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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. 22 1 1 ^."^.5. \a..-^rYi. yin^iL-- S/ For private eirculatiou only. CHURCH GOVERNMENT. LETTER KEV. E. M. SAUNDEUS Pastor of (Jranvllle Street Baptht t'hnrcb. HALIFAX. 1 I By JOHN Y. PAYZANT, Barrister-at-Law, BM .P35 HALIFAX, N. S. HALIFAX (UTIZKN" STKAM I'lUiSS. 1868. ^Halljuu&ic (tollnic aumm) E ^OHN JAMES STEWART COLLECTION \k For private oireulation only. CHURCH GOVERNMENT LETTER TO REV. E. M. SAUNDERS, Pastor of the tiranvlllc Street Baptist Church. HALIFAX. By JOHN Y. PAYZANT, BarriBter-at-Law. HALIFAX, N. S. HALIFAX CITIZEN' STEAM PRESS. 1868. V the f..Pf . ,,'' '^'^« ^^'o^g, unwarranted "y tne UGt.s, and subversivr^ nf fi, i control i-n n ^*"v^i'''ivo ot that reapect and control in a community, which i r^lm^.K f Lord should possess jZT , "^^ °^ °^'^ e that which is to endure the nd to feel the isolation of old above all, to ' with danger, the new belief U'c conviction gious doubt— ind unsettling sacrifice have mstances and unable to find ' go iu detail ide by your iate Pastor. tise is foreign tely if in any on. Let me e of the pro- 1 from the ictiou of his oreforc hold m warranted respect and I'ch of our 3r, as I do e as this, I at charity ^ be spread over the acts of aa erring Church, where the error has been that of the understanding and not of tho heart. Had forbearance, honesty and a Christian and sorrowing spirit stamped this act with their own holy impress, I should have been impatient, 'tis true, of the violence done to i ly feelings and reason, but would have bowed to the decision of the Brethren. But I look in vain for any such Heavenly marks of discipline as these in Dr. Pryor's exclusion. As I now review its character step by step, as I call to mind the hasty action, the reckless manner of receiving evidence, the rejection of wise and con- siderate advice, the personal treatment of Dr. Pryor, the sneer, the rebuff, the eagerness to clutch at every trifle against him, and the dis- ingenuous evasion of facts that told in his favor, the rejection of overtures for calling a Church Council, and the rejection of that Council's decision when called, I declare I tremble for the condition of men so deaf alike to thr , ^ice of reason, human- ity, and religion. If su.h strange conduct had been the sudden outburst of a moment, or of a few days, I knew that reflection and prayer would have restored the better mind ; but when through those weary weeks of wrangling and bad temper I found the evil instead of abating, outgrowing all restraint, I felt that here and now Christian charity should pause before other and sterner duties. Though I know I must have been somewhat influenced by the factious spirit and anger ©f the hour, I have 6 ™»'to'. I have tried tn ""'* 'l"" ''"""l^ "y «;= light of Jer a d s;: "vr ^';''^° niysef whether +j.o^ ^ ^^^igion. I have asked lopemeiitsof the evil ,•„ ,, """^ *"" later dove- «ven now are retailed t, 2 "'' ''''""^'"^ '"'^t ■■» this oitv, atw'^^r'^-°f'l-.''-ot, city, against Dr. Pryor onrl ,- "fagging, efe? rcr,,3h hi.T "' '" "^^ whioh I feel ,1,. , " forever— from all '".possible t'anvTo ' !°™"S"^ -"""^d h v tio past, and how'^nt ie Tr"r °' '^"°"'*'P « f°Ht3 renewal inThettf °' ™"«' "^^ "^OP^ '0 beThS at:;2t witf ^^'''^""'^'• '»» "-f- I «'.o„ld bo wnti ;t''°f;*'--'-tanoe, myseif, my judgment ! A ' P"' "'P<"'' *■<»■ »"r''<' 4 cS::^on1o inlenf «'"'• '' ^ oealingor mlli-ifmr, fi. ^ V ^°""®"ce me in con- of my cansffor ;^4t "f '■'"V™"'"-'^ nature But that a.t r T' "^ "'' °''"«"'- "'■oader an m re f„nd IT f ' ■ '^™""^ '"^^ » constitution and 1^. ® '"""''<"* ^o very Street Chnrch in' b«r::;"f; T °' «'■»""» •I' meant that tl e m,i " , f- ^"l"''" Churches. in a Baptist Ch u "'o„ 7/ ';i''"f ■'" "'™''- -Vmanandr„inrS'l':^:S;Se: 9d to enter the view the whole its every phase I have asked >e explicable on bad mind and he later deve- y attitude the slanders that of the streets and in the s^er— from all onvinced hov^ fellowship in ^g> any hope r too painful 3 I'eluctance, respect for %ion, if I mo in con- isive nature Jrch. nny had a -ance than the very Grranville Churches. I members ds upon a t whether good men or bad men, this majority ^ould act, however tremendously important the issues in- volved, without appellate control, or regard to aught save their own particular ends ; that under the guise of an exalted Christianity and pure discipline it could poise a deadlier shaft and wreak a more terrible wrong; that, in fine, a Church which should aspire in its government to realize the status of a pure theocracy, could assume the functions of the worst religious despotism. Iso- lated though the case of Dr. Pryor might be, one naturally asked himself what guarantee had he that the next victim to this tyranny might not be himself or his neighbour. Must there not be some thing wrong, some thing radically wrong, in that religious system which became a jeopardy io the reputation and usefulness of its members instead of a safeguard ;— was a question I found myself unable to get rid of by means of any previous study or conclusion. I frankly confess that for the first time in my life I opened my Bible with a great concern to know what were its exact teachings on the subject of Church government. That I should have failed earlier to traverse with care Scripture ground so important as this, was assuredly an omission of duty greatly to be blamed and deeply to be regretted, but an omission which, viewed in the light of my religious education, will not occasion you the surprise that it might many others. You know how little importance Baptists attach to creeds, !