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 CHURCH POLITY: 
 
 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST, 
 
 INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL DEVELOPMENT. 
 BY J. L. -REYNOLDS, 
 
 Pastor of the Second Baptist Church, Richmond, Va. 
 
 'irsr (cs .? A s 'j L > ui' CH(5if?TiANi ^wtul. A-jo 
 ,', ., 
 
 RICHMOND, VA. 
 
 HARROLD & MURRAY, BROAD STREET. 
 1849. '
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1849, 
 
 by HARROLD & MURRAY, 
 
 ip the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United 
 States for the Eastern District of Virginia.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 CHURCH POLITY has become the absorbing topic of the 
 Christian world. In common with all thinking men, I 
 have devoted considerable time to its examination ; and 
 have made some progress in the preparation of a vol- 
 ume with the design of exhibiting the polity of the New 
 Testament, and tracing the gradual departures from it 
 in the churches which succeeded those planted by the 
 apostles. The completion of the work, on the plan pro- 
 posed, Avill require several years, even under circum- 
 stances the most favorable to the prosecution of my 
 labors. Perhaps I may not complete it at all. I have, 
 therefore, yielded the more readily to the suggestion 
 of my worthy friend, the editor of the Periodical Lib- 
 rary, to prepare a smaller work, which is now sub- 
 mitted to the public. May the great Shepherd and 
 Bishop of souls bless it to the instruction of the flock, 
 for which he labored and died. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 Mercer University, July, 1846. 
 
 PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. 
 
 THE favorable reception with which this little book has 
 met, has encouraged me to prepare a new and enlarged 
 edition, which is now offered to the public, with the 
 hope that it may contribute to the difftiSMn of correct 
 sentiments on the subject of which it treats. 
 
 J. L. REYNOLDS. 
 
 Richmond, August, 1848. 
 
 456678
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Statement of the subject, 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Sources of Proof, - 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 The Church of Christ, ------ 32 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Particular Churches, -...---- 49 
 
 ^ CHAPTER V. 
 
 A Church, a Single Local Society, - 51 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Members of a Church, ....... 56 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Rights of a Church, ..... 67 
 
 CHAPTER VIH. 
 Independence of the Churches, ..... 98 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Officers of a Church, *.-.-- 105
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Identity of Bishops and Elders, 119 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Rights and Duties of Bishops, .... 127 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 The Deaconship, 134 
 
 CHAPTER Xm. 
 Ordination, -----... 149 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 Baptism, - - ~ - ' - 146 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 The Lord's Supper, ---.... 203 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Ralation of Churches to each other. - '. ' i . 212 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Advantages of Scriptural Church Polity, ''%.". 218 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 4 
 
 Corruption of Scriptural Church Polity, ... 228
 
 THE KINGDOM OP CHEIST. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 STATEMENT OF THE SUBJECT. 
 
 WHEN Christ uttered, in the judgment hall of 
 Pilate, the remarkable words "I am a king,"* 
 he pronounced a sentiment fraught with unspeaka- 
 ble dignity and power. His enemies might deride 
 his pretensions and express their mockery of his 
 claim, by presenting him with a crown of thorns, a 
 reed and a purple robe, and nailing him to the 
 cross ; but in the eyes of unfallen intelligences, he 
 was a king. A higher power presided over thai 
 derisfve ceremony, and converted it into a real 
 coronation. That crown of thorns was indeed the 
 diadem of empire ; that purple robe was the bad ' 
 of royalty ; that fragile reed was the symbol o 
 unbounded power ; and that cross the throne of ' 
 dominion which shall never end. 
 
 * John 18 : 37.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 This pregnant truth contained the fulfilment of 
 the hopes which had cheered mankind through all 
 previous generations. When our first parents had 
 broken the covenant, graciously made with them by 
 their Creator, and were expelled from the garden of 
 Paradise, they bore with them the seeds of a glo- 
 rious promise, which, scattered by their posterity 
 among the nations of the earth, sprung up in the 
 form of a general expectation of a golden age ; * 
 and, entrusted to a particular race, inspired them 
 with the confident hope that a deliverer would after- 
 wards arise, who, assuming the position and respon- 
 sibilities of the second Adam, would arrest the 
 dominion of sin and death, and gather together the 
 covenant people into a kingdom of holiness and love. 
 
 The promise which was committed to our first 
 parents, when they traced, with lingering footsteps, 
 the path of their departure from paradise, was 
 entrusted, as a special mark of the divine favor, to 
 Abraham and his seed ; and, in its subsequent an- 
 nouncement and corroboration, still further limited 
 to Isaac, to Jacob, and finally to David, who was 
 chosen of God as the favored individual in whose 
 lineage should appear the Lion of the tribe of Ju- 
 dah. 
 
 This conception of the Messiah's kingdom was 
 still further developed and amplified by the prophets, 
 
 * Hengstenbcrg's Christology, 1, p. 14-19.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 3 
 
 a succession of inspired men, from Samuel to 
 Malachi, who sustained a most important relation to 
 the Jewish Theocracy. While to the priests were 
 committed the direction and support of the ritual 
 service, the external worship of Jehovah, it was the 
 main design of the prophets to cherish and diffuse a 
 theocratic spirit, by which the people might be re- 
 tained in loyalty to their invisible king. In this 
 elevated sphere were their functions discharged, and 
 to this end were their labors directed. They may 
 thus be considered the forerunners and prototypes of 
 the ministers of the Christian dispensation.* 
 
 In the discharge of their high functions, the 
 prophets announced the coming of the Messiah ; 
 predicted the time of his appearance ; and, grouping 
 together the most striking and imposing characteris- 
 tics of earthly sovereignties, presented a magnificent 
 picture of his spiritual kingdom, and of the happiness 
 which the nations would enjoy under his mild and 
 equitable reign. This happy period would be 
 signalized by the restoration of the long lost harmony 
 between Judah and Israel, and the entrance of the 
 
 * Der Prophetismus der Hebraer von A. Knobel. Th. I. 
 S. II. Baumgarten-Crusius" Biblische Theologic, { 6, 1. 
 " The primary notion of a prophet," says Stillingfleet, 
 " doth not lie in foretelling future events, but in declaring 
 and interpreting to the world the mind of God, which he 
 receives by immediate revelation from himself." Origines 
 Sacrae, B. II. chap. 5th. Stuart on the 0. T. p. 90, note.
 
 4 CUURCH POLITY. 
 
 Gentiles within the fold of the people of God. The 
 kingdom of the Messiah was not to be limited by 
 geographical divisions, nor restricted to a peculiar 
 nation. The whole world was to be invited to its 
 privileges, and all nations made to share in its 
 blessings.* The most opulent earthly kingdoms 
 had perished, and the most powerful dynasties been 
 destroyed ; even Judah and Israel, though blessed 
 with divine protection and guidance, had bowed 
 their necks to the oppressor, and gone into captivity ; 
 but the kingdom of the Messiah would never perish, 
 and of his government there would be no end. The 
 uttermost parts of the earth were to be its bounda- 
 ries, and eternity the measure of its duration.t 
 
 When the fulness of the time was come, Jesus of 
 Nazareth appeared, and appropriated these predic- 
 tions of the Messiah to himself. In striking harmony 
 with the theocratic representations of the prophets, 
 he denominated the dispensation which he introduced, 
 " the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven ; "{ 
 
 * Jer. 30: 4, 9; Eze. 37: 24; Hos. 1: 10; Isaiah 11: 
 10 ; and Dan. 7 : 14. 
 
 t Twesten's Dogmatik, I. S. 323. Knapp's Theol. 91. 
 For a full examination of the Messianic predictions of the 
 0. T. sec Hengstenberg's Christology. 
 
 J The word in the original, which is translated kingdom, 
 is equivalent to kingly authority ; and this expression, modi- 
 fied according to the context, may generally be substituted 
 for it. Dr. Dagg's interpretation of John 3 : 5, pp. 9, 23. 
 The expression, kingdom of heaven, is a periphrasis for the
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 and claimed the honor and allegiance due to a divine 
 messenger. Attesting his mission by infallible 
 signs, and declared to be the Son of God with pow- 
 er by his resurrection from the dead, he stood forth, 
 in virtue of his divinity and the appointment of the 
 Father, the head of that spiritual kingdom, of which 
 the Jewish theocracy was but a feeble type.* 
 
 The predictions of the prophets and the admoni- 
 
 Christian state or dispensation, and is evidently derived from 
 the mode of thought and speech common to the Jews. 
 " The God Jehovah was their proper king, supreme over 
 their state and nation. He governed them through the 
 instrumentality of human regents and deputed kings. 
 
 Their constitution was theocratic, to make use of a happy 
 term, first applied to the subject by Josephus. Hence, 
 the Israelitish state and nation are called the possession, 
 and the peculiar people of Jehovah : as Ex. 19 : 6 ; Psalms 
 114 : 2. In the same way the later Jews applied the phrase, 
 kingdom of God, or of heaven : vid. Schoettgen, de regno 
 coelorum, (Hor. Heb. T. I. extr.) ; and "Wetstein on Matt. 
 21 : 25." Knapp's Theology, 99. (1.) vid. Bland on Matt. 
 3 : 2. Campbell on the Gospels, Diss. 5, part 1. 
 
 The Lexicons have blundered sadly on this phrase. 
 Tholuck, after an elaborate criticism on Wahl, Bretschnei- 
 der, and others, gives the following as the true definition : 
 " Christ designates, by ' the kingdom of heaven,' the com- 
 munity of those, who, united through his Spirit under him 
 as the head, rejoice in the truth and enjoy a holy and bliss- 
 ful life ; all of which is effected through communion with 
 him." Biblical Repository, I, p. 567. Christian Review, 
 IV., p. 380. Even this is a partial view. 
 
 * John 4: 2526 ; 9: 35, 37; Matt. 26 : 63, 64; 16: 15 
 17; 27: 11. 
 
 1*
 
 6 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 tions of Jesus were sufficiently perspicuous to have 
 prevented the formation of erroneous opinions with 
 respect to the nature of this kingdom. Christ de- 
 clared explicitly that he claimed not to be an earthly 
 monarch ; refused to be made king ; * and proved, 
 by many incidents in his life, how little he thought 
 of interfering with the civil concerns of men.| In 
 immediate connection with the assertion of his roy- 
 alty, he declares that his kingdom is not of this 
 world.J And as if to relieve the minds of his 
 disciples of all doubt on the subject, he predicted 
 the destruction of Jerusalem, and the overthrow of 
 the Jewish political state. || 
 
 The history of our race has developed nothing 
 more clearly, than the tenacity with which the mind 
 clings to errors which are sanctioned by universal 
 belief, and hallowed by venerable associations. Not- 
 withstanding our Lord's unambiguous language, with 
 respect to the nature of his kingdom, his followers 
 continued, up to the period of his ascension, deeply 
 tinged with the Jewish notion of the Messiah ; and 
 few of them rose to the elevated conception of a 
 spiritual economy, which, obliterating all national 
 distinctions, and swaying its sceptre over the souls 
 of men, would dispense to Jew and Gentile alike, 
 
 * John 6 : 15. f Matt. 1? : 24 ; 22 : 21 ; Luke 12 : 13. 
 J John 18 : 36. || Luke 19 : 43. } Acts 1 : 6.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 7 
 
 its healing and saving influence. Long after the 
 disciples had attained and promulgated correct 
 views on this subject, the old Judaizing leaven con- 
 tinued to work. A large number of the early pro- 
 fessors of Christianity, including several distinguished 
 fathers, were persuaded into an expectation of the 
 temporal reign of Christ ; * and Chilaism, although 
 repeatedly convicted of folly and delusion, has 
 subsequently appeared, at intervals, in the history 
 of the Church, and numbered multitudes among the 
 victims of its gross hallucinations. Its latest mo- 
 dern development, Millerism, has just spent its 
 force in our own country. 
 
 As the reign of Christ has primary reference to 
 the human race, the Messiah appeared in human 
 form. By his mysterious incarnation, he formed 
 the connecting link between the subjects of his 
 kingdom and himself, allying his divine nature to 
 theirs, and making them partakers of his own. 
 Every real member of Christ's kingdom bears the 
 likeness of its great king. As " the habitation of 
 God through the spirit," the divine and the human 
 are united in him. It is also a necessary inference, 
 from the principle which was stated at the begin- 
 ning of this paragraph, that the instrumentality by 
 which the kingdom of Christ is promoted among 
 
 * Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte von Dr. F. H. Meier, 
 32.
 
 8 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 men must be material ag well as spiritual, human as 
 well as divine. These divine and spiritual elements 
 in its organization, are not cognizable by the senses, 
 and must, of course, be invisible. It is only in 
 reference to its human or material elements that it 
 becomes visible. Its local and temporal develop- 
 ments are visible, but its efficient agencies and 
 ultimate ends are spiritual. Wherever the phrases 
 which designate the Messiah's reign, occur in the 
 Scriptures, they refer to it under the one or the other 
 of these aspects. The idea of a visible kingdom of 
 Christ, as embodied in the visible church, is foreign 
 to the letter and spirit of the New Testament.* 
 
 The late Dr. Mason, in a workf which is distin- 
 guished for the confidence with which he asserts his 
 sentiments, rather than the conclusiveness of his 
 reasoning, or the correctness of his principles of 
 interpretation, maintains that by the kingdom of 
 heaven is designed the "external visible church." 
 " This," he contends, " can be but one, or else it 
 would not be a kingdom, and the kingdom, but sev- 
 eral. And this one must be visible, because its 
 ordinances are administered by visible agency." To 
 
 Robinson in his Lexicon, p. 130, has assigned this 
 meaning to the phrase, but the texts he cites fail to estab- 
 lish it. e. g. Matt. 6 : 10, manifestly relates to the spiritual 
 reign of Christ. Schleusner does the same. Pasor is more 
 correct. 
 
 t Essays on the Church New York, 1843, p. 18.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 9 
 
 prove his position, the excellent author relies upon 
 several passages of Scripture, particularly those 
 parables in which an analogy is suggested between 
 the kingdom of God and the usages of common life.* 
 His argument is founded upon an erroneous view of 
 the nature and design of a parable, and especially 
 of those which he cites in support of his position. 
 "The parables of the Saviour," as Neander has 
 remarked, " we may define as representations, by 
 which the truths, relating to the kingdom of God, 
 are exhibited in a vivid manner to the eye of the 
 mind, by means of special relations and analogies 
 of common life, whether derived from nature or the 
 world of mankind."! It was no part of his design, 
 in any of them, to present an exact representation 
 of the kingdom of heaven, considered as a unit, but 
 simply to illustrate some particular truth connected 
 with the Christian dispensation. To attempt to 
 press the analogy beyond its legitimate limits, and 
 find a specific correspondence between each point in 
 the narrative or fact and the Messiah's kingdom, is 
 contrary to the most approved principles of in- 
 terpretation. For illustration, it is simply neces- 
 sary to refer to two parables, which occur in 
 immediate connection with those which Dr. M. 
 
 *Matt. 13: 24, 30, 47, 50; 16 : 19; 25: 1 ; 28: 19,20; 
 John 20 : 21, 23. 
 t Christian Review, vol. 8, p. 202.
 
 10 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 has cited. The parables of the mustard seed 
 and of the leaven are intended to represent the dif- 
 fusiveness of genuine piety, under two different but 
 related aspects. There is but one idea in both of 
 them, though clothed in different drapery, and relat- 
 ing to different forms of development. The former 
 indicates the diffusion of piety, or the extension of the 
 reign of heaven among masses of mankind ; the latter 
 refers to the development of the same principle in an 
 individual. There is, therefore, an analogy between 
 the mustard seed and the leaven, on the one hand, 
 and vital religion on the other. 
 
 If we proceed to examine the parable of the sow- 
 er, upon which the author relies with so much con- 
 fidence, we shall see that it is susceptible of a simi- 
 lar interpretation. It teaches the important truth, 
 that in the progress of the Gospel its pure and legi- 
 timate effects would sometimes be mingled with for- 
 eign admixtures ; that in those organizations which 
 would be established for the propagation of the 
 truth, spurious professors would obtrude themselves 
 among the genuine subjects of his kingdom. Hu- 
 man sagacity could not prevent this conjunction, 
 but a separation would be effected at the end of the 
 world. The parable of the net, to which Dr. M. 
 also refers, teaches the same truth. 
 
 Fortunately we are not left to conjecture here. 
 Christ has given his own interpretation of the para-
 
 CHUKCH POLITY. 11 
 
 ble of the sower. He tells us " the field is the 
 world," not the church ; and " the children of the 
 kingdom" are distinguished from "the children of 
 the wicked one." If it be urged that these latter 
 are represented in a subsequent verse, as forming a 
 part of his kingdom, since it is said that the angels 
 shall " gather out of his kingdom all things that 
 offend," it is sufficient to reply that the royal au- 
 thority of Christ extends over his foes as well as 
 his friends. The former may appear in visible 
 connection with his genuine disciples, but have 
 never been recognized by him. Even if this para- 
 ble were ambiguous, the many passages of Scripture, 
 in which moral and spiritual qualifications are men- 
 tioned as indispensable to admittance into the king- 
 dom of the Redeemer, would be sufficient to deter- 
 mine who are his real subjects.* 
 
 Great stress is laid, by Dr. M.,f upon the pre- 
 dictions in the Old Testament, in which the kingdom 
 of the Messiah is described. In his judgment 
 they manifestly refer to an external visible commu- 
 nity. This view, however, betrays a very imperfect 
 apprehension of the nature of those prophecies, and 
 of just principles of interpretation. He sustains 
 his position only by attaching a literal sense to 
 figurative representations. The passages which he 
 
 Mark 10: 15; John 3: 3; Col. 1: 13; Eph. 5:6; Matt. 
 3 : 2 ; 5 : 3, &c. 
 t Pages 810.
 
 12 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 has quoted are taken from the second part of the 
 book of Isaiah,* one of the most splendid portions 
 of the prophetic writings, in which the prophet, 
 ravished with the glorious vision of the new theo- 
 cracy, which the Spirit reveals to his mental gaze, 
 portrays it in glowing language, and in imagery 
 derived from the earthly theocracy, or the kingdoms 
 of the earth. A literal interpretation is, here, out 
 of the question. The kingdom which he depicts 
 can be realized only in the spiritual theocracy of the 
 Redeemer. With reference to chap. 60, upon ex- 
 pressions in which Dr. M. relies with great confi- 
 dence, it may be said, without any assumption of 
 superior perspicacity, in the language of a distin- 
 guished critic : "It can scarcely be necessary to 
 remark, that the whole representation is figurative 
 throughout, "f But Dr. M. thinks that ' ' that light, 
 which was to shine upon the Gentiles, and the 
 'brightness' of that ' rising,' which was to attract 
 the 'kings,' must of necessity be external." p. 10. 
 But can any one, after even a cursory glance at this 
 chapter, 60, believe that this light is a material, 
 visible light ; that the darkness which covers the 
 people is its opposite in nature ; and that kings 
 will actually behold this light ? It is clear that the 
 terms are used figuratively darkness being th 
 
 Isaiah 40-66. 
 
 t Hengstenberg's Christology, vol. I, p. 438.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 13 
 
 symbol of sin and misery light, of righteousness 
 and happiness.* The chapter has no reference to a 
 " visible church catholic," but simply describes the 
 extent of the Messiah's reign, and the blessings by 
 which it would be attended. 
 
 This kingdom belongs to Christ as Mediator. It 
 differs from his natural kingdom, not in the extent 
 of its sway, but in the authority from which it is 
 derived, and the object for which its government is 
 administered. As God, he possesses an indefeasible 
 right to rule the universe ; but as Mediator, he 
 exercises his rule in accordance with the provisions 
 of the covenant of grace, and administers the affairs 
 of his kingdom with special reference to his chosen 
 people. f This kingdom has been committed to 
 him by the Father as the reward of his obedience 
 unto death. As that obedience is possessed of a 
 retrospective efficacy, and delivers from guilt and 
 condemnation the faithful who died before the advent 
 of the Redeemer ; so his royal authority, which was 
 first publicly committed to him at his resurrection 
 from the dead, was exercised in the administration 
 
 * Rosenmtlller thinks the figurative use of these expres- 
 sions is so evident as scarcely to need notice. Per lucem 
 Hierosolymae oriturura felicem ejus statum significari, uti 
 supra 45 : 75, 8 : 8, 10, vix monitu opus. Vid. Scholia in V. 
 T. II. p. 747. 
 
 t Dick's Theol. Lee. LXIV. Col. 1 : 15, 19 ; Heb. 1 : 3, 
 14. 
 
 2
 
 14 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 of his kingdom in every age. His incarnation was 
 only the removal of his audience chamber to earth ; 
 the visible manifestation of the divine sovereign ; 
 and his ascension to heaven was his public corona- 
 tion in the sight of the universe. 
 
 The benefits of Christ's kingdom are restricted to 
 its real, accredited subjects. But for the purpose 
 of administering its government and promoting its 
 interests, he has been invested with all power in 
 heaven and in earth.* He sways his sceptre over 
 the armies of heaven, the inhabitants of the earth, 
 and the spirits of hell. All the agents of the universe 
 are held in his hand, and execute his will. All will 
 be made contributors to the promotion of his king- 
 dom, and will grace his final triumph. 
 
 The reign of the Redeemer is to be perpetual. 
 Such is the description given of it in ancient proph- 
 ecy and confirmed by Christ and his apostles. f The 
 only apparent exception to the general tenor of the 
 Scriptures, is found in 1 Cor. 15 : 24, 28. But even 
 this passage, upon a more careful examination, will 
 be found to comport with the representations which 
 are elsewhere found of the perpetual duration of the 
 Messiah's kingdom. The import of this passage 
 seems to be, that God has committed to Christ the 
 
 Matt. 28: 18; Eph. 1: 22; John 13: 3; Phil. 2:9, 
 11 ; 1 Peter 3: 22; 1 Cor. 15: 24, 26. 
 f Psalm 45: 6; Heb. 1 : 8; Psalm 72: 6.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 15 
 
 government of his mediatorial kingdom and invested 
 him with full power to carry it on to perfection, by 
 " placing all things under his feet." His enemies 
 oppose his progress in vain ; for he must finally tri- 
 umph, and put down all opposing " rule, and all 
 authority and power." When this glorious period 
 arrives, he will present the kingdom to his Father, 
 in all the amplitude and splendor of a redeemed and 
 purified possession. His mediatorial work, so far as 
 it regards this world, will be accomplished. He will 
 then see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied. 
 But lest it should be supposed that he will then 
 abdicate his throne, and resign the authority delegat- 
 ed to him by the Father, the apostle adds " And 
 when all things shall be subdued unto him, then 
 shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that 
 put all things under him, that God may be all in 
 all." He will still act as the representative of the 
 Father, and administer the government of his king- 
 dom in subservience to the interests and happiness 
 of his redeemed and glorified people.* 
 
 * It has been supposed that the phraseology of the 25th 
 verse implies the termination of the reign of Christ. " He 
 must reign till, &c." But the word does not necessarily 
 limit the reign of Christ to the event specified, viz : the 
 subjection of his foes. It is said in Romans 5 : 13 " Until 
 the law, sin was in the world." But this does not imply 
 that sin did not exist after the giving of the law. See also 
 parallel expressions in Genesis 28 : 15 ; 1 Samuel 15 : 35 ;
 
 16 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 The reign of Christ is a subject of unspeakable 
 dignity and interest. With it are connected the 
 noblest prospects and dearest hopes of mankind. 
 Sages have dreamed of ideal republics ; poets have 
 painted the glories of a golden age ; and the human 
 race, groaning under the curse of sin, and burdened 
 with the accumulated sorrows of earth, have earnest- 
 ly longed for a period of respite from grief, and a 
 state of pure and permanent felicity. Under the 
 dominion of the Redeemer, these hopes are fulfilled, 
 these expectations are realized. With the conde- 
 scension that marks the character of the king, and 
 the unexampled benignity which induced him, at 
 the cost of his own sufferings and death, to rear this 
 kingdom, as an asylum for guilt and a refuge for 
 sorrow, he invites the nations to its rights and 
 immunities. The right of citizenship is proffered, 
 without distinction of clime or country, sex or station. 
 In the distribution of its favors, no regard is had to 
 Jew or Greek, Barbarian or Scythian, bond or free. 
 The possessors of uncertain riches are blessed with 
 spiritual wealth ; and the poor are made rich in 
 faith, and heirs of the kingdom of heaven. All its 
 subjects are the sons of God, the redeemed of 
 Christ. Imbued with the graces of heaven, furn- 
 
 Isaiah 22: 14; Psalms 112: 8; 1 Timothy 4: 13. The 
 passage is similarly interpreted. Biblical Repos. 3, p. 749- 
 755, and Am. Biblical Repos. 2, p. 443.
 
 CmjECH POLITY. 17 
 
 isbed with every thing necessary to their comfort 
 and happiness, and favored with occasional glimpses 
 of the glory in reversion, they possess, even on 
 earth, a joy which is unspeakable, and a peace which 
 passeth all understanding. And when the reign of 
 Christ is fully consummated, and all his followers 
 have entered the heavenly world, they will accede 
 to an. inheritance which is as infinite in value, as it 
 is interminable in duration. It is a matter of vast 
 importance, of imperative necessity, to every man 
 that he be a member of this kingdom of Christ. 
 Admittance is granted and the conditions clearly de- 
 fined. The king himself has inscribed over its por- 
 tal the solemn words, " Except a man be born 
 again he cannot see the kingdom of God." 
 
 2*
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 SOURCES OP PROOF. 
 
 As the kingdom of Christ is a subject of pure 
 revelation, it may justly be expected that every 
 thing pertaining to its nature, and to the external 
 organizations by which its principles are to be dif- 
 fused among men, will be found in the inspired 
 volume, in which that revelation is deposited. But 
 in opposition to this obvious and rational inference, 
 it is asserted by many that the Scriptures contain no 
 specific directions with respect to the outward de- 
 velopment of Christ's kingdom no form of Church 
 government.* If this assumption were correct, if 
 neither Christ nor his apostles had left anything de- 
 terminate, with respect to the earthly relations of 
 his church, but committed its organization and man- 
 agement entirely to fallible men, we should feel 
 bound humbly to submit to his will, and acquiescing 
 in the wisdom of the arrangement, should do what- 
 ever human sagacity and prudence might suggest, 
 to discharge the delicate and momentous trust com- 
 
 * Hooker Eccl. Pol. B. 3 $ 2. $ 11. So also Tomline, Pa- 
 ley and other Episcopal divines. Burton's Hist. Church, 
 p. 60. Neander, iu Coleman's Prim. Ch. Introduc. p. 18.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 19 
 
 mitted to us. But happily for us and for the inter- 
 ests of his kingdom, he has not imposed upon us 
 this fearful responsibility. The Scriptures are a suffi- 
 cient rule of faith and practice. The principles of 
 ecclesiastical polity are prescribed in them with all 
 necessary comprehensiveness and clearness. The 
 founder of the Church has provided better for its 
 interests, than to commit its affairs to the control of 
 fallible men. " Whatever ways of constituting the 
 church may to us seem fit, proper, and reasonable, 
 the question is, not what constitution of Christ's 
 church seems convenient to human wisdom, but what 
 constitution is actually established by Christ's infi- 
 nite wisdom." * 
 
 It would have been happy for the world if men 
 had been satisfied with the simple form of eccle- 
 siastical polity contained in the New Testament. 
 Rejecting this, or proceeding upon the assumption 
 that the New Testament contains none, they have 
 attempted to trace analogies between Christ's church 
 and the defunct forms of Judaism, or engrafted 
 upon it rites and ceremonies borrowed from Heathen- 
 
 *Edwards's "Works, 4, p. 377. 
 
 This point is very ably discussed by Dr. Smyth, in his 
 learned work on Presbyter)', ch. II., and on Prelacy, Lee. 
 II., Note C. Lee. III., Vid. Dr. Wood's Lectures on 
 Church Government, pp. 9-12. Haldane's View of Social 
 "Worship, &c. ch. 2. Milton's Reason of Church Govern- 
 ment, ch. I., II.
 
 20 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 ism. From the close of the second century down 
 to the present time, a considerable party have de- 
 rived their notions of ecclesiastical polity from the 
 Jewish temple and priesthood.* And even a late 
 writer has supposed that its rudiments may be dis- 
 covered in the Jewish sacerdotal institute.! A more 
 gross misconception of the genius of Christianity 
 than is implied in this Judaizing system, can scarcely 
 be imagined. No two persons can be more unlike 
 than a Jewish priest and a Christian minister ; and 
 to argue from the prerogatives and duties of the one 
 to those of the other is a gross paralogism. 
 
 To model the church of Christ after the Jewish 
 temple is to abjure our liberty in the Gospel, and to 
 relapse into the weak and beggarly elements of 
 Levitical bondage. " To argue from a Levitical 
 priesthood to a Christian ministry, and to prove the 
 validity of the latter institution by an appeal to the 
 former, and specially to compare the official duties 
 of the two respective classes, with an assumption 
 that they are parallel, is out of all question." J 
 
 *Punchard's Hist, of Congregationalism, p. 22. Camp- 
 bell's Lee. on Eccl. Hist. Lee. X. part I. Gieseler's Church 
 Hist, I. 65. Mosheim, I. p. 144. Neander, p. 111. Kir- 
 chenverfassung von K. D. Hullmann, S. 35. 
 
 t Spiritual Despotism, by Isaac Taylor, Sec. 3. 
 
 { Stuart on the Old Testament, pp. 88, 388-392. Ed- 
 wards's Works, IV. pp. 390, 594. Wood's Lectures on 
 Church Government, p. 13. Lord Bacon advised the re- 
 moval of the offensive term priest from the English Liturgy.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 21 
 
 The unscriptural notion of a human priesthood in 
 the church of Christ, is fraught with pestilent error, 
 and has led to the most enormous abuses. It has 
 substituted a new class of mediators between God 
 and man, to the exclusion and dishonor of the one 
 Mediator, the man Christ Jesus ; for, as Dr. Arnold 
 has observed, " the essential point in the notion of 
 a priest is this : that he is a person made necessary 
 to our intercourse with God, without being necessary 
 or beneficial to us morally. His interference makes 
 the worshipper neither a wiser man, nor holier than 
 he would have been without it ; and yet it is held 
 to be indispensable. This unreasonable, unmoral, 
 unspiritual necessity, is the essence of the idea 
 of priesthood." Viewed in its relations to the car- 
 dinal truths of Christianity, no error can be more 
 utterly subversive of the Gospel. We are not, 
 therefore, surprised at the earnestness with which he 
 combats it, and the indignation with which he de- 
 nounces it, as " the worst and earliest form of Anti- 
 Christ."* It was this human priesthood "be- 
 decked in deformed and fantastic dresses, in palls 
 and mitres, gold and gewgaws, fetched from Aaron's 
 
 Pacification of the Church, Works I. p. 356. This argu- 
 ment is, in the hands of Prelacy, self-destructive ; for the 
 Jewish hierarchy was not prelatical. Smyth's Presby- 
 tery, ch. XIII. Taylor's Spiritual Despotism, Sec. 3. 
 
 * Arnold on the Church. Miscellaneous "Works, pp. 
 16, 18.
 
 22 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 old wardrobe, or the flamen's vestry," * that for 
 ages presented Christianity to the world, under the 
 motley image of resuscitated Judaism amalgamat- 
 ing with Paganism. Hearing its colossal throne 
 upon the earth, and stretching its powerful sceptre 
 over the flames of purgatory and the prisons of hell, 
 it robbed life of its last joy, and death of its only 
 hope. 
 
 The evils of attempting to graft Christianity upon 
 Judaism, and effect an unnatural amalgamation be- 
 tween carnal ordinances and a spiritual religion, 
 appear, although in a mitigated form, in some of 
 the practices which have crept into use since the 
 age of the apostles. Infant baptism is, in its essen- 
 tial idea, alien to the spirit of Christianity. Wheth- 
 er it be considered the condition, or the privilege of 
 church membership (according to the discrepant 
 views of its supporters) , it involves the glaring ab- 
 surdity of making carnal descent the condition of 
 admittance to spiritual blessings. How futile the 
 effort to effect a coalescence between a right con- 
 ferred by hereditary transmission and the privileges 
 of a kingdom, in which citizenship is determined by 
 entirely different qualifications, the subjects of which 
 are " born, not of blood, nor of the will of the 
 flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." " How 
 
 * Milton of Reformation in England. Prose Works, p. 1.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 23 
 
 unwary are many excellent men," says Prof. Stu- 
 art,* "in contending for infant baptism, on the 
 ground of the Jewish analogy of circumcision ? Are 
 females not proper subjects of baptism ? And 
 a^ain, are a man's slaves to be all baptized because 
 he is ? Are they church-members of course, when 
 they are so baptized ? Is there no difference be- 
 tween engrafting into a politico-ecclesiastical com- 
 munity, and into one of which it is said that " it is 
 not of this world?" 
 
 Where this practice is combined with the priestly 
 dogma of baptismal regeneration, it conduces equally 
 to sacerdotal power and spiritual delusion. Among 
 the great majority of Protestants, its tendency is, to 
 a great extent, neutralized by the assertion of the 
 necessity of the new birth. This salutary truth ex- 
 tracts the poison from the opposite error. Infant 
 baptism possesses no natural affinity for the evan- 
 gelical scheme. Appended to it, it is a mere hete- 
 roweneous addition, which refuses and defies vital in- 
 corporation ; and its only effect is to mar the heav- 
 enly beauty of Christianity by an unnatural and 
 earthly incumbrance. Carnal rites combined with 
 a spiritual religion are as unseemly as would be 
 wings of wax upon the angel Gabriel. 
 
 Another class of writers find the original pat- 
 tern of the Christian church in the polity of the 
 
 * Old Testament, p. 395.
 
 24 CHURCH POLIT5T. 
 
 synagogue,* and affirm that the Apostles did not 
 introduce new organizations, but converted these 
 Jewish assemblies into Christian churches. A fatal 
 objection to this theory is, that we have not the 
 slightest intimation of it in the New Testament. If 
 it had been the design of the Apostles to present 
 the synagogue as the model of Christian churches, 
 it is incredible that they would have omitted to say 
 so. It may further be urged that the synagogue 
 was not a divine institution ,t and could not therefore 
 be adopted as the exemplar of Christian churches, 
 without express divine authority. This authority 
 Christ has not given ; the apostles nowhere assert it. 
 We objected to the notion which transfers the Le- 
 vitical priesthood to the Christian church, that it is 
 a virtual repeal of the Gospel ; we object to this 
 scheme, that it exalts a human institution into an 
 
 Vid. Vitring a de Synag. et Selden de Synag. Nean- 
 der's Planting of the Chr. Ch. chap. 2. Gieseler 1. 25. 
 Whately's Kingdom of Christ, pp. 78-80. Coleman's Prim. 
 Ch. chap. 2. Smyth's Presb. B. 1. ch. 13. 
 
 f The divine institution of the synagogue is pleaded by 
 Dr. Smyth and others, from the expression in Psalm 74 : 8. 
 " God's synagogues." But at the time this Psalm was 
 composed, synagogues were not in existence . The Hebrew 
 is more properly rendered, "the places of assembly," al- 
 luding to Ramah, Bethel, &c., the seats of the prophets 
 (Gesen. Heb. Lex. p. 554) ; or the plural may be used, as 
 Stuart thinks (0. T. p. 72), for the singular, and the allu- 
 sion be to the temple.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 25 
 
 institution of Christ. Neither of them derives any 
 warrant from the word of God. 
 
