in .the church at Philippi (Phil. i. 1.) And indeed,

SEC. 8.] HUPEEnETEES. 65

if we may imitate the translators of the EnglishBible, and coin the term "deacon's office" out ofthe verb diakO'lleo, then all believers that have re­ceived the gift are to exercise the deacon's officeone to another, 1 Pet. iv. 10; and then also thereare diversities of deacon's offices (1 Cor. xii. 5.)

There is in the Greek one word for "deacon,""minister," "servant," &c.; that word is dialctm08:let, then, anyone word that the enquirer may bepleased to select be taken as a translation of thatword,-and let it be uniformly adhered to in everyinstance where the word dialcono8 appears in theoriginal.

§ 8. Ministry a.a inplied in the terln kupeeretee8.

" lIinistry," however, makes its appearance inthe English Bible through the medium of anotherword, which Inust not be overlooked. That wordis kupeerctecs, and in four instances .it is so trans­lated as to carry with it a clerical meaning.Hupeeretees, is, in its primary meaning, an under­ro\\:-er, one who sat in the rower's bench of theancient trireme-vessels, under the command of a~uperior officer; but in its secondary sense it isany inferior officer, chiefly of the civil court:s, theapparitor, sergeant, or constable; also any servant,official or domestic, state-servant or house-servant;and lastly, anyone who renders ser~ice in anymatter or duty.

In the Gospels the word is frequently translated'" officer" or "servant." Thus:

F

66 KINISTBT. [CHAP. rn.

}[att. v. 25. Lest "the judge delh"er thee to the #"(kupeerstse)."

)lark xiv. 54. "Peter followed )Jim ••••• e,"en into thepalace of the high pri~st, and he sat 'lVill" the ae'l-Vo,11t8

(flleta ton It'uple,.eton).''

In the following instances, however, we find itrendered minister :

Luke i. 2. ., Which from the beginning were eye-witnesses and,minilter, of t1,,8 '1l7O'1-d (l1,upeeretai tOfl, logou);" equivalent,according to Kuinoel, to aOl1it, of the affair, recorded.

Acta xiii. 6. "And they had also John to their mini8ter (ku­pesr8teen);" i.e. assistant in service.

Acts xxvi. 16. "I have appeared unto thee ••••• to makethee a minilter, (ll1/'peereteen, aervant) and 8 witness." .

1 Cor. iv. 1. "Let a mon 80 uccount of us as of the minuim·,(kupeeretfU,8ervant,) of Christ, and stewards of the mys­:teries of God.U

This latter text is probably often read, thoughunconsciously, aB one of the clerical passages of theNew Testament; yet when closely examined andcompared with others, it appears to be of rather anopposite tendency. We do indeed often hear theclergy tell us that they are "stewards of mysteries'"and "ministers of Christ;" but here the ministeris simply the servant, and we must not forget thatPeter gives the stewardship to all believers; "asevery man hath received the gift, so minister thesame one to another, as good stewards of the mani.fold grace of God." (1 Pet. iv. 10.) Dr. Arnold, inhis "Miscellanies," p. 22, 23, has shown that" mysteries" here are the mysteries or profoundtruths of the kingdom, and not the sacraluents Of

SEc.9.J IKPOSITION OF HANDS. 67

Baptism and the Lord's Supper as frequentlyunderstood.

§ 9. Imponti01l of HaMs.

We have now only to examine the last strong­hold of the cleriealsystem-tbe imposition of hands,a subject which affects the whole order of theclergy and all its accompaniments. So great indeedis the influence of this ceremony on the minds ofmany, that they consider the whole question of thesacerdotal order clearly established by the instancesof imposition of hands recorded in the New Testa­ment; and it must· be confessed that the Papists,the Episcopalians, the Presbyterians, the Indepen­dents,- and the Wesleyans, are in accord on thissubject. Imposition of hands creating (J clericalorder, they all discover in the Scriptures; onlythey cannot agree amongst themselves who are thetrue clergy, and by which of them the ceremonyis most accurately performed.

But granting that there is any truth in thatwhich has been already argued, then it must beobvious that the "ministry" of the New Testamentdiffers so widely from any existing ministerialorder that we need not be very solicitous to inquire

• In formal words the Dissenters do Dot allow that theycreate a clerical ol·der; but all their practices and theirhabitual language cltJarly show that they think they have aclergy; their ministers are called clergymen, and alwaysclaim the title of Reverend. They distinguish also veryaccurately between "the secular" and " the sphitual" offioersof their churches-the deacon'. office they tell us is lecula,·,and the minister's apiritual.

1'2

68 llI:NISTBY. [CHAP. Ill.

about" a regular ministry, ordained by impositionof hands;" for unless the advocates of the clericalorder can succeed in setting aside these statementsfrom the New Testament, then is their systemvirtually undermined. But let us, nevertheless,for argument's 8~e, waive any preceding proofs,and very briefly examine the popular theory of"an ordained ministry." Now, according to thistheory, the regular minister has been ordained"to preach the Gospel, and administer the S8cra..mente," by virtue of the imposition of hands of aclerical body already existing. Let us advert to

-both these points in detail.

§ 10. AilminilltBring tAB Sacrame·ni,.

As to "administering the sacraments" the termis wholly unknown in scripture. There are no" sacraments" in the New Testament. The churches

. of Rome and England talk much of "the sacra­ments;" and the dissenters, cOPJing those churches,or rather retaining the practices which they receivedoriginallyfrom Rome through the church ofEngland,enlarge on the mysterious theme; but the Chris­tian who is guided by the Scriptures need not troublehimself about any theological language which hecannot find in them. As for baptism, which they callone of the sacraments, there is no scripture proofthat it was performed by any "minister," taking thisword even in the wide sense of diakon08. The bap..tiem of the converts in the house of Corneliuswas not performed by any" minister," for, as far as,ve are informed, the only" minister" present was

SEC. 10.] ADKINISTEBIXG SACRAMENTS. 69

Peter, and he "commantkiJ them to be baptized"(Acts x. 48); that is, he did not baptize them him­self: and though doubtless the traditional schoolwould assure us that cc the certain brethren from~oppa" who accompanied Peter (verse 23) wereclergymen, and "administered the sacrament ofbaptism" on that occasion, yet no such statementappears in Scripture; and therefore it may bedismissed with other kindred errors. Neitheris there any evidence that the presence of aminister, or an elder, or a bishop, was cODsideredindispensable in those meetings of the believers,,vhen, on the first day of the week, they assembledto break bread. Paul gives many directions to theCorinthians concerning those meetings j" but henever once names or even alludes to any elder,bishop, or ordained minister, as likely to be presenton those occasions. Ifthere were elders in the churchof Corinth, they would of course break bread withthe rest; but 80 little did Paul know about"ordainedministers administering the sacrament" that heneither names the minister nor the sacrament; andhow this omission can be accounted for, if in thosedays there were either" ordained ministers" or"sacraments," we see Dot. Let those who can, ex­plain this difficulty.. The ecclesiastical phraseology of "administeringthe sacrament of the Lord's Supper" is in vainsqught for in the New Testament. The Lord'sSupper is thus described there, " Upon the first dayof the week when the disciples came together tobreak bread." (A.cts xx. 7.) And this simple state-

70 KINI8TBY. [ClU.P. lIT.

~ent, made if possible still more simple by Paul'sallusions to the mode of meeting in the Oorintbianchurch (see 1 Oor. xi. 20-84), ought to be sufficientto dissipate all our ideas about ceremonies andclergymen in the observance of the Lord's Supper~

The truth is this: on the :first day of the weekthe brethren met together to break bread; andif in those meetings ministers, that is dialconi,were present, or if elders were of the number,they would take the bread and wine amongst therest; but neither the sacrament nor the clergyhad then been invented. In the second centuryof church-history, they begin to make their ap­pearance.

§ 11. p,.eacnmg tu Go8pel.

Then, as to "preaching the Gospel," no suchfaculty was conveyed by any imposition of handsor any ordination; for if that bad been the case,then of course no other door to preaching theGospel could have been opened. Now to theexistence of unordaiiled preachers we have a directtestimony: "Saul made havoc of the church,entering into every house, and haling men andwomen, committed them to prison. Therefore they ..t~t were scattered abroad went everywhere preach­ing the word." (Acts viii. 3,4.) Was this an irre­gular antI uncanonical proceeding P Of course allclergymen are bound to declare that it was, becausethese preachers had not received "holy orders ;t~

but. the Scriptures here, as in many other ecclesias­tical questions, disagree with the clergy, for it is

SEo.11.] PREACIIING THE GOSPEL. 71

written further, "Now they which were scatteredabroad upon the persecution that arose aboutStephen, travelled 88 far as • . . . . Antioch, preach­ing the word ..••. 4nd the hand of tne Lord wutDitA them: and a great number believed, and tumetltmto t},e Lord." (xi. 19-21.)

Now if this had been irregular, not only wouldthe in~piredwriter have ~arked it with disapproba­tion, but the then existing church would assuredlyhave corrected the practice, and laid down some~on ag~inst "lay preaching." But not so; forthe "tidings of these things came unto the ears-of the church: . • . • . and they sent forth Bar­nabas, that he should go as far as Antioch: who,.when he came, and nail ,een t'ke grace of God.tofU glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose.of heart they would cleave unto the Lord-" (verses~2-24.)