( g.us .,„« doctrines in the minda of children car 1 ■no.slly lor tl,„ dovolopement o, moral prine' , e ™ 1 .e growth of jnoty ,„„, holine,. L have re- feucd ,„ rocont conversations with mo to incidents ' f ''."™. "'••«'° 'l'^>l- year memorable to many hm .,es,de n,yself-anj not the least bitter" op 01 the cnp I h„e l,„d to dnnk has ^cen ray with W, lr„,n the commnnion of those with whom I table of the Lor.l-bnt who of ns then as we took our way with onr Bibles to the groves and I ht trea.ns, .honght of Ohnrch «overn,nont7 A absotbing our whole souls. It c:a,i therefore be occasion of ittle surprise, that having thus trmal y accepted a systen,, those of us who w "jot Joolog,cal students, or whose paths in life d d o a tenv-ards lea,l „s into circles where the soundn oi the Congregational system was likely to be called n |i«est,o,>, should not have acrntiuiil very to >lly the Scriptural warrant for its ,lootri„?X, l^ great matter of a living faith within : 1 oly conversatmn without seeme.l so much mere to ■loraand onr meditation and study During the few leisure mon.ents I have ha,I with ho ,l,l,gence and candor that a layman not verse,! ,n Ecclesiastical lore, l,„t ,„.|h a! - of their distin- liildren, oaring 1 principle and You havo re- no to incidonte ^55— incidents 'able to many ist bitter drop been my with- with whom I at around tho ion as wo took 3s and by the nimont ? A u- minds and therefore be : thus formal- 'Iio wore not 1 life did not 'he soundness y to bo called )d very caro- 'ctrino, when v'ithin and a inch inoro to I have had vo tried to government '^Vmau, not h an opeii 9 Bible before him, could attain; and if aught I may write seem to you dogmatic, crude, or unsound, I know you will not construe it as tho mark of a perverted mind or the want of a becoming modesty, but as having tho force, to my mind, of groat and unanswerable facts. Nothing is more plainly sr^ forth in Scripture than God's design, that li.. people should bo Joined together as one body, sometimes known therein as tho family, the Hock, tho kingdom or tho Church, but always set forth as possessing a sacred and mysteriously intimate union. Over this Body or Church ho is the Supreme and only Governor, ruling, guiding and directing His [.eoplo on earth, not only liy the direct inlluenc.'o of His Spirit on individuals, but also by means of a j'orm of government in the Church itself. W/ial iti tlm for/n, of govcrnmcil: and in who)n{ti ihe governing avthority vested .' Lot me in the outset insist upon the di'cp moment of the subject. Whether ecclesiastical authority should How from proi)erly constituted Heads of tho Church on earth downwards to tho pco[)lc, or from the people upwards, may seem to some to bo so overshadowed by the grander doctrines of tho Christian Faith, as to demand for their right com- prehension, study not very profound nor prayer very earnest. I grant that we can never caro too anxiously for the health of that inner religious lifo which clothes all the outward with form and holy 10 things hoped ib^a^ lt:r ""f «"''»"™ '» I thus refer to this great Scripture truth because U as not unirecuently been Lerted that ' h ^"'^ Testan.e,it .ets forth no one form of e.ternn! government for the Church bnf fl, \ ^^^teinal 4 ,1 t . ° "; °" ""'P"'"'- We are -r\> ■:;::;■::; -'fi;''->; pom, pos. 1 " ' wail ant ol S(M'infm'n "nru ^ 13 that principle:^ Not imw/t? ' !" ^''^ * -^^w^; Huieea to us crentin-oo ia u goct and that the good „»«■■ err through incom- I 'oster that living and evidence to 3ut no reverence i cause us to for- cible principle of itself bears the nt of its right or ily flow through ices of startling members and to ro truth because ^i-ted that "the form of external lat every people polity appearing ?s under which 5ts I apprehend point. We are rch polity pos- •ipture. What ^ creatures is it is tlieoretically Otherwise I your Church 'hat the same of democracy, t anarchy and fiystem starts ^y of men are 'rough incom- 11 petency, weakness and prejudice. But our Jips must be sealed to all such questionings, when the fiat of Deity interposes. Enough let it bo for us to comprehend it and bow humbly to its rule. From the very dawn of the Patriarchal era, down through the Mosaic and the Christian, to the time when John in apocalyptic vision was directed to write those brief but searching Epistles to the "Angela" of the seven y^.Man Churches, I find but one principle of Church government* recognized and enforced— that vesting all authority and Rule on earth in Heads or Overseers of God's people; never are we taught by precept or example that this governing power is vested in a whole Churcli acting through a majority or the whole of its individual members. Those Heads or Overseers, whether in the persons of the ancient Tatriarchsi or the High Priests of the Jewish economy, or the Apostles and their successors of the New Covenant, have always been ministers, their sentence final and their authority unquestioned. There can be no difference of opinion as to tho mode in which God saw fit to govern His people before tho Advent of tho Messiah. The Patriarch waa in all respects an autocrat. Tho High Priest, the Ordinary Priests and the Levites swayed an authority and exercised ofiices which none dare question or usurp, under the most terrible penalties. All cavillings and ambitious thoughts were silenced when the proud and arrogant King Uzziah, thinking to take nv.cyv, himself the burn- rr, T ill 4 III 12 "ig of incense in God's Tom,.!