 We look in vain for the model of a church among 
 the Jews. It was foreign to their modes of concep- 
 tion ; nor is there a word in their language by which 
 the idea can be expressed. They had words, or 
 phrases, designating an assembly for religious pur- 
 poses, and the place or house where such an assem- 
 bly was convened, but none which embodied the 
 conception of a church as distinguished from a con- 
 gregation, of an organized body composed of pro- 
 fessedly pious persons, professing spiritual qualifica- 
 tions, and combined for the promotion of purely 
 spiritual purposes. * The idea of a church is 
 peculiar to Christianity. " This system presents 
 the only true form of a church. The Jews had no 
 distinct organization which could, with propriety, be 
 denominated a church. Much less is any associa- 
 tion under other forms of religion, entitled to this 
 appellation." f 
 
 It is well known to all who have examined the 
 subject of ecclesiastical polity, that the testimony of 
 the Fathers has been appealed to as competent 
 authority. But if the Bible be our directory, in 
 
 Josephs, a learned Jew, in his English and Hebrew 
 Lexicon, London, 1834, under the word church, gives phrases 
 which indicate only the house used for religious purposes. 
 
 t Coleman's Christian Antiquities, ch. 1, { 3.
 
 26 CHDKCH POLITY. 
 
 faith and practice, why need we apply to other 
 sources for information ? Should it be found, upon 
 examination, that the testimony of the Fathers con- 
 flicts with the practice of the Apostles, it must be 
 rejected. The form of church government, taught 
 in the Scriptures, must be ascertained, before we 
 can determine how far this testimony is entitled to 
 credit. Upon Protestant and Scriptural principles, 
 no other course is admissible. 
 
 The advocates of tradition proceed upon the as^ 
 sumption that the Scriptures do not contain a reve- 
 lation of all that is necessary for "doctrine, for 
 reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteous- 
 ness ; that the man of God may be perfect, thor- 
 oughly furnished unto all good works;" and in 
 support of it they refer to doctrines and practices 
 which have been very generally received, but are 
 not taught or enjoined in the word of God. Thus, 
 Klee, a Roman Catholic, says that " many things in 
 the ethical and liturgical practice of the church are 
 retained which rest only on traditional grounds, as 
 the lawfulness and necessity of infant baptism, the 
 validity of heretical baptism, &c." * When we 
 consider how far the Puseyites have advanced in 
 their approach to Rome, we are not surprised to find 
 
 *Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte, I. S. 114. Compare 
 Hooker's Eccl. Pol. B. I. ch. 14. Townsend's N. T. P. 10. 
 Note 9.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 27 
 
 one of them denouncing, as " a shallow and irre- 
 ligious assumption," the cardinal principle of Pro- 
 testantism, " that whatever God designs his creatures 
 to believe or perform, he has plainly taught and de- 
 clared." * A more learned and candid advocate of 
 Episcopacy has said : " The claim of Episcopacy to 
 be of divine institution, and therefore obligatory on 
 the church, rests fundamentally on the one ques- 
 tion Has it the authority of Scripture ? If it has 
 not, it is not necessarily binding." f 
 
 The majestic simplicity of the New Testament, its 
 revelation of pure and lofty truths, and its entire 
 freedom from folly and fanaticism, stamp it with the 
 impress of divinity, and attract the admiration of 
 minds not yet prepared to acknowledge its heavenly 
 origin. But, in passing from its pages to those of 
 
 * Marshall's Notes on the Episc. Pol. New York, 1844, 
 p. 16. Of the accuracy with which this writer states facts, 
 the reader may judge by the following statements: "The 
 latest improvement upon the Baptist heresy is Mormon- 
 ism." p. 345. " The great body of Methodists, following 
 Dr. A. Clarke, have departed from the true doctrine of the 
 Trinity." p. 346. These statements are made upon the 
 highest " American authority." "We may smile at the easy 
 credulity of this " curate of Swallowcliffe ; " but what shall 
 we say of the Rt. Rev. Editor, Jonathan M. Wainwright, 
 D.D., who endorses these and similar " old wives' fables ? " 
 
 fDr. Onderdonk's Episcopacy, tested by Scripture, p 1. 
 Barnes' Reply, p. 99. See also Carson's refutation of 
 Whately's illogical assumption with respect to the burden 
 of proof, in his work on Baptism, ch. 1.
 
 28 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 the early Christian fathers, we are conscious of an 
 immense descent. The transition from Paul and 
 John to Barnabas and Hermas, is felt as a departure 
 from the teachings of inspired Apostles to the puerile 
 conceits of a Judaizer and the drivelling of a dotard. 
 It would be vain, if it were necessary, to attempt to 
 supply the deficiences of the former by the latter. 
 The hand of Providence has fixed a " great gulf" 
 between the inspired and the uninspired Christian 
 writings, and thus placed its condemnation upon 
 those who are so " exceedingly zealous of the tradi- 
 tions " of the Fathers. 
 
 If the Scriptures were deficient or obscure, and 
 the inquirer after truth were, therefore, driven to 
 the Fathers, even that refuge would fail him. Their 
 testimony is suspicious, partial, and contradictory ; 
 their works are corrupted and interpolated ; and 
 they themselves refer him back to the Scriptures as 
 the only authoritative guide.* 
 
 To sustain the authority of the Fathers, and give 
 plausibility to the scheme which rests the polity of 
 
 * Goode's Divine Rule, chaps. 5-7. Daille on the right 
 use of the Fathers. Smyth's Pres. and Prel. pp. 314-328. 
 Apostol. Succ. p. 79. Knapp's Theology, 7. Dwight, 4, 
 pp. 239-242. Neander's Church History, p. 407. Baum- 
 garten Crusius, Compendium der Dogmengeschichte, Leip- 
 zig, 1840, $ 20. Milton's Animadv. on Rem. Def. Sec. 4. 
 Jortin says of Antiquity (or the Fathers), " she is like Bri- 
 arius, and has a hundred hands, and these hands often clash 
 and beat one another." Eccl. Hist. 2. p. 57.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 29 
 
 the churches upon their testimony, it is sometimes 
 affirmed that we are indebted to them for our knowl- 
 edge and reception of the books which compose the 
 sacred canon ; and the inference thence derived, that 
 if their testimony is valid in the one case, it is equally 
 so in the other. But this is to confound things 
 which are manifestly different. In settling the pre- 
 liminary question, as to what books are canonical, 
 we may refer to the testimony of the Fathers ; but 
 in order to ascertain what those books contain, we 
 must consult the books themselves. The testimony 
 of these early witnesses is to be calmly weighed, 
 carefully scrutinized, and subjected to the rules 
 which regulate our estimate of historical evidence. 
 They are simply the media of proof, the means by 
 which we arrive at a knowledge of the facts by 
 which the question is to be decided. " The church 
 of Jesus Christ, in the present day, does not believe 
 in the divine authority of those books which it ad- 
 mits to be canonical, because the ancient church re- 
 garded them in the same light ; but because there is 
 satisfactory evidence that they were composed by 
 men who wrote as they were moved by the Holy 
 Ghost."* 
 
 * Arguments of Romanists Discussed and Refuted by 
 Rev. Dr. Thorawell, p. 213. The testimony of the Fathers 
 is the medium per quod, not the medium propter quod. 
 Twesten's Vorlesungen, I. S. 433. Pictet Theol. Lib. 1. 
 cap. IX. 4. Chillingworth, ch. 2. Answer, $ 25. 
 3*
 
 30 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 The advocates of prelacy have not failed to 
 charge upon other pedobaptists the inconsistency 
 of admitting infant baptism upon the testimony of 
 the Fathers, and rejecting the claims of episcopacy 
 and the apostolical succession, although sustained 
 upon the same foundation. From this dilemma 
 Dr. Woods would extricate himself, by denying 
 that it presents a fair statement of the case. " The 
 chief historical argument in favor of infant Baptism 
 does not," in his view, " arise from the fact, that 
 the practice did at length generally prevail in the 
 early ages ; but from the testimony of the Fathers, 
 that it was received from the apostles."* But the 
 historical argument here is extremely defective. 
 Origen is the first of the Fathers who uses such 
 language,! and he lived A. D. 185 254. His 
 assertion, at so distant a remove from the time of 
 the apostles, possesses little weight ; especially as he 
 ascribes to them, in the same connection, the doc- 
 trine that baptism cleanses from original sin. 
 
 I find no authority for this custom, either in the 
 Scriptures, or the earliest Christian documents. If 
 the baptism of infants be an ordinance of Christ, it 
 must be plainly taught, by precept or example, in 
 
 * Lectures on Church Government, p. 61. 
 
 f Ecclesia ab apostolis traditionem accepit etiam parvulis 
 baptismum dare. Sciebant illi . . . quod essent in omnibus 
 genuinse sordes peccati, quae per aquam et spiritum ablu' 
 deberent. Orig. In ep. ad Rom. Opp. T. IV. p. 565.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 31 
 
 the New Testament. If it be not so taught, to at- 
 tempt to sustain it by an appeal to historical evi- 
 dence, is to abandon the fundamental principle of 
 Protestantism. 
 
 The period seems to be rapidly approaching when 
 the Christian world must choose between the Scrip- 
 tures and the traditions of men. If ever the man 
 of sin is successfully assailed in his strong hold, it 
 must be by the sword of the Spirit. The Bible is 
 our only reliable armory. Equipped and supplied 
 from this source, the man of God need not fear an 
 encounter with the hosts of darkness. But if, re- 
 jecting the panoply which divine munificence has 
 supplied, he resorts to earthly means of defence, he 
 will fall in the struggle, oppressed with the mortify- 
 ing consciousness that his unhallowed weapons have 
 only precipitated his defeat. Like Milton's angels, 
 he will be bruised and crushed beneath the weight 
 of his own armor : 
 
 " Their armor helped their harm, crushed in and bruised 
 Into their substance pent, which wrought them pain 
 Implacable, and many a dolorous groan." 
 
 Paradise Lost, VI., 658.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. 
 
 THE word Church (in the original Greek of the 
 New Testament, ekklesia;, means a congregation, 
 or assembly ; and the character of the assembly, to 
 which it is applied, is to be ascertained by the use 
 of the term in each particular instance. In its 
 sacred use, it is confined to two meanings, referring 
 either to a particular local society of Christians, or 
 to the whole body of God's redeemed people.* Of 
 the latter meaning of the word, the following are 
 instances : 
 
 Christ loved the Church, and gave himself for it, 
 Eph. 5 : 25. Gave him to be the head over all 
 things to the Church, which is his body. Eph. 
 1 : 22, 23. The general assembly and Church of 
 
 * Campbell's Lectures on Eccl. History, Lee. 6, p. 100, 
 105, 106. King's Prim. Church, chap. 1. [It is sometimes 
 asserted that Lord King subsequently renounced the views 
 maintained in this book, Vid. Rose's note to Neander's 
 Church History, Pref. p. 4. But the evidence is not satis- 
 factory. Vid. Punchard on Congregationalism, p. 147.] 
 Haldane's View of Social Worship, &c., ch. 5, 1. Dagg's 
 Essay on Communion, chap. 3, 1. Dr. Johnson's Gosp. 
 Developed, ch. 2. Barrow, Wks. (Am. Ed.) III. 312.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 33 
 
 the first born, which are written in Heaven. Heb. 
 12 : 23. 
 
 It is this community of believers, the household 
 of God, the whole family in heaven and earth, that 
 constitutes the Holy Catholic Church, the kingdom 
 of Christ in its internal development. It is one, 
 and indivisible. Its members are known, certainly, 
 only to Omniscience. Ordained unto eternal life 
 before the foundation of the world, and in due time 
 called, justified, sanctified, and glorified, they con- 
 stitute the only real spiritual body of Christ, the 
 fulness of Him that filleth all in all. Those who are 
 members of this Church, and those alone, are inter- 
 ested in the benefits of the atonement, share the 
 gifts of the Spirit, and enjoy the bliss which apper- 
 tains to the communion of saints. Beyond its limits 
 there is no salvation.* 
 
 The conception of the spiritual unity of the 
 Church, which can be realized only by a living 
 communion of all its members with the head, is 
 clearly discerned in the instructions of Christ and 
 his apostles, and is a glorious and precious truth. 
 But it was soon misapprehended and perverted. 
 The attempt was made to realize this unity in an 
 
 * The best definition of the Church of Christ, is that 
 given by Augustine, and incorporated by Calvin in his Cat. 
 Eccl. Genev. Quid est ecclesia ? Corpus ac Societas 
 fidelium quos deus ad vitam aeternam praedestinavit. See 
 also Inst. IV. I. n. 2. 7- Pictet Theol. Art. XXVII. 7.
 
 34 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 outward church, possessed of an external visible 
 organization, and embracing, among its members, 
 all the professors of Christianity in the world. The 
 unity of the Spirit, which consists in faith and love, 
 was merged in a unity of outward form.* The 
 radical error of this theory consists in the assumption 
 of an external visible union of Christians as the 
 starting point from which to arrive at a real spiritual 
 unity ; whereas the reverse is the proper order of 
 procedure. The primary and essential union of 
 Christians consists in their connexion with a common 
 head, and the possession of a common spirit ; and 
 particular societies of Christians can approximate to 
 this unity, only in proportion as they realize in 
 
 * Neander's Church Hist. p. 120. Mtlnscher Dogmensge. 
 [Ed. Von Coin.] 34. Meyer, 25. The name, holy Cath- 
 olic Church, first occurs in the epistle of the Church of 
 Smyrna, concerning the martyrdom of Polycarp, written A. 
 D. 169. Euseb. Hist. Eccl. IV. 15. The earliest patron 
 of the notion was Irenaeus, (f 201) : it was fully developed 
 by Cyprian, (f 258,) in his book De unitate ecclesiae. Having 
 referred to the history of Eusebius, I take this opportu- 
 nity to caution the reader against trusting too implicitly to 
 Cruse's translation of the work, published by Rev. R. Da- 
 vis, Phila. It was made under Episcopalian influence, and 
 is deeply tinged with it. Some of its errors have been no- 
 ticed in Dr. Smyth's Confirmation Examined. Note A. p. 
 199. The expression Catholic Church, is also found in the 
 larger collection of the epistles of Ignatius. Ep. ad Smyrn. 
 c. 8 '(f 107). But the passage is not considered genuine. 
 Munscher, $ 34.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 35 
 
 themselves the harmony and sympathy which dis- 
 tinguish the body of Christ.* 
 
 The minds of men had no sooner become posses- 
 sed of this figment of a visible Catholic Church, 
 than they saw the necessity of seeking for some 
 visible head. This was indispensable to its com- 
 pleteness. Here wo have the germ of the papa 
 system, which has, at least, the merit of consistency ; 
 for the necessity of a visible head is a logical deduc- 
 tion from the doctrine of a visible Catholic Church. 
 " Without a visible head," observes a distinguished 
 Eoman Catholic, " the whole view which the Catholic 
 Church takes of herself, as a visible society repre- 
 senting the place of Christ, would have been lost, 
 or rather would never have occurred to her. In a 
 visible church, a visible head is necessarily in- 
 cluded."t 
 
 The doctrine of a visible Catholic Church, al- 
 though it seems to have been rejected by Luther, 
 has been maintained by a large number of Protest- 
 ants,J and even some of the advocates of Congre- 
 
 * Marheineke Grundlehren der Christl. Dogmatik. S. 445. 
 Nitzch. System der Christl. Lehre, 188. 
 
 t Holder's Symbolism, p. 377. Barrow, Unit. ch. VIII. 4. 
 
 J Hill's Divinity, p. 695. Dick's Theology, 2, p. 456. 
 Smyth's Ecclesiastical Catechism, p. 11, with a copious 
 citation of authorities. " The Church," says Ogilby, " is 
 Christ's mystical body. This body of Christ is a visible 
 body, made of many visible parts," Lectures on the Church, 
 p. 13, New York, 1844
 
 36 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 gationalism have, with singular inconsistency, em- 
 braced the same view.* The subject demands, 
 therefore, a thorough discussion. I am happy to 
 Bay that Dr. Dagg, \vho has devoted much reflec- 
 tion to this topic, has, at my solicitation, furnished 
 me with his views ; and they are here inserted as a 
 valuable and instructive addition to this work. 
 
 The question respecting the existence of a Visible 
 Church Catholic, may be regarded, 1 , as real, 2, 
 as verbal. 
 
 I. As -real. The real question may be stated 
 thus : Do all who profess the true religion constitute 
 one organized society ? 
 
 The following doctrine is maintained by Dr. 
 Mason : There exists in the world a great society, 
 composed of all who profess the true religion. This 
 society is so organized that the parts are united in. 
 mutual dependence, and furnished with a principle 
 of living efficiency in one common system, so as to 
 bring the strength of the whole to operate on every 
 part, or through all the parts collectively, as oc- 
 casion may require. This society possesses the 
 power of self-preservation, which includes, 1. A 
 power of commanding the agency of any particular 
 member ; 2. A power of combining the agency of 
 all her members ; 3. A power of providing for her 
 nourishment and health; 4. A power of expel- 
 
 * "Walker's Church Discipline, p. 10, where he says the 
 term Church, in Matt. 16 : 18, " appears to include, gene- 
 rally, such professed believers as hold the Christian faith 
 sr J "'tica wncorrupted, throughout the world."
 
 CllURCH POUTV. 37 
 
 liug impurities and corruptions This society, with 
 a regular succession of members, has existed visibly 
 and publicly, from the days of Abraham to the 
 present time.* 
 
 The following weighty objections lie against this 
 doctrine : 
 
 1. It does not accord with the facts of history. 
 All the professors of Christianity are not now so 
 united, and it is certain that they have not been for 
 ages past. 
 
 2. It favors the pretensions of the Roman Church. 
 If any such society existed in the middle ages, its 
 seat of power must have been at Borne. 
 
 3. The powers attributed to this society are in- 
 consistent with the individual and personal respon- 
 sibilities of its members. A power to command 
 implies an obligation to obey. Now either the 
 power must be exercised with infallible rectitude, 
 or the members are bound to oppose it, and to obey 
 God rather than men. 
 
 4. The Church organizations of primitive Chris- 
 tians did not extend beyond single congregations, 
 which existed and acted independently of each other. 
 Membership was voluntary, and no power was 
 claimed to interfere in any wise with the individual 
 and personal responsibility of any member. " To 
 his own master he standeth or falleth." 
 
 5. The combination of individuals or of churches, 
 for the purpose of exercising any controlling power 
 whatever over the consciences of men, is the germ 
 and spirit of Anti-Christ. 
 
 The doctrine to which these objections are opposed, 
 
 Mason's Essays, pp. 5, 195, and elsewhere. 
 
 45G678
 
 38 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 is a corruption of the Scripture doctrine, respecting 
 what theological writers have called the Invisible 
 Church. The saints in heaven, with all regenerate 
 persons on earth, form a society which is called, in 
 the language of inspiration, the Body of Christ, the 
 Church of Christ, the People of Christ, the Flock 
 of Christ, &c. Eph. 5 : 23-27 ; Matt. 1 : 21 ; 1 
 Peter 2:9; Luke 12 : 32 ; John 10 : 16 ; Heb. 
 12 : 23. The oneness of this body does not depend 
 on any external organization, but arises from a 
 spiritual union of all its members to Christ. It is 
 compacted, not by any external force, nor by pow- 
 ers conferred on the members collectively, for the 
 purpose of consolidation and control, but by that 
 which every joint supplieth. Love is the cement 
 of the parts, and the principle of living efficiency, 
 growth and strength which pervades the whole. It 
 maketh increase of itself in love. Membership in 
 this society is, in the highest sense, voluntary, and 
 all controlling power belongs, not to the body, but 
 to the living head, Jesus Christ. 
 
 A few texts of Scripture, m which the term 
 Church is used, have, by a mistaken interpretation 
 of them, been supposed to favor the doctrine of a 
 Visible Church Catholic. Dr. Mason refers to six 
 as proof texts of this doctrine. It is a very re- 
 markable circumstance that three of these six texts 
 refer to a period in the history of Christianity, when 
 no church of external organization existed, but that 
 which was at Jerusalem. This was not a Catholic 
 Church as distinguished from a particular Church ; 
 and therefore these texts fail to prove anything in 
 the question, except the difficulty of finding support 
 for the doctrine in the word of God. The three pas-
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 39 
 
 sages are these : " The Lord added to the Church 
 daily such as should be saved " Acts 2: 47. "Saul 
 made havoc of the church " Acts 8:3. "I per- 
 secuted the Church of God" 1 Cor. 15 : 9. 
 
 It is due, however, to the scheme of Dr. M., to 
 say that it finds a Visible Church Catholic in exist- 
 ence at the period to which these texts refer : and 
 it is due to the cause of truth to show that, in this 
 very particular, the scheme involves incredible 
 absurdity. He says, (pages 7 and 8,) " The Jews 
 were not cut off till after the commencement and 
 establishment of the new dispensation ; that is, till 
 after the Gentiles were taken in." According to 
 this view of the subject, the excision of the Jews 
 did not take place until after the conversion of 
 Cornelius. Of consequence, the Jewish nation 
 continued to be the Visible Church Catholic during 
 the period to which the texts above quoted refer ; 
 and if they signify what they are cited to prove, 
 their correct interpretation is as follows : " The Lord 
 added to the Church ; " i. e. to the Jewish nation. 
 " Saul made havoc of the Church ; " i. e. of the 
 Jewish nation. " I persecuted the Church ; " i. e. 
 the Jewish nation. Comment is unnecessary. 
 
 Two causes have favored the misinterpretation of 
 Scripture on this subject. 
 
 The first of these is an ambiguous use of the 
 epithets visible and invisible. The saints in heaven 
 are invisible to mortal eyes ; but that part of the 
 Church of the first born which still remains on 
 earth, instead of being invisible, is a city set on a 
 hill, that cannot be hid. The Saviour enjoined on 
 his followers to let their light shine before men, that 
 their good works, not their church organization,
 
 40 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 should be seen. The saints are distinguished from 
 the ungodly world by their holiness of life ; they 
 need not a mark in their right hand or in their 
 forehead, in order that their characters may be 
 known and read of all men. 
 
 From the confounding of visibility with organ- 
 ization originated the remark of Dr. M. : * " Nor 
 is it to be imagined that he (Saul) was able to 
 pick out the elect and persecute them." The ob- 
 jects of persecution were not rendered visible to 
 Saul by ecclesiastical organization. He did not 
 pick them out by searching for their names in some 
 church book. They are called " the disciples of 
 the Lord" the saints and their relation to 
 Christ is clearly intimated in the inquiry, " Why 
 persecutest thou me ? " The persecution was 
 aimed at Jesus and his genuine disciples, and the 
 guilt of it was estimated accordingly ; nor was it 
 necessary, in order that Saul should persecute the 
 true disciples of Christ, that they should, on the 
 one hand, be separated from any false professors 
 who might chance to be among them ; or, on the 
 ether hand, that they should be incorporated with 
 these false professors, under some system of eccle- 
 siastical government. Samson could burn the corn 
 of the Philistines, without either separating the 
 wheat from the tares or binding the whole in one 
 great bundle. And a man may exclude the light 
 of day from his chamber, though he neither " pick 
 out " the sunbeams from the motes that float in 
 
 * This is the error of Bellarmine, de Ecclesia Mil. III. 
 cap. 12, Non dici potest [ecclesia] societas hominum, 
 nisi in externis et visibilibus signis consistat. See, also , 
 Walter, Kirchcnrecht, {11.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 41 
 
 them, nor press the light and the motes together 
 into one consolidated mass. It should be remem- 
 bered, however, that our present inquiry is not, 
 whether the term Church includes, in its proper 
 signification, false professors as well as true ; but 
 whether all professors, both true and false, consti- 
 tute one organized society. So far, therefore, as 
 the illustration of our present subject is concerned, 
 it is of no importance whether the term wheat may 
 properly signify the tares as well as the wheat ; or 
 the term light, the motes as well as the sunbeams. 
 The only question is, whether one organized mass 
 must be formed by the wheat and the tares, before 
 they can be burned ; or by the sunbeams and the 
 motes, before they can be excluded. 
 
 Saul persecuted the Church when he persecuted 
 such of its members as were within his reach. 
 What was done to the part was regarded as done 
 to the whole ; and what was done against the 
 members on earth was regarded as done against 
 the head in Leaven. On the same principle of 
 interpretation we may understand the phrases : 
 " Gaius, the host of the whole Church," Rom. 
 16 : 23. " Give none offence to the Church of 
 God," 1 Cor. 10 : 32. They import hospitality 
 to saints generally, and offence to saints generally. 
 But that the saints should be entertained, offended, 
 or persecuted, it is not necessary that they should 
 be united in a Visible Church Catholic. These 
 phrases are two of the remaining proof texts of Dr. 
 M., and, like the three before quoted, prove nothing 
 to his purpose. 
 
 A second cause which has contributed to the mis- 
 4*
 
 4*2 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 interpretation of Scripture on the subject, is a secu- 
 larized view of the Christian ministry. 
 
 The Saviour, at Pilate's bar, declared, " My 
 kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were 
 of this world, then would my servants fight." In 
 this declaration it is clearly implied, that the officers 
 in his kingdom, like the kingdom itself, belong to 
 another world. When he gave to Peter his great 
 pastoral commission, in the memorable words, " Feed 
 my sheep, Feed my lambs," he prescribed spir- 
 itual duties, and appointed him a pastor, not to a 
 single congregation, nor the Visible Church Catholic, 
 but to the spiritual flock of Christ. The food ad- 
 ministered is spiritual, and the recipients must be 
 spiritual ; the food is the sincere milk of the word. 
 The recipients are the new-born babes who desire, 
 and the believers, to whom Christ is precious. To 
 suppose infant and adult members of the Visible 
 Church Catholic to be intended, is a gross miscon- 
 ception of the Saviour's design. 
 
 When Peter met with Simon the Sorcerer, who 
 had professed faith in Christ and been baptized, he 
 did not on that account recognize him as one of 
 Christ's sheep, and feed him accordingly ; nor did 
 he wait for the Church Catholic to bring its power 
 to bear on this part of the great body, and expel 
 the impurity. Peter regarded not his profession, 
 but his spiritual state ; not his relation to any visi- 
 ble Church, but his relation to Christ and things 
 spiritual. 
 
 As Peter felt and acted, so felt and acted all the 
 Apostles ; and so they taught all the primitive min- 
 isters to feel and act. So Peter taught : 
 
 " The elders which are among you I exhort, who
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 43 
 
 am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of 
 Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall 
 be revealed : 
 
 " Feed the flock of God, which is among you, 
 taking the oversight thereof ; not by constraint, but 
 willingly ; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind ; 
 
 " Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but 
 being ensamples to the flock. 
 
 "And when the chief shepherd shall appear, ye 
 shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." 
 1 Peter 5: 1-4. 
 
 So Paul taught the elders at Ephesus : 
 
 " Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all 
 the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made 
 you overseers, to feed the church of God, which 
 he hath purchased with his own blood." Acts 20 : 
 28. 
 
 So he taught his son Timothy : 
 
 " But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how 
 thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, 
 which is the church of the living God, the pillar and 
 ground of the truth." 1 Tim. 3: 15. 
 
 These men referred every thing to eternity, and 
 the heartrsearching God. They regarded them- 
 selves as members of a spiritual body ; and to their 
 view the flock of God the heritage of God the 
 house of God the Church of God, consisted of 
 those who were bound to them by spiritual ties, and 
 whom they expected to meet in heaven. 
 
 The spirituality of the Christian ministry is viv- 
 idly represented in 1 Cor. 12 chap. The body of 
 Christ is one with many members, who are baptized 
 into it by one Spirit, and drink of one Spirit. The 
 eye, the ear, the hands, the feet, have their proper
 
 44 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 offices for the benefit of the whole. God hath set 
 them in the body : and of none of them can it be 
 said it is not of the body. All the diversities of 
 gifts are from the same Spirit. From that member 
 which sustains the highest and most important office, 
 to that which occupies the least honorable place, 
 one spiritual sympathy extends, which pervades the 
 whole and excludes the possibility of schism. As- 
 suredly this is not a description of the Visible 
 Church Catholic. No false apostles, no false pro- 
 phets, no ministers of Satan, in the form of minis- 
 ters of righteousness, belong to this body. God 
 has not set such in it. The Spirit has not baptized 
 such into it. Such have not a care for the body. 
 Of all such it may, with truth, be said, they are not 
 of the body. Yet such officers and members must 
 belong to the body, if Dr. M.'s interpretation of 
 the 28th verse of this chapter is correct. This verse 
 is his only remaining proof-text ; and, like all the 
 rest, utterly fails, when rightly interpreted, to serve 
 the purpose for which it was quoted. 
 
 The evils resulting from secularized views of the 
 Christian Church and ministry, are incalculable. 
 This cause gave birth to the Man of Sin, and all 
 the lordship which has been exercised over God's 
 heritage. It has furnished, with sheep's clothing, 
 the grievous wolves that have devoured the flock. 
 To it may be ascribed, in chief part, the divisions 
 which have been the opprobrium of Christianity 
 and the stumbling-block of infidels. Having lost 
 the unity of the spirit, the professors of religion, lest 
 they should, by the independence of the churches, 
 and the uncontrolled personal responsibility of every 
 member, " be scattered abroad upon the face of the
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 45 
 
 whole earth," resolved to build a tower, whose top 
 should reach to heaven, and to inscribe on it the 
 motto, VISIBLE UNITY. But, as it happened to the 
 builders at Babel, their language became con- 
 founded, and their mad scheme ended in discord 
 and division. Carnal leaders draw away disciples 
 after them ; and those who follow in such divisions 
 are carnal. " While one saith, I am of Paul; and 
 another, I am of Apollos ; are ye not carnal, and 
 walk as men ? " Many schemes have been pro- 
 posed, for the healing of these divisions, by the 
 amalgamation of religious societies, but all will 
 prove abortive, till men return to the unity of the 
 Spirit. 
 
 Having examined the question concerning the 
 Visible Church Catholic, as real; we proceed to 
 consider it 
 
 II. As verbal. The verbal question may be 
 thus stated : Is the term Church properly used to 
 denote all the professors of the true religion taken 
 collectively? This is a question of comparatively 
 little importance ; yet it deserves consideration, on 
 account of the close connection which is often found 
 to subsist between errors of thought and errors of 
 language. 
 
 Men may be classified with respect to any pro- 
 perty by which some are distinguished from others. 
 The tall, the wise, the honest, the aged, are classes 
 of which we may have occasion to think and speak. 
 But these classes exist as classes in our minds only. 
 The individuals of each class exist separately and 
 independently, and may, in fact, have less to do 
 with each other than with individuals of other classes. 
 So, all the professors of the true religion may be
 
 46 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 classed together, and may be thought and spoken of 
 as if forming a company distinct from the rest of 
 mankind. It is therefore possible that the term 
 Church may be used to denote this class of men, 
 without implying that they are united in a visi- 
 ble organization. But can it be so used with pro- 
 priety 'I 
 
 1. The term which is rendered Church in the 
 New Testament, signifies an assembly. Dr. Mason 
 says, " Whenever it occurs you are sure of an 
 assembly, and nothing more." Now all the pro- 
 fessors of religion, though they form a class in our 
 mental conception, do not form an assembly. They 
 never have assembled, and they never will assemble 
 except on the day of judgment ; and even then they 
 will be separated from each other some on the 
 Tight hand, and some on the left. 
 
 2. In many of the examples in which the term 
 Church is in the Scriptures used in its Catholic 
 sense, it clearly denotes the body of real saints. 
 Of those examples in which it has been supposed 
 to denote all the professors of religion, not one has 
 been found that, on a careful examination, requires 
 this interpretation. To assign a new meaning, with- 
 out necessity, is not in accordance with sound criti- 
 cism. 
 
 3. It is not necessary to suppose that the inspired 
 writers, whenever they employed the term Church 
 in its Catholic sense, had present to their minds the 
 distinction between true and false professors. A 
 field of wheat may be called a field of wheat, with- 
 out any regard to tares which may chance to be in 
 it. So the several churches were addressed as 
 believers, disciples, saints, &c., without regard to
 
 CHUECH POLITY. 47 
 
 false professors who might chance to be among them ; 
 yet the terms believers, disciples, and saints, do not 
 acquire a new meaning from such application of 
 them. 
 
 We may conclude, therefore, that the term 
 Church, when used in its Catholic sense, denotes 
 the body of real saints, as distinguished from all 
 other persons ; that it never denotes all the profes- 
 sors of religion, aa distinguished from the body of 
 real saints ; and that it cannot include false profes- 
 sors of religion, unless it be in a vague and loose 
 application of it. 
 
 It has been asked, Is not baptism the door into 
 the Church ? To this question it might be a suffi- 
 cient reply, to refer to the tenth chapter of John, 
 the only place of Scripture in which the door into the 
 fold of Christ is mentioned. But if we must furnish 
 an answer from the analogy of faith, rather than by 
 direct appeal to Scripture, it will be needful to find 
 the house, before we seek for the door. If there is 
 no such building as the Visible Church Catholic, all 
 inquiry about the door into it must, of course, be 
 useless. 
 
 Baptism has been placed, by Christ, at the begin- 
 ning of all the outward duties which he requires of 
 his followers. It is, therefore, an initiatory ser- 
 vice. But all agree that, as in the case of the 
 Ethiopian Eunuch, baptism does not introduce to 
 membership in a particular church ; and it is clear 
 that an individual must be a member of Christ's 
 spiritual body, before baptism, or any other duty, 
 can be acceptably performed. " Without me ye 
 can do nothing." 
 
 For whose accommodation is this building needed,
 
 48 CHURCH POLITV. 
 
 of which baptism is the door ? It denies shelter, of 
 course, to all unbaptized persons ; and all regen- 
 erate persons are better provided for, having been 
 admitted into Christ's spiritual house. The only 
 persons, therefore, who need it, are the unregen- 
 erate baptized, the followers of Simon the Socerer, 
 who, while they profess Christ, are in the gall of 
 bitterness and the bond of iniquity. Verily, for 
 such persons, God's wise master builders are not 
 required to provide a building ; much less have 
 they been authorized to place one of Christ's ordi- 
 nances as the door into it. Pedobaptists have found 
 difficulty in assigning a suitable apartment to their 
 baptized infants ; and have placed them, not so pro- 
 perly in the Church, as within its pale. Whether 
 it would better accord with the analogy of this faith, 
 to call baptism the gate, than the door, may be left 
 for those to decide who are unwilling to keep the 
 ordinances as they were delivered. 
 
 Baptism is not, like the Lord's supper, a social 
 rite. It signifies the fellowship of the individual 
 believer with Christ, not the fellowship of believers 
 with one another. The obligation to be baptized is 
 independent of the obligation to form social rela- 
 tions with other disciples, and is prior. Baptism is, 
 therefore, a qualification for admission into a Church 
 of external organization; but it does not confer 
 membership.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PARTICULAR CHURCHES. 
 
 THE Gospel is admirably adapted to man. Its 
 disclosures of grace meet his wants, as a fallen, 
 guilty creature; and its revelation of a future 
 state satisfies the instinctive longings of his soul 
 for immortality. The ecclesiastical polity of the 
 New Testament is not less suited to him, as a 
 social being. The instincts of our nature lead us 
 to society, and many of our noblest qualities are 
 called forth and nurtured by its influence. A par- 
 ticular Church is a society of believers baptized 
 upon profession of their faith in Christ. 
 