This narrative, if duly weighed, destroys thewhole fabric of a "regular ministry ordained topreach the gospel;" and it brings us to this point,that" the churches of these days will not tolera~

practices in which the believers of the apostolical-era greatly rejoiced, and which drew forth the com­mendation and thankfulness of "good men whowere full of the Holy Ghost and of faith." Woul~

·the Church orEngland, under similar circumstances,;Send forth its cc lay members" to preach the Gospel?Did it do 80 in the time or the Commonwealth, whenrthe hand or power bore heavily on the episcopal,party P Has the Church of Rome ever authorizedj>reaching by any but clergymen? or would it, o~

72 MINISTRY. [CHAP. Ill.

could it, under any circumstances, tolerate such anirregularity P Do the Dissenters generoJIy en­courage "lay-men" to preach in their chapels P Iflay-men were allowed to assume this ministerial pre­rogative, it would supersede the clergy, disenthronethe oligarchy of the pulpit, and bring to noughtthat" official distinction and authority," which weare assured is not always sufficiently valued in theirordained ministers,=I though" they are appointed asliving oracles to announce, and as ministers of thetemple to interpret, the utterances and will 01God." (Discourse8 ofRobt. M'A-lI, LL.D., i. 421.)

In the Pontifical of the" Church of Rome we findthat the bishop, in the ordination of a clergyman,confers the power of preaching when he grantsdeacon's orders; and that in the previous gradesof .doorkeeper, reader, exorcist, acolythe and sub­deacon, this privilege is withheld. In conferringdeacon's orders, the bishop says, "Dearly belovedSOll, as thou art now to be promoted to the Leviticalorder, deeply ponder to what a degree in the ch\lrch"thou art approaching, for a deacon ought to be aminister at the altar, to baptize and to preach.'"And in the Church of England, the bishop says tothe deacon, "Take thou authority to read the •Gospel in the church of God, and to preach thesame, if thou 'he thereto licen8ea by tAe bishop.'"

." It is mr decided conviction, that in some of our churches­the pastor is depressed far below his j nst level. He is con­sidered merely in the light of a speaking brother. He bus no·official distinction and autbority." Ckwck Members G"ide~

p.57.

BEC. 12.] ORDINATIOX. 73This is man's system, but' it is otherwise in the in­spired volume.

§ 12. 01·dination.

The case of Apollos (Acts xviii. 24), is exactlyto the point. He was cc an eloquent man, andmighty in the Scriptures . . . . . instructed in the­way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit,.he spake and taught diligently the things of the­Lord." This was his ordination, "I have believed,and therefore have I spoken;" and this is theordina~ion that a Christian, instructed by the wordlJ:.of Scripture, is ..called upon to own-the ordinationof faith through the Holy Spirit. " We having thesame spirit Df faith, according as it is written, Ibelieved, and therefore have I spoken; we alsobelieve, and therefore speak." (2 Cor. iv. 13.)

This also was the ordination of others whom Paulmentions, "I beseech you, brethren (ye know thehouse of Stephanas, that it is the first fruits of'Achaia, and that they have addicted tkemselveB tu't1le'lniniBtr!l [dia7conia] ofthe saints), that ye submityourselves unto such, and to every one that helpethwith us, and laboreth." (1 Cor. xvi. 15, 16.) Thisis remarkable; "the house of Stephanas" is a verywide expression; the whole family had addictedth~mselves to the ministry; they had not beenordained to this ministry by canonical sanctions,but had, without the help of a bishopJ or of thepresbytery,. taken upon themselves "the sacredfunctions." Besides this, they had not only addicted

• See page 84.

KIN1STBY. [CHAP. m.

themselves, but ordained themselves; for so thetranslators were bound to render the word eta:ean,if they had had any regard to consistency. InRomans xiii. 1, they 80 give it, "The powers thatbe are ordained of God; It but here the trans1&­"tion is changed, and a meaning is given which theoriginal will scarcely bear. To these irregularministers Paul requires that the Corinthians should:submit themselves, and not only to them, but to allwho, like them, had helped in the service of the-Gospel. Such is the ordination of the Scriptures,which the translators keep back where it mightproperly appear, or bring forward where thereis no authority for it, as in Acts i. 22, "Must one be.ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrec­tion." The ecclesiastical phrase, ~'ordained to be,"is wholly wanting in the ~riginal. The word is-simply gene8tkai, and we should read the passagethus, "Wherefore of these men which have com­panied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus wentin and out amongst us • • . . . must one be awitness with us of his resurrection."

Remembering, then, that the words "ordinati~n"

.and "ordain," when used in matters of sacred ]m.

port, are "liable to be misunderstood, and thoughthey will carry the signification of "appointment,U

yet that, byjuxta-positionwith certain circumstancesrecorded, they may convey the idea of clerical COft;­

-8ecration, we shall easily perceive how these ambi-guous words in the English translation of the Scrip-­tures are calculated to mislead the unsuspectingreader. In Titu8 i. 5, we read thus, "I left

1S:lC. 12.J OBDINATION. 75

thee in Crete that thou shouldest . . • . . ordainelders in every city as I had appointed thee."This certain!y looks not a little like canonical.consecration or ordination, and we know that thetext is continually quoted by its supporters inorder to establish the clerical theory; but 'thewords of the original will by no means bear suchan interpretation, as we shall presently see. Theword "ordain" is the rendering of the verb katkia­teemi, meaning "to appoint,U "to make," "to con­stitute." In the following instances it is so trans­lated:

Matt. xxv. 21. "I will make (kattuttuo) thee ruler over manythings."

Luke xii. 14. "Who mad8(katmeel6) me a judge or a dividerover you."

Rom. v. 19. "As by one man's disobedience many ",et-6 made(kat,lIatkuan) ainDers, 10 by the obedience of one ,IUUJmany be mad8 (kataatatkuomia) righteous."

Acts vi. S. "Look out •••• seven men • _ • • whom ye may.Qppoint (katute'80men) over this business." .

Such being the usage of the word and its truemeaning, we can at once perceive how the render­ing it by .the word ordain, in TitU8 i. 5, i8 calculatedto make U8 suppose that Titue did, by clericalconsecration, ordain certain elders; whereas he onlyIIppointed them, where churches already existed,selecting those individuals who were 8pirituallygifted for superintendence-in fact recognizing th8gift; for it was "the gift," and not Titus, whioh­determined what the men were to be; and accord­ing to that gift, whatever it might be, must they

76 KL--nSTBY. [ CHA.P. Ill..

exercise their ministry; hence Paul enjoins Timothynot to neglect "the gift It which he had received~and which was given him by prophecy and the·laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Timothyreceived a gift; but what that particular gift mighthave been, we are not informed.

The persons whom Titus appointed ,,·ere theelders or overseers, or, to use an ecclesiasticalword, bishopB, for this is the name given to themin the next verse; and it is worthy of remark,that this very passage, which is much quotedby the Episcopalians as one particularly fortify­ing the views of their party, does in fact sadlydamage the diocesan theory; for ,,·e find thatTitus is appointing overseers or bishops in everycity or town in Crete: not one bishop for thewhole island to rule " the diocese of Crete,'"but bishops, that is, more than one, perhapsmany, in BlJe19 city, and that by Paul's expressdesire! Crete is an island about two hundred andseventy miles long and fifty miles broa.d, and in thedays of Paul contained a hundred cities;· as,therefore, the direction given to Titus was toappoint bishops in every city, there must have beena very large number of them in the island-far toolarge to allow the diocesan system elbow-room.Indeed, it is manifest that "the bishop" of theScriptures could have had a diocese only 88 large88 the city or town in which he dwelt; thougheven there his diocese must have been divided, forPaul speaks of these elde1'8 or bishops in the plural

• PUn. iv. 12. Mela ii. 14. Solin, xvi.

-SEC. 12.J ORDINATION. 77

number, "Elders in every city," more than one­in fact, us many as baeI received gifts for theoffice! Neither is this a solitary confutation of thediocesan theorJ1, for we read elsewhere that Paul-and Barnabas chose elders in every church inLycaonia (Acts xiv. 28.)

To return, however, to the passage in question,we conclude that it ought to be translated-CC Forthis cause I left thee in Crete, that thon shouldest• • . • .. appoint elders in every city, as I had·directed thee."

The original is translated "ordain n in otherpassages where clerical consecration might therebyseem to be implied. cc Every high priest takenttom among men iB ordained for men in thingspertaining to God." (Heb. v. 1.) "Every highpriest is ordained to oft"er gifts and sacrifices"(Heb. viii. 3); and yet, in another text, relatingto the same subject, in the same Epistle, this"Word is truly translated, "The law maketl menhigh priests which have infirmity" (vii. 28).•CC Ordination" was not here wanted, as it speaksnot of priests ordaining priests. Neither is thisto be considered a small and unimportant matter;for when we find in one place of Scripture that·TitUB Cl ordained n elders or bishops in the cities ofCrete, and in another that the high priest was~( ordained" to make offerings and sacrifices, is itsurprising that the unsuspecting reader shouldconnect the two ordinations together, and findin the ordination of the high priest something-very like the ordination of the bishop P A careful

78 KIlUSTBY. [ OHAP. Ill.

examination or the text does, however, immediatelydissipate the fallacy, and brings before us quiteanother meaning.

But the clerical consecration, through the instru­mentality of the word" ordain,n appeBl's also in thetranslation given of the word ckeirotoneo. " And,vhen they (Paul and Barnabas) had ordained themelders in every church, and had prayed with fasting,they commended them to the Lord on whom theybelieved." (A.cts xiv. 23.) Here, doubtless" i~

is generally understood that Paul and Barnabasconsecrated elders into the clerical office; but letus see how "ordination," thus ingeniously intro­duced through this word, is, in the only otherpassages where it occurs, evaded. "Him God raisedup the third day and showed him openly, not toall the people, but unto witnesses chosen before(ckeirotonemenois) of God." (A.cts x. 41.) Whynot "ordained before of God;" or if " chosen" werethe right word here, why was it the wrong one inthe other passages? .