^ Hi.n to whoso ait.: „:ruffi;'"''''^"'^ Wests could a„n-„ach, „,. t iSorch" u/zun, to burn incenso imf^ +i t -, ' A-^ Priests, thosous of I "?i,r '''' '^"' '° tc burn i„oo„,o." I ,1 ° ,''"'>• ""'°™'^'' then, fwo have a <>ri„cin lof P .'''''"^'"^^'io™. -cog,mod and e„l oT tl"o T Sovernmeut Ocgrogatiohal sy.stom " °''P''""= "^ «'^ "own. a,.d ibo^ :.uf :; i /-,t - -et are two or ihro^. n^...- 1 .• ^""^ stedd, there ^ ui unee considerations never tn h^ i . s.gl.t of. Wo«l,ouId ..emombor thrthlor I 'Lrough all eras is essentially the sal T^ "' among the broken branches of , I ^nf taoh succeeding dispensation, whJc'tli"?' the same Church vva« b„t .1 '"°,Per™n]ng to expansion of the Zee ''^^e'^P'ment and gradation to tie Z tf T^ ?"° '" *» fulfilment i„ ou lo Td ' to thi Th„ ' ■ '^ ""*"' wa. but typieil ,„d '1' . '° """""' »="'«» over the w ' 1^7?''^' ""'' '^''""80 P^'^e* of rites and ^^e" onL;": rmfflltr"^" ceremonies wore not »i,oii,h d Ji/ Vth: oM P , there was Circumcision in the old, there ', was smitten by 'It His accredited e life-loug plague not uiito thee, the Lord, but to ^t are consecrated 'ei- dispensations, ui'ch government •y opposite of the ler at the advent inciple was cast 1 its stead, there never to be lost hat the Church '0 same. There branches. Ho\\ tns of this, when re tree grafted 0^' the Ohve. G pertaining to 'elepement and Ti-iio in the lad its perfect ancient service change passed ing demolition all rites and ^3 in the old '■ni of entrance the old, there I ■ is Baptism in the new. There was a Paschal Feast I in the old, there is the Lord's Supper in the new. As there was a form of ministry in the old so there is a ministry in the new. The Church had a government and discipline in the old, so it has in the new. Now this is your position; you have to admit that in the old dispensation this government and discipline was administered by the ministry alone; you have admit that a ministry and a form of government, of some sort at any rate, descended into the now; but you are driven to maintain that somehow in the descent the principle got reversed, and thenceforward the people were supreme. If Scripture uttered a word to authorijce a position so singular I sliould not feel surprised, but I confess to a great surprise that this should be adopted when Scripture is silent on it. In that silence how dare you or I presume to say the old principle is dead and set ourselves about the dis- covery of a new one. Now while there is an absolute silence as to any such transfer of authority at the coming of our Lord, the subsequent New Testament History sets *he matter at rest by unfolding a system of eccle- siastical rule vesting all authority, a8 in the old dispensation, in the ministry. The opening chap- tors of the Gosj^cls give us the first intimation that the good old principle of the Abrahamio and Aaronic governments had descended, safe through the wreck of the ceremonial service, to the Church of the Now Covenant. Our Lord m Jlis Priestly iill 14 design. One among Hi, fi,,. ", '>,'-",'""' '"»« to swronnci IIim.,elT win, 7 ,""°f «■'»' ■''Cte wm co-workers nn,] f^ . , exalted to be Hs T1.03C. we..o them-st mini:, t Lt:";":?'- ment era; their morin ^^^ • "^ ^^^^^ -'-''^'^ta- fo™ a precedent, LcI t ' t, .T^l^f ^P-' '» ™sea . j,ea. sacL office ;'; J'^^^^^^^ »tthoin,.ea...ijcr;::^err.:s and orga,„.ed the Ch.u-che, and ordained Z'ol Tl ua ll» Now Tostamont Cluuoh ,tvrl, ll.^l I.n..eiple of government like unto tl e P l, ', 'f andtUe.Tew.K-a,la„tl,o,it.de,cendlg";::to I \ s Cliurch from the t all time, without ':^" and "Under Jis great and wise ministerial acts was y of twelve minis- 3xalted to be His ;overnment of His of appointment. '■ the New Testa- "tment, therelbre, ■sonably expect to ' into a system of 3 to come. The ^0 mo conchisive, uently expressly Were these men ip people? Our 'er could have ■y quite as well, heir election of "ts to devolope veniment. But 'nally His ibl- ound Churches* nl depose them 'iselvoa founded ;Iained therein, starts with a lie Patriarchal ading from tho I i 15 Head, our Lord— through His Apostles to the people; which principle you must show mo has been annulled in positive terms, and vour Con- gregational one substituted. This you cannot do. The "Twelve" remain in authority from our Lord's death, on through the Pentecostal period, down to the date of the Apostle James' death,' when the mystical number seems to have been broken up, and the power before vested ii; the whole Apostolic Body, now vested in one person; for after this event we read no more of the Twelve] but find instead one man in authority at Jerusalem' who exercised rule over the Churches