 When the Apostles went forth, under the borad 
 commission of their ascended Master, preaching the 
 Gospel, they gathered together the fruits of their 
 ministry, wherever they went, into local societies. 
 These are the only Churches known to the New 
 Testament. They constitute the external develop- 
 ment of Christ's kingdom; and are employed, as 
 nurseries, to prepare the genuine children of the 
 kingdom for their ultimate and permanent abode. 
 
 A Church of Christ is a single congregation of 
 professed believers, formed by the mutual agree-
 
 50 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 ment of its members, and designed for religious 
 purposes. In this sense the word is used by the 
 sacred writers more than sixty times. This is the 
 view which has always been held by Baptists. " A 
 particular gospel Church," says one of the earliest 
 authorities in this country, " consists of a company 
 of saints incorporated by a special covenant, into 
 one distinct body, and meeting together in one 
 place, for the enjoyment of fellowship with each 
 other, and with Christ their head, in all his insti- 
 tutions, to their mutual edification, and the glory 
 of God through the Spirit."* 2 Cor. 8:5; Acts 
 2: 1. 
 
 Several important principles are involved in the 
 scriptural definition of a gospel Church. 
 
 1. A Church is a single local society. 
 
 2. It is composed of professed believers. 
 
 3. It possesses the power of admitting to mem- 
 bership, exercising discipline, choosing its officers, 
 and, in general, managing its own affairs. 
 
 4. It is independent of all other Churches. 
 Each of these points demands a separate investi- 
 gation. 
 
 * Summary of Church Discipline of the Charleston Asso- 
 ciation, republished by Rev. D. Sheppard, Charleston, 1831. 
 This Summary was prepared, probably, by Oliver Hart, 
 Francis Pelot, and David "Williams. Rippon's Register, 
 for A. D. 1796, p. fill.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A CHURCH IS A SINGLE LOCAL SOCIETY. 
 
 THIS is clear : 
 
 1. From the meaning and use of the term. We 
 read in the New Testament of "the Church " in a 
 particular city, village, and even house, and of 
 " the Churches " of certain regions; but never of 
 a Church involving a plurality of congregations.* 
 "A bishoprick was but a single congregation. "f 
 There is no trace of any other kind of Church, 
 presbyterian, diocesan, or national. \ 
 
 2. From the history of the Churches in the New 
 Testament. 
 
 The Church at Jerusalem, the model after which 
 the other Churches seem to have been formed, was 
 a single congregation, which could meet together 
 for social worship and the transaction of Church 
 business. || So also the Churches at Antioch, Co- 
 
 * Acts 2: 47; 13: 1; Rom. 16: 1,5; Col. 4: 15; Acts 
 9 : 31 ; 15 : 40, 41 ; 1 Cor. 16 : 19. 
 
 t King's Prim. Church, cap. 2, 12. 
 
 t R. Hall's Wks. 4, p. 394. 
 
 $ Gieseler's Church Hist. I. p. 56. 
 
 || Acts 2; 44, 46; 4: 2331; 5: 1114. Comp. 3: 2 ( 
 11; 6: 1-6.
 
 52 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 rinth, Ephesus, &c., were all single congrega- 
 tions.* 
 
 It has been objected that the members of these 
 Churches were too numerous to constitute a single 
 congregation.! But if the New Testament alludes, 
 in these cases, to only one Church, and affirms that 
 " the whole Church" did meet together and trans- 
 act business in common, the objection is negatived 
 by the authority of Scripture. The argument which 
 attempts to disprove the congregational polity of the 
 Church at Jerusalem, is similar to that by which 
 the baptism of its members has been assailed. The 
 narrative in Acts plainly intimates that the three 
 thousand converts were baptized, (or immersed.) 
 But it is objected that they were too numerous to 
 be baptized, and therefore must have been sprink- 
 led. In either case the baptized congregationalist 
 rejects the unwarrantable assumption.}: 
 
 * Acts 13: 1-4; 14: 2527; 15: 2230; 1 Cor. 11: 20, 
 33 ; 14 : 23, 26. 
 
 t Dick's Theol. 2, p. 478. Hill, p 692. Milner, Church 
 Hist. Cent. 3, ch. 20. 
 
 J The baptism of the three thousand is not so improbable 
 a case after all. I baptized, on one occasion, seventy-six 
 persons in seventeen minutes, and that without any special 
 view to expedition. I did not even know that any one was 
 noticing the time. The twelve apostles, baptizing at the 
 same rate, would have baptized the three thousand in fifty- 
 five minutes and fifty-five seconds ! 
 
 Since writing the above, I have learned that "Elder
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 It is not, however, material to the argument to 
 prove that the members of a Church actually did 
 meet together for social worship. The Scriptures 
 inform us that this was the case at Jerusalem. In 
 other cities, where the number of members was very 
 large, local convenience may have been consulted ; 
 and there may have been portions of the Church 
 that held their religious meetings in different places, 
 but still constituting, as in some of our large cities, 
 branches or arms of the Church located in those 
 cities. This is rendered probable, by the existence 
 of a plurality of bishops. It is sufficient to show 
 that the Churches of the New Testament were sin- 
 gle societies, that the members of a certain locality 
 constituted a Church, not Churches, and that they 
 were addressed by the Apostles, as a unit and not a 
 plurality. Even if it be conceded, therefore, that 
 the number of elders, found in the primitive 
 Churches, was rendered necessary by their habit 
 of assembling in different places of worship, this 
 does not affect the congregational character of these 
 Churches ; since each body of elders was addressed 
 
 Courtney baptized seventy-five persons in the basin on 
 the canal, in Richmond, Va. He had assistants, who 
 led the candidates to and from him ; and he performed the 
 whole in seventeen minutes, notwithstanding he was sev- 
 enty years old." Life of John Leland, Richmond, 1836, p. 
 33. For similar cases among the earlier Christians, see 
 Christian Rev. III. p. 91. 
 
 5*
 
 CHDRCH POLITY. 
 
 as the officers of "the Church," plainly evincing 
 that the community to which they were attached, 
 constituted a single society. 
 
 3. From the large number of distinct Churches 
 which are mentioned in the New Testament. 
 
 Churches seem to have been instituted upon the 
 principle of local convenience. Whenever a body 
 of converts were found, who could conveniently 
 assemble together for the discharge of the duties 
 of Church members, there a Church was organized. 
 Hence we find separate Churches contiguous to 
 each other. The Church at Cenchrea was only 
 nine miles from that at Corinth.* In the epistle 
 to the Colossians the names of four distinct Churches 
 occur, located within a distance of five miles, f Five 
 and thirty different Churches are referred to in the 
 New Testament, besides a great many more that are 
 comprehended in the general designation, " Churches 
 of Asia," " Churches of Macedonia," &c.J 
 
 This view of a Christian Church is so obviously 
 scriptural, as to have commanded the assent of a 
 large number of historians and theologians. The 
 
 * Rom. 16 : 1. 
 
 j- Col. 4 : 13 16. Calmet states that Hierapolis and 
 Laodicea were five miles apart, and Colosse midway between 
 them. 
 
 J Punchard, on Congregationalism, p. 49, gives a list of 
 the thirty-five churches. Also, Dr. Curtis, Bible Episco- 
 pacy, p. 97.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 55 
 
 following are a few of many authorities that might 
 be cited : 
 
 " The simplest conception of a Church is that of 
 a community of believers, dwelling in the same 
 place, and associated for the promotion of Christ's 
 kingdom." Schleiermacher. Kurtze Darstellung 
 des theol. Stud. 277. 
 
 In the primitive age " a Church and a diocese 
 seem to have been, for a considerable time, co- 
 extensive and identical. And each Church or dio- 
 cese, and consequently each superintendent [i. e. 
 bishop or elder], though connected with the rest by 
 the ties of faith and love and charity, seems to have 
 been perfectly independent, as far as regards any 
 power of control." Archbishop Whately, Kingdom 
 of Christ, p. 136. 
 
 " A Church I take to be a voluntary society of 
 men, joining themselves together of their own ac- 
 cord, in order to the public worshipping of (rod, in 
 such manner as they judge acceptable to him, and 
 effectual to the salvation of their souls." Locke, 
 Letter I. on Toleration. Wks. fol. 2, p. 235. 
 
 "In no approved writers, for the space of two 
 hundred years after Christ, is there any mention 
 made of any other organical, visibly professing 
 Church, but that only which is parochial, or congre- 
 gational." J. Owen, Wks. 20, p. 132.* 
 
 * Haldane, Social "Worship, chap. 5, I. Leonard Bacon, 
 Manual for Church Members, p. 15.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 MEMBERS OF A CHtJRCH. 
 
 THE primary and indispensable qualification for 
 membership in a particular Church, consists in a con- 
 nection with the general Church, or body of Christ. 
 " Every one is so far a member of Christ's Church 
 as he is a member of Christ's body."* Each 
 particular Church seeks to represent, in itself, 
 the kingdom of Christ, and ought, therefore, to be 
 composed entirely of spiritual materials. It is no 
 part of its design to embrace unbelievers, and pre- 
 pare them for the kingdom of heaven. They have 
 no right to its privileges and blessings. They are 
 intruders at its ordinances. No ecclesiastical recog- 
 nition of them as children, can change their relation 
 as aliens and strangers ; and they who introduce 
 them contravene the declared will of the great Head 
 of the Church. The gates of his kingdom are open 
 to none but converted men. It is, therefore, the 
 imperative duty of the Churches to admit to member- 
 ship none but such as give satisfactory evidence that 
 they have been born again. This was the practice 
 of the apostles, t 
 
 * T. Jackson on the Church, p. 19. Phila., 1844. 
 
 t" No one," says Marheinecke, " is a member of the 
 Church by birth : he becomes one first by the new birth." 
 Die Grundlehren der christlichen Dogmatik. 693.
 
 CHtJKCH POLITY. 57 
 
 That the Churches planted by them were compos- 
 ed of such as they deemed real believers is evident, 
 
 1. From the addresses of the different epistles: 
 " Paul, to all that be in Rome, beloved of God, 
 called saints. To the Church of God at Corinth, to 
 them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called saints. 
 To the saints which are at Ephesus and the faithful 
 in Christ Jesus. To the saints in Christ Jesus, 
 which are at Philippi. Peter, to them that have 
 obtained like precious faith." 
 
 2. From the general tenor of the epistles. In 
 proof of this position, it is simply necessary to 
 refer the reader to these inspired compositions them- 
 selves. Every allusion to the origin of the Church- 
 es ; every description of the character of the mem- 
 bers ; every exhortation, rebuke, and warning ; all 
 directions with respect to their government and dis- 
 cipline, bear ample evidence that they were contem- 
 plated by the authors of the epistles, as comprising 
 only those who had made a credible profession of their 
 faith in the Redeemer. Had the apostles sanctioned 
 the admission of unconverted men into the Churches, 
 their practice would have been at variance with the 
 spirit of their subsequent communications to them. 
 To address such persons as the children of light and 
 the temples of the Holy Ghost, would have been to 
 use language without meaning, or singularly delu- 
 sive. The limits of this work forbid an extended
 
 8 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 investigation of this topic. The reader is requested 
 to consult the following passages of Scripture, in 
 which the character of Church members is clearly 
 exhibited :* Col. 3 : 9 ; 1 Thess. 5 : 5 ; 1 Cor. 6 : 
 19 ; 5 : 7 ; 3 : 917 ; 2 Cor. 7 : 8, 18 ; 6 : 14, 
 18 ; Acts 8 : 2640 ; 1 Pet. 2 : 5.f 
 
 3. The design of Christian Churches affords addi- 
 tional evidence that none but believers were contem- 
 plated in their organization. This part of the sub- 
 ject has been presented in so just and beautiful a 
 view by a pious pedobaptist writer, that I cannot do 
 better than to transcribe his words : " The Church 
 is a sacred enclosure taken in from the world 
 brought into cultivation by the Divine Husbandman, 
 
 * In the famous controversy between Pres. Edwards, and 
 Solomon "Williams, concerning the half-way covenant, the 
 former took the broad scriptural ground, that none but 
 such as gave credible evidence of their faith in Christ should 
 be admitted to the Lord's Supper. But, as a pedobaptist, 
 he was obliged to admit that those who had been baptized 
 in infancy were "in some sort members of the Church." 
 In this they were both agreed. Here Williams erected his 
 strong battery, and managed it with great effect. He prov- 
 ed that the position of his opponent, if maintained, would 
 annihilate infant baptism. Either that ordinance must be 
 given up, or Edwards must surrender. He did not choose 
 to abandon infant baptism, and was vanquished, not by the 
 truth of his opponent, but by his own error. Edwards, 
 Humble Inquiry, Works 4, p. 423 128. Curtis, Bib. Episc. 
 p. 173. 
 
 t Haldane, Social Worship, ch, 6. Punchard Congrega- 
 tionalism, pp. 4047-
 
 CHURCH POLITf. 59 
 
 and intended to be filled exclusively with the plants 
 of righteousness. He designed the Church to be 
 his own peculium : it is the only fortress which he 
 holds in a revolted world ; and he intended, there- 
 fore, that no authority should be known in it, no 
 laws acknowledged, but his own ; that no parties 
 should obtain admission, but those ' who are called, 
 and chosen, and .faithful ; ' so that to open its gates 
 for the entrance of any of the revolted, however spe- 
 cious the pretext, is a betrayal of the most sacred 
 trust, and treachery to the great cause of Christ. " 
 Harris, Great Teacher, p. 214. 
 
 So writes Dr. Smyth, and, indeed, every evangel- 
 ical writer, when not thinking of infant baptism. 
 " Only those who make a credible profession of 
 their faith in Christ, can be admitted as members of 
 the Church of Christ ; because its privileges, by 
 their very nature, are intended only for those who, in 
 the judgment of charity, are disciples of Christ."* 
 
 If these views are just and scriptural, it is evident 
 that no place is provided, in a Christian Church, for 
 such as do not, or cannot profess their faith in 
 Christ. As infants belong to this class, they are ex- 
 cluded by the original and divine constitution of a 
 
 * Eccl. Catechism, p. 80. This is excellent. But we 
 find, in the same work, among the meanings ascribed to 
 the word Church, the following: "The whole body of 
 those, with their children, who profess the true religion." 
 p. 10, Dick Theol. 2, p. 380, 460. Punchard, p. 40.
 
 60 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 Christian Church. Upon the same principle they 
 are excluded from baptism, since the ordinance is the 
 appointed method of professing our faith in the Re- 
 deemer. The grounds upon which the right of in- 
 fants to baptism is based, are various and contradic- 
 tory ; they are all alike unscriptural. " It is a com- 
 mon sentiment," observes one of its advocates, " that 
 the baptism of children makes them members of the 
 Church ; but this is an error. Their baptism does 
 not make them members, it only recognizes their 
 right of membership already existing ; their mem- 
 bership is not founded upon their baptism, but 
 their baptism upon their membership."* But an- 
 other affirms t that " the children of the members 
 cannot be considered as members of the Church, 
 being incapable of fulfilling the duties of that rela- 
 tion." A more recent writer teaches that baptism 
 " brings the child into the Church of God, to which 
 he has promised his favor and blessings- translates 
 it from the kingdom of darkness into the visible 
 kingdom of God's dear Son, on earth, "f There 
 is plainly a schism on this point among pedobaptists, 
 
 * Rev. S. Helfenstein. The Church of God. Am. Bib. 
 Repos. 2, p. 314. C. C. Jones, Catechism, p. 246. 
 
 t Haldane, Social Worship, p. 321. He afterwards re- 
 nounced infant baptism. Indeed it is surprising, that one 
 who could write such a book should practice it. 
 
 I Rev. "W. Hodges, Infant Baptism tested by Scripture 
 and History, Phil. 1844, p. 243.
 
 CHUKCH POLITY. 61 
 
 according to the views of the respective denomina- 
 tions to which they belong. The Papal and Episco- 
 pal Churches maintain that the infant is made a 
 member of the Church by baptism ; while the Lu- 
 theran and Presbyterian Churches contend that it is 
 entitled to the ordinance, because it is already a 
 member. * To the former class the Methodist Epis- 
 copal Church seems to belong. Mr. Wesley says : 
 " By baptism we are admitted into the Church, and, 
 consequently, made members of Christ, its Head, "f 
 Dr. Bond has taken a different view. " Baptism is 
 not properly the initiating ordinance, by which we 
 become subjects of this kingdom, [Messiah's] but 
 the ratifying or sealing ordinance, by which we are 
 so acknowledged by the Church and ministry of 
 Christ. Children are initiated into the kingdom at 
 their birth."J This, it will be perceived, throws 
 the door open to all children. But pedobaptists 
 have usually restricted the ordinance to the offspring 
 of believers. Even upon this point, however, there 
 
 * C. G. Neudecker. Lehrbuch der christl. Dogmengesch . 
 56, where he says that the " Lutheran, Reformed, Roman 
 and Grecian Catholic Churches supported infant baptism 
 against the fanatical Anabaptists and Mennonites, and 
 against Schwenkfield on the ground that it was, in general, 
 necessary to salvation." Hinton's Hist. Baptism, p. 338. 
 
 t Preservatives, p. 146150, quoted by Booth. Vindic. 
 Bap. Sec. 1. 
 
 t N. Y. Christian Advocate, copied in Biblical Recorder. 
 N. C., Jan. 27, 1844. 
 
 6
 
 62 CHURCII POLITV. 
 
 is another schism. * It is refreshing to turn from 
 the conflicting opinions of men to the simple word of 
 God, which contains no intimation of infant member- 
 ship, either before or after baptism, and recognizes 
 only baptized believers as the constituents of a gos- 
 pel Church. 
 
 The abettors of infant baptism have, usually, rested 
 its claims upon an alledged identity of the covenant 
 of circumcision and the covenant of grace ; and, as- 
 suming that baptism has taken the place of circum- 
 cision, have argued that, as children were formerly 
 admitted to the latter ordinance, they ought now to 
 be to the former. To examine at length all the argu- 
 ments by which this subject has been mystified, does 
 not comport with the limits of this little book. It 
 will be sufficient, however, to expose some of the lead- 
 ing assumptions involved in the theory in question. 
 
 * Archbishop Leighton writes to one of his friends : 
 " Touching baptism, freely my thought is, it is a weak 
 notion, taken up on trust almost generally, to consider so 
 much, or at all, the qualifications of the parents. Either 
 it is a benefit to infants, or it is not. If none, why then 
 administered at all? But if it be, then why should the 
 poor innocents be prejudged of it for the parents' cause ? " 
 Works, p. 681. Baptism, in his view. " signifies and seals 
 our washing from sin and our new birth in Jesus Christ," 
 p. 506. The seal, however, proves to be very brittle, for 
 " the open wickedness of the most testifies against them, 
 that though sprinkled with water in baptism, yet they are 
 strangers to the power and gracious efficacy of it ; they are 
 swearers, cursers, drunkards, unclean," p. 223.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 63 
 
 1. It involves the assumption, that the covenant 
 of circumcision is the covenant of grace. If this 
 were the case, all who lived before Abraham, as well 
 as all, who, in subsequent times, are not in the line 
 of circumcision, would be excluded from the covenant 
 of grace. What, then, becomes of Abel and other 
 antediluvian patriarchs 'i The truth is, that circum- 
 cision stands in no necessary relation to spiritual bles- 
 sings. It is the distinguishing mark of a race, the 
 members of which are determined by natural descent. 
 The possession of spiritual blessings by the circumcis- 
 ed is not invariable, but accidental to the rite ; and 
 is determined upon other principles. Its design was, 
 together with other rites and ceremonies, which were 
 peculiar to the Jewish people, to segregate, and, 
 consequently, preserve the nation. " These pecu- 
 liarities," observes the learned historian of the He- 
 brew Commonwealth, " formed the foundation upon 
 which was built the great partition wall between 
 them and other nations. "* 
 
 2. It assumes that the covenant made with Abra- 
 ham, which involved spiritual blessings, and the 
 covenant of circumcision are identical. But it is 
 evident, from the third chapter of Galatians, that 
 these covenants are distinct. The former was made, 
 
 * Jahn. Heb. Com. p. 38, 138. So Photius and Chrysos- 
 tom and Theodoret, quoted by Dr. Brantly, Baptist Li- 
 brary, 3, p. 400.
 
 64 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 according to the statement of the apostle, four hun- 
 dred and thirty years before the delivery of the 
 Law. This computation makes it coeval with the 
 calling of Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees, an 
 event which occurred twenty-four years before the 
 covenant of circumcision. 
 
 3. It confounds the natural with the spiritual seed 
 of Abraham ; the children of the flesh with the chil- 
 dren of the promise. These are clearly distinguished 
 in the word of God. * The argument on this point 
 is simple and direct. The passages which are cited 
 in support of infant baptism, in connection with the 
 Abrahamic covenant, must refer either to his na- 
 tural, or his spiritual seed. If to the former, Gentile 
 infants are excluded, since they are not the lineal 
 descendants of the patriarch ; if to the latter, all in- 
 fants are excluded by the very terms which designate 
 the relation. " Know ye therefore that they which 
 are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham." 
 
 The above remarks are sufficient to expose the 
 flimsy foundation upon which this theory is built ; 
 the weakness of which is so apparent, that it has 
 been abandoned by many pedobaptists themselves. f 
 
 The recognition of unconverted persons, as mem- 
 bers of a Christian Church, is an evil of no ordinary 
 
 * Gal. 3 : 18, 29 ; 4 : 28, cf. Rom. 9 : 7, 9. 
 
 t Stuart on the O. T. p. 394. Letters of David (Jones) 
 and John (Dagg) on the Lectures of Dr. Woods, Lee. 3. 
 C arson on Baptism, p. 214, 237. Hinton, ch. 5, 1.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 65 
 
 magnitude. It throws down the wall of partition 
 which Christ himself has erected, and obliterates the 
 distinction between the Church and the world. A 
 society composed of believers, and sustained and ex- 
 tended by spiritual instrumentalities, has the pro- 
 mise of the Redeemer pledged for its perpetuation. 
 Such a community is indestructible. The body, 
 
 " Vital in every part, 
 Cannot, but by annihilating, die." 
 
 It becomes the disciples of the Saviour to guard well 
 the door of admission into their fraternity. Upon 
 their fidelity, in this respect, depend its efficiency, 
 prosperity, and safety. An accession of nominal 
 Christians may enlarge its numbers, but cannot aug- 
 ment its real strength. A Church that welcomes to 
 the privileges of Christ's house, the unconverted, 
 under the specious pretext of increasing the number 
 of his followers, in reality betrays the citadel to his 
 foes. They may glory in the multitudes that flock 
 to their expanded gates, and exult in their brighten- 
 ing prospects ; but the joy and the triumph will be 
 alike transient. They have mistaken a device of 
 the enemy for the work of Grod. They hailed, as 
 they thought, an angel of light ; they have received 
 Satan I admire and love the many sincere and 
 zealous Christians that are found in such Churches ; 
 but I fear that this Trojan horse will finally prove 
 
 their ruin. 
 
 6*
 
 66 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 On the subject of infant baptism, and what seem 
 to me to be its legitimate tendencies, I have recorded 
 my sentiments without reserve, and, I trust, without 
 offence. I impeach no man's motives ; nor do I 
 question the piety and sincerity of those of my Chris- 
 tian brethren who believe that this practice is sanc- 
 tioned by the divine command. Many pedobaptists 
 are among the lights and ornaments of the age ; 
 their ministry has been blessed of God to the exten- 
 sion of the Redeemer's kingdom, and their Churches 
 present numerous examples of pure and unaffected 
 piety. Such men would not, knowingly, contravene 
 the law of Christ. They would welcome the obloquy 
 of the world, and even the agonies of martyrdom, in 
 obedience to the command of their Lord and King, 
 and rejoice that they were counted worthy to suffer 
 for Christ's sake. It is impossible not to admire 
 and love men whose faith and practice associate them 
 with Baxter, Leighton, Edwards, and Martyn, and 
 who breathe their heavenly spirit. While I think I 
 see and regret their errors, I would extend to them 
 the same indulgence which I ask for my own.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 RIGHTS OF A CHURCH. 
 
 As it was manifestly the design of the Redeemer 
 that his Churches should embrace only such as pro- 
 fessed his name, and submitted to his will as the law 
 of then- life, so, also, he has entrusted to them the 
 high privileges of self-government under Him. The 
 New Testament, which contains the charter, consti- 
 tution, and discipline of these voluntary societies of 
 Christians, defines and limits their rights. What- 
 ever powers have been expressly delegated to them, 
 they may exercise : the assumption of others is an 
 unauthorized usurpation. The Churches are bound 
 to retain the full possession of the rights and priv- 
 ileges committed to them by Christ. They have 
 as little authority to diminish, as to increase them. 
 Acquiescing in the wisdom of the divine plan, and 
 grateful for the advantages it secures, they should 
 firmly resist every invasion of its supremacy, or vio- 
 lation of its spirit. 
 
 The divine constitution of the Churches is equal- 
 ly illustrative of the wisdom and the condescension 
 of the Redeemer. In committing the government 
 of his chosen people to themselves, he has graciously
 
 68 CHDRCH POLITY. 
 
 evinced his confidence in their fidelity and love. 
 And this confidence has not, usually, been betrayed. 
 The enormous evils which, under the guise of Chris- 
 tianity, have cursed the Church and the world, were 
 the legitimate fruits of priestcraft, prelacy, and hie- 
 rarchal domination. The great body of the people, 
 when left to themselves, have always retained their 
 loyalty and love to their invisible king. 
 
 1. Every Christian Church possesses the right of 
 discipline, formative and corrective. With its di- 
 vine constitution in its hands, defining the qualifica- 
 tions which entitle to membership, it is its province to 
 determine as to the possession of those qualifications, 
 in the case of every applicant. Its nature as a vol- 
 untary society, involves the right to admit and to 
 exclude. Primitive Christians constituted a volun- 
 tary compact ; they gave themselves first to the 
 Lord, and then to one another ; and were always 
 addressed as those who had decided for themselves 
 on the solemn subject of adherence to Christ. 
 
 The fundamental principles of Church discipline 
 are laid down in Matt. 18: 15: 18. Here the 
 Saviour enjoins the course to be pursued towards an 
 offending brother, and designates " the Church" as 
 
 O O 
 
 the tribunal of ultimate appeal. What, then, is the 
 Church? The context affords a satisfactory reply. 
 " Where two or three are gathered together in my 
 name, there am I." This is the Church to which
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 69 
 
 Christ alludes. It is gathered in his name, and 
 blessed with his presence ; and is, therefore, compe- 
 tent to decide a question involving the interests 
 of his cause. The Scriptures recognize no higher 
 authority. It is worthy of remark that in the or- 
 ganization of this ecclesiastical court for the trial of 
 offences, the officers of the Church are not even 
 mentioned. Their presence is not considered indis- 
 pensable. " No officer is here. It is not the 
 Church clerk, nor the parties that have neglected to 
 summon him. The Church's Head, the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, has left him out." * 
 
 To evade the force of these remarks, and take 
 from the people the discipline of the Church, it is 
 contended that the word, in this place, refers to the 
 officers or representatives of the Church, f But, 
 surely, nothing but the most imperative critical ne- 
 cessity would justify such an unusual interpretation : 
 an interpretation which, so far from being demanded 
 by the exigency of the case, is positively excluded. 
 Some of the best critics, even among Episcopalians, 
 sustain this, the natural and usual explanation of 
 the passage.J The correctness of this interpretation 
 
 Curtis, Bib. Episc. p. 145. 
 
 t Smyth, Eccl. Catech. 1, 1, 6. Dr. Miller, Presbyteri- 
 anism, p. 58. 
 
 J " The Church or particular community of which he is a 
 member." Bland, Bloomficld. The old English versions 
 of 1539 and 1541 render : " Tell it to the congregation."
 
 70 CHURCH I'OLITY. 
 
 is supported by the directions which were subse- 
 quently given to the Churches by the apostles. 
 Eora. 16 : 17 ; I Cor. 5 : 913 ; II Thess. 3 : 
 6, 14, 15. If the reader will turn to those passages 
 of Scripture, he will see that they recognize the right 
 of the Churches to discipline offenders, and demand 
 its exercise. 
 
 If any thing further were necessary to vindicate 
 the rights of God's people, and sustain them against 
 the assumptions of clerical supremacy, it would seem 
 that the case of the Corinthian Church is unambigu- 
 ous and decisive. On an occasion which demanded 
 the most stringent application of corrective discipline, 
 even an apostle does not venture to trench upon the 
 prerogatives of the brotherhood. He does not inter- 
 fere, in virtue of his apostolic authority, to coerce 
 them ; he does not address their officers ; but takes 
 occasion, in an epistle " to the Church of God 
 which is at Corinth," to suggest a proper method 
 of procedure. ' In the name of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, when ye are gathered together and my spirit, 
 with the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver 
 such an one unto Satan [i. e. to cast him out of the 
 Church and send him back to the world, which is 
 the kingdom of Satan.] Purge out, therefore, the 
 old leaven." I Cor. 5 : 47, 13. The faithful 
 exercise of discipline in this case, seems to have been 
 blessed by God to the restoration of the Church's
 
 CHURCH POLITV. 71 
 
 purity and peace. The . incestuous person was led 
 to repentance. The apostle again tenders the breth- 
 ren his advice. " Sufficient to such a man is this 
 punishment, which was inflicted of many, [that is 
 excommunication by the majority of the Church] so 
 that ye ought, rather, to forgive him and comfort 
 him. Wherefore I beseech you that ye would con- 
 firm your love to him." II Cor. 2 : 611. " The 
 apostle does not here," observes Punchard, " speak 
 as one having alone the key of the Corinthian 
 Church ; but contrariwise, as one who recognized 
 the power ' of the many' to act in the matter. He 
 does not command the Church to restore the peni- 
 tent, but he ' beseeches 1 them : much less does he 
 restore the excommunicated person by the authority 
 vested in himself as a minister of the gospel of 
 Christ." * The tone of rebuke with which the 
 apostle addressed the Church, not its officers, shows 
 that the responsibility rested with them, and that 
 they were chargeable with gross dereliction of duty. 
 Had this not been the case, his censure would have 
 been equally unjust and unkind. t 
 
 The Christian system involves a provision of 
 mercy for the human race, irrespective of natural 
 distinctions. It is the divinely appointed remedy 
 
 * Congregationalism, p. 65. Haldane, p. 346. 
 f Coleman, Prim. Ch., ch. 5, p. 90. Bacon, Manual, p. 
 22. Walker, Church Discipline, $ 10. King, ch. 7, 3.
 
 72 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 for guilt and depravity ; and as those are the univer- 
 sal characteristics of our fallen race, it proffers its 
 redeeming and sanctifying grace to woman its well 
 as to man. But it is no part of its design to dis- 
 turb the natural relation of the sexes, or obliterate 
 the distinctions which the Creator has himself ap- 
 pointed. Hence, in the organization of the Church 
 it has pleased divine wisdom to sanction and perpe- 
 tuate the subordination of woman to man, by exclud- 
 ing her from any share in the administration of its 
 government. To woman was assigned the distin- 
 guishing honor of giving birth to the Saviour of 
 mankind ; and this fact alone is sufficient to redeem 
 Christianity from the imputation of depreciating or 
 slighting the sex, even though it confers upon her 
 no other prerogatives in the church than silence, 
 obedience, and the personal illustration of the 
 graces appropriate to her high vocation. " Let 
 the woman learn in silence with all subjection. 
 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp 
 authority over the man, but to be in silence." 1 
 Tim2: 11-12. This passage, compared with 1 Cor. 
 14 : 34, amounts to a total exclusion of the sex 
 from the public instruction and government of the 
 Church.* It has been supposed that 1 Cor. 11 : 
 5, conflicts with the other passage of the epistle to 
 which I have referred. "We must account for this 
 
 * Vid. Macknight and Bloomfield, in loc.
 
 CHUUCI1 POLITY. 73 
 
 apparent contradiction," says Neauder, " by sup. 
 po.sing that Paul, in the second passage, (1 Cor. 
 11: 5,) cited an instance of what occurred in the 
 Corinthian Church, and reserved his censures for 
 another place.* For Mr. Mercer's views, which 
 accord with my own, with respect to the participa- 
 tion of females in the government of the Church, 
 see his Memoirs by Rev. C. D. Mallary, App. p. 
 447. The Discipline of the Charleston Association, 
 p. 132, declares that " female members are exclud- 
 ed from all share of rule or government in the 
 Church." Some of our Churches practise other- 
 wise. Mr. Punchard says: "It is generally 
 thought desirable that the female members of a 
 Church should be present at the transaction of all 
 ordinary business, for their satisfaction and instruc- 
 tion ; but it is utterly inconsistent with established 
 usage, for females to take any part in business 
 transactions." p. 170. f This unscriptural custom 
 
 * Planting of the Church, p. 38. "We have an examp.e 
 of the same method of teaching in ch. 8. T. Grantham 
 thus explains the passage, " Every woman prayingor proph- 
 esying," &c. He says : " The whole Church is said to do 
 a thing, when it is actually performed by one person or a 
 few," cf. ch. 14 : 23, 24. Hence a woman is said to pray, 
 when she does so through the person who prays in tht 
 Church. Christianismus Primitivus, Part II. B. III. c. 7, 
 2 London, 1678. 
 
 t Benedict, History Baptist, 2, p. 472. " There were 
 some fanatical sects in the ancient Church, such as the 
 
 7
 
 74 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 originated, probably, in that spurious delicacy which 
 induces some ministers, on baptismal occasions, to 
 administer the ordinance to the women first, a spe- 
 cies of refinement which partakes more of modern 
 chivalry than primitive Christianity. Women who 
 appreciate their true position will decline the honor. 
 
 2. A Church possesses the right to choose its own 
 officers. 
 
 The evidence of the Scriptures in support of this 
 position is clear and conclusive. They record 
 instances of the election of an apostle, and of dea- 
 cons, delegates, and elders, each by a popular vote. 
 It need excite no surprise that the position has been 
 vigorously assailed.* The importance of the prin- 
 ciple at stake, justifies both the attack and the 
 defence. If the clergy have been invested with the 
 sole power of appointment, they are right in eon- 
 tending for it. If, on the contrary, the Head of the 
 Church has deposited this prerogative with those 
 whose interests are most intimately involved in its 
 exercise, it becomes them to resist clerical encroach- 
 ment, with the vigilance and firmness of Christ's 
 freemen. 
 
 The first instance on record is the appointment 
 
 Montanists and Collyridians, who authorized and encour- 
 aged women to speak, dispute, and teach in public. But 
 the sentiment of the Church has uniformly been opposed 
 to such indecencies." Coleman, Christ. Antiq. p. 118. 
 * Taylor, Spir. Desp. p. 324-333.
 
 CHURCH POLlir. 75 
 
 of an apostle. Acts 1 : 15-26. If the apostles had 
 considered themselves authorized, in any case, to 
 act upon their own responsibility, it would have been 
 on this occasion, whe.n a vacancy was to be supplied 
 in their own body. But we hear nothing of the 
 apostolic power of appointment. They settle at the 
 outset the principle which is to determine such 
 matters, by committing the choice of an apostle, 
 under God, to the people. The Church at Jerusa- 
 lem was vested with the appointing power. Even 
 if this extraordinary case were an exception, it 
 would not negative the evidence in favor of popular 
 suffrage, which is derived from other instances. 
 These will now be examined. 
 