But again; we have Bent "Titus who was ch08en.(ckeirotonetkeis) of the churches to travel with us.n

(2 Cor. viii. 19.) This is truly remarkable; thetranslators will allow Paul and Barnabas toC4 ordain" elders, but they will not permit thechurches to ordain Titus-h the bishop of Crete;"in fine, on this subject, by bringing forward orkeeping back the word "ordain" they make theScriptures say whatever harmonizes with their ownsystem.

It is worthy of observatioD, in passing, that

SEC. 12.] ORDINATION. 79

though our translators have not' recognized theordination of TitU8 by the churches, they: have notbeen able to suppress the unmanageable fact, thatMatthias was chosen or " ordained" into theapostolical office by the one hundred and twentydisciples at Jerusalem, some of whom were women(Acts i. 14, 15, 26),- a fact which, if dulyconsidered, must for ever vitiate the origin of theapostolical office, as it is represented to us by theEpiscopalians. The apostolical office, they tell us, isperpetuated in their bishops, and the translatorshave done their utmost to support this theory byma.king Judas 8 bishop (Acts i. 20); but evengranting all this to be true, then it follows thatthe first bishop, after our Lord;s departure, was" ordained" by tke disciples at Jerusalem: fromwhich we draw the conclusion, that if the fountain­beacl is of this nature, the whole stream that flowsfrom it ought to partake of the same elements.

One more instance may suffice: "And he or­dained (epoiese) twelve, that they should be withhim, and that he might send them forth to preach.n

(Mark ill. 14.) This was obviously an importantplace in which to introduce "ordination": it is therecord of our Lord's choosing the twelve apostles;and the fact is here described as if our Lord had,in some )vay, conferred ordination as a neces­sary preliminary to preaching the Gospel. But" ordain" is here the unwarranted translation of aword which simply means to make or do: it occurssome hundred times in the New Testament, buthas no where else been thus rendered. If a

.so 1IINISTRY. [ CHAP. Ill•

secondary and figurative meaning were requiredfor the word, " appoint" was obviously that whichought to have been selected, according to the sensein Rev. i. 6, "luJB 1nade (epoieBen, appointed) uskings and priests." Calvin has, however, thus ex­pressed the meaning_CC Et fecit ut duodecim essent.secum, et ut emitteret eos ad prredicandum."

Having thus unravelled some of the intricacies. .of this qut'stion, it may be instructive to observe

how the Scriptures have been perverted in orderto perpetuate a delusion. "'Vhen our Lord,".says Bishop Beveridge, "had died and risen fromthe grave, and when he was about to ascend intoheaven, he promoted his apostles into the episco­~acy, that he might leave behind him the c01l8ervatO'i~8

ofni8 ownplace. The first form ofthis episcopal con­secration is recorded in John xx. 21, 22: where J esU8.says to his apostles who ,vore all collected together-, P~acc be unto you: as my Father has sent me, evenso send I you; and when he had said this, he breathedon them, and saith unto them Receive )'re theHoly Ghost.' I confess that our Lord bnd beforethis ordained his apostles, but only to preach theGospel, .and to confirm it ,vith miracles. (Markiii. 18, 14; Matt. x. 1.) But now for the firsttime after his resurrection, He says, 'As theFather has sent me, so send I you.' From which itmost clearly appears, that by this 8econ~ and lastor&ation, celebrated as it were by many cere­monies, the apostles were advanced to a higher.grade than they enjoyed before, or rather (as far as.relates to the faculty of ordaining and exerci~iDg

SBc.12.J OBDINATION. 81

ecclesiastical discipline) to that very grade intowhich Christ himself had been consecrated by theFather. By the virtue of their first ordination,therefore, the apostles preached the Gospel; butby this last consecration they were made bishops,and so, supplying upon earth the place of theirabsent Lord, they did themselves create otherbishops."

Mark the fatal error of this passage! For theprelate, in bis anxiety to establish ceremonies ofconsecration and worldly mitres, has forgotten orconcealed the fact that, on the occasion recordedin J.ohn xx. 21, 22, and on which he builds hiswhole theory, TkO'llUa, one of tns -pOBtla, fDIU

tib,tmt; for it follow8 immediately-CC but Thornu,one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesuscame." So, that according to this interpretation ofthe prelate, Thomas, a favourite apostle with theEpiscopalians, would receive no cc faculty of ordain.ing and exercising discipline," and consequentlymust have lost his station "as a conservator of theplace of Ohrist," to the no small demment of cc theap08tolical succession," and all its assumed benefitsand p~rogative8.

A word furtber 88 to imposition of hands; takethe following instance, which is much urged byclergymen: "Now there were in tbe church thatwas at Antioch certain prophets and teachers . . 81

they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the HolyGhost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saw for thework whereunto I have called them; and whenthey had fasted and prayed, and laid eMir~ 011

G

82 MINISTRY. [CHAP. fil.

'''em, they s~nt them away." (Acta xiii.) Herethen, if this instance is of any avail, it ought to beshown that Paul and Barnabas had never preachedthe Gospel before; that they never had been sentforth before on the ministry or service of the Lord ;and that on this occasion they, for the :first time,'received a license "to preach the Gospel, and ad­minister the sacraments." We find, however, inActs ix, an account of Paul's having preached a longtime, not less than seven years, before this event:nay, both Paul and Barnabas had been preachingin .A.ntiock a whole year, and had been sent by thedisciples of that city to Jeruss,lem, with a collectionmade for the brethren in Judes (xi. 80); so thattheir ministry, not only elsewhere, but remarkablyin ihis very Antioch, had been for a long time tole­rated without the" imposition of hands." Again, ifthis was indeed an " ordination " of Paul, we find theteachers and prophets ordaining an apostle!- afact that would sadly derange the theory of theapostolical succession, which assumes that ·our Lordalone ordained the apostles, and the apostles or­dained the clergy. Moreover, it would reversethe order of precedence as set forth in Scripture,"God hath set some in the chtn'Ch, first apostles,secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers" (1 Cor.xii. 28), whereas, in this narrative, supposing Pauland Barnabas to have been ordained by impositionoC hands for the ministry, the order would havebeen "fir" prophets and teachers,' a8condtwilyapostles."

Aga.in, this seDding forth of Paul and Barnabas

SEo.12.] ORDINATION. 83

was by the Holy Ghost (Acts xiii. 4); and whereis that power of ordination now P The bishops inthe Romish and English communions do indeedprofess to convey the Holy Gho8t in their cere­monies of ordination; but we know that this is anassumption without any foundation. The Presby­terians and Dissenters do not now pro/us to conveyany spiritual gift, ordinary or extraordinary, bytheir imposition of hands; and therefore theypractice 8 ceremony without power or meaning.;but in the days of the apostles empty ceremonieswere not performed.

Again, the apostle Paul, in his Epistle to theGalatians, takes pains to make them understandthat he did not owe his ministry to .any ordinationor appointment of man, "I neither received it (theGospel) of man, neither was I taught it, .....but when it pleased God . • . . • to reveal his Bonin me, that I might preach him among the heathen;immediately I conferred not with Hesh and blood[that is, I consulted not with any man, nor did Ifollow any man's advice, order, or direction]:neither went I up to Jeruwem to them whichwere apostles before me; but I w~nt into Arabia.• . . . . Then after three years I went up to J ern­salem to see Peter, and abode 'With him fifteendays. But other of the apostles. saw I none, saveJames the Lord's brother." This is indeed aplain statement; and it clearly shows that Paulthought nothing of any appointment of man,though that man might be an apostle. Accord­ing to the Bucce.lion theory, the apostles were th~

G 2

84 llINI8TRY. [CHAP. Ill.

fountain of all lawful authority for ministry; butPaul. Bought not that fountain; nay, he takes painsto inform us that he kept clear of it: therefore,8S he was not ordained by the apostles, we may bequite sure he waa not ordained, several years after­wards, when he had been previously long engagedin the ministry, by the prophets and teachers ofAntioch.

Another pusage in the Scripture is frequentlywrested from its true meaning to prove ordinationby imposition of hands. It is in Paul's Epistle toTimothy, cc Neglect not the gift that is in thee,which was given thee by prophecy, with tls ltJgingon oftA8 hOlfl,u of the presbytery" (1 Tim. iv. 14);and again, 11 Wherefore I put thee in remembrancethat thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by

.tllBputtmg on of'mg1uMuJ8." (2 Tim. i. 6). Whatthen was this gift ? A license to preach the Gospeland to administer the sacraments P Oertainly not:it was the gift-ckariMna--of the Holy Ghost,which was conveyed to Timothy, 8S it would appear,by the laying on of the hands of Paul and theelders: and we know that this power did exist inthose days; for we find that Peter and John, afterpraying that the Samaritan converts mi~ht receivethe gift, laid cc their karulB on them, and they re­ceived the Holy Ghost; and when Bimon saw thatthrough 'laying on of the apostles' hands the HolyGhost was given, he offered them money, saying, GiVB

me al80 thiB pOWfW, that on whomsoever I lay handshe may receive the Holy Ghost." (Acts viii. 18.)And again, at Ephesus, :Paul found certain disciples

SEC. 12.] ORDINATION. 85

who knew only of John's baptism: on these Chris­tians, after they had been baptized in the name of;1esus, Paul laid his hands, and then "the Holy.Ghost came upon them, and they spake with ton~

gues and prophesied." (Acts xix. 6.) It wasdoubtless some such gift 8S this which Timothy hadreceived; perhaps the gift of tongues or of pro­phecy, or the power of working miracles, "signsand wonders," any or all of these, or some other.gift, of which perhap9 there is no record left: andthis word charisma, which Paul uses in allusion totbis gift imparted to Timothy, is the specific termfor the gifts which the Holy Ghost then conferredon the church. (See Rom. i. 11; xii. 6; 1 Cor. i. 7 ;xii. 4, 9, 28, 80.)