of tho land,' and to whom even the remaining Apostles seem to have given submission. This was James— called by Paul our Lord's brother. Scripture says but little of this man, but that little is pointed and momentous— I refer now to his position at the Ecclesiastical Council held at Jerusalem. There had been strife and dissention among the Teachers of the Church at Antioch, whether or not the Gentile converts, now fast coming into the Churches of Syria and Cclicia should be circum- cised. But although Paul was on the spot and contended miglitily in their discussions for the right, his dictum, great and revered Apostle as he was, was rejected; and he with Barnabas and others were deputed to go up to Jerusalem for an authoritative decision on the subject. Were not Paul and Barnabas as fit to decide this question as James and John ? What then was the object of I ' i )i 16 havu.g „„, voice whatevo. in rLw„ '^f ^/^ cu.sio„ bet J„'';?:;r ;c;:t: '-« ^- mentioned. Then Potor ..) .^ i? ''"" "°^ »d pronounce, hi.f I^^, Z-" Vw'T^' tHe« that ..,e, .,3tain ^ pfit: 1' oTiaT La dissent- +1,. -^^on^that 'sentence" there is no • uiBsent, there is no miffinr,. +i ,• ^°" ^"°^ ^^^'^^> ^«^t simply because the lern if not to get a hedra. Arrived at ned composed, mark ifl Elders, (Acts xv. cord of the people Sie dec i,-: ion of one of 'h the early Church ns with a long dis- use names are not ^jod had chosen to )od up and address- es and Paul speak, lield their peace," 'ious addresses and >rophetic writings, 'hus— " Wherefore ''e, decree, decide,) ■li from among the t that we write to ^ iitious of idols and gs strangled and nee " there is no question to vote but we find the fied out. shelter for your its soundness, b^' Antiochians was Llem, the laymen 'S the ministry, ply because the f 17 words -.Elders" and - brethren " appear at the head of the Epistle? Look at Paul's first Epistle to the Corinthians ; for aught you can gather from the mere heading, Sosthenes had as much to do with It as Paul, but we know that Sosthenes had nothing to do with it; that in the whole Epistle Sosthenes is not so much as referred to again • and to crown all, the inspired writer in closino- the Epistle, throws Sosthenese off altogether and gives '' the salutation of me, Paul, written with mine own hand. And in four other Epistles we find Paul adding the names of others of the brethren at the top of Epistles written likewise by himself, pre- serving the number and person throughout, and enforcing doctrines and precepts which it would have been incongruous to have attributed to the others. The only rational explanation of this is the same one to be apphed to this letter to the Antiochians, viz.: that others beside the real authoritative writers of the Epistles were some- times joined with them at the head as a form of salutation and good will. But suppose I were to admit that this decision was not James' • suppose I go the full length you would have me' and say that this Couacil was composed of the Apostles, Elders and Brethren of the Church at Jersusalem, and that the question was put to vote and carried by a majority of the ministers and laymen present,-for it seems there was a division of opinion among them~-thun I ask what right had a local Church at Jerusalem to legislate for the I! I ;H! 18 lorded it Ir ';,::;"'" "-^ °"'"-'' '-™ th„, Circumcision™, h, , 1 ''T'""« "'" '"•'"1 <>' certain things ^""'"'« ""=» '" »>*,'»». from .videnTV.nf. °"" ■ "°*"^ "'■ •'■^'»- -■'- i' -|e.„drop„;:t:s,;7i;:™r;ir?:''- after his lii,e,.,,inn f„ ' 'f^'"'' '""■ loj Peter household ^"./'r''."^''" '"^""'^ Mary's (». 17). Pa.?ol 'p ™">^'li-Wy to Jame. in his acts before artd after L/"'°"''''^'"^^ James." (Gal. ii. 12" '^'"^ '^'''"^^ ^^^^^ How James was invpster^ w.'fl, n • .7 iow he transmitted it to m! '"'^°''^^^ '^"^^ does not tell u. • or ' . . "'"""'"'''' ^''''^'''' n^inor detail o'f the A ^ r '"'^''^'^^ '^^"^ ^^ ^^^ government W ' fvas tf ' ''^^^" '' "^^^^^ -ong the TwZ^ W Vt^t ^^ ''^^^- preserve the ,i>v<,f,-„ 7 necessary to MI, and 1, X T "■ '■ """'^' '''""> J"das comins of our J,„,., ,f , ''■■"'mon,™ at the -earl/ha fTeen,;" •'"™*""<'- »? which for J iiaii ci century seem concurronf ? tt Paul nivested with the care of the n f ™' what were the CTactlim.W '^''"■'ches, and orders of a.eZ^^^^'-T^f'^'''''^^^-^ coguate subjects we ar ,oH ■'.'i '"« "'"^ ""^ Tiat we ha.^ the fr:,„r„r t.; I s"! """ir' 8.ven„s,the,ini„gi„„„,«,„,,,,,;trj:r;r re ae 19 your ideas of their Church 'aave thus itting the load of 5111 to abataiii from t -Tames makes it ty at Jerusalem, comes up to Jeru- s xxi. 18.) Peter 1 directs Mary's ediately to Jame,9 ith inconsistency 'I'tain came from iis authority and lessors Scripture ■ealed any of the ■stem of Church 'sition of Peter it necessary to -ct v/hen Judas 5d martyrdom ? trmonize at the 'ns of which for 'lit ? How was Churches, and of the different 'ing these and lo or nothing. ' a system thus eing withheld, can be no cause of marvel, when we think of the many splendid works, the sublime lessons, the doctrines, the precepts and the prayers of Christ and His Apostles, of which no record has come down to us. In point of fact there seems to have been no division of opinion as to the govermeut of the Primitive Church, and therefore unlike most other of its doctrines, less cause for a formal enunciation of the same. But whenever the sacred writers do touch the .