 In Acts 6 : 1-6, the election of deacons occurs. 
 The apostles call together "the multitude of the 
 disciples," and propose the matter to them. The 
 " whole multitude" unite in the choice of the seven, 
 and " set them before the apostles for prayer and* 
 the imposition of hands." No satisfactory explana- 
 tion of this case can be given, but that which sup- 
 poses that in the judgment of the apostles it was the 
 prerogative of the Church to choose its own officers.* 
 The comment of a distinguished Episcopalian on 
 this transaction is worthy of notice. "The apos- 
 tles, the heads of the Church, prescribed the quali- 
 fications for the effice, the people chose the persons 
 
 * Pnnchard, p. 59. Coleman, p. 56.
 
 76 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 who were thus worthy, and the apostles ordained 
 them to the appointed office. Every Church, we infer 
 therefore, is entitled and bound to follow this plan of 
 
 conduct The same rule* which were on the 
 
 present occasion prescribed, we have reason to sup- 
 pose, were observed likewise in the nomination of 
 bishop and deacons in the Churches."* Although 
 he denies that any "possible authority can be 
 derived from this portion of Scripture to sanction 
 the laity in taking upon themselves the choice and 
 appointment of their respective ministry," he makes 
 every concession for which Congregationalists have 
 usually contended. They insist upon the right of 
 the laity to elect their own officers, but admit that 
 the act of a presbytery is necessary to induct them 
 regularly into office. f 
 
 The position which I have taken is confirmed by 
 the fact that even in the appointment of individuals 
 to less important duties than those which appertain 
 to official station in the Church, the apostles invited 
 the counsel and cooperation of the brethren, and 
 submitted to their choice. Acts 15 : 2229, (comp. 
 II. Cor. 8 : 19,) records an instance of the election 
 of delegates. " Then pleased it the apostles and 
 elders with the whole Church, [at Jerusalem] to 
 
 * Townsend, N. T. Part 9, note 30. 
 
 t Punchard, p. 164. Church Discip. Charleston Assoc- 
 cli. 2. Haldane, ch. 7.
 
 POLITY. 77 
 
 send chosen men [having chosen men from among 
 themselves to send them*] of their own company to 
 Antioch. ' ' The letter which they bore was addressed 
 in the name of " the apostles and elders and breth- 
 ren," evincing the participation of the Church in 
 the Mission to Antioch. f On this point Neander 
 remarks : " It is evident that the first deacons, and 
 the delegates who were authorized by the Church to 
 accompany the apostles, were chosen by the Churches 
 themselves. From these examples we may infer 
 that a similar method was adopted in the appoint- 
 ment 'of elders. "J 
 
 The instances cited above are amply sufficient to 
 determine in whose hands is deposited the right to 
 appoint to / office in a gospel Church. They are 
 clear and explicit. The proof derived from them 
 cannot, therefore, be invalidated by the citation of 
 those equivocal cases upon which the abettors of 
 prelacy have expended so much of their strength. 
 No rule of interpretation is more indisputable, than 
 that obscure portions of Scripture are to be explain- 
 ed by those which are perspicuous. These remarks 
 are applicable to the transaction referred to in Acts 
 
 * Bloomfield. 
 
 t Potter cuts the knot here, by rejecting " and" from the 
 the text, and reading " the apostles and elders, brethren." 
 The design of this artifice is obvious. Church Government 
 p. 291. London, 1839. 
 
 J Pflantz und Leit. der ch. Kirche. 8, 703. 
 7*
 
 78 CHUBCH POLITY. 
 
 14 : 23, 24. " And when they, (Paul and Barna- 
 bas) had ordained them elders in every Church," 
 &c. Attempts have been made to sustain the doc- 
 trine of popular rights, by showing that it is implied 
 in the meaning of the term ordained. Beza went 
 so far as to render the passage ' ' when they had 
 created elders by suffrage ; "* for which he has been 
 severely censured by Campbell, f Many modern 
 writers have followed Beza's example. \ A recent 
 advocate of episcopacy contends that the word does 
 not necessarily imply a popular election. In this 
 I am compelled, on critical grounds, to concur. The 
 term, (which is composed of two words signifying 
 to lift up the hand,) did originally signify to choose 
 by suffrage, in accordance with the custom of the 
 Greeks ; but it acquired, in common use, a secon- 
 dary signification, and was employed to express an 
 /appointment in any way. It is manifestly so em- 
 ployed by Josephus.|| It does not appear, there- 
 fore, that any proof can be derived from this instance 
 in favor of a popular election. With as little rea- 
 son can it be employed on the other side. In a 
 succinct history, like Luke's, it is not to be expected 
 that he should enter into the details of every trans- 
 
 * Quumque ipsi per suffragia creassent presbyteros. 
 
 t Gospels. Diss. 10 Part. 4, 7. 
 
 J Coleman, p. 51. Punchard, p. 69. 
 
 Chapin, Primitive Church, p. 155, New Haven, 1846. 
 
 || Antiq. 1, 13, 2, 2.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 79 
 
 action which he records. It is sufficient that he 
 has furnished us with indubitable instances of elec- 
 tion to office by the suffrages of the brethren. All 
 other cases must be settled in conformity with the 
 principle there laid down or exemplified, so that 
 wherever he informs us that the apostles ordained 
 elders, it is to be understood that it was with the 
 consent and concurrence of the people.* 
 
 On this point it has been well remarked by Hal- 
 dane: "That the pastoral relation between teach- 
 ers or pastors and a church can only be formed by 
 mutual consent, is not only manifest from the con- 
 duct of the Apostles recorded in the Scriptures, but 
 is necessarily implied in the nature of this relation, 
 considered in every view. It is not less absurd to 
 maintain, that because we have no direct example 
 of a church choosing its own elders, that this matter 
 is left undetermined, than it would be to argue, that 
 since the word of God has not declared the marriage 
 union is to be entered into by mutual choice, it is 
 doubtful whether this be required. Such obvious 
 principles as necessarily result from our nature and 
 
 * " When Paul gives Titus power to appoint rulers of 
 the Church," says Neander, " who had the requisite quali- 
 ties, nothing is thereby determined as to the nature of the 
 election ; it does not necessarily follow that an election by 
 the Church itself is absolutely excluded." Church Hist., 
 p. 108, Augusti. in Coleman. Antiq. p. 131. Neander, in 
 Coleman's Prim. Ch. Introduction, p. 10.
 
 80 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 circumstances, are frequently taken for granted in 
 Scripture." * 
 
 The evidence in support of this position is so 
 clear and full that it is admitted by the highest 
 authorities in ecclesiastical history. 
 
 " In those primitive times each Christian Church 
 was composed of the people, the presiding officers, 
 and the assistants or deacons. . . The highest au- 
 thority was in the people, or the whole body of 
 Christians. . . The assembled people, therefore, 
 elected their own rulers and teachers, or by their 
 authoritative consent, received them, when nomi- 
 nated to them. They also, by their suffrages, re- 
 jected or confirmed the laws that were proposed by 
 their rulers, in their assemblies ; they excluded prof- 
 ligate and lapsed brethren, and restored them ; they 
 decided the controversies and disputes that arose ; 
 they heard and determined the causes of presbyters 
 and deacons ; in a word, the people did everything, 
 that is proper for those in whom the supreme power 
 of the community is vested." Mosheim, Ch Hist. 
 I. pp. 82, 143. 
 
 " Each communicant, as member of the Church, 
 had the right of taking part in all the transactions 
 of that body, especially in the choice of the clergy, 
 and in the discipline of the Church." Augusti, in 
 Coleman's Antiq. p. 60. See also chap. 5. 
 
 * View Soc. Worship, p. 210.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 81 
 
 ' ; In ancient times there was not any small Church 
 which had not a suffrage in the choice of its pastor." 
 Barrow on the Pope's Supremacy, Supp. 6, 12. 
 
 " In the earliest government of the first Christian 
 society, that of Jerusalem, not the elders only, but 
 the whole Church, were associated with the Apos- 
 tles." Waddington, Ch. Hist. p. 41. 
 
 "As it is plain, by the general epistles, that all 
 Church power was in the people, so we find them, 
 before these were written, exercising this power." 
 Tindal, Rights of the Christian Church, chap. 4, 
 46, quoted in Hanbury's Historical Memorials, I. 
 p. 9. London, 1839. 
 
 " The discipline of Christian Churches was prim- 
 itively popular. ' ' Harrington, Popular Government, 
 B. 2, chap. 5.* 
 
 3. It is the right and duty of a Church to inter- 
 pret for itself the laws of Christ, and to enforce 
 obedience, on the part of its members, to the system 
 of faith and practice which it derives from the word 
 of God. 
 
 ' ' The Socinians hold that, as the Scriptures are 
 the rule of faith, the essential articles of faith are 
 so few, so simple, and so easily gathered out of clear 
 explicit passages, that it is impossible for any man 
 
 * So also Hallman, Kirchenverfassung, S. 21, 196. Cur- 
 tis, Bib. Episc. p. 129. Burton, Church Hist., ch. 12, p. 
 262. Punchard, Hist, of Congregat. ch 10.
 
 82 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 who has the exercise of his reason to miss them ; 
 that all mistakes and differences of opinion amongst 
 those who search the Scriptures, respect points which 
 are not essential, and concerning which it is both 
 vain and hurtful to try to establish an uniformity of 
 opinion ; that it is in all cases a sufficient declaration 
 of Christian faith to say that we believe the Scrip- 
 tures ; that no harm can arise from allowing every 
 man to interpret the Scriptures as he pleases ; and 
 that, as Scripture may be sufficiently understood for 
 the purposes of salvation, without any foreign as- 
 sistance, all creeds and confessions of faith, com- 
 posed and prescribed by human authority, are an 
 encroachment upon the prerogative of the Supreme 
 Teacher, a# invasion of the right of private judg- 
 ment, and a pernicious attempt to substitute the 
 commandments of men in place of the doctrine of 
 God. According to this plan, there is left to the 
 Church, and its ministers, in their teaching, merely 
 the office of exhortation." * 
 
 Such is the substance of the argument against 
 human creeds, against the right of a Church to 
 maintain its own views of divine truth, and require 
 a concurrence in them on the part of all who are 
 received to its fellowship. This position of the So- 
 cinians, the effect of a violent reaction against the 
 extreme doctrine of the Papists, on the subject of 
 
 * Hill's Divinity, p. 754.
 
 CHURCH POLITT. 88 
 
 tradition and church power, has never received the 
 sanction of the great body of Protestants, who have 
 insisted, both by precept and practice, upon the right 
 and duty of a Church to set forth the main articles 
 of its belief, in what is usually called a confession of 
 faith. This has been the practice of the Baptists, 
 both in their primary organizations, as churches, and 
 in their general combinations for the spread of the 
 Redeemer's kingdom. The Baptists in Great Britr 
 ain, through the elders and brethren of upwards of 
 a hundred churches, put forth, in the year 1689, a 
 confession of faith, generally known as the Century 
 Confession, together with a Catechism for the use 
 of the young. These were adopted by the Phila- 
 delphia Association, in this country, in 1742, and 
 subsequently by the Charleston, Savannah River, 
 and other Associations. As Associations are com- 
 posed of delegates from the Churches, their acts 
 merely expressed the will of these bodies. The 
 General (Arminian) Baptists of Great Britain 
 published their confession of faith in 1663.* 
 
 * The Century Confession was republished, with other 
 valuable matter, by Rev. D. Sheppard, Charleston, 1831. It 
 coincides in doctrine with the Westminster Confession, from 
 which, indeed, it was taken ; and this latter was designed 
 to be an exhibition of the faith of English Protestantism. 
 "Vid. Dr. Smyth's Hist. "Westm. Assembly, Sec. 2. The 
 copy of the Baptist Catechism in my possession, which is 
 in fact the Shorter Catechism of the Assembly, adapted to 
 our own views, in certain particulars, was published in
 
 84 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 The Century Confession embraces the following 
 doctrines : The unity of God ; the existence of 
 three equal persons in the Godhead ; the just con- 
 demnation and total depravity of all mankind by the 
 fall of our first parents ; eternal, personal, and uncon- 
 ditional election ; the proper divinity of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ ; the necessity of his atonement, and 
 its special relation to the sins of the elect only ; 
 justification by the imputed righteousness of Christ 
 alone ; effectual calling ; perseverance of the saints ; 
 believers' baptism by immersion only ; the Lord's 
 Supper, a privilege peculiar to baptized believers, 
 regularly admitted to Church fellowship ; the resur- 
 rection of the body and general judgment ; the final 
 happiness of the saints, and misery of the wicked, 
 alike interminable ; the obligation of every intelli- 
 gent creature to love God supremely, to believe 
 what God says, and practise what God commands ; 
 and the divine inspiration of the Old and New Tes- 
 taments, as the complete and infallible rule of faith 
 and practice.* 
 
 Charleston, S. C., 1813. The Confession of the General 
 Baptists, entitled, " A brief Confession or Declaration of 
 Faith, set forth by an Assembly of Messengers, Elders, and 
 Brethren of the Baptized Churches," may be seen in Grant- 
 ham's Christianismus Primitivus. London, 1678. 
 
 * The above brief compend of doctrine was drawn up by 
 the Rev. Dr. Dagg. The following document presents 
 another very excellent digest of the Century Confession :
 
 CHUKCH POLITY. DO 
 
 The reasons which are now assigned for departing 
 from this time-honored custom, are not sufficiently 
 cogent to justify such a course, especially as our 
 churches are as much as ever exposed to the irrup- 
 tion of a lax or false theology. It has been observ- 
 
 ARTICLES OF FAITH 
 
 Of the Mississippi River Baptist Association, adopted Octo- 
 ber Id, 1846. 
 
 1. "We believe in one triune God, the Father, the Son, and 
 the Holy Ghost ; the same in essence, equal in power and 
 glory. 
 
 2. We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testa- 
 ment were given by the inspiration of God, and are the 
 only rule of faith and practice. 
 
 3. We believe in the fall of Adam from original rectitude ; 
 in the imputation of his sin to all his posterity ; in the total 
 depravity of human nature, and in man's inability to restore 
 himself to the favor of God. 
 
 4. We believe that God has loved his people with an 
 everlasting love ; that he chose them in Christ before the 
 foundation of the world ; that he called them with a holy 
 and effectual calling; and, being justified alone by the 
 righteousness of Christ imputed to them, they are kept by 
 the power of God, through faith unto salvation. 
 
 5. We believe there is one Mediator between God and 
 man the man Christ Jesus , who, by the satisfaction made 
 to law and justice, in becoming an offering for sin, hath, by 
 his most precious blood, redeemed the elect from under the 
 curse of the law; that they might be holy and without 
 blame before him in love. 
 
 6. We believe that good works are the fruits of faith, and 
 follow after justification, and are evidences of a gracious 
 state ; and that all believers are bound to obey every com- 
 mand of God from a principle of love. . 
 
 8
 
 86 CHUKCH POLITY. 
 
 ed by a writer who argues against " the propriety 
 of having any human selection or compilation, as a 
 standard of faith and practice " : "If it be said 
 that the compilation thus prepared contains what is 
 in the Bible, the question comes up, why then form 
 
 It. "We believe in the resurrection of the dead, and a gen- 
 eral judgment ; that the happiness of the righteous and the 
 punishment of the wicked will be everlasting. 
 
 GOSPEL ORDER. 
 
 1. "We believe that the visible Church of Jesus Christ is a 
 congregation of faithful persons, who have given themselves 
 to the Lord, and to one another, by the will of God and 
 have covenanted to keep up a godly discipline, agreeably to 
 the gospel. 
 
 2. "We believe that Jesus Christ is the head of the Church, 
 the only Lawgiver ; that the government is with the Church. 
 
 3. That Baptism and the Lord's Supper are Gospel ordi- 
 nances, appointed by Jesus Christ, and are to be continued 
 in his Church until his second coming. 
 
 4. That the immersion of the body in water, in the name 
 of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, is 
 the only Scriptural way of Baptism, as taught by Christ 
 and his Apostles. 
 
 5. That none but regularly baptized Church members, 
 who live a holy life, have a right to partake of the Lord's 
 Supper. 
 
 6. That it is the privilege and duty of all believers to 
 make a public profession of their faith, by submitting them- 
 selves as subjects for baptism, and as members of the visi- 
 ble Church. 
 
 7. That it is the duty of every regularly organized Church 
 to expel from her communion all disorderly and immoral 
 members, and who hold doctrines contrary to the Scriptures.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 87 
 
 the compilation ? Why not use the Bible as the 
 standard. Can man present God's system in a se- 
 lection and compilation of some of its parts, better 
 than God himself has done it, as a whole, in His 
 own book ? Suppose the legislature should select 
 portions of the constitution of the State, and com- 
 pile them into a book, and set it forth as the stand- 
 ard by which its laws should be made. Would the 
 people allow it?"* 
 
 This objection proceeds upon an erroneous con- 
 ception of the nature and design of a creed. It is 
 not a compilation of some of the parts of God's 
 system, nor does it consist of select portions of the 
 Scriptures. It is a digest of the whole, presenting 
 in a small compass, and in the shape of distinct pro- 
 positions, the great principles which constitute the 
 system of revealed truth. In the Bible, these prin- 
 ciples are not merely exhibited, they are expounded 
 and defended at large. Moreover, a creed is not 
 intended to supersede the word of God, as the 
 standard of faith and practice ; for it derives its val- 
 idity and authority solely from its agreement with 
 that word. It is a standard or rule of faith only in 
 a secondary sense, and only to those who adopt it as 
 the exponent of their views. It does not create, it 
 simply expresses the truth ; and is to be viewed, not 
 in the light of an authority but a testimony. The 
 
 * Dr. Johnson, Gospel Developed, p 197.
 
 88 CHURCH POLITi'. 
 
 adoption of a creed on the part of a church indicates 
 not what is to be, but what is already believed. It 
 is an expression of its cordial reception of the truth, 
 and " sets forth in order a declaration of those things 
 which are most surely believed among" its mem- 
 bers.* 
 
 The right of a Church to frame for itself a sum- 
 mary of Christian doctrine is evident from the na- 
 ture of its organization. If " two cannot walk 
 together except they be agreed," much less can 
 professors of Christianity constitute a harmonious 
 and efficient body, unless they concur in their views 
 of what Christianity is. If it be proper for them 
 to have correct views, it*is proper to express them ; 
 and if it be proper to express them orally, it is 
 equally so to express them in a written form. 
 Again, each member of a church is bound to bear 
 his testimony to the truth. But with what show of 
 reason can it be affirmed that a duty, which is in- 
 cumbent on members of a Church, in an individual, 
 is not obligatory upon them in a collective capacity ? 
 
 * Luke 1:1. A creed is not norma normans, but norma 
 normata. It contains the very kernel and essence of the 
 Scriptures ipsa medulla scripturse. Of confessions of 
 faith it has been well said non imprimunt nobis credenda, 
 sed exprimunt a nobis credita. Twesten, Vorlesungen. I- 
 21, S. 296. Or, as Turretine has it, they are norma secun- 
 darice, non veritatis sed, doctrinaivn aliqua ecclesia receptee, 
 quoniam ex illis quid cum ecclesise doctrina conveniat, 
 quidve ab ea discrepet, perspici potest et dijudicari. Theol. 
 Elenc. Loc. XVIII. Qusest. 30, { 9.
 
 CHCRCH POLITY. 89 
 
 It has been proved that a Church is charged with the 
 discipline of its members, in reference both to faith 
 and to practice. In a case of discipline, who is to 
 pronounce judgment the Church, or the party 
 accused ? To this question there can be but one 
 reply. The Church, in the exercise of its legiti- 
 mate prerogative, is to decide as to what is truth, and 
 what constitutes a departure from the faith. But 
 if a Church possesses this right, when an offender 
 stands arraigned before it, it must have possessed 
 the right previously, the right to define its views 
 of Scriptural truth, and require its members to con- 
 form to the same. " It has been asked," says An- 
 drew Fuller, " by persons who disapprove of all 
 church proceedings, on account of difference in re- 
 ligious principles, who is to judge what is heresy? 
 We answer, those who are to judge what is immo- 
 rality, in dealing with loose characters. To suppose 
 it impossible to judge what heresy is, or to deny 
 that the power of so deciding rests in a Christian 
 Church, is to charge the apostolic precept with im- 
 pertinence." * Again: "If a Christian society 
 have no right to judge what is truth, and to render 
 an agreement with them in certain points a term of 
 communion, then neither have they a right to judge 
 what is righteousness, nor to render an agreement 
 
 Works, II. p. 466 Boston, 1833. 
 8*
 
 90 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 in matters of practical right and wrong a term of 
 communion." * 
 
 Such being the unquestionable right of a Church, 
 it simply remains to show that there is an obvious 
 propriety and duty in having " human compila- 
 tions," or summaries of doctrine. " Whether the 
 united sentiments of a Christian society be ex- 
 pressed in writing or not, is immaterial, provided, 
 they be mutually understood and avowed. Some 
 societies have no written articles of faith or disci- 
 pline ; but with them, as with others that have, 
 it is always understood that there are certain 
 principles, a professed belief of which is deemed 
 necessary to communion." f It will be perceived 
 that the writing of Articles of Faith is accidental, 
 not essential, and involves no principle which is not 
 implied in holding them. 
 
 In the decision of this question, regard must be 
 had to the dictates of reason and the lessons of 
 experience. Had the author of revelation been 
 pleased to give us truth, in naked propositions, ar- 
 ranged with scientific symmetry, in a regular system, 
 the necessity of framing such a system for ourselves 
 would never have existed. But he has not so 
 chosen ; and in this respect, there is a beautiful har- 
 mony between nature and revelation, indicating that 
 
 * Works, II. p. 630. 
 
 t Fuller, Works, II. p. 630.
 
 CHDRCH POLITY. 91 
 
 both proceed from the same divine author. As in 
 nature (to select a single example), the various 
 vegetable productions which beautify the surface of 
 the earth, and adorn the caverns of the sea, are not 
 found arranged with reference to their respective 
 genera and species, according to the classification of 
 the botanist, but are scattered promiscuously over 
 the globe, soliciting the labor of science to classify 
 them, and rewarding it by unfolding new and glori- 
 ous views of the wisdom, power, and benevolence 
 of the Deity, so the truths of revelation, the several 
 parts of a beautiful and glorious system, lie scattered 
 over the pages of the Bible, to be gathered by the 
 hand of pious diligence, and reared into a temple to 
 the divine glory. This method subserves the pur- 
 poses of moral probation and discipline ; for the char- 
 acter of the system which each inquirer derives from 
 the Bible depends, in a great measure, upon the 
 moral qualifications with which he consults its sacred 
 pages. 
 
 Were the results of such inquiries always the 
 same, did the various bodies which profess our com- 
 mon religion hold the same sentiments, specific 
 Articles of Faith might be dispensed with ; but when 
 it is remembered that these bodies, although they 
 take their position upon a common platform the 
 word of God profess diverse and even opposite 
 sentiments, the necessity of such articles is evinced
 
 92 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 by the most plain and cogent considerations. Our 
 Lord warned his disciples against false prophets, who 
 would come in sheep's clothing, while inwardly they 
 were ravening wolves. The Apostles witnessed the 
 fulfilment of his predictions; and their epistles 
 abound with complaints of false teachers, who cor- 
 rupted the word of God, brought in damnable here- 
 sies, subverted whole houses, and wrested the Scrip- 
 tures to their own destruction.* Against these, 
 Christians are exhorted to "contend earnestly for 
 the faith once delivered to the saints," and to be on 
 their guard against " the sleight of men and cun- 
 ning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to de- 
 ceive." | These and similar directions " teach 
 clearly that an acknowledgment of the truth of 
 Scripture is not a sufficient security for soundness 
 of faith, because they state a perversion of Scripture 
 by those who have received it, as not only a possible 
 case, but as a case which then actually existed ; and 
 consequently they imply that it is lawful for the 
 ministers of religion (and the churches) to employ 
 some additional guard to that ' form of sound words,' 
 which they are required to hold fast and defend." J 
 These observations expose the futility of the demand 
 
 * Matt. 6:5. 2 Cor. 2 : 17. 2 Tim. 2 : 18. Titus 1 : 11. 
 2 Peter 3 : 3-16. 1 John 4 : 6. 
 t Eph. 4 : 13. Heb. 13 : 7. Tit. 1 : 9. 
 J Hill's Divinity, p. 756.
 
 CHDKCH POLITY. 93 
 
 which is sometimes made, that Confessions of Faith 
 should be expressed in the language of Scripture, 
 or in general terms. " The very purpose for which 
 they are composed being to guard against error, it 
 is plain that they become nugatory if they deliver 
 the truths of religion in those words of Scripture 
 which had been perverted, or in terms so general as 
 to include both the error and the truth." * 
 
 The only plausible objection which is urged 
 against the use of human creeds as the condition of 
 Church fellowship, is that it restricts freedom of in- 
 quiry, and interferes with the rights of conscience. 
 "If," says Andrew Fuller, "a subscription to 
 Articles of Faith were required without examination, 
 or enforced by civil penalties, it would be an un- 
 warrantable impositition on the rights of conscience. 
 But if an explicit agreement in what may be deem- 
 ed fundamental principles be judged essential to 
 fellowship, this is only requiring that a man appear 
 to be a Christian, before he can have a right to be 
 treated as such. Suppose it were required of a 
 Jew or an infidel, before he is admitted to the Lord's 
 Supper (which either might be disposed to solicit 
 for some worldly purpose) , that he must previously 
 
 * Hill, p. 760. It is well known from the history of her- 
 esy, that the use of Scripture language, in a sense opposed 
 to orthodoxy, is one of the most common disguises of 
 errorists ; and as to the use of general terms, it has been 
 the refuge of heresy in all ages.
 
 94 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 become a believer. Should we thereby impose Christ- 
 ianity upon him ? He might claim the right of 
 private judgment, and deem such a requisition in- 
 compatible with its admission ; but it is evident that 
 he could not be entitled to Christian regard, and 
 that, while he exclaimed against the imposition of 
 creeds and systems, he himself would be guilty of an 
 imposition of the grossest kind, utterly inconsistent 
 with the rights of voluntary and social compact, as 
 well as of Christian liberty." * 
 
 The use of a confession of faith, so far from dis- 
 paraging the authority of the Bible, as a standard, 
 really exalts it. It insists upon a correct interpretation 
 of the word of God, a cordial reception of its truths, 
 and an entire submission to its directions. A Church*, 
 rearing this rampart around the sacred volume, guard- 
 ing every entrance with jealous vigilance, and care- 
 fully questioning every comer who essays to gain ad- 
 
 * Works, II. p. 629-630. " The persons most ready to 
 bring forward this objection are those whose system ex- 
 cludes some of the doctrines which the great body of Pro- 
 testants agree in receiving. In their manner of stating 
 the objection, they are careful to conceal their disbelief of 
 particular doctrines, under a zeal for liberty of conscience, 
 and the right of private judgment ; and instead of affirming 
 that a confession declares what is false, they choose rather 
 to say, that by the particularity with which it states the 
 received opinion, it abridges and invades that freedom in 
 every thing that concerns religion, which Christians derive 
 from the spirit of the gospel." Hill, Divinity, p. 760.
 
 CflCBCH POLITY. 95 
 
 mission under false colors and with "feigned words," 
 protects the divine repository of truth against the in- 
 sidious artifices of those who would corrupt it or han- 
 dle it deceitfully. If they choose to wnest the Scrip- 
 tures to their own destruction, the responsibility 
 rests with themselves. The Church will never fra- 
 ternize with them in their unholy designs, nor suffer 
 them to pollute her sacred enclosure. Thus she fulfils 
 her high mission as the " pillar and ground of the 
 truth." As pillars, in ancient tune, bore the writ- 
 ten edicts of the potentates of the earth, " seen and 
 read of all men," so the Church stands forth, with 
 the great principles of divine truth graven upon her 
 front, the living, faithful witness of her invisible 
 king. 
 
 Such are some of the reasons which justify the 
 Churches in the use of definite articles of faith. The 
 custom is thought by some inquirers into the usages 
 of antiquity, to have been apostolical, or, at least, 
 sanctioned by apostolic precedent. It is supposed 
 that the sermon on the mount, which presents a di- 
 gested system of Christian ethics, the Lord's Prayer, 
 the use of the baptismal formula, and the allusion to 
 a "form of sound words," all point to such an 
 observance. But however this may be, we possess 
 incontestible evidence that, soon after the age of the 
 apostles, when the rise of heresies began to threaten 
 the peace and purity of the Churches, it was deemed
 
 96 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 necessary to embrace the leading facts and princi- 
 ples of the Gospel in a compendious system, and 
 present them, for concurrence or subscription, to 
 candidates for baptism and church fellowship ; * 
 and in all succeeding times, the supporters of truth 
 against error have deemed it their sacred duty to 
 bear their explicit and unequivocal testimony, in 
 terms which neither friends nor enemies could mis- 
 interpret ; some of them, in circumstances in which 
 a mere general assent to the truth of the Scriptures, 
 would have saved them from the appalling agonies 
 of martyrdom, f 
 
 The propriety of the course which has been adopt- 
 ed by Christian Churches, with reference to a formal 
 enunciation of their distinctive principles, is illus- 
 trated and confirmed by analagous procedures in 
 
 * Coleman's Christian Antiq. p. 253. " From the earliest 
 organization of the Church, some confession and rule of 
 faith must evidently have been necessary. This rule of 
 faith must have been derived from the teaching, either oral 
 or written, of the apostles ; and may have been earlier than 
 the writings of the New Testament in their present form. 
 Luke 1 : 1 4. Gal. 1 : 11. As the preaching of the Apos- 
 tles preceded their written instructions, so an oral confes- 
 sion may have preceded a written one, comprising an epit- 
 ome of the gospel. From such a source may have sprung 
 the great variety of forms which were known previous to 
 the council of Nice." 
 
 f Mosheim, Ch. Hist. I. chap. 3. Gieseler, I. 49. Mon- 
 scher (Ed. Von Coin), I. $ 12. Barrow's Works (Am. Ed.), 
 II. p. 569.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 97 
 
 other bodies. Thus the government of the United 
 States is administered, according to the provisions of 
 a -written constitution. Under this constitution dif- 
 ferent parties have arisen, sustaining the same rela- 
 tion to it which the various denominations of Chris- 
 tians sustain to the Scriptures. It is not deemed 
 sufficient by any one of these parties, to require, on 
 the part of its adherents, a simple subscription to 
 the constitution ; for this is the common basis of 
 them all. Each party sets forth its own construc- 
 tion of the constitution, and states distinctly the 
 principles upon which it is based. If an individual 
 were to suffer himself to be chosen as a representa- 
 tive of one of these parties, and were then to betray 
 their confidence, by giving his support to the meas- 
 ures of another, in vain would he plead in justifica- 
 tion of his treachery, that the constitution was his 
 political confession of faith ; all parties alike would 
 denounce him as a deceiver.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 INDEPENDENCE OF THE CHURCHES. 
 
 IT has already been proved, that, according to 
 the Scriptures, each Church of Christ is charged 
 with the reception and discipline of its members, 
 the election of its officers, and the general manage- 
 ment of its affairs. This being the case, the inde- 
 pendence of the Churches follows as a necessary 
 consequence. The simplicity of this system of 
 organization may not comport with the suggestions 
 of human expediency. A more close and extensive 
 combination, which should consolidate the Churches, 
 fuse them into a compact and homogeneous mass, 
 and centralize power in the hands of a select body, 
 or of an individual, as the representative of sove- 
 reignty, may be preferred as best suited to develope 
 and combine the energies of its component parts. 
 But if this be the system which Divine wisdom has 
 chosen, it is doubtless the wisest and the best. 
 Experience has proved it to be so. It agrees best 
 with the free spirit of Christianity, and is best 
 adapted to the development of Christian life in the 
 individual. It combines greater advantages, and is 
 embarrassed with fewer difficulties, than any system 
 which human ingenuity, pride, or the lust of power 
 has ever devised.
 
 CHURCH POLITT. 99 
 
 It has been supposed that the transaction record- 
 ed in Acts 15, furnishes a precedent for a higher 
 tribunal than a single independent Church. Writ- 
 ers on ecclesiastical polity have detected in the 
 meeting at Jerusalem, a court of review, a synod or 
 a general council, according to the bias with which 
 they have, respectively, contemplated it. There is 
 no just foundation for any of these suppositions. 
 The case was altogether an extraordinary one. It 
 sprung out of an exigency which could only occur 
 in the incipient state of Christianity ; and cannot, 
 therefore, be pleaded in justification of subsequent 
 assemblies, which undertake to legislate for the 
 Churches, review their acts, and reverse their decis- 
 ions. " In the above case there was no council of 
 Churches held by their delegates. One Church 
 sends messengers to ask information on a given sub- 
 ject. The answer is satisfactorily returned, and the 
 instructions of the Holy Ghost are added concerning 
 points of duty, in which all the Churches were inter- 
 ested. What assemblage of men, uninspired of 
 God, can now say, " The Holy Ghost puts his seal 
 to the decree which we send you, and you must keep 
 it?" The above case then furnishes neither ex- 
 ample nor authority for authoritative councils of 
 Churches by their delegates."* 
 
 * Dr. W. B. Johnson. A Church of Christ, a Sermon, 
 p. 26. Ripley and Barnes in loc. Curtis, Bib. Episc. p 131.
 
 100 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 The independence of the Churches is attested by 
 the highest authorities in Church history, as well as 
 by many other distinguished writers. 
 
 " All the Churches in those primitive times were 
 independent bodies ; or none of them subject to the 
 jurisdiction of any other. For, though the Churches 
 which were founded by the apostles themselves, fre- 
 quently had the honor shown them, to be consulted 
 in difficult and doubtful cases, yet they had no 
 judicial authority, no control, no power of giving 
 laws. On the contrary, it is as clear as the noon- 
 day, that all Christian Churches had equal rights, 
 and were in all respects on a footing of equality. 
 Nor does there appear in this first century, any 
 vestige of that consociation of the Churches of the 
 same province, which gave rise to ecclesiastical 
 councils and to metropolitans. Rather, as is mani- 
 fest, it was not till the second century that the 
 custom of holding ecclesiastical councils began, first 
 in Greece, and thence extended into other prov- 
 inces." Mosheim, I. pp. 86. 142. cf. Gieseler, I. 
 p. 103. King, ch. 8. 
 
 "Every Church had its own spiritual head .or 
 bishop, and was independent of every other Church 
 with respect to its own internal regulations." Bur- 
 ton, Hist. Ch. p. 262, New York, 1839.* 
 
 * Dr. Burton is an Episcopalian. How different the 
 language of another writer of the same Church, who has
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 101 
 
 " Every society of Christians formed within itself 
 a separate and independent republic." Gibbon, 1, 
 p. 273. 
 
 " It is certain that during the first century from 
 the death of Christ, the several Churches -which had 
 been instituted by the apostles, or their successors, 
 were entirely independent of each other." Tytler, 
 Universal History, 2, p. 4. Guizot, Hist. Civiliza- 
 tion, p. 52. 
 