If then Timothy was ordained into the clericalorder by imposition' of hands, 80 also were theSamaritan converts and the" certain disciples" atEphesus; for they likewise received a gift by impo.sition of hands: and indeed the advocates of theclerical system, if they would build anything on thecase of. Timothy, ought boldly to assert that theSamaritan and Ephesian disciples were ordainedeither priests or deacons.

But in relation to this question we do not findPaul's first " ordination" is ever brought forward;which, after all, but for one inconvenient circum­stance, might be more plausibly referred to thanany other. Thus it is recorded :-" Ananias .....entered into the house; and putting kiB kands onkim [Paul] said, Brother Saul, the Lord, evenJesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou

86 lIINISTBY. [CHAP. m.

camest, bath sent me, that thou mightest receivethy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. Andimmediately there fell from his eyes as it had beenacales; and he arose and received sight forthwith,and was baptized." (Acts ix. 17, 18.)

This instance is clear on the point that Paul re­ceived the Holy Ghost by the imposition of hands,and that it was at the very beginning of his service.in the church. This therefore looks much like"ordination by imposition of hands;" but then,unfortunately, if this be allowed, it would followthat Paul was ordained before he was baptized, anuncanonical irregularity wholly opposed to theclerical system; and moreover, the person whothen "ordained him by imposition of hands" wasnot an apostle, bishop, or elder, but simply a "certaindisciple at Damascus named Ananias" (ver.l0) ; infact, according to the Papal ideas of these days, amere lay-man: and yet this cc lay-man," without theassistance of any of the clergy, without the pre­sence of any bishop, lays his hands on Paul, and 80

confers on him the Holy Ghost 1 We can there­fore well understand how the advocates or a"regular ordained ministry" are disposed to p88B

over this remarkable occurrence, and prefer ratherto quote the imposition of hands by the churchat Antioch (Acts xiii.), which has been alreadyconsidered.

Having then seen that imposition of hands doesnot, according to the Scripture record, confer thepower of " preaching the Gospel and administeringthe sacraments," and having seen also that in many

SEC. 13.] GENERAL RElrfARKS. 87

cases the imposition of bands took place, whereconfessedly no clerical designation or privilege wasconferred, we Deed not feel the least perplexity inregard to this question. We conclude by stating:-

1. That imposition of hands sometimes meanssimple benediction; "Then were there brought.unto him little children, that he should put bishands on them and pray: .•... and he laid hishands on them." (Matt. m. 18, 15.)

2. Sometimes recognition of service in the church,88 in the case of the seven brethren choeen "toserve tables;" which certainly was not ordinationto the "ministry," as the serving of tables onthat occasion was avowedly kept distinct fromthe" ministry of the word." (Acts vi. 4-6.)

8. Sometimes separation to a particular work,and that by express command of the Holy Ghost.(ActS xiii.)

4. Sometimes an act whereby the gift of theHoly Ghost was imparted, as when Ananias, " acertain disciple," laid his hands on the apostlePaul. (Acts ix. 27.)

6. Sometimes also & visible sign of performing amiracle, as when the disciples were empoweredto lay hands OD the sick, and they recovered.

. (Mark xvi. 18.)

§ 18. General remarks on MiniBtry.

The train of remark thus far pursued should beconsidered but 88 introductory to a still more im­portant view of the subject-a view almost lostsight of in these days -viz., that "ministry,"

88 JllliISTBY. [CRU. Ill.

when rightly understood, is not merely for govern­ment, or securing discipline, or keeping the peoplein subjection, but for preserving in 'rigorous health-

. fulne&8 the spiritual body to which it appertains.One evidence of its accomplishing this end is to beBOught and recognized in the degree in which it ispromotive of the love of tkB lJretkrt1n. Yea, Chris­tian Reader, understand this truth, that God'.ministry is not· appointed by his most wile ordi­nance, to maintain a well ordered congregation undereffectual clerical management; which is the utmostextent of excellence that some people, when argu­ing for an "ordained ministry," ever seem to look to.The mind of the Spirit concerning the ministrywhich He raises up, is that it should promote thatlove without which a visible church is an inoperativeand lifeless thing, a machine out of order, and there­fore U8eless. And hence it is that when Paul wishes .to urge the love of the brethren, he connects it with"ministry;" and when he speaks of ministry, heconcludes naturally, pursuing only an obvious COD­

catenation of thought, with the kindred subject oflove. In the Epistle to the Ephesians, he says, "Ibeseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocationwherewith ye are called, with all lowliness andmeekness, with long-suffering, forheari"'1l 0116 a.otherin lor:e; endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spiritin the bond of peace-t~erBill one IJoa!!." (iv.l--4r.)And having thus mentioned "the one body," he pro­ceeds to describe it, and the various gifts impartedto it "for the perfecting of the saints, for the workof the ministry, for the edifying of the body of

BEC.13.] GENEJU..L 9lU.BXS. 89

Christ." This is the body which possesses thepower of growth-not a mere comely block chiselledby man's art into a dead image of the Church, buta living Ohurch, growing'" unto 8 holy temple in theLord ;" not a body with a clerical head and lifelesslay members, but a body" compacted by that whichevery joint supplieth." For every part is to becc effectually"·working, and then, and not .till then,can it grow " in newness of life," unto the "edify.ing of itself in love.n

In the Epistle to the Romans, he closes the sub­ject of gifts in the church with these remarkablewords, "Let love be without dissimulation" (xii. 9),evidently implying, that tne undiasembled love ofthe saints would find a congenial atmosphere where­ever all the members of the body were IIllotDeil toreceive and exercise gifts of the Holy Spirit. But nosuch atmosphere as this exists, or can exist, where"a regular ordained ministry" has inflicted minis­terial death on the whole body,-wbere the clergy­man has been appointed by man to be the 80lepastor, teacher, evangelist, ruler, and prophet; justas if the human body, in a fit of lunacy, had electedthe band or the foot to perform the functions of allthe other members; which, as a consequence ofthis infatuated procedure, had been compelled to re­main in a state of reverential inactivity. That flowof life is cut off which was meant to feed all themembers, and the monopoly of vitality is given toone favoured limb, which, consequently, is whollyinefficacious in imparting life to the rest of thebody.

90 :MTNISTBY. [CHA.P. Ill.

In the Epistle to the Corinthians Paul says,"Follow after charity (love), and desire spiritualgifts (1 Cor. xiv.); and the precept is in many waysremarkable. In the 12th chapter he had discoursedat large on the gifts and ministries of the Spirit;in the 13th, by a connection which is not oftennoticed, he introduces the subject of'love, or a.fJD.fJe;and then in the 14th chapter he adds, "Followafter love, and desire spiritual gifts," as a pre­face to that which follows concerning the orderof the church; 80 that, in fact, the 13th chapter,though apparently a parenthesis betwee~ the 12thand 14th, is most intimately connected with, themboth. It is part of the 8Mne BUb}ect, becausethat love, agape, or charity, which has been com­mended to all g~nerations by Paul's magnificenteulogy, is not merely the charity of isolated Chris­tians, but of the children of God living harmo­niously together as one redeemed family, under thegUidance and ministrations of the Holy Spirit, andexhibiting the life of the body according to God'sdesign, and not according to the wisdom of man." Let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to thBwhich al80 !le Me called in o·ne botly, and be yethankful." (Col. iii. 15.)

But it is not in general principles only that wediscover true ministry and love united, for we findprecepts addressed to the believers, directing themto act 88 pastors one to another, and, in so doing, toshow forth this very love, which betokens the livingand growing body of Christ. In the Epistle tothe Hebrews, it is written, "Take heed, brethren,

BEC.13.] GENEBAL UHARK8. 91

lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief.. . . . . But exhort one another daily while it iscalled to-day, lest any of you be hardened throughthe deceitfulness of sin." (H-eb. iii. 12.) They areto warn, to admonish one another daily; every daythey are to be guarding the sheepfold; every daythey are to be looking warily, lest the evil heart ofunbelief open a breach for the enemy in the visiblehousehold of faith. But whilst they are called upon .to be thus watchful for one another's souls, not 8r

syllable is dropped whereby we might understandthat this was to be the exclusive duty of "an or­dained minister." Indeed, the very fact that such aprecept is addressed to "the brethren,n renders itimpossible that the cc Hebrews" should have beenacquainted with" an ordained ministry," invested,with those exclusive powers and prerogatives which,in these days, are habitually considered to be inse­parable from the cc ministry." The clergy of allparties often assure UB in their sermons that theguarding and feeding of the fold is their peculiarprovince, in which no one may interfere; but quiteotherwise do we find it in Holy Scripture.