-subject, it is to enforce and illustrate the very opposite of the democratic idea. But if St. Luke does not pause in penning those graphically written historical events to expound this great Church princii>le, the life and writings of St. Paul speak out with a clearness which only the prejudiced and Shibboleth-bound can misinterpret. Those writings are divided into classes ; the first class addressed to Churches in their individual and collective capacity ; the second class to individual men, Timothy and Titus. Now this is to me a most significant fact that throughout those full and elaborately written Epistles "to the Churches," there is not one word touching the choice, quali- fication or ordination of their ministers; nay more there is not one direction which would explicitly convey to the mind of an unprejudiced reader, that the power of discipline was committed into the hands of the individual Church members. The only apparent exception Lo this is in such general exhortations and directions as are contained in Chap. V. of the 1 Cor. and Chap. iii. of 2 Thess. I ! 20 iiixt when the "<">"> to me to b„ „.J^ ' ""^ ""••»° %"tla-, thoy of".- a. wo:d, ■ ,,,;t" "'?' '■°"-- -s I'""'™-. B„t if k ; " "'"^ =<»'"-'<=l to hi, «"" fro". l.i,s ,,:.«: 1 „;""'r°::' <"■ ''"Po^o ton at should bo:' ' °' '""" Bislio|>,, and doacons of Sii;:;;;v:;;;*';« ';■ "'" ='"■«'"'■« or .ieaig„ """to« Of Clnm-l ""votni ,"' """'oritativo if 'o,'-^.-in mi„d CCch ""™'™i»^'« i object .1,0 „,.i,eris p^t \°" """-^ ""'^ ^ B:r;:;f rt;:r "f "--^'" "^ CtoroLo,, b,u ,0 ,„i„i.J,7'; ,:f '-^^^'ed, „„t t, ■■""dTUu,. So loagerdooa ».'■""'■■ '^""othj- ".Of Pm,ge„t appefl to , "p, ^^ ,'* "'dulso in f»;'l.. purity and love 1, t ho T''™ ''"8'-^»'«- 'fo the subtleties of dMtZ, *' ""' So down f lof in beatific vi,i„ ° 'f . "S"""^"', nor aoar •'"^onofhiseoa.™™;. ''-/"'ure; "o» the ahall be governed; i „?„>:'■ ''?" ""= Churchea merabors d ii^ciplined; 21 togGtJier with tho tlic'so Epistles^ thoy I'o tlian tlio nppro- iltad of a Church ^ticul power -night ^"f^ counsel to his ih--^t these laymen '■' 01- depose him at ^'fHie not instruct «"j1i ; wliy did he ''^Jiops and deacons tnicture or design '» us in construing \ ' 'Authoritative in s most important I on every other I t and persuasive, i '6 iiccounted for I Ji members they ihority. ■ Jiis Epistles— '^'eesed, not t> rches. Timothj' •■^tio ijidulgo in Jies for greater '■' "ot go down iient, nor soar ure; now the ' the Churches i's disciplined; what shall be the qualifications of its ofFicerfi. Mark ho^v he writes an Epistle to tho Ephesians, without fuaying a word on Church government; then writes an Epistlo to Timothy directing him how to govern the Ephesian Church. You have only to run your eye along the salient features of that Epistle to comprehend the full import of this meaning. First Timothy is left in charge of the Ephesian Church; in corrying out his authority he is to allow no fal«e doctrine to be taught ; he ia told what public prayers and thanksgivings are to to be made ; what should be the attire and deportment of women; what the qualifications of Bishops and deacons; how Timothy shall "com- mand and teach" respecting certain heresies ; how elders shall be deciplined ; the treatment of widows; tho care to be exercised as to whom he ordained; duties of servants; and closing with a most solemn charge to keep that which was committed to his Trust. These directions are not written to the Church, for the Church had nothing to do with them, but to Timothy, the Overseer of the Church. Mark especially how Timothy was to deal with an Elder. Was the Ephesian Church to arraign, to sit in judgment upon or expel an erring Elder, as your Church expelled their late Pastor? No word is breathed ol the like; but Timothy, their head, was directed how he should receive an accusation against an Elder. In describing the qualifications of a Bishop there occurs this significauL language, " One that riMeth II ! nil 22 '0 rule hi. o,„: ,Jl ■ (^ '/ "-'"''n kn^ not L Church of God." ''"""- f" 'o^-" oare of the that aro wami,,,, an] c i,", °'"^"' "'" """«« P'-"' give, iii,e's "; ^ d ; f ''^" '■" =-'y *y/^ ;^'0:>cUvith..,a-fiJ2, ;,■" '-'Wand, f,,, ''wot.o, aft«- the ,i,4 -r, '""" "'^"' '■" «>> But r refrn'ri r j^! "» tl.oso 'ji,^:™ ,«7';;« "■«l.or ovi,lo„co.. Church govor„„e„t , to "f ''""^'f'" "l -"'0 SOver,„„c„tof tLt,?'"'?'' "'■'' ^"'°™-' »'™w wh,„ name,, yo ,,?;■"'?■■ / ^'■"■« "Ot a """'■»'<=™; you may',", ,'"''' '" ""> S-^'ning ""-^'ml : that i„ „„,, 2' .''""^""K ■'■ dogreo or r"""K- The great fcTr !! '•°""'' "'•""« "re K»«™i..g authority i„ ,L PI *'"'"• '■°'''''='' all ■«foundiMthosrr/C«"'''"" "'*'■- Priudple «'• John the l.ivino ' ' ™"'lf' ■<-"»ivo lettcraof »"'■ Lo,.J, ,0 the 'AZ '':■""' r "'° '"■■ection of «-ol. of K.,,,,:;,, . ;^'';, «•;"'« Angel of the youiMlf elecie,] by ,j,„ ,,,;,'^;'f '! '"'•"■"«.