 Some objections have been urged against the 
 independent polity, which demand at least a passing 
 notice. These are : 
 
 1. It destroys the visible unity of the Church.* 
 It has been proved, in a former chapter of this 
 work, that the visible Church Catholic is a figment 
 of the imagination, destitute of Scriptural authority. 
 If this be the case, the objection possesses no 
 weight. The only kind of ecclesiastical unity con- 
 templated in the Scriptures can be as well secured 
 among independent Churches as any others. The 
 principle of Christian union is the law of love. 
 This divine element pervades the bosoms of all 
 true followers of the Redeemer, and unites the 
 
 ventured to a^ptert that " the system of Independency is 
 totally without the remotest support from either Scripture 
 or Antiquity." Townsend, N. T. Part 4, note 2. 
 
 * Dick, Theol. 2, p. 491. Hill, p. 695. Smyth, Cate- 
 chism, p. 103, where, also, may be found the other objec- 
 tions which are here examined. 
 
 9*
 
 102 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 various societies, into which they are divided, in one 
 affectionate sisterhood. No other decrees are neces- 
 sary to perpetuate this union, except the solemn 
 command of their divine Master ; and all attempts 
 to effect the result by authoritative decisions of 
 councils or coercive measures will prove abortive, or 
 at best secure only a constrained and deceptive uni- 
 formity, the uniformity, not of faith and love, but 
 of hypocrisy or servitude. Ecclesiastical systems, 
 the growth of worldly policy, and stamped with the 
 wisdom of human expediency, may dove-tail the 
 Churches together, so as to present a vast and im- 
 posing visible confederation : the power of divine 
 love alone can weld them in spiritual unity, and 
 make them one family of Christ. 
 
 2. Another objection urged against our Church 
 polity, is that it places too much power in the hands 
 of the people. It is alledged that many Christian 
 Churches are incapable of self-government; and 
 one writer particularly deprecates, with pious fervor, 
 the idea of "referring every decision to numbers 
 and suffrages, and placing all that is good, and 
 venerable, and influential among the members them- 
 selves at the feet of a democracy."* It is readily 
 admitted that the Bible system of Church govern- 
 
 * R. Watson, Institutes part 4, chap 1. Mr. Wesley 
 said: "We are no republicans ;" and his followers seem 
 content to repeat the confession.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 103 
 
 ments is suited only to a Bible constituency.* If 
 churches are composed only of such as give credible 
 evidence of having been taught by the Spirit of 
 God, they may safely be entrusted with the manage- 
 ment of their own interests. But when the door of 
 admission is thrown wide open, and merely nominal 
 professors are introduced, it becomes necessary to co- 
 erce and restrain them by powers higher than them- 
 selves ; to curb them by courts and councils, or 
 awe them by a hierarchy. It will generally be 
 found that in proportion to the facility of admission 
 into any Church is the stringency of its government. 
 The Baptists recognize only believers as the constit- 
 uents of a gospel Church and commit its govern- 
 ment to its members. The Presbyterians, who, 
 although they consider infants as "in some sort" 
 members of the Church, yet exclude all but believ- 
 ers from full membership, are essentially republican 
 in their form of government. They elect their own 
 rulers. The Methodists receive applicants to their 
 communion without the requisition of personal piety ; 
 and then excluding them from all participation in 
 the government of the Church, rule them by clerical 
 conferences. The Roman Catholics would cheer- 
 fully admit to the Church, by baptism, the whole 
 human family, and then proceed to erect over then) 
 
 * Curtis, Bib. Episc., Lee. 6.
 
 104 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 a ghostly tyranny, reducing them to due subjection 
 by the rack/ the stake, purgatory, and hell. 
 
 3. It is further alledged against the system of 
 Independency, that it unfits the Church to perform, 
 in her distinctive* $iaracter, and through her own 
 organization, her appropriate duty of extending the 
 kingdom of the Redeemer throughout the world. 
 To this it is sufficient to reply by an appeal to facts. 
 The Churches of the New Testament were, as has 
 been proved, constituted on this principle, and yet 
 within a century after the death of Christ, they had 
 pushed the conquests of his cross to the remotest 
 limits of the civilized world. It is an indubitable 
 fact that, in modern times, Churches founded on 
 the principles of Congregationalism, gave the first 
 impulse to the missionary enterprise ; and they are, 
 at the present moment, acting a conspicuous part in 
 all the great religious movements of the age. Their 
 sovereignty, as independent bodies, presents no ob- 
 stacle to their cooperation in measures of common 
 utility, in education, Bible and Tract distribution, 
 and in general movements for the spread of the Re- 
 deemer's kingdom.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 OFFICERS OF A CHURCH. 
 
 THE permanent officers of a Church are of two 
 kinds : elders (who are also called pastors, teachers, 
 ministers, overseers or bishops) and deacons. 
 
 The Scriptures furnish us with an enumeration of 
 all the gifts which were bestowed upon the apostolic 
 churches. They mention apostles, prophets, evan- 
 gelists, pastors, and teachers; deacons, miracles, 
 gifts of healing, helps, governments, and diversities 
 of tongues.* It is evident that many of these must 
 have been extraordinary, designed to meet the 
 peculiar exigences of Christianity in its incipient 
 efforts for diffusion. That miraculous and prophetic 
 gifts have ceased is unquestionable. So have others. 
 It was the design of Christ to provide for only two 
 permanent officers in the Churches, bishops and 
 deacons. 
 
 It has been strenuously contended that the apos- 
 tolic office is permanent, and that it is continued in 
 a succession of Bishops who profess a superiority 
 in ministerial power and rights over the elders and 
 the Churches. The weakness of this assumption 
 
 1 Cor. 12: 28: Eph. 4: 11. Neander, Apos. Church, ch. 6.
 
 106 CHURCH POL1TT. 
 
 can be easily exposed. The qualifications of an 
 apostle were such as none of their pretended suc- 
 cessors can be shown to have possessed. 
 
 1. The apostles were witnesses of Christ. To 
 qualify them for this important office, our blessed 
 Lord selected the twelve as his personal attend- 
 ants, communicated to them his plans and purposes, 
 and made them the witnesses of his crucifixion, res- 
 urrection and ascension. These are the great facts 
 upon which the Christian religion is founded. It 
 was indispensable, therefore, that they should be 
 sustained by the most clear and unimpeachable 
 testimony. To bear this testimony, and thus lay 
 the foundation of the glorious edifice of the Christian 
 faith, was the primary and pecuftir design of the 
 apostolic office. " He ordained twelve, that they 
 should be with him, and that he might send them 
 forth to preach, and to have power to heal sicknesses 
 and to cast out devils:" Mark 3: 14; Matt. 
 10 : 5. The same view is presented by Christ, 
 after his resurrection. In his last interview with 
 his disciples, he thus addressed them : " Thus it is 
 written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to 
 rise from the dead the third day ; and that repent- 
 ance and remission of sins should be preached in 
 his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 
 And ye arc witnesses of these things." Luke 24 : 
 45 48. So the Saviour spoke, and so the apos-
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 107 
 
 ties understood him. This is manifest from the 
 words of Peter, when an apostle was about to be 
 selected to fill the vacancy occasioned by the defec- 
 tion of Judas. " Of these men which have com- 
 panied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went 
 in and out among us, beginning from the baptism 
 of John, unto that same day that he was taken up 
 from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with 
 us, of his resurrection." Acts 1 : 21, 22. That 
 this was the distinctive character of the office, is 
 further evinced by the account which is given of the 
 labors of the apostles. "This Jesus hath God 
 raised up, whereof we are witnesses." Acts 2 : 
 32; 5: 32; 10: 3941, etc. 
 
 The representation which has been given .of the 
 apostolic office derives strong confirmation from the 
 case of the apostle Paul. He was called to the 
 apostleship after the ascension of Christ. He had 
 not had, therefore, that opportunity for personal 
 observation which was necessary to qualify him to 
 be a witness of Christ. How was this defect sup- 
 plied ? By supernatural revelation. Christ appeared 
 to him on his way to Damascus, and transformed a 
 bitter persecutor into a noble and unflinching apos- 
 tle of his cause. We have three distinct accounts 
 of his conversion and of his appointment to the 
 apostolate. In each of these the design of the of- 
 fice is stated. " The God of our fathers hath
 
 108 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 chosen thee," said Ananias to the future apostle of 
 the Gentiles, "that thou shouldst know his will, 
 and see that Just One, and shouldst hear the voice 
 of his mouth; for thou shalt be his witness unto 
 all men of what thou hast seen and heard." Acts 
 22 : 14, 15. " I have appeared unto thee for this 
 purpose, to make thee a minister and a icitness." 
 Acts 26 : 16. This latter was the language of 
 Christ to Paul in the original commission. That it 
 was understood by the apostle himself in the man- 
 ner in which it has just been represented, is manifest 
 from his own subsequent appeal in 1 Cor. 9:2. In 
 reply to those who challenged his claims to this 
 high office, he asks most triumphantly: " Have I 
 not seen Jesus Christ our Lord ? " Nothing can be 
 more clear than that to have seen Jesus Christ was 
 an indispensable qualification for the office of the 
 apostleship, and that its main design was to bear 
 witness to the cardinal facts of Christianity.* 
 
 2. The apostles were distinguished by special 
 prerogatives, which descended to none after them ; 
 receiving their mission directly from Christ. The 
 
 * Barnes, Episc. Exam. p. 25. Curtis, Bib. Episc. Lee. 
 2. Punchard, p. 71. Smyth, Pres. and Prel. chap. 4. Hal- 
 dane, chap. 7. Bacon, Manual, p. 32. Campbell, Eccl. 
 Hist. Lee. 5. Even Townsend, an Episcopalian, says, that 
 to be made "a witness of the resurrection with us" is 
 equivalent to " being raised to the apostolate." N. T. part 
 9, note 2.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 109 
 
 power of conferring the extraordinary gifts of the 
 Spirit, and the knowledge, by inspiration, of the 
 whole doctrine of Christ. 
 
 3. They were universal bishops ; the whole of 
 Christendom was their charge, and the whole earth 
 their diocese. 
 
 4. We have full proof that no idea of succes- 
 sion to the office was entertained in their own age, 
 or in the times immediately succeeding ; for no one, 
 on the death of one apostle, was ever substituted in 
 his place ; and when the original college became 
 extinct, the title also became extinct. The apostles 
 were the ambassadors of Christ. Having delivered 
 their message, and committed it to writing for the 
 future use of the churches, their office became ob- 
 solete at their decease, and it was unnecessary that 
 successors should be appointed.* 
 
 A fatal objection to the notion of apostolic suc- 
 cession, and the consequences derived from it, con- 
 sists in the fact, that no such succession can be 
 established by historical evidence. The links of 
 the chain are broken, and lost beyond the possibility 
 of recovery. The transmission of apostolic grace 
 is no longer practicable ; for the wires of the mystic 
 telegraph are disconnected, tangled, and, along a 
 portion of the pretended line, nowhere to be found. 
 
 The vanity of the episcopal claim to an unintcr- 
 
 *Eph. 2 : 20. Rev. 21 : 14. 
 10
 
 110 CHDBCH POUT?. 
 
 rupted apostolical succession has been happily ex- 
 posed by Archbishop Whately. 
 
 " There is not a minister in all Christendom, who 
 is able to trace up, with any approach to certainty, 
 his own spiritual pedigree. The sacramental virtue 
 (for such it is that is implied, whether the term be 
 used or not in the principle I have been speaking 
 of) dependent on the imposition of hands, with a 
 due observance of apostolical usages, by a bishop, him- 
 self duly consecrated, after having been in like man- 
 ner baptized into the church, and ordained deacon 
 and priest ; this sacramental virtue, if a single link 
 of the chain be faulty, must, on the above princi- 
 ples, be utterly nullified forever after, in respect of 
 all the links that hang on that one. For if a bishop 
 has not been duly consecrated, or had not been, 
 previously, rightly ordained, his ordinations are 
 null, and so are the ministrations of those ordained 
 by him, and their ordination of others (supposing 
 any of the persons ordained by him to attain to the 
 episcopal office) ; and so on, without end. The 
 poisonous taint of informality, if it once creep in 
 undetected, will spread the infection of nullity to an 
 indefinite and irremediable extent. 
 
 " And who can undertake to pronounce, that 
 during that long period, usually designated as the 
 Dark Ages, no such taint ever was introduced ? Ir- 
 regularities could not have been wholly excluded,
 
 CHURCH POLITY. Ill 
 
 without a perpetual miracle ; and that no such mir- 
 aculous interference existed, we have even historical 
 proof. Amidst the numerous corruptions of doctrine 
 and of practice, and gross superstitions that crept 
 in during those ages, we find recorded descriptions, 
 not only of the profound ignorance and profligacy 
 of life of many of the clergy, but also of the gross- 
 est irregularity in respect of discipline and form. 
 We read of bishops, consecrated when mere chil- 
 dren ; of men officiating who barely knew their 
 letters ; of prelates expelled, and others put in their 
 places by violence ; of illiterate and profligate lay- 
 men, and habitual drunkards, admitted to holy 
 orders ; and, in short, of the prevalence of every 
 kind of disorder, and reckless disregard of the 
 decency which the apostle enjoins. It is inconceiv- 
 able, that any one, even moderately acquainted with 
 history, can feel a certainty, or any approach to 
 certainty, that, amidst all confusion and corruption, 
 every requisite form was, in every instance, strictly 
 adhered to by men, many of them openly profane 
 and secular, unrestrained by public opinion, through 
 the gross ignorance of the population among which 
 they lived ; and that no one, not duly consecrated 
 or ordained, was admitted to sacred offices." * 
 The attempt to prove that an order existed in 
 
 * Kingdom of Christ, p. 128. The argument is stated with 
 great force, by Chillingworth. Chap. II. Answer, $$ 64 68.
 
 112 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 the ministry of the primitive churches as successors 
 to the apostles, and therefore superior to elders, 
 proves a failure. We may therefore consider it as 
 comprising only elders and deacons. These are all 
 that the Head of the Church has embraced in its 
 ordinary and permanent organization. Even these 
 are not indispensable. The Church at Jerusalem 
 was in existence some time before it was found nec- 
 essary to institute the order of deacons ; and many 
 other churches seem to have had no officers of either 
 description. Paul and Barnabas, in their first mis- 
 sionary excursion from Antioch, passed through 
 Pamphylia, Pisidia, and Lycaonia, and planted 
 churches. After the lapse of about four years, 
 they returned through those regions, " confirming 
 the souls of the disciples," and " ordaining them 
 elders in every Church." Up to this period, there- 
 fore, there had been no elders in the churches. The 
 same is true of other churches. It would seem, 
 therefore, that "the officers of a church are not 
 essential to its being, though they are to its well 
 being."* 
 
 The apostolic churches seem, in general, to have 
 had a plurality of elders as well as deacons. The 
 apostle addressed his epistle to the Church at Phil- 
 ippi "with the bishops and deacons;" sent for 
 
 * Bacon, Church Manual, p. 35 Discipline, Charleston 
 Association, chap. 2. Walker, C/hurch Discipline, $ 2.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 113 
 
 " the elders of the Church at Ephesus ; " and Paul 
 and Barnabas as well as Titus "ordained elders" 
 in the churches of Asia Minor and Crete. It seems, 
 therefore, a fair inference that this was their usual 
 practice. Of the reason of it we are not informed ; 
 but the existence of the practice seems unquestiona- 
 ble. Perhaps the explanation given by Elsley and 
 others is the most satisfactory. " In that age," he 
 remarks, " Christians had no public edifices, but 
 held their meetings in private houses. When they 
 were numerous, these meetings, and the inspectors 
 or bishops who presided over them, were multiplied 
 in proportion."* The number of officers, whether 
 elders or deacons, necessary to the completeness of 
 a church, is not determined in Scripture. This 
 must be decided by the circumstances of each case, 
 of which the party interested is the most competent 
 judge. 
 
 A distinction has sometimes been made between 
 teaching and ruling elders. This was formerly the 
 
 *Annotation on the Gospels and Acts, p. 562 In proof of 
 a plurality of elders see Haldane, ch. 7, p. 210 224. Smyth, 
 Name, Nature, &c., of Ruling Elders, p.-38. Coleman Prim- 
 itive Church, chap. 6. Bacon, Manual, p. 39. Wood's Lec- 
 tures on Church Government, p. 50. Gieseler, Church 
 History, 1, 29. Neander, Apostolic Church, p. 35, 92. 
 Milman History Christ, p 194199. " The plurality of 
 ministers over the same church continued, even to the 
 fourth century, to be the order of the churches." Planck 
 Gesell, Verfass, 1, 551. 
 10*
 
 114 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 custom of Congregational churches, and obtains, at 
 the present time, in the Presbyterian Church. For 
 the support of this distinction, the passages of 
 Scripture principally relied on are 1 Tim. 5 : 1.7 ; 
 1 Cor. 12 : 28.* The latter passage is too indefinite 
 in its phraseology to establish the distinction, and 
 would probably never have been supposed to contain 
 it, had not an erroneous interpretation of the former 
 passage previously led to the belief that such a dis- 
 tinction really existed. The passage in the first 
 epistle to Timothy reads as follows: "Let the 
 elders that rule well be counted worthy of double 
 honor, especially they who labor in the word and 
 doctrine." The attempt to establish the distinction 
 in question on the authority of this passage, is en- 
 cumbered with many and weighty difficulties. (1.) 
 The appellation elder is, every where else, used to 
 designate ministers of the Gospel. It is inter- 
 changed with bishop, and must therefore refer to 
 the same officer. The qualifications necessary for 
 a teacher are the same as those of presbyters. It 
 was, therefore, foreign to the design of the apostle 
 to draw the line contended for between ruling and 
 teaching elders, and confine the members of each 
 division to a particular sphere of duty.f That the 
 
 * Calvin, Com. in loc. Smyth, Ecclesiastical Catechism, 
 chap. 3, $ 6. Miller, Presbyterianism, p. 58. 
 t 1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 1 : 9.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 115 
 
 term elder is used only with reference to teachers or 
 ministers of the Gospel, is conceded by many advo- 
 cates of the Presbyterian polity.* (2.) The Scrip- 
 tures connect teaching and ruling together as 
 the appropriate work of those to whom the care of 
 the churches is committed. " We beseech you to 
 know them which labor among you and are over 
 you in the Lord, and admonish you." These sep- 
 arate divisions of duty must be the province of the 
 same officer, unless we suppose that an order has 
 been instituted for the purpose of admonishing the 
 Churches, as well as for ruling and teaching them. 
 Compare Heb. 13: 7,17,24. (3.) The total 
 absence of any directions with respect to the qualifi- 
 cation of ruling elders, proves that no such officer 
 is contemplated in the New Testament. If these are 
 necessary to the completeness of Church organiza- 
 tion, it is unaccountable, that while the other officers 
 of the Church are plainly specified, and their quali- 
 fications enumerated, no provision should be made 
 for ruling elders. On these grounds, we contend 
 that an order of men in the Church, whose sole 
 business is to assist the pastor in its government, is 
 not warranted by the precept or practice of the 
 apostles. 
 
 What, then, it may be asked, is the distinction to 
 
 * Smyth, Office of Ruling Elder, p. 48. Pres. and Prel- 
 B. I. chap. 6.
 
 116 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 which the apostle refers ? The reply is obvious. It 
 has been shown that a plurality of elders was cus- 
 tomary in the apostolic Churches. Many of these, 
 after the example of Paul, labored with their own 
 hands for support ; and as they were stationary, 
 might do so with little inconvenience. Others felt 
 impelled by the Spirit, to make missionary excur- 
 sions into the contiguous settlements, and devote 
 themselves to the preaching of the Gospel. While 
 the apostle urges upon the Churches the duty of 
 supporting all their elders, he commends to their 
 special regard those of them who had consecrated 
 themselves to this laborious and self-denying work. 
 The distinction is not one of officers, but of duties 
 belonging to the same office.* 
 
 An elder who devoted himself exclusively to the 
 preaching of the Grospel in destitute regions, was 
 termed an evangelist, a title which occurs only 
 thrice in the New Testament. Acts 21 : 8; Eph. 
 4 : 11 ; 2 Tim. : 4, 5. Although not located in 
 any particular place, he belonged to the Presby- 
 tery (or Bishops) of some particular Church, by 
 whom he was sent forth to evangelize the nations, 
 found Churches, and extend the kingdom of Ihe 
 Redeemer. As the religion of Jesus Christ is es- 
 sentially aggressive, this class of ministers will be 
 
 *Punchard, Congregat. p. 81. Upham, Ratio Discipl. 
 $ 38. Pictet, Theol. Christ. Lib. XII. c. 10
 
 CHORCII POLITY. 117 
 
 needed until the world is converted to the faith, 
 Modern missionaries have succeeded to the duties of 
 the primitive evangelists. 
 
 A careful examination of the Scriptures has thus 
 led us to the conclusion, that Christ has provided for 
 his Churches only two classes of officers ; bishops, 
 or elders, and deacons. These officers are chosen 
 by the people, and derive all their authority, under 
 the Great Head of the Church, from the consent of 
 the governed. Their position involves the most 
 solemn responsibilities. It is their duty to provide 
 for the welfare of the particular flock which has been 
 committed to their charge ; watch over and feed it 
 with the bread of life, and minister to its comfort 
 and security while on its journey to the celestial 
 fold. They are not to lord it over God's heritage. 
 Any attempt on their part to restrict the privileges 
 of believers, to invade their just rights, and deprive 
 them of the liberty with which Christ has made 
 them free, should be firmly and steadfastly resisted 
 by all who are interested in preserving the institu- 
 tions of the Gospel, as the only Lord and Master 
 has delivered them. " The ecclesiastical office," says 
 Gros, " is a service of the Church (ministerium), 
 not a lordship (imperium), over its members."* 
 A hierarchy claiming a divine right of jurisdiction 
 over the servants of Christ, is as alien to the spirit 
 
 * Lehrbuch des Naturrechts. $ 281.
 
 118 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 of the Gospel, as it is hostile to their moral and 
 spiritual interests. The growth of ambition, avarice, 
 and corruption, its embrace is pollution and death.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 IDENTITY OF BISHOPS AND ELDERS. 
 
 In examining the arrangements which Christ has 
 made for the external development of his kingdom, 
 we have seen that he has instituted only two officers 
 in a Christian Church. In opposition to this, it 
 has been maintained that bishops and elders (pres- 
 byters or priests) are different officers, that deacons 
 are preachers of the Gospel, and hence that the 
 Christian ministry is composed of three orders : 
 bishops, priests and deacons. This is the episco- 
 pal scheme. The nature of the deacon's office is 
 shown in its appropriate place. It is my object in 
 this chapter to prove that the Scriptures make no 
 official distinction between bishops and elders, that 
 these are only different appellations for the same 
 officers. The position is sustained, 
 
 1. By the import of the terms, and their inter- 
 change by the sacred writers. 
 
 The term elder is of Jewish origin, and imports 
 the wisdom and dignity of age, while the other 
 term bishop, which was borrowed from Grecian 
 usage, designates the object for which the office was 
 instituted. " This name," says Robinson, " was,
 
 120 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 originally, simply the Greek term equivalent to 
 elder, which latter was derived from the Jewish 
 polity." * That this statement is correct, is evi- 
 dent from the usage of the sacred writers. 
 
 One of the most unequivocal passages relating to 
 this subject is found in Acts 20 : 17, compared 
 with v. 28. The apostle Paul, in his interview 
 with the elders of Ephesus, addresses them in the 
 following words : - " Take heed to yourselves, and 
 to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath 
 made you overseers, (or bishops,) to feed the 
 church of God which he hath purchased with his 
 own blood." Here the appellations are used in- 
 terchangeably, the term bishop indicating the nature 
 of the office to which elders are called. 
 
 Another passage equally clear occurs in the first 
 chapter of Paul's epistle to Titus. " For this 
 cause I left thee in Crete, that thou shouldst set in 
 order the things that are wanting, [to the complete 
 organization of the churches] and ordain elders in 
 every city as I had appointed thee." Then in 
 enumerating the qualifications of elders, he con- 
 tinues, (as if to show that elders and bishops were 
 the same officers,) " For a bishop must be blame- 
 less, as the steward of God." f 
 
 * Lex. N. T. p. 315 ; Neander, Apost. Church, B. 3, chap. 
 5, p. 92. 
 
 f In the postscrips to the epistles to Titus and Tim- 
 othy, these evangelists are called bishops. But these
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 121 
 
 This position is still further confirmed by 1 Pet. 
 5 : 1 4. " Ths elders which are among you, I 
 exhort, who also am an elder . . . Feed the flock of 
 God which is among you, taking the oversight 
 thereof, i. e. acting the part of a bishop." 
 
 The scriptural use of these terms is so clear that 
 it has been conceded even by Episcopalians. ' ' The 
 name bishop, which now designates the highest 
 grade of the ministry, is not appropriated to that 
 oflice in Scripture. That name is given to the 
 middle order, or Presbyters." * Every elder is, 
 therefore, a bishop ; and " were it not," as Milton 
 has said, "that the tyranny of prelates under the 
 name of bishops had made our ears tender and 
 startling, we might call every good minister a bish- 
 op, as every bishop, yea the apostles themselves, are 
 called ministers, and the angels, ministering spirits, 
 and the ministers again angels, "t 
 
 2. No intermediate officer is mentioned between 
 
 postscripts are spurious, not having been annexed to the 
 epistles until the fifth century. ' Certain it is that in the 
 first three centuries, neither Timothy nor Titus is styled 
 bishop by any writer." Campbell, Ecclesiastical History, 
 Lecture 5, p. 79, where the absurdity of magnifying Titus 
 into a metropolitan bishop is fully exposed. 
 
 * Bishop Onderdonk, Episcopacy Tested by Scripture, 
 p. 12. Waddington, History Church, chap. 2, } 2. Bloom- 
 field, N. T. note on Acts 20 : 17. Maurice, Kingdom of 
 Christ, p 370. 
 
 t Reformation in England. Wks.. p. 19. 
 11
 
 122 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 bishops and deacons. The apostle, in his instruc- 
 tions to Timothy,! Tim. 3 : 1 7, after specifying the 
 qualifications of a bishop, proceeds, immediately, to 
 those of deacons. That this omission was not acci- 
 dental, is evident from the fact that he afterwards 
 alludes to the presbytery, 4 : 14. If these had 
 constituted a separate grade in the ministry, he 
 would certainly have given directions with respect 
 to their qualifications. His omission to do so proves 
 that, in his view, they were identical with bishops. 
 
 3. The qualifications of bishops and elders are 
 the same. 
 
 In proof of this, it is merely necessary to consult 
 1 Tim. 3 : 27 : Tit. 1 : 610. The matter was 
 so understood as late as Jerome ; for in speaking of 
 these epistles, he remarks ''In both epistles, 
 whether bishops or presbyters are to be elected (for 
 with the ancients, bishops and elders were the same, 
 the one being descriptive of rank, the other of age) 
 they are required each to be the husband of one 
 wife."* 
 
 4. Their rights and duties are the same. 
 
 If the terms, bishop and elder, are applied indis- 
 criminately to the same person, it follows, of course, 
 that whatever is ascribed in the Scriptures to the 
 
 * Ep. 83, ad Ocean, Coleman Primitive Church, p. 132. 
 Gieseler, Church History 1, 29, note 1. Coleman. Christ- 
 Antiq. p. 98.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 123 
 
 one, appertains also to the other. But there is here 
 an independent source of proof. The sacred writers, 
 in describing the rights and duties of bishops in 
 some passages, and of elders in others, employ lan- 
 guage which shows that these were not different offi- 
 cers, but one and the same. Heb. 13 : 7, 17 ; 1 
 Thess. 5 : 12 ; 1 Tim. 5:17; 1 Tim 4 : 14 ; 2 
 Tim. 1 : 6, etc.* 
 
 There is scarcely a subject on which the testimo- 
 ny of antiquity is more uniform and explicit than the 
 original equality of bishops and elders. A well 
 known passage from Jerome has already been cited ; 
 and many others might be referred to. It will be 
 sufficient, however, to quote a few of them : 
 
 " It were a grevious sin to reject those who have 
 faithfully fulfilled the duties of their episcopal of- 
 fice. Blessed are those presbyters (or elders) who 
 have finished their course, &c." Clem. Epist. ad 
 Cor. 44. 
 
 " Elders who, with the succession cf the episco- 
 pal, received the gift of truth." Irenaeus contr. 
 haeres. IV., 26, 2. 
 
 " There is no difference between a bishop and an 
 
 * Coleman, Primitive Church, pp. 133 145. Barnes, 
 Episc. Exam. pp. 130 133. The subject of this chapter 
 is discussed, at large," by Dr. Smyth, in his Presbytery and 
 Prelacy, B. I. Turretine, Theol. Elenc. Loc. XVIII. 
 Quaest. 21.
 
 124 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 elder." Aetius. ap. Epiphan. haeres. LXXV., p. 
 906. 
 
 To the same effect might be cited the testimony 
 of Justin Martyr, Chrysostom, and others, but the 
 limits of this work forbid it. The reader will find 
 the passages in the works to which reference has 
 been made above. 
 
 The best ecclesiastical historians and critics con- 
 cur in the view which has been taken of the equality 
 of bishops and elders. 
 
 " I can discover no other difference between the 
 elders and bishops in the apostolic age, than that the 
 first signifies the rank, the second the duties of the 
 office, whether the reference is to one or more." 
 Neander, Apost. Church, B. III. ch. 5, p. 92. 
 Comp. Gieseler, I. 29. 
 
 " The official designations, bishop and elder, had, 
 in primitive times, the same signification." Hull- 
 mann, Kirchenverfassung, S. 17. 
 
 " It is most manifest that both terms are promis- 
 cuously used in the N. T. of one and the same class 
 of persons." Mosheim, Church History, 1, p. 82. 
 
 To this view the Reformers were led, with great 
 unanimity, by the study of the Scriptures. Even 
 in England, Wickliffe and a host of others contended 
 for the original equality of bishops and elders.* Dr. 
 John Reynolds, an Episcopal divine, who, according 
 * Punchard, History Congregat. chap. 10,
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 125 
 
 to Calamy, " was universally reckoned the wonder 
 of his age," asserted, in the year 1588, " that they 
 who, for these five hundred years, have been indus- 
 trious in reforming the Church, have thought that all 
 pastors, whether called bishops or presbyters, have, 
 according to the word of God, like power and author- 
 ity." * 
 
 The perfect parity of all the ministers of the Gos- 
 pel, derives strong confirmation from the spirit which 
 our divine Master enjoined upon his disciples. On 
 that memorable occasion, when the weakness of a 
 mother's partiality menaced the fraternal union of 
 the chosen band, by a request, which, springing from 
 unhallowed ambition, sought to exalt the sons of 
 Zebedee to a position above their brethren, he inter- 
 posed his counsel and authority, and taught them 
 that the path to real greatness and glory lay through 
 humility and self-abasement. He refused to recog- 
 nize any distinction among his followers, except that 
 which arises from their personal devotion to him and 
 his servants. " Ye know that the princes of the 
 Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they 
 that are great exercise authority over them. But it 
 shall not be so among you : but whosoever will be 
 great among you, let him be your minister ; and 
 
 * Punchard, p. 197. The sentiments of the Reformers 
 are exhibited by Burnet, History Reformation ; and Neal 
 Hist. Puritans. 
 
 11*
 
 126 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your 
 servant. Even as the son of man came, not to be 
 ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life 
 a ransom for many." He thus rebuked all aspira- 
 tions after rank and power among his followers, sum- 
 moned them to laborious and self-denying service as 
 the only criterion of greatness in his kingdom, and 
 incited them to the pursuit of substantial honor and 
 influence, by his own spotless example.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF BISHOPS. 
 
 The episcopate is an office ; and involves, there- 
 fore, the possession of certain rights, and an obliga- 
 tion to perform specific duties. If this were not the 
 case, the office would be superfluous, and the officer 
 himself a shadow. As these rights and duties neces- 
 sarily involve each other, it will be unnecessary to 
 treat of them separately. An enumeration of the 
 various functions which have been appropriated to 
 the office of a bishop by inspired authority, will 
 sufficiently indicate both his rights and his duties. 
 
 1. It is appropriate to this officer of a Church, to 
 administer the rite of baptism. This is evident 
 from the commission of the Redeemer to the apos- 
 tles, in which the same persons are empowered to 
 preach and to baptize. Those who were " added to 
 the Church" on the day of Pentecost, were first bap- 
 tized by the apostles. Philip baptized the eunuch 
 upon his own authority, as a Christian minister ; and 
 Paul refers to the ordinance, as administered by 
 himself, in such a manner, as to show that he con- 
 sidered that he alone was charged with the responsi- 
 bility of the act. Every minister of the Grospel is
 
 128 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 authorized, by the divine commission, to baptize. 
 Although, for the sake of convenience, the applicant 
 for the rite is examined before the Church, that the 
 members may, at the same time, judge of his qualifi- 
 cations for Church membership, the authority to ad- 
 minister it rests with those to whom the commission 
 of the Saviour has been delivered. 
 
 It is, therefore, the special duty of the minister to 
 examine the applicant, carefully, with reference to 
 all the points which are implied in a credible pro- 
 fession of faith in the Son of God. As one who 
 watches for souls, it is incumbent on him to deal 
 faithfully with those who seek baptism at his hands, 
 and receive none who do not afford satisfactory evi- 
 dence that they have " passed from death unto life." 
 The temptation to relax the terms of admission to 
 this sacred rite ; to be satisfied with slight or equiv- 
 ocal evidence of a change of heart; and receive 
 promiscuously all who apply, in order to augment 
 the number of apparent converts and acquire the 
 reputation of a highly successful preacher of the 
 Word, is one to which no conscientious minister will 
 ever yield. 
 
 2. Another prerogative of the bishop is the right 
 to rule. 
 
 This officer of the Church is denominated an over- 
 seer a ruler terms which imply the exercise of 
 authority in its government. 1 Thess. 5 : 12, 13 ;
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 129 
 
 Heb. 13: 7, 17, 24; Acts. 20: 17, 18, 28; 1 
 Tim. 5 : 17 ; 1 Pet. 5 : 13. This authority in- 
 volves no legislative power or right ; it is ministerial 
 and executive.* It is of much importance to under- 
 stand the nature of the subjection which is enjoined 
 by Christ to the pastor of a Church. From misap- 
 prehension on this point, many offences have arisen 
 in churches. A pastor, on the one hand, is per- 
 suaded that he is to rule ; on the other hand, the 
 people know that he is not to exercise lordship ; and 
 mutual jealousies arise. He thinks he is only con- 
 tending for the legitimate exercise of an authority 
 committed to him for the good of the Church. 
 They, on the contrary, conceive that in opposing 
 him, they are only maintaining their just rights, and 
 resisting clerical encroachments. He deprecates the 
 confusion which may ensue from the want of pasto- 
 ral authority ; they fear the evils which priestcraft 
 has so often inflicted upon the servants of Christ. 
 
 " But when we turn to the inspired constitution 
 of the Church, and ascertain that a pastor is to 
 execute only the laws of Christ ; that his power is 
 restricted within these wholesome and well-defined 
 limits, all just grounds of jealousy are removed ; 
 he and his people are equally under obligation to 
 the Redeemer. It is his duty to see that they obey, 
 faithfully, the laws of his kingdom. He is to warn 
 
 * Dr. Johnson, Gospel Developed, p. 78.
 