Paul thus addresses the Thessalonians :_cc Nowwe exhort you, brethren, warn them that are un­ruly, comfort the feeble-minded support the weak,be patient toward all men." (1 Thess. v. 14). Otherpassages are entirely to the same effect. " Let usconsider one another, to provoke unto love andto good works; not forsaking the aBsembling of our­selves together •.... but exhorting one another."(Heb. x. 24, 25.) "As every man hath received

92 :MJ NISTllY. [CHAP. Ill..

the gift, even so minister the same one to ano­ther, as good stewards of the manifold grace ofGod. If any man speak, let him speak 8S theoracles of God: if any man minister, let him doit as of the ability which God giveth, that Godin all things may be glorified through J eSU8 Christ."(1 Pet. iv.l0, 11.)

Now not only are such passages of high value, 88

incidentally confirming the truth, that the dutiesalways assigned exclusively to the clergy under theclerical system, are, in the ,criptfWaZ economy,apportioned to all believers, but as showing that theywere shared amongst the apostles, and all the dis­ciples of that day. For instance, when Paul 88YS

to the Thessalonians, "warn them that are unruly,comfort the feeble-minded, support the weak," heclearly assigns these duties to the whole body ofbelievers. In like manner we find the Hebrewchurch reminded of their duty to "exhort oneanother daily. . . . . lest any of you be hardenedthrough the deceitfulness of sin." That Paul andBarnabas should exhort the saints, the clericalschool would think quite proper, because theywere apostles, and had been" ordained by impo­Bition of hands;" but the same school would seenothing but irregularity in lay-men daily imitatingthe apostles in so doing.

Moreover, it is to be observed, that. though inthe Epistles to the Hebrews and Thessaloniansthel'e is distinct reference made to those who were"over them in the Lord" (Heb. xiii. 17; 1 Thes8.v. 12), yet it is not on those overseers especially

s~c. 18.] GENERAL BEKAJ1XS. 98

that the duty of exhortation is pressed by theapostle. The epistles are not directed to the over­seers; the building-up of the saints is not referredto them; admonition, exhortation, comfort, andwarning are Dot spoken of as their exclusive pro­vince (though doubtle8B exhortation and comfortwere also within their province); but the wholechurch is addressed, as if all the believers weremutually to edify one another, yea and mutuallyto teach and minister to one another, &8 when Paul,having explained to the Thessalonians the secondcoming of the Lord, concludes thus: " Whereforecomfort one another with these words." TheEpistle to the Philippians furnishes similar evi­dence, and in abundance. Indeed, the whole tenorof that epistle is to this point; for tho:ugh theoyerseers and servants of the church are mentionedin the opening of the epistle, after the saints (i. 1),yet the epistle is addressed to the brethren gene­rally; and it is not of "the clergy," but of all thebrethren that Paul speaks, when he prays that

It their "love may abound yet more and more inknowledge, and in all judgment," and that they"may approve things that are excellent" [or trythe things that differ] (i. 9),-a prayer which bymany would be thought applicable only to clergy­men. I t is "the brethren" (i. 12), that he " wouldhave understand" how through his imprison­ment at Rome many of the brethren had waxedconfident to preach Christ, and that he rejoicedthey had done so, though these "many" preacherswere unquestionably not cc ordained clergymen."

94 MINISTRY.

I t is " the brethren" whom he desires to " stand fastin one spirit, with one mind striving for the faithof the Gospel." (i. 27.) Them also he admonishesto hold "forth the word of life." (ii. 16); to"beware of evil workers" (iii. 2); to "walk bythe same rule, to mind the same thing," as he him­self did (iii. 16); to "stand fast in the Lord" (iv.1.), &c. &c.; and all this he confirms by commen­cing his letter "to all the saints," and by finishingit "to all the saints." (iv. 21). And this is themore remarkable, because be does not omit theoverBeers and servants of the church (" bishops·and deacons," Eng. TraDs.) He mentions them,indeed, but never as if he thought the overseersand servants had any official prerogative whichshould entitle them, 88 being distinct from "lay­men," to receive his instructions and execute hisprecepts.- Again, in writing to the Colossians, be addresses

"the saints and faithful brethren in Christ," andnone others: it is the brethren whom he wishes toincrease "in the knowledge of God" (L 10), "ancLunto all riches of the full assurance of the un­derstanding." (ii.2). He tells the brethren that"they are complete in" Christ (ii. 10), and that,no man therefore, " should judge them in meat anddrink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the'sabbath." He bids them beware, lest any manspoil them "through philosophy and vain deceit,"or beguile them of their reward, by "intrudinginto those things which he bath not seen;" heW81'D.8 them not to be Bubject to ordinances, "the

BEC.13.] GENERAL REJrUBKS. 95

commandments and doctrines of men;" he remindsthem that their "speech should be alway withgrace, seasoned. with salt, that they may knowhow they ought to answer every man;" and thatthey should "stand perfect and complete in allthe will of God;" and then, after particularlyaddressing " wives, husbands, children, servants,and masters," he adds nothing about priests orother official ministers. The message to Archippus(iv. 17), has been already under review, and,therefore, need not here be again discussed; butsupposing, for argument's sake, that Archippuswas an ordained minister-say, bishop of the Co­lossians-we then find Paul, in a sort of postscript,desiring the church to remind that dignitary tofulfil his ministry, whilst the dignitary himself iswholly passed over in all the rest of the epistle.

Now, let these things be applied to modernchurchetl. Suppose that a Christian from somedistant region, acquainted with Christianity onlyas it is presented in the New Testament, and fol­lowing the language and ideas of the Scripturesalone, were to write a letter to Christians in acertain parish in our country, what would be thestyle of his letter P He would address it to thechurch or to the believers in such a town or village,and whatever might be the importance of his com­munications, he would not, as in these days, directthe whole subject-matter to the priest or the cler­gyman. "Reverend Sir," would be to him an un­known formulary; and if he were informed that theminister w9uld consider it an insult if the letters ·

96 llniI8TBY. [CHAP. Itl:

were not specially addressed to him, and that" thesaints" were in these days all "laymen," except­ing the" minister," who was ordained to be their801e ruler and teacher; and that "the saints"would deem it strange and indecorous if a letterabout religion was addressed to them, and not totheir minister -would not this foreigner from adistant region naturally conclude that we hadchanged our religion, and that we had ceased, infact, to be Christians P How coul.d he come to anyother conclusion P And who, that examines ministryin the New Testament, and compares it with minis­try in these days, can doubt but that there hasbeen effected a fundamental revolution in the orderwhich God appointed for the edification of HisChurch P

But then it will be said that Paul doe' allude tothose who" are over them in the Lord." True,he does; but his allusions are in perfect keepingwith the order then existing, and only tend toestablish all that has been advanced in this argu­ment. There tDaB " rule" in th~ church; the Spiritunquestionably raised up government; governmentwas a gift, n, ckariBma, and it was sometimesunited to, and sometimes separated from, teaching." Let the elders that rule well be counted worthyof double honour, especially they who labor. inthe word and doctrine" (1 Tim. v. 17), is an ex­pression by which we ascertain that some of "theleaders" (proe8tote8) did not labor in word anddoctrine, for if it were not 80, Paul's distinctionwould be unintelligible, or rather would have no

"BEc.13.] GENERAL llBlLlBKS. 97

meaning at all. " We beseech you, brethren, toknow them which labor among you, and are overyou in the Lord, and admonish you, and to esteemthem very highly in love for their work's sake."(1 The!s. v. 12.) What is the foundation of thegovernment here alluded to P-Iove. For wherethere is not love there cannot be esteem in theeburch of God, though in the churches of men,esteem for the clerical rulers is too often obtaineden other grounds. Station in society, wealth, poli­tical power, oratorical talent, official prerogative,too frequently command the reverential respect ofthe people for their clergy: and sectprian' zealusually adds force to these considerations-to saynothing of that superStitiou8~ignorancewhich power-­fully prevails, and' \vhich' 1eaas the Protestant ~ to"esteem" the minister" \vith much of the same feeling·with which a Papist reveres his priest. There are,indeed, instances where the ministers are deservedlybeloved by their" people"; but, too often, love willbe found to have but a small share in the esteemwhich they enjoy; for as the theory of officialpower, and the idea of prerogative, influence allthe arrangements of human ministry, the rulingparty usually expects as a right, and the ruledyields as a custom, that portjon of reverence whichis decorously conceded to official distinction. Humanauthority has, it may be, its mitres, its acts ofsynods, and all the weight of ecclesiastical ~OD8,together with an usurpation of all ministerial life,and the monopoly by one man of that which shouldbe open to all: and those things have their attrac-

H

98 KINI81'RY. [CHAP. m.

tions; but heavenly authority in the church, thatwhich comes down with the gifts distributed to thebelievers, is the evidence of superintending care onthe part of those whose hearts the Lord directs;enabling them to watch over the footsteps of theHock, and, by counsel and example, by prayer andprecept, by patience and forbearance, by gentlefirmness and by spiritual wisdom, to keep alooifrom the enclosure those things which would dis­turb the harmony, or prevent the Beloved Onefrom coming into "his garde~, and eating hispleasant fruits." Government is a distinct gift ofthe Holy Spirit (1 Cor. xii. 28.)-and it is not inthe power of man, by election or by any otherknown process, to confer it. It is, indeed, very easyto establish eccleaiaaticaZ rule, either by royal man­date, or patronal nomination, or popular suffrage;but wide is the difference between ecclefttl8tical andBpiritual rule. Human laws can create the outlineand the shadow of spiritual rule, but the substance,the living and the powerful reality, can be impartedonly by Him who is the giver of every good andperfect gift, and with whom there "is no variable­ness neither shadow of turning." Spiritual rule isneither for lucre nor for lordship (1 Pet. v. 2, 8),but it is a branch of service, of ministry, of tliacoMtl;a branch springing out of the true Vine. The officeof government is the lowest and at the sa'me tim6the highest service in the Church: it is the lowest,because he" that is "over the flock," and has beencalled unto this service by the Lord, must everbe washing the disciples' feet. And how low are

SEC. 14.] CLBBIOAL BULB. 99

those who are exercised in it called upon to stoopdown; how deep is the humiliation, how trying tofaith and patience, how wearisome to the body, howclosely surrounded with anxieties and solicitudes,how conversant with tears and prayers and sighs,none can tell or imagine who have looked at thesethings only through the medium of ecclesiasticalcustom, but have not known them in their own ex­perience. " And who is sufficient for these things P"Truly, we. can reply only in the words of Scripture," Our sufficiency is of God, who hath made us ableministers (fitted us to be servants) of the NewTestament." But in this service there is also arecompense, which hereafter is to be nothing lessthan a crown of glory (1 Pet. v. 4) i and in themean time the Chief Shepherd knows how toreward his servants, even during the heat andburden of the day.