• like dual 'uica ■1 Uiat 23 '''' ''^^Idrcn in subjee- \;f'' ^■'^0"' not how ■'■I' fie take care of the '^tus, wJiom he had '; °rdcr the things ^; names are ^"gl't is, tliat in ^^'^, rosidei] all on earth. Jtthis principle 'P"sive letters of tlio direction of seven different ■ ^"gel of the minister like "otes of that Church to be its Pastor, or was he like Timothy thirty years before him appointed and ordained thereto by one havir.g authority and credentials not conferred by the People? I will answer this by referring to a ground against episcopal govei'nment you have more than once taken in conversations with me, viz. : that no principle of government can be discovered in the acts of the Apostolic ministry applical)lo in our day, inasmuch as tho Apostles were inspired m.>n ;in.l had extraordinary powers conferred u})on them which weio not transmissablo by them, but ceased with (heir death. What force there is in the objection I shall presently consider; but ^"" "-« they were endowed T '°"' ^""""-' ^""1, wl-.eh electing hem' '""?"'"'"'"« "-»' fr°-. -»d tl.e found , Hf 1 rf "? ""■ ••' »''"«='-^' oyoct- passed ..«vay; b,u'„„t"rtt' ,?■'""' '" '''"™ It in some form or .,„„.l ' , , ' Sovernment; tl.o worth,,, on,,'" ?r''',"°' «•■>»<=. though it concerned Ch "t I.e / """'°'° ™ '^ - Apostle., mnst ],,„„. »»««-ws of the tics' position n e ,m '"''"'^'^ "'° ^pos- ">« Bible, .hat^• 'X tlr'rtr' "'"" ™'"' powers from n,ortal» 01 , ,°'"'° miraculous of the hands of th I, ,' T"''' »""'»■' ""t I'oople. n the t .0 tolir' """ ""= ''""'» "^ the 3«cred .natter to" ° , ^^^^cnt were a too the nunistrv fo a i' '"^, '""> "'"' ''^"d- of »l.ould hav' r ,c od T, 'f '"'"'^"'' ''"" ™»»" ;--»".Kit,:x:uZt!::dX^,e: 7'i:ti:ntrt,r;!i:;;:t''"^ . tl- Church nniversalli in ,' 7 1"!"^'''.''™ .'■' ' \ tional ministers, why f =^'»g each one, to a ^ tJio condition of the ' placed. This is not 'ing communications d not die with the powers with wl-oh "■'ig tliem from, and thoir long Jin- of | •a special object— ' Church— and' with 'lU object, to have i lurch government; j not cease, though I lierefbre so for as J successors of the ■ecisely the Apos- "i can show me in of the miraculous ^I'ity slipped out the hands of the mont wei'e a too nto the hands of the same reason 10 bands of an »d aelf-Buffioiont -t to allude to, ^ recognition in * "H inimeditttely 25 succeeding the Apostolic era. I know how zeal- ously Baptists have always adhered to the Sacred Canon in all things pertaining to their religion, yielding but a modified countenance to the writings of those holy men, the Fathers, many of whom sat at the feet of the Apostles, were their fellow laborers, received their highest commendation, and won crowns of martyrdom for the faith they preached. I freely admit how dangerous it would be to receive the doctrines of men so great and good even aa^these, where the letter or the spirit of the inspired Books teaches differently. But I con- ceive that upon points touching the management of the Primitive Church— points upon which in these latter days so many learned and pious men differ in their interpretation of Scripture, some weight and authority should be attached to the clear and positive writings of men, who sat under the Apostolic ministry, and were themselves ministers of repute' in the Apostolic Church. Now you know better than I do, that if there bo any doubt- as to the meaning of St. Paul or St. Luke on this point, there is none whatever as to that of such men as Clement of Rome, whom Paul calls his " lellow-laborer, v/hose name is in the Book of Life ;" or Ignatius or Polycarp, disciples and co- workers also of the Apostles. No men could have known better than these what the practice of the Apostolic Church was ; yet every one of them, as you well know, is singularly explicit in describing a Ch\irch in whicli all nnthority was vested iu u. properly constituted ministrv. OT i 0.rn- .»->--^-- 26 FT I have not been able to have access to any complete collection of the Patristic writings, but give a few quotations therefrom, as I find them among a mass of others, all of like import, in Dr. Kipp'i^ works. Clement, in his Epistle to the Corinthians, which was of such high authority in the Primitive Churches, as to have been publicly read, we are told, along with the inspired Epistles, says — " God has ordained by His Supreme will and authority both whore and by what jiersons they (His services) are to be performed. For the Chief Priest has his proper services ; and to the Priests their proper place is appointed ; and to the Levites appertain their proper ministries ; and the Layman is confined within the bounds of what is com- manded to the Layman. Let every one of you, therefore, brethren, bless God in his proper station, with a good conscience and with all gravity, not exceeding the rule of his service that is appointed to him." " Let us consider those who fight under our earth/ 1/ Governors ; how orderly, how readily, and with what exact obedience they perform those things that are commanded them. All are not prefects, nor tribunes, nor centurions, nor inferior officers, but every one in his respective rank does what is commanded him by his King and those who have the authority over him. Let, therefore, our whole body be saved in Jesus Christ ; and let everyone be subject to his neighbour according to 27 the order i„ whicl, ho is placed by the gift of God." So hkewse our Apostles knew by our Lord Jesus C ,r,st, thr,t there should coutentions urle about tho „„,„e of the Bisho,„.io. A,„l tllXe hav.ug a perlect foreknowledge of this they a„- ponued persons, as we before said, and then .