 130 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 and rebuke the disobedient, and, if they prove obsti- 
 nate and perverse, to bring their cases before the 
 Church, for its solemn adjudication. Should it be 
 objected that this leaves the Churches without a 
 government sufficiently effective for the preservation 
 of peace and good order, the only answer that can 
 be made, is that no other government is warranted 
 by Scripture."* 
 
 In virtue of his position, as ruler of the Church, 
 the pastor possesses the right 'to preside at all its 
 meetings. 
 
 3. The pastor, or bishop, is entitled to a compe- 
 tent temporal support. 
 
 It is one of the most obvious principles of reason 
 and justice, that the laborer is worthy of his hire. 
 This principle is universally recognized, in reference 
 both to religious and secular concerns, and has ob- 
 tained among all nations ; for even idolaters and 
 pagans support the ministers of their religion. It 
 was enforced, by inspired authority, in the law of 
 Moses. The tribe of Levi was set apart to the spe- 
 cial service of the Most High, denied an inheritance 
 in the land, and committed to their brethren for 
 support, t 
 
 * Haldane Soc. Worship, pp. 242 248. See an excel- 
 lent sermon by Andrew Fuller, in his Works. II. p, 226. 
 Boston: 1833. 
 
 fNum. 18: 20. Dent. 10: 8. 14: 27. 18: 1.
 
 CHDB.CH POLITY. 131 
 
 As the reason of this law is permanent in its 
 character and equally applicable to all ages, the 
 principle has remained unchanged, under the gospel 
 dispensation. So the apostle argued, when he said 
 to the Corinthians, "Do ye not know that they 
 which minister about holy things [under the law] 
 live of the things of the temple ? And they which 
 wait at the altar are partakers with the altar ? Even 
 so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach 
 the Gospel should live of the Gospel." * 
 
 The apostle here informs us. that the right of the 
 pastor to just compensation for his services, rests 
 upon a divine statute. Of the enactment of it, 
 we have an account in Matt. 10 : 5 16. " The 
 workman is worthy of his meat." This statute, 
 originally applicable to the apostles, was afterwards 
 extended to the seventy disciples ; f an( l Paul af- 
 firms that its obligation is perpetual, having refer- 
 ence to all, in every age, who are called to preach 
 the Gospel. This law, or ordinance of our Lord, is 
 clearly recognized in the teaching and practice of 
 the apostles. " Let him that is taught in the 
 word, communicate to him that teacheth in all good 
 things." J 
 
 * 1 Cor. 9 : 13, 14. 
 
 t Luke 10: 12. 
 
 + Gal. 6:6. 1 Cor. 9: 711. 16 : 17. Phil. 4: 1520. 
 2 Cor. 11 : 8, 9. 1 Tim. 5 : 17, 18, where the word honor 
 means reward, stipend, or wages.
 
 IdZ CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 It is clear from these passages, that a minister of 
 the Gospel has a divine warrant for claiming an ad- 
 equate temporal support ; and to deny it, is to con- 
 travene an express ordinance of Christ. It is equal- 
 ly clear that he is entitled to nothing more than a 
 support. He is to live of the Gospel, not to accumu- 
 late property, and acquire an inheritance among his 
 brethren. Having food and raiment, he ought 
 therewith to be content, and not make his sacred 
 calling subsidiary to his worldly interests. * 
 
 The possession of this right, on the part of the 
 preacher of the Gospel, involves the corresponding 
 duty to give himself wholly to the ministry. He 
 must preach, teach, and exhort ; visit the people of 
 his charge, especially the sick ; be ready, at all 
 times, to aid them by his counsel and advice ; detach 
 himself, as far as practicable, from all temporal con- 
 cerns, and devote his time and labor to the care of 
 souls. 
 
 It has been remarked, in a previous chapter of 
 this work, that a plurality of elders was customary in 
 the apostolic Churches. This, if not universal, was, 
 at least, quite common. Some of these elders seem 
 to have combined a secular occupation with their 
 calling as Christian ministers. Others devoted 
 themselves entirely to the work of the ministry. It 
 
 * Howell, on the Deaconship, chap. V. Haldane, p. 226. 
 Gospel Developed, p. 86.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 133 
 
 is probable that, at that early period, each Church 
 needed several elders; whilst the poverty of its 
 members generally, and the contributions which they 
 were called upon to make to the relief of their per- 
 secuted and suffering brethren, at home and abroad, 
 rendered them unable to furnish an adequate support 
 for these elders. Hence, some of them resorted to 
 secular pursuits for maintenance ; and in thus adapt- 
 ing themselves to the exigency of the case, they 
 followed the example of the apostles. The same 
 course is lawful at the present day. The pastor of 
 a feeble Church may properly derive his support, in 
 part, from some secular avocation ; but he is, in no 
 case, to resort to it for filthy lucre's sake. On the 
 other hand, every Church, if able, is solemnly 
 bound to sustain its pastor, so that he may give him- 
 self " continually to prayer and to the ministry of 
 the word." 
 
 12
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE DEACONSHIP. 
 
 Our blessed Lord enumerated among the evi- 
 dences of his divine mission, the interesting and 
 instructive fact, that " the poor have the Gospel 
 preached unto them." There is much in the prom- 
 ises which it discloses, and the hopes which it in- 
 spires, to claim the attention of those upon whom 
 the blight of poverty has fallen. It is not surpris- 
 ing, therefore, that a large proportion of the early 
 converts to the Christian faith, were drawn from the 
 humbler walks of life. In consequence of such an 
 accession to the community of the disciples, a new 
 sphere of labor was demanded ; since, in addition to 
 the care of their souls, some consideration was due 
 to their physical necessities. To have left them to 
 endure the pressure of poverty, without any attempt, 
 on the part of their brethren, to lessen its burden, 
 would have been a reproach to the benevolent spirit 
 of the new religion. Hence provision was made for 
 their relief and support. 
 
 Whilst the number of the disciples in Jerusalem 
 was small, the apostles could perform all the duties 
 which the care of the Churches imposed on them.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 135 
 
 But when, in consequence of the rapid progress of 
 the Gospel, the Church was greatly enlarged, a di- 
 vision of labor became necessary ; and they request- 
 ed the brethren to select suitable persons to attend 
 to the disbursement of their charities. The reason 
 assigned by them for instituting this new office was, 
 " It is not reason that we should leave the word of 
 God [the preaching of the Gospel] and serve ta- 
 bles."* A separation was thus effected between 
 the spiritual and the temporal affairs of the church ; 
 and the supervision of the latter was entrusted to a 
 body of officers denominated deacons. 
 
 This term, which is now appropriated exclusively 
 to a particular officer of the Church, means a minis- 
 ter or servant ; and was, originally, applied to serv- 
 ants of all classes, whether their department were 
 temporal or spiritual. But as each of the other 
 classes of servants was distinguished by some more 
 specific appellation, the term deacon was afterwards 
 employed to designate a particular officer of the 
 Church, to whom the charge of its temporalities was 
 committed. Hence it is the appropriate business of 
 the deacons, to serve tables. The distribution of the 
 bread and and wine at the Lord's Supper, in which 
 
 * Acts 6 : 2. The brokers, or money-changers, sat upon 
 tables, in the market or other public places. Hence the 
 import of the expression, serve tables, is to take care of 
 money affairs, to have charge of temporalities, alms, &c. 
 Robinson, Lex. N. T., p. 830. Bloomfield, in loc.
 
 136 CHURCH POIJTY. 
 
 they are now employed, is a mere matter of custom 
 or convenience, and forms no part of the original 
 design of the office. 
 
 The nature of the deaconship is thus defined, by 
 the history of the origin of the office. The official 
 duties of the deacons, are the opposite of those which 
 are assigned to ministers ; and the very object con- 
 templated in the institution of the order, was to re- 
 lieve preachers of the Gospel from the management 
 of secular interests, by placing them under the di- 
 rection of others. If, therefore, the deacon is also 
 a preacher, as some contend, the matter rests pre- 
 cisely where it did before his appointment; and 
 those who give themselves " to prayer and to the 
 ministry of the word," are employed in serving 
 tables contrary to the "reason" and practice of the 
 apostles. It is, indeed, objected that Philip, " one 
 of the seven," did preach and baptize ; but this 
 does not affect the argumunt ; for as a deacon, he 
 had no right to do either. The only legitimate 
 inference from the facts of the case is, that he 
 preached as a minister of the word, after he had 
 ceased to be a deacon, and had been ordained an 
 evangelist.* The two offices are incompatible. He 
 eould not have filled both at the same time." | 
 
 As the deaconship was not designed to meet a 
 temporary exigency, but is suited to a state of 
 
 * Acts 21: 8. 
 
 t Smyth. Presbytery and Prelacy. B. I. chap. XI.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 137 
 
 affairs which must subsist as long as there is a 
 Church upon the earth, it is a permanent institu- 
 tion. The reason of the office remaining unchang- 
 ed, the office itself must be equally immutable. 
 Every Church must have a place of worship, a pas- 
 tor to be supported, and poor members who need 
 assistance. It is the duty of every Church to con- 
 tribute to the spread of the gospel, at home and 
 abroad. For all these purposes, money is needed ; 
 and it is the duty of the deacons to collect and 
 disburse it. In many churches, the deacons neglect 
 altogether the appropriate duties of their station, 
 and satisfy their consciences with the discharge of 
 an extra-official matter with which they have no 
 special concern ; the distribution of the elements 
 at the Lord's Supper as if the solemn ordination 
 of men of rare qualifications, by the imposition of 
 hands, contemplated no higher object than the hand- 
 ing round of bread and wine ; a service which any 
 member of the Church is competent to perform. 
 This lamentable defection from the order established 
 by the apostles has rendered the office of deacon, in 
 many of our Churches, a mere nullity, if not a 
 grievous incumbrance. 
 
 In the primitive Churches, the peculiarities of 
 Eastern manners and customs * rendered necessary 
 
 * So also among the Greeks, according to the testimony 
 of Cornelius Nepos, in the Preface to his Lives.
 
 138 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 the employment of females in services similar to 
 those of the deacons. These were styled deacon- 
 esses. They were aged women, usually widows. 
 To these females reference is made in 1 Tim. 5 : 9, 
 10. " Let not a widow be taken into the number 
 (that is of deaconesses) under three score years old," 
 &c. Their qualifications are specified by the apos- 
 tle in connection with those of deacons. 1. Tim. 
 3 : 11, " Even so must their wives be grave," &c. 
 The Greek term which our translators have rendered 
 "wives, "is supposed by the best interpreters to 
 refer to deaconesses, and should have been rendered 
 " the females. "* The expression cannot refer to 
 the wives of 'deacons or of ministers, because they 
 do not stand in any official relation to the Church, f 
 In occidental countries where no such restriction 
 is imposed upon the intercourse of the sexes, this 
 class of servants is unnecessary. Hence it has fal- 
 len into desuetude. " Morinus offers several reasons 
 for the abrogating of this office in Syria, which were 
 briefly, that the services of the women became 
 less important after the cessation of the agapae of 
 the primitive Church, that the care of the sick 
 and the poor, which had devolved upon the Church 
 
 * Macknight and Bloomfield in loc. 
 
 f The existence of such a class is illustrated by Pliny, in 
 his letter to Trajan, who calls them ministrae Ep. Lib. 
 X. p. 96. Comp. Romans 16: 1; Timothy 5: 3; Titus 2 : 
 2; Phil. 4: 3.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 139 
 
 was in the time of Constantine assumed by the State, 
 that after the introduction of infant baptism, 
 their attendance at this ordinance became of less im- 
 portance and finally, that they, in their turn, be- 
 came troublesome aspirants after the prerogatives of 
 office ; in a word, the order was abolished because 
 it was no longer neccessary."* These helps were 
 needed only for a time. The circumstances which 
 required them have passed away ; and as they sus- 
 tained no official relation to the Church and were 
 not embraced in ite regular and permanent organ- 
 ization, no such class exists at the present day.f 
 
 *Coleman Christ. Antiq. p. 118. Punchard p. 85. Ne- 
 ander Ch. Hist. p. 108. Apos. Ch. B. 3, chap. 5, p. 97. 
 Haldane, p.227 235. 
 
 f On the subject of this chapter see King, Prim. Church, 
 chap. 5, 1. Hulmann, Kirchenverfassung, S. 15. Bacon 
 Manual, p. 40. Punchard, pp. 92, 10. And for a thorough 
 discussion of the whole subject, Howell, On the Deacon- 
 ship. Phila, A. B. P. S. 1848.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 ORDINATION. 
 
 It is the practice of all societies, ecclesiastical as 
 well as civil, to induct persons into office by a solemn 
 and formal inauguration. In reference to the offi- 
 cers of a Church, this ceremony is called ordination ; , 
 although the word properly implies the whole of the 
 transaction by which an individual is authorized to 
 discharge official duties. To render it complete, 
 two things are necessary, the choice of the Church, 
 and the imposition of the hands of the Presbytery, 
 with prayer and fasting. It has already been proved 
 that a Church possesses the right to elect its own 
 officers ; and from this principle it has been inferred 
 by some, that election is equivalent to ordination, 
 and comprehends all that is included in that cere- 
 mony. The act of the Presbytery is therefore su- 
 perfluous. If this were the case, and ordination were 
 complete without the intervention of the Presbytery, 
 there would have been no propriety in affirming, as 
 the Scriptures do, that Paul and Barnabus " or- 
 dained elders in every church," &c.* In the efforts 
 which have been made to sustain this position, great 
 
 *Actsl4:23;cfTit. 1:5.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 141 
 
 stress has been laid upon the term ordain, which signi- 
 fies simply to appoint ; * but from the mere use of 
 the term, nothing definite can be inferred, since it 
 may relate to one kind of appointment as well as 
 another. What we are inquiring after is the thing 
 the entire transaction which is included in the 
 ceremony to which the term ordination is applied. 
 This embraces the act of the Presbytery, as well as 
 the act of the Church. Upon no other supposition 
 can the different accounts which are given of the 
 ceremony in the New Testament, be harmonized. 
 In some cases the Church is said to ordain, or ap- 
 point, its officers ; in others, the Apostles are repre- 
 sented as doing the same thing. All this is in 
 accordance with an obvious figure of speech, by 
 which a part is put for the whole ; the initiatory or 
 the consummating act, in this case, being employed to 
 designate the entire transaction. The same rhetori- 
 cal figure is used by the sacred writers on other sub- 
 jects. Thus, the Lord's Supper is called break- 
 ing of bread ; f we are sa id to be justified by the 
 blood of Christ, by his righteousness, by faith, by 
 grace. The use of one of these terms does not ex- 
 clude the others ; in each case a part is put for the 
 whole. On a subject of such importance as this, I 
 am happy to avail myself of the concurrence of Dr. 
 
 * Gospel Developed, ch. xii xv. 
 t Acts 2 : 42 ; 20 : 7.
 
 142 CHURCH POLITV. 
 
 Howell, in the following observations, which are 
 equally philosophical and scriptural. " In the gov- 
 ernment of states, whatever its form, checks and 
 balances between the several departments are, by 
 experience, found to be necessary to secure the in- 
 terests of the parties concerned. They have, ac- 
 cordingly, been adopted by all civilized nations. In 
 the Church of Christ they are instituted by divine 
 authority. We have now before us a striking ex- 
 ample. The ministry have no right to ordain any 
 man to the Deaconship, not previously elected by 
 the Church to that office. The consent of the 
 Church is positively necessary, otherwise he would 
 be a deacon " at large," having no place in which 
 to exercise his functions. On the other hand, though 
 brethren may be elected by the Church, they are 
 still, unless ordained by the ministry, not deacons. 
 There must be a concurrence between the Church 
 and the ministry to create the officer. True, they 
 do commonly concur, but not always, nor is it by any 
 means a matter of course. Similar checks and bal- 
 ances exist with regard to the ordination of pastors 
 and evangelists, and the baptism of candidates for 
 membership in the Church. [That is, the minister 
 may baptize, but the Church is not on that account 
 bound to receive the candidate to membership.] 
 Thus a double guard is thrown around all the most
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 143 
 
 important interests of the kingdom of the Mes- 
 siah."* 
 
 The imposition of hands is a very ancient custom, 
 and was practised for various purposes. It was 
 symbolical of benediction, consecration, healing, and 
 the gift of the Holy Spirit. Its import, when em- 
 ployed in ordination, jaay best be learned from the 
 case of the Levites, noticed in Num. 8 : 10. It is 
 well known that the tribe of Levi was consecrated 
 to "the service of the Lord," in the place of the 
 first born of all the children of Israel. To indicate 
 this consecration, the following ceremony was com- 
 manded, " Thou shalt bring the Levites before the 
 Lord, and the children of Israel shall put their hands 
 upon the Levites. And Aaron shall offer the Le- 
 vites before the Lord for an offering of the children 
 of Israel, that they may execute the service of the 
 Lord." A similar practice was observed when any 
 thing was dedicated or consecrated to the Lord. 
 There is nothing mysterious or magical in this cere- 
 mony. The children of Israel put their hands upon 
 the Levites, to indicate by this symbolical act, that 
 they gave them to the Lord. Such is its import in 
 ordination. The laying on of the hands of the 
 Presbytery, in the case of a person who has been 
 chosen to office by the suffrages of the Church, 
 
 * The Deaconship, p. 65 ; King. Prim, ch . p. 1, ch. 3-4 ; 
 Crowell, Church Member's Manual, p. 106. Boston, 1847.
 
 144 CHUBCH POLITY. 
 
 means nothing more than that his brethren have set 
 him apart to a specific service. It is a public and 
 authentic declaration of the fact. As such, it waa 
 observed by the primitive Churches. When the 
 deacons- were appointed, the Apostles prayed and laid 
 hands on them, thus ordaining or appointing them 
 to the office.* If employed in the ordination of 
 deacons, it certainly must have been in that of elders ; 
 and the Scriptures furnish sufficiently clear indica- 
 tions that this was the case. 1 Tim. 4 : 14 ; 5 : 22. 
 As the Apostle in the latter passage is speaking of 
 elders, it is plain that he alludes to their appoint- 
 ment. 
 
 " It is evident," says Haldane, " that laying on 
 of hands was used in separating men to the ministry 
 in the primitive Apostolic Churches. It was not 
 confined to occasions on which the Holy Ghost was 
 conferred. It was used in ordaining elders and dea- 
 cons who required only the ordinary gifts. There 
 is nothing in the word of God setting aside this 
 usage. It ought, therefore, to be observed where 
 this can be done, according to the example given us 
 in Scripture, "t 
 
 The abettors of prelacy, dividing the ministry 
 into three grades, restrict the power of ordination to 
 the highest the episcopal. But the Scriptures, as 
 
 * Acts 6 :6. 
 
 t Social Worship, ch. viii. p. 264 ; Smith, Presbytery and 
 Prelacy, B. 1, ch. vii. { 2 ; Coleman, Prim. ch. p. 140.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 145 
 
 I have before proved, furnish no authority for such 
 grades. With them, bishop and elder, or presbyter, 
 are only different designations of the same officer ; 
 and therefore no provision is made for the possession 
 of this power by one class of ministers, to the exclu- 
 sion of the rest. As to the notion that some mys- 
 terious virtue some magic fluid is transmitted in 
 ordination, that the Holy Ghost is conferred upon 
 the subject of it, to be conveyed by him to his fellow- 
 men by means of the sacraments, it is utterly un- 
 scriptural and absurd ; and can subserve no other 
 purpose except the exaltation of the priesthpod, and 
 the tyranny of ecclesiastical domination.* 
 
 * Smyth, Presb. and Prel. B. I. ch. vii.-x. ; Apostol. Suc- 
 cession, Lee. xx. note A; Coleman, Prim. ch. pp. 176-198 ; 
 Dr. Woods, Objections to Episcopacy, Lee. IV. ; King, 
 Prim. Ch. P. I, chap. 3 ; Fuller's Works, II. p. 660. 
 
 13
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 BAPTISM. 
 
 CHRISTIANITY is preeminently a spiritual religion. 
 Its germination and growth in the heart are depend- 
 ent upon the influence of the Holy Ghost. The 
 external means of grace possess no intrinsic efficacy, 
 but derive their tendency to confirm and strengthen 
 the saints solely from the appointment of God. 
 None of them are invested with the agency of an 
 opus operatum, a power to convey grace by their 
 inherent efficiency. This is particularly true of the 
 Christian ordinances. They sustain no direct rela- 
 tion to the salvation of the soul ; since the great 
 transformation of character which is necessary to 
 qualify for the bliss of heaven, must have been 
 experienced before an individual is prepared to 
 receive them. They are not saving ordinances; 
 they can be approached by those only who are 
 among the number of " such as shall be saved." 
 
 The New Testament contains traces of only two 
 Christian ordinances. These are Baptism and the 
 Lord's Supper. Of the two, the latter alone is 
 strictly a Church ordinance. A Church is composed 
 of baptized believers. Baptism is indispensable to
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 147 
 
 their admission into it, but it does not make them 
 Church members. The ordinance itself will now 
 claim our attention. 
 
 In the prosecution of this inquiry, it will be nec- 
 essary to determine what is baptism, and who are 
 the subjects of the ordinance. 
 
 I. To a devout mind, it cannot be a matter of 
 trivial interest, that the ordinances of the gospel not 
 only derive their validity from the appointment of 
 the great Head of the Church, but are hallowed 
 and commended to our imitation by his own exam- 
 ple. It would seem, therefore, that the sole object 
 of a conscientious inquirer, would be to ascertain what 
 was the form of the ordinance which was sanctioned 
 by Christ himself. This having been determined, 
 no other inquiries need supervene. The path of 
 duty is plain. Having clearly discerned the foot- 
 prints of his divine Exemplar, the Christian should 
 wait for no additional incentives to " follow his 
 steps." That Christ was baptized only in one way, 
 is an obvious inference from the fact that he was 
 baptized only once. This way it is important to as- 
 certain. A serious and careful examination of the 
 subject is demanded by the highest considerations ; 
 and the temper of indifference which passes it over, 
 as a matter of little moment, can claim no fellow- 
 ship with the spirit of Him who has taught us by his 
 own example, to " fulfil all righteousness."
 
 148 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 There is another aspect of this subject which 
 claims our most profound consideration. Baptism 
 is a positive institution. " Moral precepts, " says 
 Bishop Butler,* " are precepts, the reason of which 
 we see ; positive precepts, are precepts, the reason 
 of which we do not see. Moral duties arise out of 
 the nature of the case itself, prior to external com- 
 mand ; positive duties do not arise out of the nature 
 of the case, but from external command ; nor would 
 they be duties at all, were it not for such command, 
 received from Him whose creatures and subjects we 
 are." The obligation to obedience, in either case, is 
 the same ; but the grounds upon which it rests are 
 different. It is, moreover, the peculiarity of a moral 
 precept, that it may be obeyed, when only the spirit 
 of it is complied with. But in reference to a posi- 
 tive precept, no such distinction exits. Positive 
 institutions derive their validity solely from the au- 
 thority of the law-giver. They are obligatory, be- 
 cause he has made them so ; and they are valid only 
 in the form in which he has thought fit to appoint 
 them. To mutilate or abridge them, is not simply 
 to modify, but to subvert them. 
 
 If, therefore, the ordinance of baptism is a posi- 
 tive institution, resting upon the supreme will of the 
 Head of the Church, and that will is expressed in 
 positive commands, the obligation to a strict compli- 
 
 * Analogy, P. II. Chap. 1.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 149 
 
 aace with them cannot be denied. To alter the 
 ordinance, or substitute any thing else in its place, 
 is not to obey the command of Christ ; and such a 
 procedure involves either a reflection upon his wis- 
 dom, or a contempt of his authority. It is univer- 
 sally conceded, that the use of water is essential to 
 Christian baptism. Immersion in any other liquid, 
 although impregnated with the costliest perfumes, 
 and rolling, like the fabled Pactolus, over a bed of 
 gold, would not be Christian baptism. But in a 
 positive ordinance, such as this, we have as little 
 right to change one part as another, to determine 
 the quantity as the quality of the liquid to be em- 
 ployed in its administration. It is manifest, there- 
 fore, that there cannot be several modes of baptism. 
 Baptism is itself a mode ; the word defines the or- 
 dinance ; and in making a profession of religion, 
 the use of water in any other mode than immersion, 
 is a counterfeit of man's devising, and not a Chris- 
 tian institution.* 
 
 That immersion alone is baptism, is proved, 
 1. By the primary and ordinary meaning of the 
 term. The founder of a system of religion, in com- 
 municating it to mankind, would doubtless select a 
 medium of communication sufficiently clear and ex- 
 plicit to convey his meaning to those for whom that 
 
 * Westlake, Gen. View of Bap. chap. 1. Booth, Pedo- 
 bap. Exam. P. 1, chap. 1. Carson on Bap. Preface. 
 
 13*
 
 cncKcn POLITY. 
 
 system was designed ; and as the Greek language is 
 the chosen medium for the commuication of the 
 Christian revelation, it is proper to inquire whether, 
 upon the supposition that immersion is baptism, 
 this language contains a word that conveys distinct- 
 ly and clearly that meaning. The copiousness of 
 the Greek tongue, and its wonderful adaptation to 
 the expression of the minutest shades of thought, 
 have often excited the admiration of the scholar. 
 It would, therefore, be exceedingly strange if it 
 lacked a term for the expression of so simple an idea 
 as immersion. This, however, is not the fact. 
 
 There is a Greek verb, the primary and usual im- 
 port of which, is to dip or immerse ; and the cor- 
 responding noun signifies immersion. Of this fact 
 we have evidence the most abundant and conclusive. 
 I proceed to adduce some portion of it, confining 
 myself to those who are not baptists in practice. 
 
 Robinson Lex. N. T. Baptizo, to immerse, to 
 sink. 
 
 Donnegan Greek Lex. Baptizo, to immerse, 
 submerge. 
 
 To the same effect is the testimony of Leigh, 
 Schoettgen, Parkhurst, Stephanus, Pasor, Scapula, 
 Hedericus, Wall, Bretschneider, and other Greek 
 lexicographers. 
 
 Booth and other writers have collected together 
 a cloud of witnesses on this point. I shall cite only
 
 CHURCH POLITY . 151 
 
 a few of them, adding some others which I have 
 met with in my own reading. 
 
 "Witsius. It cannot be denied that the native 
 signification of the word baptizo, is to plunge or dip. 
 (Econ. Feed. IV. : 16, 13. 
 
 Salmasius. Baptism is immersion, and was ad- 
 ministered, in ancient times, according to the force 
 and meaning of the word. Now it is only rhantism, 
 or sprinkling ; not immersion, or dipping. 
 
 Prof. Stuart. Bapto and baptizo, mean to dip, 
 plunge, or immerge, into any thing liquid. All lex- 
 icographers and critics of any note agree in this. 
 BibLRepos. 3; p. 298. 
 
 Gomar. Baptismos and baptisma, signify the 
 act of baptizing ; that is, either plunging alone, or 
 immersion and the consequent washing. 
 
 Buddeus. The words baptizo and baptismos, 
 are not to be interpreted of aspersion, but always of 
 immersion. 
 
 Vitringa. The act of baptising, is the immer- 
 sion of believers in water. This expresses the force 
 of the word, 
 
 Hospinian. Christ commanded us to be bap- 
 tized ; by which word it is certain immersion is sig- 
 nified. 
 
 Casaubon. This was the rite of baptizing, that 
 persons were plunged into the water, which the very 
 word baptize signifies.
 
 152 CHUKCH POLITY. 
 
 Bossuet. To baptize, signifies to plunge, as is 
 granted by all the world. 
 
 Turrettine. Baptizo, to baptize ; to dip into, to 
 immerse.* 
 
 Bland. The metaphor of baptism, or immersion 
 in water, or being put under floods, is familiar in 
 Scripture, to signify a person overwhelmed with 
 calamities. Annot. on Matt. I. ; p. 43. Cambridge. 
 1828. 
 
 Elsley. Immersion in waters, or under floods ; 
 called here (Matt. 20 : 22) baptism. Annot. p. 
 193. Oxford. 1844. 
 
 It is thus apparent, that the primary and ordinary 
 meaning of baptizo, is to immerse. This being the 
 case, the burden of proof is shifted upon those who 
 affirm that it means something else ; since it is an 
 acknowledged principle of interpretation, as laid 
 down by Ernesti, that " the literal meaning is not 
 to be deserted without reason or necessity." This 
 necessity must be plain and imperative ; and even 
 if cases could be cited in which the word, in its sec- 
 ondary meaning, is susceptible of a different inter- 
 pretation, this fact would not invalidate the evidence 
 which sustains its primary and usual import. This 
 remark is peculiarly applicable to those cases in 
 which the word is employed in a figurative sense. 
 
 * Booth Pedobap. Exam. P. I., chap. 2. Hinton Hist. 
 Bap. page 55.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 153 
 
 The figure is to be explained by the meaning of the 
 word, and not the meaning of the word by the fig- 
 ure.* 
 
 But the advocates of immersion take a higher 
 position than is implied in the suppositions which 
 have just been made. Dr. Carson has proved by an 
 array of facts and a conclusiveness of argument, not 
 to be resisted, that " baptizo not only signifies to 
 dip or immerse, but that it never has any other 
 meaning." f In this position he is sustained by Prof. 
 Stuart.} 
 
 2. Circumstances attending Baptism. 
 
 A consideration of the circumstances attending the 
 administration of this ordinance, confirms the opin- 
 ion which has been expressed with respect to the 
 import of baptizo. They are such as comport 
 most naturally and fully with the idea of immersion. 
 No necessity exists for departing from the original 
 and proper meaning of the word. Let us consider 
 some of them. 
 
 Matt. 3 : 16. Jesus, when he was baptized, went 
 up straightway out of the water. The most obvious 
 import of the phrase here employed is, that Jesus 
 came up out of the water into which he had descend- 
 ed for the purpose of being baptized. 
 
 * This common sense principle of interpretation, is recog- 
 nized by Daehne Paulin. Lehrbegr. S. 93. 
 t On Baptism ; pp. 13, 79. N. Y. 1832. 
 t Bibl. Repos. 3 ; pp. 292, 293.
 
 154 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 John 3 : 23. John was baptizing in Enon, near 
 to Salim, because there was much water there : and 
 they came and were baptized. 
 
 That the phrase "much water," is equivalent to 
 an abundance, or large body of water, and not to 
 many rivulets, is evident from the usage of John, in 
 other portions of his writings. Examine Rev. 1 : 
 15; 14: 2; 19: 6. It is obvious, that in these 
 passages the sacred writer had reference to an abun- 
 dant mass of water. Compare Rev. 17 : 1, 15. 
 On this point, a learned Episcopalian remarks, 
 " That the baptism of John was by plunging the 
 body, seems to appear from what is related of him ; 
 namely, that he baptized in Jordan : that he bap- 
 tized in Enon, because there was much water there ; 
 and that Christ being baptized came up out of the 
 water ; to which that seems to be parallel. Acts 
 8 : 38. Philip and the eunuch went down, &c."* 
 
 The case of the Ethiopian eunuch is equally de- 
 cisive, in reference to the external act of baptism. 
 Acts 8 : 3639. " They went down both into the 
 water, both Philip and the eunuch." For what 
 purpose Philip went down into the water, unless to 
 immerse the eunuch, it does not appear. The obvi- 
 ous and natural interpretation of the entire transac- 
 tion coincides with the idea of immersion. 
 
 I might proceed to the examination of all the 
 
 * Bland, Annot. on Matt. I. p. 74.
 
 C1IURCH POLITY. 155 
 
 cases in the New Testament, in which the circum- 
 stances attending the rite are detailed. But it is 
 not necessary. If baptizo means to immerse, and 
 is never used in any other sense, an actual immersion 
 must have taken place in all the cases in reference 
 to which it is used. I have cited the instances 
 above, merely to show that the circumstances con- 
 nected with the rite, harmonize most naturally and 
 clearly with the meaning which is invariably ascribed 
 to the word by the highest authorities in Greek phil- 
 ology and criticism. For a more extensive discussion 
 of the subject, the reader is referred to the works 
 mentioned in the margin.* 
 
 3. By the meaning of the ordinance. 
 
 Baptism is symbolical. It is expressive of certain 
 great facts or truths which are essential to the Chris- 
 tian system ; and so beautifully and appropriately 
 does it represent the sublime central fact of our 
 religion, the resurrection of the Redeemer, and its 
 cardinal doctrine, the spiritual renovation of man, 
 that even in the absence of any inspired teaching on 
 the subject, the mind would naturally associate it 
 with these fundamental truths. But the Scriptures 
 have not left us to conjecture on this point. They 
 furnish plain and explicit intimations that such is 
 the design of this significant hieroglyphic of the 
 
 * Ripley, Exam, of Stuart, pp. 62 15. Carson, Jewett. 
 Hinton, and Hague.
 
 156 CHUKCH POLITY. 
 
 Christian economy. They teach us that baptism is 
 an emblem of the resurrection of Christ, involving, 
 of course, its immediate antecedents, his death and 
 burial ; and of that moral death and resurrection, 
 which defines the character of his true followers. 
 This is clearly the import of Rom. 6:4; Col. 2 : 
 12 ; 1 Pet. 3 : 21. 
 
 A few modern interpreters, among whom are 
 Hodge and Stuart, deny that there is any allusion 
 to the external act of baptism in Rom. 6:4; but 
 in this they are at variance with the great body of 
 commentators, as well as with the manifest import 
 of the passage itself. 
 
 Macknight. He [Christ] submitted to be baptized, 
 that is, to be buried under the water by John, and 
 to be raised out of it again, as an emblem of his 
 future death and resurrrection. In like manner, 
 the baptism of believers is emblematical of their 
 death, burial, and resurrection. 
 
 Bloomfield. There is a plain allusion to the an- 
 cient custom of baptism by immersion. 
 
 Leighton. Where the dipping into the water is 
 referred to, as representing our dying with Christ ; 
 and the return thence, as expressive of our rising 
 with him. Comm. on 1 Pet. 3 : 21. 
 
 Hammond. It is a thing that every Christian 
 knows, that the immersion in baptism refers to the 
 death of Christ. The putting of the person into the
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 157 
 
 water, denotes and proclaims the death and burial 
 of Christ. 
 
 Hoadley. If baptism had been then performed 
 as it is now amongst us, [the Church of England] 
 we should never have so much as heard of this form 
 of expression, of dying and rising again in this rite.* 
 
 The practice of immersion is commended to the 
 disciples of Christ, by the symbolical exhibition 
 which it makes of his own sublime and consummat- 
 ing act of grace. With inarticulate, yet expressive 
 and touching power, it speaks of Him " who was 
 delivered for our offences, and was raised again for 
 our justification." It is sad to reflect that Christian 
 hands have mutilated and disfigured this beautiful 
 ordinance, and deprived it of its emblematic import ; 
 so that in our efforts to reinstate it in its original 
 honor, and restore it to its primitive form, we have 
 to contend, not with the enemies, but the friends of 
 our common Lord. I would ask every pious, unim- 
 mersed reader who may peruse these pages, to pause, 
 and ask himself, whether he is not lending his influ- 
 ence to overthrow one of the most significant monu- 
 ments of the Saviour's resurrection. If immersion 
 be emblematic of a truth so dear to the believer ; if 
 it so truthfully represents his own " washing of re- 
 generation and renewing of the Holy Ghost," shed 
 
 Works III. 890. Hague, Bap. Qucs. 107. Crowell, 
 Church Member's Manual, 152. 
 