§ 14. SO'IM of the Tendencies of Olerical Rule.

Wide then is the difference between ecclesiasticaland spiritual rule; for not only is every knownform of clerical rule the result of a false principle,and a standing evidence of universal apostacy, butits whole tendency is to disturb the communion ofbelievers. Many precious volumes have been pub­lished to establish the fundamental doctrines ofChristianity; but when established the applica­tion of them is exclusively to individuals, andnot to 'churches. The glory of the living temple,which, in Scripture, refers to the collective body ofnll the believers, is thus passed over, and one-half

H2

100 MINISTRY• [CRAP. ut.

. of the New Testament becomes 0, sealed book,which theologians are unable to open, and whichremains in consequence shut up to themselvesand their unsuspecting disciples. Those portionswhich treat of justification by faith, or any ofthe cardinal points of theology, are often wellargued ·80 long 8S the writem confine themselvesto these points; but when they proceed to treaton the ministry and the communion of belie­vers, their chariot-wheels drag heavily, often ter­minating in confusion and error. "If we walk inthe light, as he is in the light, we have fellowshipone with another," is a doctrine almost unknownin professing Christendom; for it refers not tophilanthropy, nor to courtesy, nor to alms-givingcharity, nor to sympathetic beneficence. We baveseen what the Scriptures teach concerning ministry ;and whilst ministry lasted in accordance with the·Scriptures, so also, beyond all question, did thecommunion of saints last; but when men had re­nounced the ministry of the Spirit, and had set uphuman government instead, then the new com­mandment (J ohn xiii. 34) speedily diAappeared;and, in lieu of it, was substituted that whica wenow see all around us,-the imposing solemnities ofclerical authority. A regular ministry exists, withall its necessary appendages, and everything that'~1Ul make it respectable in the view of the' world;and many able preachers and excellent men thereare; but the communion of believers is almostforgotten; the heavenly calling of the saints passedover; and Christianity stands before the world an

SBo.14.] CLEBIC.A.L RULE. 101

unsightly phenomenon of sects and parties; whilstthe living temple, the one body in Christ, haswell nigh disappeared, like those splendid but illu..':live cities which, pictured on the vapors of a Syrianatmosphere, fill the spectator with admiration andastonishment, and then anon dissolve into nothing..ness, leaving the wilderness more desolate than}>efore.

"But is there no such thing then as a distinctfunction of teaching or preaching in the church PAnd it' there is to be teaching and preaching,must there not be teachers and preachers? To thiswe reply, that diversity of gifts in the Lord's spiri­tual body does not necessarily create diversity ofgrades in those who possess such gifts. We acknow­ledge at once the necessity of teaching and of preach­ing in the church; but we deny that this fact lays afoundation for that distinction of cler!lY and laity,vhich has obtained currency throughout Christen:.dom, and which has opened a Pandora's box ofevils and mischiefs to the church. Those func­tions which the Levitical priesthood representedare to be diffused throughout the general body ofChristians, and cannot b~ appropriated or monopo­lized by anyone class. Yet a variety of spiritualgifts is requisite for the· building up of the body,and they are conferred on its members. By thecongregation to which they belong, their gifts an~

endowments are perceived to be adapted to theirexigences, and they ackno~ledge them accordingly.By so doing they do not confer any power uponthem; they do not, strictly speaking, appoint them;

102 mNISTBY. [CHAP. Ill.

they simply acknowledge them 88 qualified for thework, and called by the Lord Himself to officiatein this capacity. But we see nothing in all thisthat necessarily constitutes them a distinct class.They are to the whole church what a particularorgan is to the whole human body. To the eye,for instance, pertains the functions of seeing, but itcannot see apart from the body to which it belongs.So with the ear, the hand, the foot. They all havetheir several uses in the bodily economy, but theyare not on this account in any manner diBtiMtfrom the body. So in 'like manner the use orfunction of tesching or preaching does not consti­tute a distinct grade or order in Christian churches.. We are well aware how difticult it will be for'many of our readers to rest in our conclusion, thatthere may be a distinction in office which does notamount to a distinction in official order or cas~.

By the distinct order or office of the clergy inthe church we mean an order which perp~tfllll"

itBelfby some special form of ordination or inaugu­ration, wherein the body of the church or the laity,as they are termed, have little or no share. Thatsuch an order of men, whether called priests,clergymen or ministers, )Vas designed to exist inthe Christian church is what we venture to call inquestion; while at the same time we freely admitand strenuously maintain that there is a functionalministry which is to be discharged by those who, bythe Holy Spirit, are called to and qualified for it.

DC. 15.] TO eLEBleAL SY8TElI:. 108

§ 15. fie Clmcal Ba,tem 6apeciaZly out of pZaMamong ProtutafIJ Non-Conform"".

It may be deduced from all that has been said,that if any ecclesiastical institution or arrangementseparates, or has a tendency to separate, the body

,of believers into two distinct classes, and to assignto one claes a privilege or character which the othermay not claim, theD is the design of the gospel not

·answered, nor are some of its moat importanttruths practically recognized. To point out themany particulars in which this separation is effectedin the Episcopal church, would be super1luous; forthat church is avowedly governed by a priesthood ;

·and cc the clergy" and "the laity n are distinguishedby a broad line of demarcation. The prayer-book,in all its ritual, acknowledges the priest by its·rubricks. Amongst Dissenters this is modified;·and indeed, as to any official canon of churchgovernment, the priest has altogether disappearedfrom their churches; but that the clergy and thelaity are perfectly distinct amongst Dissenters·also is Dotonoua; and it is quite evident that·the laborious education for the ministry, the call,·the ordination, the imposition of hands, the garb,t the sole office of instructor, and divers other parti-·cu1arities, constitute their ministers Cltfr!WmtJ'II,;and that cc the people," as all non-clerical believers

·are called, are entirely separate in character·and action from the clergy. The minister, onthe Sabbath-that day on which all the brethren

~ meet together - is the sole person that visibly

104 KINISTBY. [ CHAP. nr.

conducts the worship of God: no one but he$peaks; no one but he prays; and this is usuallythe case all the year round. If therefore thebrethren have indeed entered into the holiest ofall, they none of them may open their mouthsthere; but have chosen one individual to do forthe whole church, that which they cannot, or will'not, do for themselves. If the Dissenters sincerelywished to establish such 8, mode of proceeding intheir churches as, we may gather from the Scrip_..tures, was the practice in the first rera, and of whichthe general bearing is evident enough, though someof the particulars may still be uncertain, th~y would:allow at least a plurality of ministers, and indeedconcedo a liberty of ministry to all those who are- .gifted for the service. But such is not the case; oneman alone is charged with ministering to the spiri-.tual necessities of each congregation; whilst, how-"ever called and gifted for it by the blessed head ofthe Church Himself, no other member of the con­gregation is usually permitted to take any part init. Thus many who may be divinely called to thework, and might become able ministers of the­Gospel, are prevented by the false systems of menfrom exercising their gifts in the service of theLord, and for the edification of the Church.

§ 16. Some oftke Evil Effects oftlle DiBtinction i~

9.ue8tion•.' The undoubted tendency of the existing arrange­ment is to beget inactivity amongst the people ;",b~cause they feel th~t ·they have·a spiritual delegate-

SEC. 16.J EFFECTS OF THE DISTINCTIOK. 105

in whose hands are placed those large and respon­sible duties which are supposed to attach to theministerial office. Many there are who can thus:find a ready excuse for their own lack of zeal: the)'"think their pastor carries the keys of the church,and to him, therefore, they consign their spiritualenergies, as if he were a general proxy for them andfor all others in their works of faith and labours oflove. What multitudes of church members mightbe numbered who take little or no personal interestin the well-being of the church, to say nothing oftheir own souls! How many are there who contentthemselves with the external acts of warship and aformal attendance on ordinances, leaving all the restto the minister. But with these evils are con­nected others also; for to this source may 'be tracedfrequent discontent amongst the members, andbitter sorrow to many a worthy and laboriouspastor.

·The study and preparation expected for thepulpit, the pastoral visits, the attention to the par­ticular spiritual cases of individuals, the schools, the·prayer-meetings, the churcb-meetings, the public..meetings, ~d all the rest of the complicated dutiesattached to the office, impose a weight and multi.plicity of cares on the shoulders of some pastors,which none but Atlantean shoulders could sustain;and yet if they neglect any part of these enormousduties, which a mistaken theory has apportioned tothem, they are in jeopardy of forfeiting the esteemof some of their flock, as they too often discover totheir no small discomfort and sorrow.

106 GENERAL RESULTS.

CHAPTER IV.