^ve d.reet,„n hou- when they should die, other ehi,! a„d approved „,en should sueeeod in the n.inislry " I«N,v™.s says :_" I exhort you that ye study to doal th.ngs ,„ a divine eoneord; your BisL, I-su,ng .„ the plan, of tied; your Lsbyto. ^.oplaeeot the Couneii of the Apostles; .aid your Deaeons most dear to u.e l„,i„g j.t^.sted with muustty of Jesus Christ.- In his Epistle to roly! the'^ni, l.'V'°T"«""''"""' '" '"■■'*<= "'""S'' '™ '» htt Go »";J-™^-" Attend to the Bishop that God ra,ay attend to you. I „„ of „,„ ,,„', mmd wtth those who are sul,jeet to the Bisir he Presbyters and the Deacons.- In his Epis to the Ephesians :-" It becomes yon to acmicso op.n.on of your Bisho,- which you do.- I might cite many pages from these writin.-s all ^how.ng that in the last days of the Aposthf '„ ! ^unng the succeeding ages all Church autho- nty was vested ,n tho ministry. Are these emphatic utleranec, to go for nothing :■ Even tlic learned among the Congrega.ionalit.s, if I 1„ rrec ly m.onned, agree with the statements „ the earliest and most eminent Historians that, the%,stl,.s„l Ciemeu were written long beforo &t. John s Vision ,„ Patmos an.l before the date of 28 his Epistles; and that Ignatius and Polycarp flourished before the death of that eminent Apostle* And yet though Clement was a fellow laborer with Paul for the truth, though Polycarp, if tradition be true, suffered martyrdom in the ampitheatre at Eome for that truth, and for it Ignatius died a martyr's death ; and though these men had caught Irom the Apostles own lips and teachings their spirit and zeal and knew how the Churches should be and were governed : and though their writings reveal most clearly what the nature of that government was ; yet they are to bo set aside as of no weicht because not just canonical. If these writings be entitled to as much credence even as those of Tacitus or Cornelius Nepos — and I believe that most learned Theologians are agreed in the main as to their genuiness — nothing in my opinion but the most emphatic Scriptural contradiction of their teachings should govern one in rejecting them ; for, admitting that they may have greatly erred in expounding many of the deeper ■''octrines and mysteries of the Christian Faith, they could not have erred, without being guilty of the most wilful perversion of facts before their eyes, in describing the form of government existing in those Churches in which they and the last Apostles la))ored. I must not omit in concluding this hastily written letter, to put one question to you which has a most significant bearing ui)on the matter in hand. If Congregationalism flourished when John wrote his Er : Polycarp nt Apo.\.tle' ,borer with f tradition )itlieatre at latius died men had teachings 5 Churches ough their nature of )e set aside 1. If these ice even as id I believe eed in the my opinion i-adiction of n rejecting ivo greatly ■V '^(.ictrines they could if the most r eyes, in 3xisting in st Apostles :ily written has a most 1 hand. If n wrote his i 29 Epistles to the Churches, and Episcopacy took its place a few centuries after, how is it that History has brought down to us no word of this most sweeping revolution ? Can you believe a change of such tremendous magnitude, and effecting most vitally the dearest rights of Christendom, to have been wrought out, without a loud and stirring remonstrance, whose echo at any rate should have come down to us ? The Baptists of the present day form but a small part of the Christian world, but suppose that Episcopacy were attempted to be forced on them, what a record of tumult and strife would History carry down with it to all posterity: how 13 It then that we hear nothing of this uni- versal change ? The page of Ecclesiastical History has not failed to chronicle through all ages the schisms and heresies, the great uprisings against and inroads into the Church, affecting not only ^er laith and service, but endangering her very existence; but from the days of the Apostles to those ol Luther not a word is breathed against Episcopal government. When then did the chan-e take place, I ask, if Ep-'scopacy was not Primitive'^ A vezy strange thing sure it were," as the learned Hooker wrote in ICm, -'that su.ji a disc.phne as ye speak of should be tauglit by Christ and His Apostles, in the Word of (}od and no Church ever have foun.l it out, nor received it till the present time; contrariwise, the government against which ye bend yourselves be ob.orved every where throughout all generations and all 30 ages of the ChriHtian world, no Church ever per- ceiving the word of aod to bo against it. We require you to find out but one Church upon the face of the whole earth that hath been ordered b)' your discipline, or hath not been ordered by ours, that is to say the Episcopal regiment since the time that the blessed Apostles were here conver- sant." Not until the days of Luther, Melancthon, /uingle and Calvin-after 1500 years of Universal Episcopacy-is this great Church principle attacked, and then attacked nor because the principle itself was obnoxious, but because it was conceived to be a necessary part of an obxoxious system. These great Reformers would gladly have