 14
 
 158 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 on him " abundantly by Jesus Christ, our Saviour ; " 
 and if, moreover, as Dr. Wall concedes, " it was, in 
 all probability, the way by which our blessed Saviour, 
 and for certain was the most usual and ordinary way 
 by which the ancient Christians did receive their 
 baptism," what should prevent all the friends of 
 Christ from uniting their suffrages in its behalf, and 
 combining to uphold and perpetuate this noble insti- 
 tution of our common Christianity? It affords 
 matter of devout gratitude to (rod, that recent 
 events present cheering indications of a return to 
 scriptural baptism. The affusion of adults has be- 
 come an exceedingly rare occurrence ; they almost 
 invariably demand immersion ; and if infant baptism 
 which, by forestalling inquiry, perpetuates error 
 were abolished, this emblematic rite of the New Tes- 
 tament would stand forth in its primitive symmetry 
 and beauty.* 
 
 4. Practice of the Primitive Churches. 
 
 The earliest uninspired records of ecclesiastical his- 
 tory, labor under the disadvantage of being justly sus- 
 pected to be, to some extent, spurious, corrupt, and in- 
 terpolated. Their evidence, therefore, is to be receiv- 
 ed with caution. It is clear to all who have examined 
 the writings of the apostolic fathers, in connection 
 with the productions of the evangelists and apostles, 
 
 * Booth, Ped. Exam. Part I. ch. 3, ch. 6. Westlake, ch. 
 3,4.
 
 CHURCH POLITr. 159 
 
 that their views of Christian truth are entitled to 
 very little consideration. But the allusions which 
 their writings contain to the ordinance of baptism, 
 where the genuineness of the passages themselves is 
 admitted, may be safely credited ; for as baptism is 
 an external act, appealing to the senses, the testi- 
 mony of an honest and unsuspected spectator of the 
 ordinance, is all that we require or have a right to 
 demand. It is on this principle, that we unhesitat- 
 ingly reject the notions of the fathers, with reference 
 to the efficacy of baptism ; while we yield our un- 
 suspecting assent to their testimony, with respect to 
 the external act. The following passages disclose to 
 us the practice of the early Churches : 
 
 Barnabas. Ep. ch. 11. We descend into the 
 water, and come out of it. 
 
 Hermas. Pastor, 3. Men descend into the 
 water, but ascend out of it.* Vid. also, Herm. Simil. 
 IX. 16. Iren. III. 17, 2. 
 
 The testimony of later writers is equally explicit, 
 and is moreover free from all suspicion. 
 
 Justin Martyr, (t!64) towards the conclusion of 
 his, so-called, Second Apology, thus alludes to the 
 administration of the ordinance : " Those who be- 
 lieve and are persuaded that the things we teach and 
 inculcate are true, and who profess ability thus to 
 live, are directed to pray, with fasting, and to ask of 
 
 * August! Denker, VII. 77, remarks : " This passage 
 contains distinct evidence of the custom of immersion."
 
 160 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 God the forgiveness of their former sins, we also 
 fasting and praying with them. Then \ve conduct 
 to a place where there is water ; and they are regen- 
 erated [baptized] in the manner in which we have 
 been regenerated [baptized;] for they receive a 
 washing with water, in the name of the Father." 
 &c. 
 
 Tertullian (f220.) We are immersed in water. 
 Adv. Prax. 26. De cor. mil. 3. 
 
 Cone. Tolet. V., (A.D. 633.) The immersion 
 in water is, as it were, the descent to Hades, and 
 the emersion from the water, the resurrection. 
 
 It is thus clear that the practice of immersion con- 
 tinued in the Churches, from the age of Justin Mar- 
 tyr down to that of the Council of Toledo. It would 
 be easy to cite other intervening witnesses, such as 
 Clement of Alexandria, Cyril of Jerusalem, Basil, 
 Gregory Nyssen, Chrysostom, Theodoret, Theophy- 
 lact, Ambrose, &c. ; but the above are sufficient to 
 establish the general custom. During this period, 
 immersion was the universal practice, except in cases 
 of dangerous sickness. In such circumstances, 
 pouring or sprinkling was tolerated by some of the 
 
 * I have given the translation of Dr. Murdock, in his edi- 
 tion of Mosheim, I. 167. Prof Emerson, of Andover, more 
 correctly renders the last clause " for they then perform the 
 ablution in the water." Christian Rev. VI. 305. The original 
 may be seen in Monscher, Dogmengesch. (Von Coin) I. 
 $99.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 161 
 
 Churches ; but neither of these was ever supported 
 on the ground of tradition or apostolic practice. 
 Cyprian, the great advocate and apologist of affusion, 
 as the substitute of baptism, never pretended to 
 place it upon the only ground upon which it could 
 securely rest primitive practice but attempted 
 to justify it by the " pressing necessity " of the case. 
 In his judgment, baptism was necessary to salvation, 
 and hence, he concluded that " God's indulgence " 
 would permit an abridgment of the ordinance, in 
 the cases of those whom sickness prevented from 
 submitting to it in the usual form.* 
 
 This position is maintained by the most learned 
 and impartial historians. Eusebius informs us that 
 when Novatian received baptism, by pouring, he was 
 " attacked by an obstinate disease, and supposed to 
 be at the point of death ; " f and that his ordination 
 " was opposed by all the clergy, and many of the 
 laity, as unlawful, because of his clinic perfusion." 
 Gieseler, Ch. Hist. I. 68. It was often neces- 
 sary to baptize the sick, and in that case sprinkling 
 was substituted for the usual rite. 
 
 * Gyp. Epis. 76 (69) ad Magnum. 
 
 t Eccl. Hist. VI. 43. Valesius, in his note on this pas- 
 sage, says : " As baptism properly signifies immersion, per- 
 fusion could scarcely be called baptism." I take this note of 
 Valesius from Dr. Sears (Christian Rev. III. 106), although 
 admonished by his inaccurate citation of Eusebius, of the 
 hazard of quoting at second hand. Hinton, Hist. Bap. p. 166. 
 
 14*
 
 162 
 
 CHURCH POLITT. 
 
 Miinscher. (Von Coin) I. 109. Only with 
 the sick was baptism administered by aspersion ; and 
 it was deemed necessary to salvation, unless its place 
 was supplied by the baptism of blood, i. e. martyr- 
 dom. 
 
 Fleury. Moeurs des Chretiens, 5, p. 192. Bap- 
 tism was usually performed by immersion ; yet as- 
 persion was deemed sufficient in cases of necessity, 
 as for the sick 
 
 King. Prim. Ch. P. II, ch. 4, 5, 6. Then- 
 usual custom was to immerse or dip the whole body. 
 Perfusion, or sprinkling, was not accounted unlaw- 
 ful ; but, in cases of necessity, that was used, as in 
 clinic baptism. 
 
 To the same effect is the testimony of many other 
 writers, who nevertheless practise sprinkling, Sal- 
 masius, Pamelius, Grotius, Rheinwald, Neander, 
 Stroth, Du Fresne, Burnet, Towerson, Wall. It is 
 worthy of remark that the same principle is now 
 recognized in the Church of England, although the 
 practice is very different, the Rubric requiring that 
 the "priest dip the child, unless it be certified that 
 it be weakly." 
 
 The primitive practice of immersion is so clearly 
 sustained by ecclesiastical history, that it is conceded 
 by every candid inquirer. The few among those 
 who are not Baptists, who sometimes venture to deny 
 it, are soon overwhelmed by the multitude of wit-
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 163 
 
 nesses, that appear in their own ranks. Some of 
 these will now be brought forward. 
 
 Dr. Wall. Their [the primitive Christians] gen- 
 eral and ordinary way was to baptize by immersion, 
 or dipping the person, whether it were an infant, or 
 grown man or woman, into the water. This is so 
 plain and clear by an infinite number of passages, 
 that as one cannot but pity the weak endeavors of such 
 pedobaptists as would maintain the negative of it ; 
 so also we ought to disown and show a dislike of the 
 profane scoffs which some people give to the English 
 anti-pedobaptists, merely for their use of dipping. 
 It was, in all probability, the way by which our 
 blessed Saviour, and for certain was the most usual 
 and ordinary way by which the ancient Christians 
 did receive their baptism.* 
 
 John Wesley. Mary Wesh, aged eleven days, 
 was baptized according to the custom of the first 
 
 * Hist. Inf. Bap. II. ch. 2, p. 462. We may contrast with 
 these sensible remarks, the refinement of some recent 
 American writers. " It [immersion] is indelicate. It vio- 
 lates a natural and healthful sense of propriety for females 
 to expose themselves in water, with and before the other 
 sex. Though modesty forbids the statement of this objec- 
 tion in all its force, it is enough to say that the sacrifice of 
 female modesty, in a religious rite, is an offering not re- 
 quired at our hands." Hints to an Inquirer. By Parsons 
 Cooke and Joseph H. Towne. Boston : 1842. p. 59. The 
 use of such an argument in support of affusion, presents an 
 instance of what Cyprian might well denominate a " press- 
 Ing necsssity ."
 
 164 CHURCH POLITS*. 
 
 Church, and the rule of the Church of England, by 
 immersion.* 
 
 Bossuet. We are able to make it appear, by the 
 acts of councils, and by the ancient rituals, that for 
 thirteen hundred years, baptism was thus adminis- 
 tered throughout the whole Church, as far as pos- 
 sible, f 
 
 Von Coin. Immersion in water was general un- 
 til the thirteenth century ; among the Latins it was 
 then displaced by sprinkling, but retained by the 
 Greeks. { 
 
 Munscher. Baptism was generally performed by 
 immersion. The baptism of the sick, which was 
 performed by aspersion, is mentioned for the first 
 time, in the third century. 
 
 listen. The rite of baptism, by which the per- 
 sons baptized were entirely immersed in water. 
 Such is the testimony of the ancient witnesses. || 
 
 Klee, Roman Catholic Professor of Theology in 
 the University at Bonn. Immersion was the mode 
 of baptism ordinarily observed in the primitive age, 
 
 * Journal from his embarking for Georgia, p. 11. 
 
 f Stennett against Russen. p. 176. 
 
 J Dogmengesch. II. S. 203 ; also S. 208, where he cites 
 the following passage from Thomas Aquinas. In immer- 
 sione expressius reprsesentatur figura sepulturae Christi, et 
 ideo hie modus baptizandi est commuiiior et laudabilior. 
 Summae, P. III. Qu. 66. Art. 6. 
 
 Dogmengesch II. 231. 
 
 | Paulin. Lehrbegr. S. 224.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 165 
 
 in connection with which baptism by aspersion oc- 
 curs as an exception to the rule.* 
 
 Prof. Stuart. " It is," says Augusti, " a thing 
 made out," viz. the ancient practice of immersion. 
 So indeed all the writers who have thoroughly in- 
 vestigated the subject. I know of no one usage of 
 ancient tunes, which seems to be more clearly and 
 certainly made out. I cannot see how it is possible 
 for any candid man who examines the subject to 
 deny this.t 
 
 Penny Cyclopedia. The manner in which it 
 [baptism] was performed, appears to have been at 
 first by complete immersion. John baptized in the 
 Jordan ; and in Enon, because there was much wa- 
 ter there. The Ethiopian eunuch went down into the 
 water to receive baptism from Philip. The words 
 baptism and to baptize are Greek terms, which im- 
 ply, in their ordinary acceptation, icashing, or dip- 
 ping. It was the practice of the English Church 
 from the beginning, to immerse the whole body. \ 
 
 Kitto's Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature. The 
 whole body was immersed in water. 
 
 *Lehrb. der Dogmengesch. II. S. 147. 
 
 t Bibl. Repos. III. 359. 
 
 JVol. III. 413,414. 
 
 { Art. Baptism. I. 288. See also Coleman's Christian 
 Antiq. p. 27-5, and the citations in Christian Rev. III. 
 99-108. Hinton, Hist. Bap. 197-208. Booth, Pedobap. 
 Exam. P. I. ch. 4.
 
 166 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 The views which have been submitted, with refer- 
 ence to the nature of the external act of baptism, derive 
 strong confirmation from the universal and invariable 
 practice of the Greek Church. It is to be supposed 
 that the members of that communion are acquainted 
 with their own language ; and therefore their mode of 
 administering the rite of baptism affords a very sat- 
 isfactory explanation of the meaning of the word. 
 This has uniformly been immersion. Neudecker 
 informs us, on the authority of the Orthodox Confes- 
 sion of the Greek church, Metrophanes, Critopu- 
 lus, Stourdza, and others, that this is their present 
 practice.* This church has always strenuously as- 
 serted the necessity of immersion to the validity of 
 the ordinance ; and has, in consequence, condemned 
 and rejected the affusions of the Latin Church. An 
 effort was made to unite the Oriental and Western 
 Churches, at the session of the Council of Florence, 
 A.D. 1439; and the Roman pontiff employed re- 
 wards, threats, and promises, to induce the Greeks to 
 accede to his terms of accommodation. Mark of Ephe- 
 sus, who was present at this council, maintained, in an 
 encyclical letter addressed to all the Greek bishops 
 and churches, the absolute impossibility of such a 
 union, and that, too, upon the ground that the baptism 
 
 * Munscher, Dogmengesch. ed. Neudecker, III. 618, where 
 the requisite quotations are found.
 
 CHUKCH POLITY. 167 
 
 of the Latins was an entirely different thing from 
 that of the Greeks.* 
 
 It is a fatal objection to that perversion of the 
 ordinance of baptism, which has become so common 
 in western Christendom, that it is utterly destitute 
 of support from apostolic or primitive practice, is at 
 variance with the general practice of the Latins, for 
 thirteen hundred years, and the uniform practice of 
 the Greeks, down to the present day. Affusion was 
 first tolerated in the third century, on the plea of 
 necessity, a necessity founded on a most unscriptural 
 and portentous error. This error, the alleged ne- 
 cessity of the rite to salvation, gave rise, as I shall 
 presently show, to infant baptism ; thus nullifying 
 the ordinance, both in its mode and its subjects, and 
 evincing the intimate connection which subsists be- 
 tween corruption in doctrine and error in practice. f 
 
 * Klee, Dogmengesch. II. 149. Mosheim, II. 502. 
 Hague's Baptismal Question, p. 17. Coleman, Chr. Antiq. 
 p. 266. 
 
 t The history of sprinkling is as curious as it is obscure. 
 We have seen how pouring was introduced in the case of 
 Novatian, and sustained by the authority of Cyprian 
 (t 258). The passage of Cyprian was introduced by Gra- 
 tian into his Decretum (de Consecr. Dist. 4. cap. 126) A.D. 
 1150. Yet in the time of Thomas Aquinas (f 1274), im- 
 mersion was the more common practice, as we learn from 
 the angelic doctor himself. He gives it as his judgment 
 that although it is safer to baptize by immersion, because 
 his was the more common, affusion or aspersion will an- 
 swer the purpose, particularly in case of necessity. This
 
 168 
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 II. SUBJECTS OF BAPTISM. 
 
 The genius of Christianity is peculiar. Recog- 
 nizing no proxies or representatives between the sin- 
 necessity exists when, 1, there is a great multitude to be 
 baptized ; 2, water is scarce ; 3, the administrator is feeble ; 
 4, the candidate is feeble. A case occurred, under the first 
 head, in the baptism of the Lithuanians, A.D. 1387. (It 
 ought to be mentioned that the first ecclesiastical authority 
 for sprinkling was given by the Council of Ravenna A.D. 
 1311. The case of Stephen, referred to by Hinton, p. 191, 
 seems somewhat apocryphal. Basnagu Monumen. I. Prse- 
 fat V. 4. Robin. Hist. Bap. 429). The circumstances 
 were these : Jagello, Grand Duke of Lithuania, aspired to 
 the hand of Hedwig, the heiress of the Polish crown ; but 
 neither she nor her subjects would favor his pretensions 
 unless he became a good. Catholic. Hence, although he 
 had been baptized twice before, he consented to receive bap- 
 tism again, in Cracow. Many of his subjects followed his 
 example ; and the Duke rewarded each of them, for this 
 pious act, with a new suit of clothes. This was too great a 
 temptation to the rest of the Lithuanians ; they came in 
 crowds to be baptized and get a new coat. Et quoniam 
 labor immensus erat, &c. , because the labor of baptizing 
 such a multitude was too great, they were filed off into 
 separate companies, and sprinkled, each company receiving 
 a Christian name ; as the company of Peter, of Paul, &c. ; 
 and every member of a particular company, bearing the 
 name by which it was designated. Gieseler, Ch. Hist. 124. 
 Von Coin, II. 209. The only persons who opposed immer- 
 sion on any other ground except necessity, were Theophro- 
 nius and Eutychius, the disciples of Eunomius, who poured 
 water upon the head and arms. The reason which they 
 gave for this practice is not fit to be repeated here. Vid. 
 Klee, 11, 148.
 
 CHUKCH POLITT. 169 
 
 ner and the Saviour, it urges its claims upon each 
 individual of the race to whom it is sent, and its 
 ultimate issues are suspended upon the personal 
 reception or rejection of its gracious provisions. Sal- 
 vation is found only in connection with the actual ex- 
 istence of the conditions which it demands in those 
 upon whom the blessing is conferred. The com- 
 mands of Christ must be obeyed in person, or not 
 at all. That one individual should be baptized for 
 another is absurd, as is universally conceded ; but 
 that one should perform for another the conditions 
 on which alone the ordinance possesses any signifi- 
 cance or value, although not so generally admitted, 
 is equally opposed to the dictates of reason and con- 
 science. The principle of substitution is, indeed, 
 the grandest feature of the Christian scheme ; but 
 it relates solely to the vicarious work of the man 
 Christ Jesus, the substitution of the innocent for 
 the guilty ; it does not affect the relations of the 
 guilty among themselves. No moral being can do 
 for another that which God requires at his own 
 hands ; and if repentance and faith are required of 
 every individual to whom the message of the gospel 
 comes, it is manifest that the existence of these 
 graces in one can exert no direct influence upon an- 
 other, nor change the relation in which he stands to 
 God. Christianity, from its very nature, excludes 
 all human mediators, proxies, or sponsors. 
 
 15
 
 170 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 Such being the genius of the Christian revela- 
 tion, if we proceed to examine the character of 
 those upon whom its duties are imposed, we may 
 justly expect to find in them those qualifications 
 which define and constitute a moral agent. If any 
 individuals of our race are destitute of these quali- 
 fications, we may fairly conclude that the gospel is 
 not addressed to them. Infants and idiots are not 
 moral agents j Christianity therefore demands no- 
 thing at their hands. They may, we believe they 
 do, share in its benefits; but they do not come 
 within the sphere of its requisitions. No Christian 
 duty is enjoined upon them, for the obvious reason 
 that they can perform none. The gospel does not 
 require a natural and physical impossibility. 
 
 Baptism is a Christian duty, and is obligatory 
 only on moral agents. Believers are the only pro- 
 per subjects. This position is sustained : 
 
 1. By the evidence of the Scriptures. 
 
 The commission which imparts validity and force 
 to this ordinance was given in the following words : 
 " Go ye unto all the world, and preach the gospel 
 to every creature. He that believeth and is bap- 
 tized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall 
 be damned." Mark 16 : 15, 16 ; cf. Matt. 28 : 19. 
 Here baptism is subsequent to faith, and is contem- 
 plated as the duty only of one that believeth. When 
 this commission was given, the ordinance was al-
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 171 
 
 ready in existence and was familiar to the disciples. 
 It is, therefore, relevant to revert to its previous 
 history, to ascertain the meaning which they must 
 have attached to the commission. Going back to 
 " the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ," the 
 baptism of John, we find that he preached repent- 
 ance, and the people were baptized of him, " con- 
 fessing their sins." Such is the testimony of Jo- 
 sephus, who affirms that John's baptism was admin- 
 istered on the supposition that " the soul was puri- 
 fied before by righteousness." * "Adult Jews," 
 says Scott, in his comment on this passage of Mark, 
 " were the only persons, so far as we can find, whom 
 John admitted to baptism." We search the gos- 
 pels in vain for any instance of infant baptism. 
 Children were brought to Jesus. They were bless- 
 ed, but not baptized ; for it is expressly said that 
 Jesus baptized not. John 4 : 2. 
 
 Such was the state of the case when the apostles 
 received the commission. The practice of baptism 
 was settled, so that even if that commission had 
 been given in general terms if it had embraced 
 simply the command to baptize, they could have 
 had no hesitation with respect to the subjects of bap- 
 tism. But the commission is not general nor am- 
 biguous ; it is specific and plain. The direction to 
 baptize is limited, in its application, to believers. 
 * Antiq. B. 18, c. 5, 2.
 
 17l^ r:m;ucif POLITY. 
 
 The efforts which are made to evade the obvious 
 import of the commission are more plausible than 
 forcible. Thus it is alleged, by a writer who as- 
 sumes that infant baptism was already in use in the 
 time of the apostles, that "in giving directions, or 
 issuing a command, certain things are always taken 
 for granted as being well known, and we only aim 
 to be explicit enough to be clearly understood. For 
 instance, a messenger is sent to the post-office. The 
 order issued is, ' go and bring my papers,' or sim- 
 ply, 'go to the post-office.' The messenger goes 
 and brings letters, newspapers, and pamphlets, and 
 he acts in accordance with the intention of him who 
 sent him." * A command issued in terms so loose 
 
 * Infant Baptism, by Wm. Hodges, A.M., Thila., 1844, 
 p. 168. The practice of proselyte baptism among the Jews 
 in the age of the apostles, by which this writer, after Wall, 
 proves the existence of infant baptism, cannot itself be 
 proved. Dr. Gill assures us there is no mention made of it, 
 either by the Jewish doctors or the Christian fathers of the 
 first three or four centuries. Dissertation on Pros. Bap. 
 Dr. Lardner considers it " a mere fiction of the Rabbins by 
 whom we have suffered ourselves to be imposed upon." 
 Letter to Dr. Doddridge. " It is at length settled by the 
 great critics of Germany, that the existence of a proselyte 
 baptism, as a Jewish institution in the time of Christ, can- 
 not be proved." Christian Review, 3, p. 203. This is the 
 judgment of such men as Neander, Olshausen, Hase, Bot- 
 tiger, Winer, &c. But proselyte baptism, if admitted to 
 have existed at that time, would be decidedly against the 
 practice of pedobaptists. Children that were born after the 
 parents' adoption of the Jewish religion, were not to be bap-
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 173 
 
 as these may suit the case which has been suggested; 
 but it could never find its way into any human 
 statute, much less would it be incorporated in the 
 great law of baptism, enacted by the Head of the 
 Church, for all nations and for all times. The case 
 is not a parallel one. To make it correspond with 
 the commission, the order must be issued thus : 
 " Go and bring my letters ; those that are post-paid 
 and addressed to me, bring ; those that are not post- 
 paid, leave at the office." If the messenger were 
 required not only to execute this commission, but 
 to make it known for the benefit of his employer's 
 correspondents, it would certainly be his duty to as- 
 sure them that these terms are imperative, that a 
 letter which was not post-paid, even if addressed to 
 his employer, would not be received. Baptism is 
 the ordinance by which an individual is addressed 
 to Christ, indicated to be his ; but unless the other 
 condition be fulfilled, unless faith be exercised, he 
 will not be received. If the letter be not post-paid 
 the address will not carry, it to its destination. 
 Whether some other arrangement may not have been 
 made by his employer, by which those who cannot 
 pay may secure the reception of their letters, is an- 
 other question, which is not embraced in the terms of 
 
 tized. Analogy would require that the children of Christian 
 parents should not be baptized ; only the children who 
 were born before the parents came to the rite would be en- 
 titled to participate in it. 
 
 15*
 
 174 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 his commission. So also, whether provision has been 
 made for the salvation of those who cannot believe, is 
 a distinct question, not dependent for its solution 
 upon the commission of the Redeemer, with refer- 
 ence to the conditions of baptism. This explica- 
 tion affords a satisfactory reply to the argument 
 which affirms that if, according to the commission, 
 infants cannot be baptized, they cannot be saved. 
 The commission has no reference to infants, and 
 therefore does not determine the conditions of their 
 salvation. It is addressed only to such as may be 
 taught and may become disciples. 
 
 That the commission was so understood by the 
 apostles is evident from their own subsequent prac- 
 tice. On the day of Pentecost Peter preached; 
 many of his hearers were converted : " then they 
 that gladly received the word were baptized, and the 
 same day were added to them about three thousand 
 souls. And they continued in the apostles' doc- 
 trine and fellowship," &c. Acts 2 : 41. Here 
 the ordinance is restricted to those who " gladly re- 
 ceived the word." 
 
 The next account of baptism occurs in Acts 8 : 
 12. " When they believed Philip, preaching the 
 things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name 
 of Jesus, they were baptized, both men and women." 
 Nothing can be more expressive of the extent and 
 limitation of the ordinance. The specific mention
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 175 
 
 of men and women excludes the supposition that 
 children were also baptized. 
 
 Arf argument in favor of infant baptism has been 
 derived from the baptism of households. But it is 
 founded upon the unwarrantable assumption that 
 infants are necessarily included in a household. 
 The baptism of entire households, upon a profession 
 of faith, has become so common an occurrence that 
 this argument has lost all its force. "There were 
 eight baptized families belonging to the Karen Bap- 
 tist Mission before it was as old as the apostolic mis- 
 sion, when the family of Lydia was baptized. The 
 Christian Watchman of Jan. 29, 1841, presents au- 
 thentic proof of the existence, at that time, of up- 
 wards of fifty baptized households, connected with 
 Baptist churches every member of whom was bap- 
 tized on profession of faith, and added to the 
 Church." * Such were probably the constituents of 
 the households mentioned in the New Testament. 
 Cornelius was " a devout man and one that feared 
 God with all his house." Acts 10 : 2. Peter 
 himself testifies that they had "received the Holy 
 Ghost," before he "commanded them to be baptiz- 
 ed. " In Acts 18 : 8, we are informed : " Crispus 
 the chief ruler of the synagogue believed on the 
 Lord with all his house ; and many of the Corin- 
 
 * Crowell, Church Member's Manual. Boston, 1847. P. 
 158.
 
 176 CHIJRCH POLITY. 
 
 thians hearing, believed and were baptized." The 
 household of Stephanus, baptized by Paul, " addict- 
 ed themselves to the ministry of the saints,'' and 
 could not therefore have been infants. 
 
 Even admitting that these households embraced 
 infants, the fact proves nothing in favor of infant 
 baptism. The apostles had no authority to baptize 
 them, and therefore could not have done it. The 
 nature of the case excludes them. It is required of 
 a bishop that he be " one that ruleth well his own 
 house." But this requisition cannot apply to new- 
 ly-born infants, who are incapable of government. 
 The nature of the case restricts it to adults, or at 
 least to children who are old enough to be ruled. 
 " There is," says Carson, " no axiom in mathemat- 
 ics more clear, than that the households are nothing 
 to the purpose of infant baptism. If the term 
 household does not necessarily imply infants, then 
 there is no evidence from the term that there were 
 infants in those households. Again, as such phrase- 
 ology is, in daily conversation, used with exceptions, 
 so, though infants had been in those households, the 
 known limitations of the commission would exclude 
 them." * 
 
 The fallacy of this argument has been fully ex- 
 posed by a pedobaptist writer of great logical acu- 
 men, who candidly admits " that (historically con- 
 
 * Carson on Baptism. N. Y., 1832. P. 307.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 177 
 
 sidered) there exists no sufficient positive evidence 
 that the baptism of infants was instituted by the 
 apostles, in the practice of the apostolic age. I 
 have, I confess, no eye for these smoke-like wreaths 
 of inference, this ever-widening spiral ergo from the 
 narrow aperture of perhaps a single text ; or rather 
 an interpretation forced into it by construing an 
 idiomatic phrase in an artless narrative with the 
 same absoluteness as if it had formed part of a mathe- 
 matical problem. I start back from these inverted 
 pyramids, where the apex is the base. If I should 
 inform any one that I had called at a friend's house, 
 but had found nobody at home, the family having 
 all gone to the play ; and if he, on the strength of 
 this information, should take occasion to asperse my 
 friend's wife for unmotherly conduct, in taking an 
 infant, six months old, to a crowded theatre, would 
 you allow him to press on the words nobody and all 
 the family, in justification of the slander ? Would 
 you not tell him that the words were to be interpret- 
 ed by the nature of the subject, the purpose of the 
 speaker, and their ordinary acceptation? and that 
 he must or might have known that infants of that 
 age would not be admitted into the theatre ? Exact- 
 ly so with regard to the words, ' he and all his house- 
 hold.' Had baptism of infants at that early period 
 of the gospel been a known practice, or had this 
 been previously demonstrated, then, indeed, the
 
 178 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 argument that in all probability there was one or 
 more infants or young children in so large a family, 
 would be no otherwise objectionable than as being 
 superfluous, and a sort of anti-climax in logic. 
 But if the words are cited as the proof, it would be 
 a clear petitio principii, though there had been 
 nothing else against it. But when we turn back 
 to the Scriptures preceding the narrative, and find 
 repentance and belief demanded as the terms and 
 indispensable conditions of baptism then the case 
 above imagined applies in its full force. Equally 
 vain is the pretended analogy from circumcision, 
 which was no sacrament at all, but the means and 
 mark of national distintcion." * 
 
 The scriptural argument in proof of our position 
 is corroborated by the account which the apostles 
 give of the meaning or spiritual design of baptism. 
 " Know ye not that so many of us as were 
 baptized into Christ were baptized into his death. 
 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism, into 
 death, that like as Christ was raised up from the 
 dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also 
 should walk in newness of life." Rom. 6 : 3. cf. 
 Col. 2 : 12. Those who are baptized, are baptized 
 into Christ's death, as dying with him, and as rising 
 with him to a new life. Baptism is symbolical of a 
 
 * Coleridge, Aids to Reflection. Burlington, 1829. P. 
 220.
 
 CHUKCH POLITY. 179 
 
 change, of which infants are incapable. Equally 
 expressive is the language of Gal. 3 : 27. " For as 
 many of you as have been baptized into Christ, 
 have put on Christ." Here baptism implies a put- 
 ting on of Christ, a fact which can be affirmed only 
 of believers. 
 
 If the apostolic commission, the import of the 
 rite, and the practice of the apostles clearly evince 
 that baptism is to be administered only to those who 
 profess faith in the Redeemer, no respect is due to 
 the objections which have been urged against this 
 position on the ground that certain passages in the 
 New Testament imply the baptism of infants ; such 
 as Matt. 19 : 13-15*; Acts 2 : 38, 39 ; 1 Cor. 
 7 : 12-14. All these passages are susceptible of 
 an explanation which entirely accords with the bap- 
 tism of believers, t 
 
 2. The testimony of ecclesiastical antiquity. 
 
 There exists no evidence in favor of the existence 
 of infant baptism in the first century, but there is 
 conclusive evidence against it. Justin Martyr, A.D. 
 140, thus describes the rite of baptism: "They 
 who are persuaded and do believe that these things 
 
 * Of this passage Carson remarks : "We might as well 
 seek a warrant for infant baptism in Magna Charta, or the 
 Bill of Rights. Baptism, p. 319. 
 
 t For a discussion of these points, the reader is referred 
 to the works on Baptism. Carson, pp. 319338. Hinton, 
 Booth, and others.
 
 180 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 which are taught by us are true, and do promise to 
 live according to them, are directed first to pray, 
 and ask of God, with fasting, the forgiveness of 
 their former sins ; and we also pray and fast together 
 with them. Then we bring them to some place 
 where there is water, and they are regenerated by 
 the same way of regeneration by which we were 
 regenerated ; for they are washed with water in the 
 name of God the Father and Lord of all things, 
 and of our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of the Holy 
 Ghost. "* 
 
 There is another passage in Justin, which is 
 pressed into the service of infant baptism. " There 
 are many persons among us of both sexes, of sixty 
 and seventy years of age, who were made disciples 
 of Christ from their childhood, "f But to employ 
 the passage in this manner is not only to make the 
 writer contradict the Scriptures, but contradict him- 
 self; for he has informed us, in the passage quoted 
 above, that disciples are such as are " persuaded 
 and do believe." 
 
 With just as little reason is the celebrated passage 
 of IrenasusJ alleged in support of this practice. It 
 is too equivocal to constitute the basis of either ar- 
 gument or inference. Many of the most judicious 
 
 * Justin Apol. I. Wall's Translation, 
 t Hodges on Infant Baptism, p. 112. 
 J Adv. Her. Lib. XI. c. 18.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 181 
 
 and impartial critics, among pedobaptists, acknow- 
 ledge that it affords no support for infant baptism. 
 
 Baumgarten Crusius says : " The celebrated pas- 
 sage in Irenaeus, is not to be applied to infant bap- 
 tism."* 
 
 The earliest allusion to the practice of infant bap- 
 tism occurs in Tertullian, A.D. 200, and he opposes 
 it.f A highly respectable writer in defence of infant 
 baptism, has failed to appreciate the testimony of this 
 Father, in consequence of following Wall, who him- 
 self confesses that he does not understand Tertulli- 
 an. J "He had adopted," says this writer, "the 
 strange notion that baptism washed away all previ- 
 ous sin, whether actual or original, and hence, the 
 longer delayed, the better, when there appeared no 
 immediate danger of death." This strange notion 
 was by no means peculiar to Tertullian ; and, more- 
 over, it was not the point from which he argued 
 against infant baptism. Had Dr. Wall, and those 
 who have followed in his footsteps, studied the theo- 
 
 Dogmengesch. S 1209. So also Engelhardt, Th. 1. S. 
 333. Mdnscher, 2, 233. 
 
 fDe Bap. 18. Robinson, and Hinton, Hist, of Bap. p. 
 246, contend that there is no reference here to infant bap- 
 tism ; but their argument is founded upon an erroneous 
 translation of the passage. They render norm*, " they just 
 know," instead of "let them know." 
 
 J Infant Baptism, &c. By William Hodges, A.M., Rec- 
 tor of Bruton Parish, Williamsburg, Va. 'Phila. 1844. pp. 
 87-93. 
 
 16
 
 182 CHURCH POLITT. 
 
 logical system of Tertullian, they would have been 
 better able to appreciate his position on this subject. 
 He had to contend with two opposite parties, the 
 one holding that all persons, even infants, must be 
 baptized in order to be saved, and the other, that 
 baptism is not necessary at all, if one has sufficient 
 faith. Against the former, he contends in the well- 
 known passage referred to by Wall. His funda- 
 mental principle on the subject of baptism, as stated 
 by himself, is : " Baptism is the seal of faith. We 
 are not baptized in order to cease from sin, but be- 
 cause our hearts are already cleansed." * And he 
 opposes infant baptism because it violates this prin- 
 ciple, by placing baptism before faith. He, therefore, 
 insists that the baptism of children should be delayed 
 until they are old enough to " know Christ." He 
 does not insist, as Wall and Mr. Hodges understood 
 him, upon a mere delay of infant baptism, but 
 on the postponement of baptism until the subjects 
 of it should cease to be infants. But his op- 
 ponents confronted him with the passage, "Suffer 
 little children," &c. From this we learn that in- 
 fant baptism was a subject of controversy ; and yet 
 that no tradition or divine command was pleaded by 
 Tertullian's opponents. Indeed, it deserves particu- 
 lar notice, that in all the writings of Tertullian and 
 Cyprian, both of whom treat of the subject as a 
 
 * De Poeniten, 6.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 18.8 
 
 matter of controversy, there is no allusion whatever 
 to an apostolical tradition in favor of the practice. 
 Is it possible that these fathers of tradition could 
 have overlooked so important a point ? As Tertulli- 
 an devised the method of meeting the heretics with 
 the authority of tradition, would his opponents have 
 spared him, if these weapons of his own could have 
 been employed against him ? His judicious reply 
 to the passage of Scripture above quoted, was, 
 ' ' Let them come when they are grown up, let 
 them come when they understand and are taught 
 whither they come, let them become Christians, 
 when they are capable of knowing Christ." He 
 undoubtedly carried his caution too far in regard to 
 virgins and widows ; still the principle was a sound 
 one, which required good evidence of piety before 
 baptism.* 
 
 3. The judgment of critics and historians. 
 
 In accordance with the principle which I have 
 assumed as my guide in these inquiries, that the 
 Scriptures constitute the only rule of faith and prac- 
 tice, it is pertinent to show that, even in the judg- 
 ment of a large number of the abettors of infant 
 baptism, it finds no support in the Word of God, 
 and receives no countenance from the practice of 
 those to whom the word of God was delivered, or 
 of their immediate successors. 
 