GE:SEBAL RESULTS.

WE have, in the foregoing pages, exhibited the mostimportant passages usually cited as affording a war­rant for the institution of a priesthood or clergy,..comprising an order of men distinct from the so­·ailled laity. But to our own minds the proofs, fromthe inspired volume, of the intended existence ofany.such class ofmen in the Christian church are utterlywanting, and we do not, therefore, hesitate to con­sider the whole sacerdotal order, as at present-established in Christendom, a stupendous fallacy,replete with tendencies of a most pernicious ch&­Tacter to the interests of the Lord's kingdom. We.are constrained, by what we consider the strictest'logical necessity, to deny the validity of the claims.set up in behalf of a separate clerical caste. Thereis a true ministry-not clergy-in the Lo~d'8church·on the earth, consisting of those who, in accord.anee with the representative character ofthe ancientLevites, are poBBessed of the requisite endowmentsfor exercising the pastoral office towards the lock.Every other f()rm of priesthood we are forced toregard not only as an anti-christian usurpation, butaa having the effect of an owmic hypertrophy inthe Lord's mystical body. By attracting to itself

GENEBAL BE8ULTS. 107

an over-measure of vital power, it robs the otherportions of the system of their due share of spiritualVitality, and a paralysis of the members will be very~rtain to ensue. :But little discernment, indeed,is requisite in order to perceive that the broad line-of distinction held to exist between clergy and laity,acts disastrously upon the interior life ofthe church,by discharging the great mass of its members fromthat responsibility which properly pertains to everyone without exception. What is more evident thanthat the fact of an individual being salaried andset apart to preside over the spiritual interests of 8

congregation, operates as a release to the bulk ofthe members from almost any duty but that ofpunctually paying their contributions and sittingdevoutly in their seats from Sabbath to Sabbath,receiving with quiet assent whatever is dealt outto them. The practical working of the system isprecisely such as to con·firm the drift of our theo­retical objections. It goes all along on the 88Sump­tion that the actual work essential to the buildingup of the church is to be performed, not by thebody collectively, but by a particular class acting asproxies for the rest. If we make' the analogy ofthe human body the criterion in this matter, itwould be as if all its organs and viscera shouldunite in teeing the brain to perform. all, their func­tions for them, while they should enjoy an exemp­tion from their appropriate work. .Is it possible foranyone who is accessiBle to truth to avoid seeingthat this cannot be consistent with the true Divineorder P-that order which is 80 well expressed by

108 GENERAL RESULTS. [OHAP. IV.]

the apostle of the Gentiles,-Ufrom whom the wholebody fitly joined together and compacted by thatwhich every joint supplieth, according to the effec­tual working in the measure of every part, makethincrease of the body unto the edifying of itself inlove." . This is the true model for a Christian.church.

The precepts and intimations of the apostolic­epistles may serve at least as documentary evidence,.of a historical kind, as to the light in which this.matter was viewed in the primitive church. " Godbath tempered the body together having given moreabundant honour to that part which lacked; thatthere should be no schism in the body; but tllat tiBfJJembers should ltav(J tlte 'ame care one for anotlter.'.'(1 Cor. xii. 24, 25.) "Brethren, if a man be over­taken in a fault, ge, coltick are apiritUfJZ, restore Bucktin one in the spirit ofmeekne8s, considering thyself,lest thou also be tempted." (Gal. vi. 1, 2.) Who­ever was Rpiritual might feel this to have been acommand to exercise the kindly office of restoringone who had unfortunately la{)sed from his upright.ness. Each was to bear the other's burdens. Again...c Now, we exhort you, lwetltren, warn them thatare unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support theweak, be patient toward all men.." (1 Thess. v.14.)Brethren are here exhorted to warn, comfort, andsupport each other-a very principal feature ofwhat is now considered aa the pastor's peculiar:work. "Wherefore comfort yourselves together,and edify one anotlltJr, even as also ye do." (v. 11.)Passages of this nature might be largely multipli~

GENElU.L RESULTS. 109

but it is unnecessary. The gifts and services ofthe brethren are not to be superseded. Thefeeblest brother has as deep an interest' in thegeneral spiritual life of the congregation as thestrongest. It is in fact the duty of every Christianto edify, warn, support, and comfort his brethren,as opportunities offer, and that on the ground of-a common concern in the spiritual well.being ofthe body.

The early Christians, or those of the first century,never for a moment supposed that there was anypriest remaining in the true service and worship ofGod, excepting Him only who had "entered inonce into the holy place having obtained eternalredemption for us." They never thought that

. the preachers and teachers pf the gospel werepriests; that they had taken the place of the Sonsof Aaron; that some of them were "lords" overothers, some cc Right Reverend," others " VeryReverend," and all, from the greatest to the least,Reverend: they never imagined that the body ofbelievers were to be divided into two classes, onecalled" the clergy," and the others" the laity;"that the clergy were to be paid by the laity; wereto be men of education and leisure; un order ofEcclesiastics, dressed in sable garments, administer­ing to the "laity" grace and pardon.

But the church very soon fell into oblivion of its'privileges, and returned with avidity to thosethings which had been destroyed. In the secondcentury, the teachers began to utter strange doc­trines as to the priestly functions of the Gospel

110 GENEllAL llEBULT8. [CHAP. IV.]

mini8try, and in the third century, the pontificab .heresy had made rapid advances to maturity.

It would be no difficult matter to suggest avariety of causes that were operative in bringing­about this departure from the standard of primitive­simplicity and purity; but let it suffice to advertto one; to wit-that tendency to objectw6fUJ8B,whichis inherent in the human mind; in other words,a craving for some visible object for the sensesto rest on. The glory of Christ, in his priestlyoffice, can be contemplated by faith alone. Henceour Lord pronounced a memorable blessing onthose who should not be able to see, and yet shouldbelieve. This invisible glory is great beyond de­scription, in its clearness, beauty, and consolationto those who have been instructed by the Spirit of"Truth; but, to carnal minds, it is an abstract in­tangible doctrine without any semblanc~ of reality;.it affords no sort ofsatisfaction, comfort, or strengthto the soul of a mere nominal Christian, and can be88 little appreciated by him as any of the dry pro-­positions of Euclid. But a visible priesthood, withpower and parade, officiating within holy rails, ataltars of gold or marble, and professing to representthe office of mediator by means of diven well-con­trived ceremonies, is food for the natural man, such88 bis palate does exceedingly relish. Hence priest­craft is congenial to men, so long as its arts of rapa­city and oppression do not render it an intolerableburden. Nothing but theGospel, therefore, can save"mankind from this wide-spread and deadly evil.

It is doubtless much more congenial to the in-

GENEBAL BESlTLTS. 111

clination of the natural man to purchase exemptionfrom self-denying duties at the price of an annualsubscription for the support of a substitute, than to­go forward and discharge them in person, especiallywhen their discharge implies the maintenance of aspiritual state of mind. Accordingly, nothing ismore obvious than the air of easy unconcern withwhich, on the Sabbath, far too many occupy theirseats in the sanctuary, and pass on through theweek, devolving all care of the interests of thechurch on the spiritual stipendary who undertakesthe trust. This is undoubtedly a natural result ofthe system, and therefore, in speaking of it, we donot mean to reproach any to whom our remarkamay apply. They have been educated and havegrown up under the system; and a thousand in­fluences have been operating to prevent any SUB­

picion of its being wrong. They accordingly actas is natural under the circumstances. While ahuman priesthood is recognized in the church, itwill not do for the office to remain a sinecure. Thepeople pay the priests for taking charge of theirsouls, and why should they do that work themselveswhich they bargain with another to do in theirstead P The fact is, the evil can never be reachedbut by striking at the fundamental error on whichthe whole rests,-to wit, a distinct priestly or clericalorder. This is an institution which, in its presentform, is to be traced back proximately to the cor­ruptions of the Roman Catholic church, that church,of which the spirit of hierarchy is the animatingsoul. That the great reformer, Luther, had a very

112 GBNEllAL RESULTS. [OHAP. IV.]

clear perception of tbis is evident from the follow­ing passage in his "Letter addressed to the Bohe­mian Brethren:"-

•••• "Let that rock 8tand to you unshaken-that, in theNew Testament, of priest externally anointed there is none,neither can be: but if there be any, they are maaka and idols,because they ha\"e neither example nor prescription of thistheir vanity, nor any word in G08pel8 or Epistles of theApostles; but they bave been erected and introduced by themere invention of men, 88 Jeroboam did in Israel. }"or apriest, in the New Testament, is not made, but bom; Dot..()rdained, but raised up; and he is born, not by the nativity ofthe :flesh, but of the Spirit, that i8, of water and the Spirit inthe laver of regeneration. . And all Christians are altogetherpriests, and all priests are Christians: and let it be anathemato aMert that there is any other priest than he who is 0.