adopted the same course pursued by the English Reformers in reforming the Church instead of founding a new one, if they had deemed the same' possible. It was not Episcopacy which drove them out ; they would gladly have carried it with them! Listen to one short extract from Melancthon in his apology for the Augsburg Conlession, keeping in mind too the recent action of your Church : "I would to God it lay in me to restore the govern- ment of Bishops. For I see what manner of Church we shall have, the Ecclesiastical polity being dissolved. / ,vee that hereafter there will grow up a greater tyranny in the Church than there ever was before." These good men left the old polity, but they did not rush into Congrega- tionalism ; it was bad enough that they had to ive up tlie government oi' the Bishop?, thoy would k 31 ever per- il. We upon the iered bj' by ours, 5ince the ! conver- ancthon, Iniversal ittacked, pie itself 3d to be . These :>ted the I'mers in 5 a new ble. It m out ; 1 them, thou in keeping 'ch: "1 govorn- iner of polity :re loill 'ih than left the iigrega- had to ' would have recoiled with terror from the government of a fickle or stiff-necked laity. Not until the days of Robert Brown and John Robertson — the times of that Puritanic zeal, which with all its excellencies revelled in all imaginable extremes in Religion, in literature, in government, in dress and speech, in everything, was Congregationalism first heard of in the Christian world. Prophetic words of Melancthon ! Under the new polity Germany has become the home of Rational- ism. Under the old England has preserved the primitive faith. Under the new. Disunion is the word that may be written o . er all Christendom — rival and warring creeds, however excellent in other respects, making " Peace," that dear legacy of our Lord to His Church, a mockery. Behold the spectacle your own Church presents to-day. Witness the antagonisms and the heart-burnings already developing themselves in the Denomination — the sacred form of unity and Peace, fainting and prostrate, while your valiant men are whetting their swords and girding on their armor to meet each other in the field. To be sure this proves Baptist Churches are "Independent," if you think that a virtue adequate to cover up the sickening spectacle of strife. How lamentably it appears to me, you fail to realize the Scripture fact that the Church on earth is made up of divers characters. You must know that Scripture is not less explicit in affirming, than experience in proving that every whore both the 7 32 good and the bad- -tlio wheat and the tares— are lound bearing the insignia of the Church and sheltered in its fold. Not only he who is gentle and peaceful m counsel has his name recorded in the books of the Church below, but also the turbulent ^-pirit-not only the unassuming, l,ut also the arbitrary and dictatorial ; the conceited and ambi- tious man as well as the high minded ; the good and well meaning, it may be, but misguided and prejudiced; not only the pure in heart, but also the bad and unregenerate. Of such mixed charac- ters, you know, is your independent r^overninff body too often if not always made up': Is the government of such likely to conduce to unity and peace? On every occasion of public worship, in every denominational gathering, in the denomina- tional press and in its social gatherings, the door u^ thrown wide open for disunion, angry debate, clamor, and the engendering of an intensely worldly instead of Heavenly spirit. How often l^ave seen all good feeling-all holy impression and solemn thought destroyed at a conference or prayer meeting, by the unseemly disputings of a few men eager to hear their own voices and assert their wn importance. But this is the " Independence " I hear talked of so much of late-the "blood bought inheritance," any departure from which Bapdsts are every where warned to carefully watch. _ Such are the evidences and facts, to mv mind Singularly pertinent and cumulative, which convince i 34 1 me that the Church principle of government known as the Episcopal is the right one— the only one authorized by Scripture— the only one known in the Primitive and Post Apostolic Church— the only one known in the Church of God in all ages till Luther, who saw not till it was too late, th ' with the novel and corrupt he was pulling down the primitive and good, laid his hand to the work of demolition. I look around me in these eventful days at the wild whirl and hustling of rival and ever changing creeds ; I see on the page of History how systems cf Faith have come and gone like the dissolving visions of a dream; how the proudest Empires, the customs of nations, and the great ideas which have successively animated the world, have flourished hut to fall ; how change and dissolution have laid their rude hands on all things, but that goodly government and simple faith our Lord gave His Church; so i know that in the future the same principle \^hich has come down to us through Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs and Con- fessors, shall live on, though all else perish, protected by the strong arm of Him who has said, " And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." I remain yours, JOHN Y. PAYZANT. Halifax, January, 1868. <*<