.Christian ; for it will be 88serted without the word of God, onno authority but the sayings of mtn, or the antiquity of-custom, or the multitude of those who think 80 • • • • Chriltwas neither shaven nor anointed with oil to be made a priest;wherefore neither is it enough for any follower of Christ to be.anointed to become a priest, but he must have something fardi.rent; which when he shall have, he wiD have no need ot·

·oil and shaving. So that you may see that the bishops erred8acril~giou.ly whilst they make their ordinations 80 neces881-Ythat, without these, they deny that anyone can become a priest,although he i8 most holy, aa Christ himselC; and again, that apriest may be made by them, although he be more wicked thanNero or 8ardanapalus. By which what elae do they tbarr-deny that Christ is a priest with his Chriatiaua1 (or whilatthey discharge their abominable office, they make no onea pri~st unleu he first deny that he is a priest, and 80 bythat very circumstance, whiYe they make a prie8t, they intruth remove him from the priesthood. • • • •• The min­.i8try of the word fa common to all ChriatiaDa; that ODe

,auage (I Pet. ii.) establishes it: 'Ye are 8 royal priesthood

GENERAL RESULTS. 113

that ,e ma'8how lorth the praile8 of him who bath ceDed youout of darkneas into his marvellous light.' I beeeeoh you, whoare they that are oalled out of darkness into hia marvellous .light? Are they only anointed and ordained priests! or arethey not all Christians? But Peter not only giVel them theliberty, but oommands them to declare the praises of God,which certaioly is nothing else than to preach the word ofGod • • • • • Aa there is no other showing forth of the praisesof God in the ministry of the Word than that common to all,80 there is no other priesthood than a spiritual one, al80 com­mon to all, which Peter hath here desoribed•••••• There­fore it bath now been suftloiently confirmed most strongly andclearly, that the ministry of the Word is the ohief office in theohurch, altogether unique, and yet common to all (JA.riitw,,,,,.Dot only by the right but also of co~mand; wherefore thepriesthood also must needs be both excellent and common; 80

that against these divine lightenings of God's word, of whatavail are infinite fathers, innumerable councils, everlastingusage8, and the multitude of the whole world?"

This is bravely said, though it has seldom foundan echo in later days, nor are we by any means con­fident that the heroic Wirtemberger always wroteon this subject in the same strain. But that isimmaterial. He saw then what we see now, thatthe priesthood of th~ Romish Church is the grandelement of its power. And though the institutionexists in all Protestant Churches in a modified andmitigated form, yet it is to that source that itsorigin is to be traced; and it is next to impossibleto divest it of its inherent tendencies towards theevils of hierarchy and the other forms of abuse towhich we have adverted.. While frankly avowing these sentiments we

are perfectly aware of the light in which they willI

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114 GENERAL RESULTS. [CHAP. IV.]

be viewed by the majority of ohurchmen. Theywill look upon it as requiring nearly as much hardi­hood to deny a visible clergy in the church, as todeny the existence of the church itself. They willfeel that a sad havoc is made of all their traditionary

. and cherished associations in connection with thechurch, the ministry, the Sabbath, the worship. ofGod, and, indeed, everything sacred; and they willbe prompted to put the question, whether we reallymean fJ.uite so much as our words would Beem toimport. Assuredly we do; and we will thank anyman to designate the point at which, if our pre­mises are sound, we can consistently stop shortof our present position. If there is no humanpriesthood to be recognized in the Lord's church,what authority is there for a clergy? We find itnot, and therefore state our conclusion~ withoutreserve. No hesitation have we in saying that in8 true and pure state of the church on earth,no other than the spiritual priesthood and theministry or service of believers will be known, andwhat that is has been sufficiently unfolded in ourprevious remarks.

That a multitude' of questions should be startedas to the sequences of such a theory 8S we have nowannounced we can readily anticipate. Who shallpropagate the doctrines of Christianity? Whoshall copduct worship, and how shall it be done PWhat will be the use of a pulpit if there be noregularly inducted clergymen to fill it P That, in allthese respects, the adoption of our views would workgreat changes in the existing order of things there

GENERAL RESULTS. 115

is no shadow of doubt. But we do not feel ourselvesOD this account precluded from advocating importantprinciples. We hold that it is never too early togive utterance to reformatory truths. Though notat once acted upon, they are still working as a secretleaven in the minds of men, and in due time theywill bring fortb. their legitimate fruits.

The trained and professional preacher, beingsupported for this very work, has' time to devotehimself to the careful preparation of his discourses,to elaborate them in 8 finished style, and bydegrees to conform them to the most admiredmodels of composition, and thus to serve upto his audience an intellectual treat set off inall the graces of eloquence. The cODsequence is,that the mind of the heare~, being accustomedto this kind of pulpit entertainment, comes atlength to nauseate the more plain and homelystyle of extemporaneous di8cou~e among brethren.And yet who is not conscious that this kind ofcommunication takes n deeper hold of the thoughtsand affections, and exercises more efficient con­trol over the inner man, than the most studiedoratorical displays. It is not the highly finishedand elaborate discourses which usually do themost good. They excite admiration, it is true,but they seldom move the inner springs of action.They play round the head, but they reach not theheart. The plain and even homely utterances ofa good man will commend themselves, by 8 certainunction, to every kindred mind, and the absenceof literary or rhetorical qualities will not be felt.

116 GENERAL RESULTS. [ORAP. IV.J

Whatever goes to make the worship on earthmost akin to the worship in heaven, ought to be theobject aimed at by the Lord's people, in conductingtheir sabbath service. The more nearly it answersto our Lord's definition of worship, the grE'~terwillbe that resemblance. "God is a Spirit and theythat worship him must worship Him in spirit andin truth."

Ano,ther very important inferen('.e from our pre­mises here forces itself upon us. How manycongregations are kept back, and drag along a feebleexistence, from an impre88ion of the almost indis­pensable' necessity of a minister not only to theirwell-being but to their being at all. We neednot indeed be surprised at this; for a clergy willbe sure to teach the absolute .necessity of its ownorder to the welfare of the church, and in this wayto lay the spell of inertia upon the mass of the laity.But it is easy to perceive what the result has been,and continues to be. Dependence upon an order ofteachers and leaders professing to be divinely com­missioned, and the fear of ttenching upon the sanc­tity of their prerogatives, have tended to paralyzeexertion on the part of the members, and to inureand reconcile them to a low state and a slow pro­gress, in spiritual things. It is a positive disad­vantage that men should have a hired functionaryto do their thinking for them. The peopleactually need, for their own spiritual health, thatintellectual and spiritual exercise from which theirministers now relieve them. Adult Bible classesare to a great extent conducted on this plan,

GE:REBAL RESULTS. 117

and nothing is more evident than their tendency todevelop, among the members generally, the variousqualificatioDs necessary to sustain the system. Sowould it be in the services of the Sabbath; and wethink it unquestionable that each congregation hasa claim upon the energies and gifts of all itsmembers.

We see no other method by which the littlebands of believers, scattered over the country, canever be prompted to arouse themselves from thattorpid condition into which they are so prone tofall, than by being weaned from reliance on a pro­fessional ministry, and thrown upon their own re­sources; and how can this be done without dis­carding in toto the prevailing system of a clergyor a prie8thood existing fIB (J tliatitnct oraw ofmtm ,

The noiseless and unobtrusive insemination ofChristian doctrine and practice within the range of~h one's personal influence, potent as it is, is Dotthe sole ground of reliance in the propagation ofreligion. The press is a powerful executive instru­ment of the present age, by means of which thefurtherance of the Lord's kingdom on the earth islargely to be effected. Here, then, is a channelthrough which united efforts can be made to tell

. upon the progress of truth and righteousness. Andlet us observe that, while the employment of laymissionaries and colporteurs in great numbers andon a large scale is not without its good results,this system of operation is, by too many, allowedto serve as a virtual discharge from the duty ofdirect personal efforts. The proper state of things

118 GENERAL RESULTS. [CHAP. IV.]

will not be reached till everyone who is aliveto his own responsibilities as a christian, shallfeel himself constrained to become a missionaryto his neighbou~, instead of the work being doneto his hands by proxy. The apathy which hasheretofore 80 widely prevailed, is no doubt refer­able to the same general cause to which we havetraced 80 many of the evHso that have aiBictedthe church. The obligations of personal "dutyhave been commuted on the principle of clericalsubstitution.

But we are reminded that we cannot inde­finitely.extend our thoughts even upon the momen­tous theme before us. We have given utteranceto our sentiments with all frankness and freedom,and in full view of the consequences. We havebeen all along aware of the enstrangement of con­fidence, of the alienated sympathy, which the de­claration of such sentiments will not fail to en­counter in the minds of many of our brethren.That they will at first strike them as the very ex­treme of destructive radicalism, is more than pro­bable. Nevertheless, we have spoken advisedly;and however we may deprecate the unfavourablejudgment of those whose good opinion we covet,we are prepared to encounter it, if fidelity to truthmakes it inevitable. We have no denunciations toutter against the general body of those who nowfill the sacred office; many of whom, it cannot bedoubted, entered it with the most upright inten­tions, and continue to administer it conscientiouslywith faithfulness and diligence.

GENE1U.L BEBULTB. 119

But this does not destroy the force of our reason­ing. In respect to our maiD. position-the utterantagonism of a priestly or clerical caste to boththe spirit and letter of the Christian dispensation­we are firm and immovable. Would that everymember of the Lord's church fully appreciated hisbirthright, and acted under the consciousness of thehigh privileges involved in it. Regarding it nolonger as an exclusive prerogative confined to 8

certain order, and fixing his thoughts, not uponthe shadow but upon the substance, let everyChristian realize that, whatever is embraced withinthe functions of the priestly and the royal office,pertains truly to him under Christ. Every onewithout exception is a king and a priest, so far ashe is truly a Christian. It is not alone in conse­crated ranks that we are to look for the priests ofthe Lord's heritage. Wherever we find a personthat is meek, gentle, guileless, truthful and wise­whose spirit is deeply leavened with faith andcharity-whose conduct in fact is that of a discipleof Christ-such an one, although never ordainedby human hands, we may truly acknowledge as a" priest" unto God.

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PrJnted by E. Couchman & Co., 10, Throgmorton Street, London.

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