 * Christian Keview, III. p. 214.
 
 Io4 CHtJRCB POLITY. 
 
 An eminent German writer, who has examined 
 this subject with equal learning and candor, remarks : 
 " Infant baptism was not yet customary in the first 
 two centuries. The proofs which are alledged for its 
 existence in the apostolic age, from the mention in 
 Acts, of the baptism of whole families, and in the 
 second century, from a passage in Irenaeus, in which 
 he speaks of the regeneration of children, are not 
 satisfactory. Tertullian declared himself, most ex- 
 plicitly, against it, upon the ground that it imposed 
 too heavy a responsibility upon the sponsors, and 
 would be more beneficial to the children themselves, 
 when they had arrived at an age in which they 
 could knotv Christ, and appreciate the importance of 
 baptism. In the time of Origen, however, infant 
 baptism was already customary in the Church, at 
 least, in the Egyptian portion of it, and was deemed 
 an ordinance of the apostles. Origen vindicated its 
 necessity on the same ground as that subsequently 
 alledged by Augustine, viz. : that baptism was re- 
 presented in the New Testament, as, in general, 
 necessary to salvation ; and, therefore, children 
 ought to be baptized.* 
 
 The celebrated philologist Koraes, one of the first 
 Greek scholars of modern times, says : " Infant 
 baptism seems to have been introduced in the third 
 
 Engelhardt. Dogmengeschichte. Th. 1. S. 333. Er- 
 langen, 1839.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 18 
 
 century ; at first only in Africa, subsequently by 
 degrees also in other countries. Not venturing to 
 decide upon this matter we would only say, that 
 even supposing infants to have been baptized in the 
 apostolic times or shortly afterwards, the practice 
 was neither uniformly adopted, nor always nor 
 everywhere observed. This is evident from numer- 
 ous instances of persons living in or about the 
 fourth century, who were not baptized until after 
 they had reached the age of manhood. Such was 
 the case with Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, Chrys- 
 ostom, Basil, Gregory; and among the emperors 
 with Constantino, Constantius, Valentinian, Gratian, 
 Theodosius, and with innumerable other persons. 
 The discourses addressed by many of the Fathers 
 of the same century to persons deferring baptism, 
 prove the same thing. It is further confirmed 
 by the canons of several councils, and also by the 
 well-known anecdote of Athanasius the Great, who, 
 when a boy, on a certain occasion whilst at play, 
 catechised and baptized his play-fellows, who, until 
 then, had remained unbaptized. The time when 
 infant baptism was generally introduced cannot 
 easily be determined."* 
 
 * Leslie's Hist. View of the Baptists, p. 33. Here we 
 have the children of Christian parents remaining unbap- 
 tized. The first instance on record of the baptism of a 
 child, is that of Galates, the dying son of the Arian empe- 
 
 16*
 
 186 
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 "All the earlier traces of infant baptism are 
 very doubtful. Tertullian is the first who refers to 
 it; and he censures it. Origen and Cyprian, on 
 the contrary, defend it. In the fourth century its 
 validity was generally acknowledged, although the 
 church Fathers often found it necessary to warn 
 against the delay of baptism. Even Pelagius did 
 not dare to call the correctness of it in question. 
 Augustine pointed out the removal of original sin, 
 and the sins of the children, as its definite object ; 
 and through his representations was its universal 
 diffusion promoted."* 
 
 " As baptism signified an entrance into fellow- 
 ship with Christ, it readily followed from the nature 
 of the case, that a profession of faith in Jesus as 
 the Redeemer, should be made by the candidate at 
 the time. Since baptism was thus immediately 
 connected with a conscious and voluntary accession 
 to the Christian fellowship, and faith and baptism 
 were always united, it is highly probable that the cus- 
 tom of infant baptism was not practised in this age. 
 From the example of the baptism of whole families 
 we can by no means infer the existence of infant 
 baptism. One passage, 1 Cor. 16 : 15, shows the 
 
 ror Valens, who was baptized by order of the monarch, who 
 swore that he would not be contradicted. Christian 
 Review, p. 6, May, 1846. 
 Munscher (Ed. Von Coin) Dogmengesfch. I. S. 469.
 
 CHTJRCH POLITY. 187 
 
 incorrectness of such an inference ; for it thence 
 appears that the whole family of Stephanus, who all 
 received baptism from Paul, was composed of adult 
 members."* 
 
 " Commands or plain and certain examples, in the 
 New Testament, relating to it, I do not find."f 
 
 " There is no express command for infant baptism 
 found in the New Testament-"]: 
 
 If infant baptism be thus destitute of support in 
 the word of God, an inquiry naturally arises as to 
 its origin, and the reasons for its introduction. To 
 this the observations of a learned living historian 
 furnish a satisfactory reply. "The first public 
 recognition of infant baptism was A. D. 250. It 
 may be supposed to have existed anterior to that 
 period, and to have been gradually working its way 
 into the church, along with other corruptions. But 
 the grand error, under sanction of which it obtained 
 prevalence, was that baptism and regeneration was 
 one and the same thing. So soon as that came to 
 be a general belief, it was deemed necessary, in order 
 
 Neander, in Bibl. Repos. IV. p. 272. 
 
 t Prof. Stuart, Bibl. Repos. Ill, p. 385. 
 
 J Knapp. Theology, II. p. 535. Storr and Flatt 
 speak of the silence of the N. T. concerning it. Bibl. 
 Theol. p. 527. See also, Gieseler, Church Hist. I, pp. 93, 98, 
 195. Mosheim, I. p. 167. Booth has collected a host of 
 similar witnesses, in his Pedobaptism Examined. Part II, 
 ch. I.
 
 188 CHUBCH POIJfrY. 
 
 to insure the spiritual illumination of infants, to 
 have them baptized."* 
 
 It thus appears that the changes which have been 
 introduced since the age of the Apostles, with 
 reference both to the subjects and the mode of 
 baptism, were founded upon a portentous error, the 
 identity of baptism and regeneration, and, there- 
 fore, the necessity of the rite to salvation. In im- 
 mediate connection with this, we find another error 
 of equal magnitude. The great patron of affusion 
 and infant baptism, Cyprian, furnishes the first dis- 
 tinct allusion to a practice, the existence of which 
 would scarcely be deemed credible, were it not most 
 amply attested, the communion of infants at the 
 Lord's supper. This practice was coextensive with 
 infant baptism, and rested upon the same grounds, 
 the necessity of the rite to salvation. " It was com- 
 mon in Africa in Cyprian's time, i. e. in the third 
 century, to give the sacramental elements even 
 to children; and this custom was gradually intro- 
 duced into other churches. But in the twelfth 
 century this practice fell into disuse in the West ; 
 
 Neander, Hist. Chr. Religion, p. 361. So, also, Meier, 
 Dogmengesch, S. 132. Giessen, 1840. Mosheim, I, p. 230. 
 Gieseler, I, p. 159, note 4. " If we except Tertullian," 
 says Wall, " Vincentius (A, D. 419) is the first man upon 
 record that ever said that children might be saved without 
 baptism." Booth, Pedobap. Exam. P. II, ch. 3, } 8,
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 189 
 
 although in the East it continues to the present 
 day,"* 
 
 Infant baptism and infant communion rest on tho 
 same foundation, the authority of the Fathers of the 
 third century. 
 
 III. Efficacy of baptism. 
 
 On this point, professors of Christianity are divid- 
 ed into three great parties, the first of which regards 
 baptism as an act of obedience to Christ, and a 
 symbol, or sign of certain truths implied in the ordi- 
 nance ; the second, as a seal or pledge of spiritual 
 blessings ; while the third exalts it to the dignity of 
 an efficacious instrument of grace, some ascribing to 
 it a physical, and others only a hyperphysical, or 
 moral efficacy. f Of these various theories, the 
 second and third are unscriptural, and besides, are 
 encumbered with other serious objections ; so that 
 ah elucidation of the grounds upon which the first is 
 sustained, will furnish their appropriate refutation. 
 
 The Scriptures no where ascribe to baptism any 
 
 Knapp, Theology, II. p. 555. Mosheim, I. p. 230. 3, 
 note. Gieseler,!. p. 159. Mtlnscher (Ed. Von Coin), I. S. 
 481. Meir, 68. S. 163. Hinton, Hist, Bap. pp. 323-330. 
 Chillingworth, Works, p. 744. Phila. 1841. 
 
 fTurrettini Op. Loc. XVIII. Quaest. 8. Munscher, (Ed. 
 Neudecker) III. S. 601-628. Hinton, Hist. Bap. chap. X. 
 " Baptism is the divinely appointed form of ratifying God's 
 covenant of grace with every believer . . . and is in its na- 
 ture a pledge, on his part, of spiritual blessings," &c. 
 Crowell, Ch. Mem. Manual, p. 152.
 
 190 CHI:KCH POLITY. 
 
 peculiar efficacy, physical or moral, essential or ac- 
 cidental. It is simply the appointed method of pro- 
 fessing faith in the Redeemer ; and if, in some 
 places, a preeminence is given to it over other acts 
 of obedience, it is because it is the first of a series 
 which are incumbent on the believer. " That bap- 
 tism and the Lord's Supper are seals of the covenant, 
 is a doctrine so common , and a phraseology so establish- 
 ed, that it is received without question as a first 
 principle. They who measure truth by the attain- 
 ments of our ancestors, look upon the questioning 
 of this dogma as a kind of impiety and heresy ; 
 and even the modern Independents, who have pro- 
 fessed to be guided solely by the Bible, have very 
 generally continued to speak in the same language. 
 While I highly respect and value the ancient writers 
 who speak in this manner, I strongly protest against 
 it as unscriptural, and as laying a foundation for re- 
 ceiving other things on the authority of man. Is 
 there any Jewish tradition more void of scriptural 
 authority, than that which designates baptism and 
 the Lord's Supper seals of the New Covenant '( 
 There is not in the New Testament any single por- 
 tion that can bear such a meaning. And what can 
 the wisest of men know about these things, but 
 what God has told us ? He has not said that bap- 
 tism is a seal. Circumcision was a seal of the right- 
 eousness of the faith of Abraham. This was God's
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 191 
 
 seal to that truth, till the letter was abolished. The 
 spirit of the truth is the seal, and the circumcision of 
 the heart by him, is the thing signified by cir- 
 cumcision in the flesh. The circumcised nation was 
 typical of the Church of Christ ; for the apostle 
 says "we are the circumcision which worship God 
 in the spirit;" and "circumcision is that of the 
 heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter." The 
 circumcision of the Jews was the letter, of which 
 the circumcision of the heart in Christians is the 
 spirit. The Christian, then, has a more exalted seal 
 than circumcision. He has the Spirit of God, 
 " whereby he is sealed unto the day of redemption." 
 Eph. 4 : 30. When sinners believe in Christ, 
 they are sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 
 which is the " earnest of their inheritance until the 
 redemption of the purchased possession." Eph. 1 : 
 13. The seal, then, that comes in the room of cir- 
 cumcision, is the seal of the Spirit. When the Holy 
 Spirit himself, in the heart of the believer, is the 
 seal of God's truth, there is no need of any other 
 seal. Baptism represents the belief of the truth 
 in a figure, and takes it for granted that they are 
 believers to whom it is applied ; but it is no seal of 
 this. They may appear to be Christians to-day, and 
 therefore ought to be baptized ; to-morrow they may 
 prove the contrary, and therefore they cannot have
 
 CHURCH POUIT. 
 
 been sealed by baptism. He that is once sealed by 
 the Spirit, is secured to eternity." * 
 
 This theory, although unscriptural, is, except in 
 its application to infant baptism, comparatively 
 harmless, since it supposes the existence of such 
 spiritual qualifications in the baptized, as are con- 
 nected with the enjoyment of spiritual blessings. 
 But the third theory is open to more serious objec- 
 tions; for, although various representations of it 
 are given by its different advocates, it involves, as 
 its distinctive principle, the assumption that bap- 
 tism sustains a direct relation to the germination 
 and growth of the divine life in the soul ; and is, 
 therefore, in general, necessary to salvation. Wheth- 
 er this ordinance be described as the laver of 
 regeneration, the bath in which original sin is wash- 
 ed away, or the medium through which forgiveness 
 of sin, and the influences of the Spirit a.re imparted, 
 the radical idea of the theory is the same. It makes 
 the acceptance of a sinner with God, in some way 
 dependent upon his reception of baptism. But if 
 the Scriptures furnish us with such a statement of 
 the ground of a sinner's acceptance as excludes bap- 
 tism, as well as all other works, the entire theory is 
 false. That this is the case, I shall endeavor to 
 show. 
 
 Carson, on Baptism, pp. 375-377. Georgia Pulpit, p. 
 142.
 
 CHUBCH POLITT. 193 
 
 With respect to the plan of salvation, the Scrip- 
 tures are sufficiently explicit. They teach that the 
 ground of a sinner's acceptance with God, is not 
 any thing done by him, or in him, but is the perfect 
 work of the Lord Jesus Christ. As the substitute 
 of guilty man, he has met all the claims of the di- 
 vine government against him, has obeyed the law, 
 and suffered its penalty ; and has thus brought in 
 an everlasting righteousness, which is imputed to 
 the believer for justification. As soon as a sinner 
 truly believes, he is justified, accepted, and his final 
 salvation secured. Faith sustains this peculiar re- 
 lation to justification, that it appropriates Him who 
 is our righteousness. It is, therefore, essential to our 
 acceptance with God ; but nothing else is. To make 
 baptism thus essential, which is not the act by which 
 we trust in Christ, but simply an act of obedience 
 rendered by one already justified, is to confound the 
 consequent with the antecedent; to mistake the 
 symbolical expression of a believer's love to Christ 
 on account of the remission of sin a love which 
 manifests itself effectually by keeping his command- 
 ments for the medium through which that remis- 
 sion is conferred. 
 
 That this is the teaching of the Scriptures on this 
 
 subject, is evinced by the following, among many 
 
 passages: "He that believeth hath everlasting 
 
 life." John 6 : 24 ; 3 : 16, 36. " With the heart 
 
 17
 
 194 CHUKCil POLITV. 
 
 man believeth unto righteousness." Rom. 10 : 10. 
 " By grace are ye saved through faith." Eph. 2: 
 8. " Being justified by faith, we have peace with 
 God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. 5 : 
 1. "They which are of faith, the same are the 
 children of Abraham." Gal. 3:7. "The blood 
 of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." 
 1 John 1:8. "Ye are all the children of God by 
 faith in Jesus Christ." Gal. 3: 26. cf. John 5 : 
 24 ; Acts 13 : 39 ; Rom. 3 : 21, 22, 25, 26 ; 4 : 
 5; 10: 4; Phil, 3 : 8-10; John 1 : 12; Acts 
 10: 42; John 3: 14-18, 40; 20: 31; Rom. 
 10: 9. 
 
 The case of the Philippian jailer is decisive on 
 this point. His inquiry had distinct reference to 
 the plan of salvation. He came, a convicted sinner, 
 to Paul and Silas, and sought direction. "Sirs, 
 what must I do to be saved ? " Had they omitted 
 in their reply anything essential, they would have 
 misled the inquiring jailer. The circumstances 
 of the case demanded that they should comprehend 
 in their instructions all that was necessary to salva- 
 tion. But they simply say : " Believe on the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy 
 house." Acts 16 : 31. The absence of any refer- 
 ence to baptism here shows that, in the judgment 
 of the apostles, it has no reference to that primary
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 195 
 
 act of faith, by which a penitent obtains the forgive- 
 ness of sin. 
 
 From these considerations, and others which will 
 be adduced, it is evident that the theory which sus- 
 pends the remission of sin upon the reception of 
 baptism, is contrary to the first principle of the Gos- 
 pel of Christ. 
 
 Another fatal objection to this theory, is found in 
 the fact that cases occur, in the New Testament, of 
 persons who received the assurance of forgiveness 
 prior to baptism. Among these, are the woman 
 who was a sinner, the sick of the palsy, and the 
 dying malefactor.* Moreover, it is contradicted by 
 Christian experience. Every converted man knows 
 that the assurance of forgiveness is obtained by 
 faith in Christ. Thousands of such have been 
 brought to the knowledge of the truth, have rejoiced 
 in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, and afterwards 
 put on Christ in baptism, not to obtain remission of 
 sin, but because they had already been assured of 
 possessing that blessing, and without which they 
 would not have ventured to approach the emblematic 
 grave. They were conscious of being constrained 
 to do this by love to the Redeemer ; and they re- 
 joiced in the consolation that " every one that loveth 
 is born of God and knoweth God," and " whosoever 
 
 * Luke 7 : 37-48. Matt. 9 : 2. Luke 23 : 39-43.
 
 196 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 is born of God overcometh the world." * In addi- 
 tion to this it is worthy of remark, that a large por- 
 tion of the most conscientious and devoted servants 
 of God, in every part of the world, are, in the judg- 
 ment of some of the most strenuous advocates of 
 this theory, yet unbaptized, and, therefore, must re- 
 main unpardoned. They are yet in their sins. 
 They have no hope in Christ, no assurance of accept- 
 ance with God, and dying in this state, they must 
 encounter his wrath in the world to come. A theo- 
 ry which involves such shocking sentiments, as its 
 legitimate consequences, which comes so directly in 
 conflict with Christian consciousness, must be a 
 false and unwarrantable assumption. 
 
 If any thing further were neccessary to expose the 
 falsity of this theory, we might refer to Paul's view 
 of the relative importance of baptism. As a preach- 
 er of the Gospel, he exulted in his mission ; for the 
 gospel is the power of God to salvation, to every one 
 that believeth. Rom. 1 : 16. In 1 Cor. 1 : 17, 
 he says: " Christ sent me not to baptize, but to 
 preach the gospel." But in Acts 26 : 17, 18, he 
 affirms that " Christ sent him to the Gentiles, to 
 turn them from darkness to light, and from the 
 power of Satan unto God ; " in other words, to ac- 
 complish their salvation. If baptism sustains the 
 relation to salvation which is ascribed to it by this 
 
 * 1 John 4 : 7 ; 5 : 4.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 197 
 
 theory, the manner in which the apostle underrates 
 it, is utterly unaccountable. If the ordinance were 
 indispensable, in general, to secure remission of sin, 
 he could not have affirmed that Christ sent him not 
 to baptize ; for upon that supposition the preaching 
 of the gospel, without baptism, would be a nullity. 
 It would fail to accomplish the great end for which 
 the Son of God was exalted as a Prince and a Sa- 
 viour. Acts 5: 31. 
 
 Although this theory is thus subversive of the 
 terms of acceptance with God, and opposed to Chris- 
 tian consciousness, its abettors labor to sustain it 
 from the word of God, referring to several passages 
 in its support. Before examining them, it may be 
 well to make the general remark, that if they incul- 
 cated the error in question, the interpreter would 
 find it impossible to reconcile them with other por- 
 tions, as well as with the general tenor of the Scrip- 
 tures. Unless, therefore, he would place divine 
 truth in conflict with itself, he must resort to some 
 other interpretation of these passages. It would be 
 better to leave them unexplained than to elicit from 
 them a sentiment so essentially at war with the 
 whole Christian system. But these passages, so far 
 from presenting any real difficulty, are susceptible, 
 most easily and naturally, of an interpretation which 
 keeps them in harmony with the doctrine of the 
 apostles. 
 
 17*
 
 198 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 These passages will now be adduced. 
 
 Mark 16 : 16. He that belie veth and is baptized 
 shall be saved ; but he that believeth not shall be 
 damned. 
 
 The nature of these restrictions will be sufficiently 
 clear, if we consider that faith, implying of course 
 regeneration, is the first development of spiritual 
 life in the soul, and baptism is its first outward mani- 
 festation. As soon as a sinner believes, he is to 
 confess Christ in this ordinance. This is his first 
 act of obedience. It is therefore perfectly natural 
 that baptism should be selected from the various 
 Christian duties, as the representative of the whole. 
 The meaning of the passage, therefore, is, he that 
 believes and acts accordingly who possesses that 
 genuine faith which works by love, and purifies the 
 heart shall be saved. The language of the com- 
 mission, when properly explained, attaches no more 
 importance to baptism than to any other Christian 
 duty. It is the spirit of obedience which it demands ; 
 and baptism is indicated as the expression of that 
 spirit, because it stands first in the series of Christian 
 duties. In perfect accordance with these sentiments 
 is the teaching of Paul, in Rom. 10: 10. "If 
 thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, 
 and shalt believe in thine heart that G-od hath 
 raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For 
 with the heart man believeth unto righteousness
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 199 
 
 [justification], and with the mouth confession is 
 made unto salvation." The apostle in this portion 
 of the epistle contrasts the method of justification 
 on which the Jews insisted, which was legal, and, 
 when properly understood, perfectly impracticable, 
 with the gospel method of salvation, which pre- 
 scribes no such severe terms, but simply requires 
 cordial faith and open profession. Confession is the 
 fruit and external evidence of faith, assuring us of 
 its vitality and power, as wrought by the Spirit of 
 God. " No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but 
 by the Holy Ghost." 1 Cor. 12: 3. "Whosoever 
 shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God 
 dwelleth in him and he in God 1 " 1 John, 4 : 15. 
 Hence the necessity of a public confession of 
 Christ unto salvation is asserted in the Scriptures. 
 Matt. 10 : 32. Luke, 12 : 8. It is certain that he 
 who deliberately refuses to confess Christ will be 
 lost, because this refusal proves that he possesses no 
 genuine faith ; but this confession may be made 
 fully and clearly prior to baptism, and, as in the case 
 of dying penitents! without the intervention of bap- 
 tism at all. "Though faith and confession are both 
 necessary" observes an able expositor, " they are 
 not necessary on the same grounds, nor to the same 
 degree. The former is necessary as a means to an 
 end, as without faith we can have no part in the 
 justifying righteousness of Christ ; the latter as a
 
 200 CHURCH POMTY. 
 
 duty, the performance of which circumstances may 
 render impracticable. In like manner Christ 
 declares baptism, as the appointed means of con- 
 fession, to be necessary ; not however as a sine qua 
 non, but as a command, the obligation of which 
 providential dispensations may remove ; as in the 
 case of the thief on the cross."* 
 
 John 3:5. Except a man be born of water 
 and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom 
 of God. 
 
 Nothing but an invincible necessity would author- 
 ize such an interpretation of this passage as would 
 elicit from it the doctrine of baptismal regeneration. 
 This necessity does not exist. Many of the most 
 learned and judicious commentators interpret the 
 expression water and the spirit, by hendiadis, 
 spiritual water. This mode of expression is com- 
 mon in the New Testament. Comp. Matt. 4 : 16. 
 In the region and shadow of death, i. e. the region 
 of the shadow of death. 1 Cor. 2:4. In the 
 demonstration of the powerful spirit. Col. 2 : 8. 
 Acts, 17 : 25. t This interpretation is confirmed 
 by the fact that our Lord, in contrasting spiritual 
 with natural regeneration, in the next verse, does 
 not mention water at all, but merely opposes the 
 
 * Hodge on Romans, p. 436. 
 
 f Grotius in loco. Calvin, Winer, Teller. See also Dr. 
 Dagg's detailed examination of the passage, Phila. 1839.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 201 
 
 spirit to the flesh, as the original principles of these 
 different kinds of birth. If, however, Christ be 
 supposed to refer to baptism, it must be under the 
 same restrictions that are found in the apostolic 
 commission, which has already been explained. 
 
 Acts, 2 : 88. Repent and be baptized every one 
 of you for the remission of sins, [or, literally, unto 
 the remission.] 
 
 This clause is easily understood by comparing it 
 with others of similar construction. John says, in 
 Matt. 3: 11, "I baptize you with water unto 
 repentance." He did not mean that repentance was 
 procured, but was professed, in baptism ; for he 
 demanded of those who approached the baptismal 
 stream "fruits meet for repentance," the evidence 
 that they had already repented. But Peter has 
 given us his own views, in Acts 3:19. " Repent 
 ye therefore and be converted, that your sins may 
 be blotted out," &c. If baptism is as inseparable 
 from forgiveness as repentance is, the apostle is 
 guilty of an unpardonable omission. If he has 
 made no omission, but has stated fully the conditions 
 of pardon, the dogma in question receives no sup- 
 port from his authority. 
 
 Acts 22 : 16. Arise and be baptized and wash 
 away thy sins, calling upon the name of the Lord. 
 
 As baptism is symbclical of the purification of the 
 soul, it is perfectly natural, because in accordance
 
 202 CHURCH POLITT. 
 
 with a very common mode of speech, that the symbol 
 should be put for the reality. Paul may be said to 
 have washed away his sins in baptism, because in 
 that sacred rite he made a public declaration of the 
 fact. If this passage stood alone, it might occasion 
 some difficulty, but taken in connection with the 
 uniform teaching of the word of God, which suspends 
 forgiveness of sin upon the exercise of faith in the 
 Redeemer, it affords no countenance to the dogma 
 of baptismal regeneration.* 
 
 * For the various forms in which this dogma is held, the 
 reader is referred to Hinton on Baptism, chap. 8. 10 ; Howell 
 on Communion, chap. XII. ; Ferdinand "Walter, Lehrbuch 
 des Kirchenrechts (Bonn. 1839), 274, Landis' Review of 
 Cambellism, in Biblical Repository (new series), vol 1, to- 
 gether with Mr. Campbell's reply, in the same work. Bap- 
 tist Preacher, vol. 2, sermon by Rev. J. B. Jeter. The Con- 
 fessions of Faith of the various denominations. The view 
 of the Baptists is thus set forth in the Baptist Catechism : 
 Charleston, S. C., 1813, a work originally published by the 
 Baptists of Great Britain, A.D. 1689, and adopted by the 
 Philadelphia Association, in 1742, " Quest. 97. What is 
 Baptism ? Ans. Baptism is an ordinance of the New Tes- 
 tament, instituted by Jesus Christ, to be unto the party 
 baptized a sign of his fellowship with him, in his death, 
 and burial, and resurrection, of his being ingrafted into 
 him, of remission of sins, and of his giving himself up unto 
 God, through Jesus Christ, to live and walk in newness of 
 life."
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE LORD'S SUPPER. 
 
 OUR blessed Lord, on the night preceding his cruci- 
 fixion, instituted a solemn memorial of his death, to 
 be religiously observed by his followers, until the 
 end of time. To this the apostle refers in the fol- 
 lowing words : "I have received of the Lord that 
 which I also delivered unto you, that the Lord 
 Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, 
 took bread : And when he had given thanks, he 
 brake it, and said, Take, eat, this is my body, 
 which is broken for you : this do in remembrance of 
 me. After the same manner also he took the cup, 
 when he had supped, saying, This cup is the New 
 Testament in my blood : this do ye, as oft as ye 
 drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as 
 ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew 
 the Lord's death till he come." * The nature and 
 the perpetuity of this ordinance are here expressly 
 declared ; and as the apostles were instructed to 
 teach the churches to observe all things whatsoever 
 Christ had commanded them.f the death of the 
 
 1 Cor. 11 : 23-26; cf. Matt, 26, Luke 21, Mark 15. 
 t Matt 28 : 20.
 
 204 CHURCH POL1TT. 
 
 Redeemer was universally commemorated among 
 them in this manner. 
 
 The titles by which this service is known in the 
 Scriptures are these : the Lord's Supper, the Lord's 
 Table, the Communion of the Body and Blood of 
 Christ, the New Testament in his Blood, the Break- 
 ing of Bread, and the Eucharist. Ecclesiastical 
 writers have referred to it, under other appellations, 
 as the sacrament, the mass ; but these are not to be 
 found in the word of God.* 
 
 1. The nature and design of the ordinance. 
 
 It is simply commemorative, and might be styled 
 a symbolical sermon on the death of the Redeemer. 
 " The Lord's Supper was not appointed to be a test 
 of brotherly love among the people of God. It was 
 intended to teach and exhibit the most interesting of 
 all truths, and the most wonderful of all transac- 
 tions. The design of the great institutor was, that 
 it should be a memorial of God's love to us, and of 
 Immanuel's death for us ; that, the most astonishing 
 favor ever displayed ; this, the most stupendous fact 
 that angels ever beheld."! The erroneous notion that 
 this ordinance furnishes a test of Christian fellow- 
 ship, is founded on a misinterpretation of the lan- 
 
 * Picteti Theologia Christiana, Lib. XIV., cap. 5. Tur- 
 rettini Theol. Elenc., Loc. XIX. Quaest. 21. Opera. III. 
 p. 359. New York, 1847. 
 
 f Booth, Vindication, sec. 1. Howell on Communion, p. 
 105, Phila. A. B. P, S. 1847.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 205 
 
 guage of Paul, 1 Cor. 10 : 16. " The cup of 
 blessing -which we bless, is it not the communion of 
 the blood of Christ ? The bread which we break, 
 is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" 
 The apostle is here urging his brethren to " flee 
 from idolatry; " and his argument is as follows : 
 He who partakes of the elements of the Lord's 
 Supper, indicates, by that act, his communion or con- 
 nexion with Christ : so also, he who eats of the sacri- 
 fices offered to idols, places himself in communion with 
 idols. The two things are therefore inconsistent. ' ' I 
 would not that ye should have fellowship with 
 devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and 
 the cup of devils : ye cannot be partakers of the 
 Lord's table, and of the table of devils." The 
 passage refers to fellowship with Christ, and not 
 with each other, and furnishes additional proof that 
 the design of the ordinance is to " shew the Lord's 
 death." * 
 
 It is one of the enormous figments of Popery, that, 
 in the Lord's Supper, " Christ is truly present, and 
 indeed in such a way, that Almighty God, who was 
 pleased at Cana, in Galilee, to convert water into 
 wine, changes the inward substance of the conse- 
 crated bread and wine into the body and blood of 
 
 This was the view of the older Baptists. See the Bap- 
 tist Catechism (London, 1689), Quest. 102. 
 
 18
 
 CHIMCU 1'OLITV. 
 
 Christ." * This is the doctrine of transubstantia- 
 tion. Its gross absurdity is manifest both from rea- 
 son and from Scripture. It is contradicted by the 
 clear and undisputable testimony of our senses, 
 which affirm that no change has occurred in the 
 nature and properties of the bread and wine. Con- 
 fidence in the evidence of the senses is a law of our 
 nature. If it is to be rejected, the Bible must be 
 rejected with it, for our belief of the Scriptures 
 rests upon the evidence of the senses, t This dogma 
 is opposed to the universal observation of mankind, 
 that all bodies (material substances,) must occupy 
 definite portions of space, and cannot be in more 
 than one place at the same time ; for according to 
 this tenet, every portion of consecrated bread is 
 really the whole material body of the Saviour. 
 His body is therefore present in Heaven and in 
 many different places on the earth, at the same 
 moment. Again, the bread and wine, after they 
 are consecrated, are subject to decomposition, which 
 would not be the case if they were transmuted into 
 the glorified body of the Redeemer. They remain, 
 what the apostle calls them, even after their conse- 
 cration, bread and wine.f 
 
 * Mohler, Symbolism, p. 311. 
 
 t 1 Jno. 1:3; Jno. 3:11; Luke 24 : 29. 
 
 1 Cor. 10 : 16 ; 11 : 26. Carson on Transubstantiation, 
 Protestant Quarterly Review. I. p. 137 178, a most masterly 
 argument. Storr and Flatt, Bibl. Theol. p. 545.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 207 
 
 So far as this monstrous dogma pretends to any 
 support from the Scriptures, it rests upon the literal 
 interpretation of expressions which are manifestly 
 figurative. The words, " this is my body," are sup- 
 posed to affirm the actual presence of Christ's body 
 in the elements of the eucharist. But Christ also says, 
 " I am the vine, the way, the door," &c. When, 
 therefore, he affirms of the bread, " this is my body," 
 we have his own authority for understanding him to 
 teach us that the bread is the sign or symbol of his 
 body. No maxim of common sense is more plain, than 
 that language must be interpreted figuratively, when- 
 ever a literal interpretation would teach an absurdity. 
 This principle is recognized by the heathen in a case 
 parallel with this. "When," says Cicero, "we 
 call fruits, Ceres, and wine, Bacchus, we employ 
 the language of common life ; for who is so stupid 
 as to suppose that what he eats is God?"* It 
 was, also, applied to the interpretation of this ex- 
 pression of our Lord by the earliest Fathers, f 
 
 Upon this sandy foundation the papacy rears its 
 portentous doctrine of the sacrifice of the mass for 
 the living and the dead, by which Christ is dishon- 
 ored and the Man of Sin exalted ; a doctrine which 
 
 * Nat. Deor, III. 16. 
 
 t Tertullian, Lib. IV. contra Marc. Hoc est corpus meum 
 id est figura corporis mei. August. Epist. ad Adimant. cap. 
 12, signum daret corporis sui. Vid Picteti Theol. Lib. 
 XIV. cap. 6, 7-
 
 208 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 contradicts the testimony of the earliest and purest 
 witnesses to the truth, and totally subverts the 
 glorious gospel of the blessed God. * 
 
 In consequence of the exaggerated notion of the 
 holiness of the consecrated elements, transmuted as 
 they were into the real body, blood, and divinity of 
 the Lord, the practice was introduced of withholding 
 the cup from the laity, and thus mutilating the or- 
 dinance, contrary to the divine command : " Drink 
 ye all, of it." With respect to the perpetrators of 
 this impious assault upon an institution of Christ, it 
 is said, by a sophistical advocate of Rome : " A 
 pious dread of desecrating by spilling and the like, 
 even in the most conscientious ministration, the 
 form of the sublimest and the holiest, whereof the 
 participation can be vouchsafed to man, was the feel- 
 ing which swayed their minds." f Upon such slight 
 pretences do men venture to annul a divine statute. 
 
 The Scriptural doctrine on this subject is, that 
 " worthy receivers outwardly partaking of the visible 
 
 * For the history of Transubstantiation and its affiliated 
 errors, which are of comparatively recent origin, vide Mun- 
 scher Dogmengeschichte. (Ed. Von Coin, $$ 103, 104, 142 
 145. Knapp, Theol. II. $ 146). The Protestant's Evidence, 
 by Simon Birckbek, p. 37- London, 1635. Bowling, Hist. 
 Romanism, pp. 192, etc. Gibbon, Rom. Emp. IV. p. 160, 
 who says : " Innocent III. may boast of the two most sig- 
 nal triumphs over sense and reason : the establishment of 
 transubstantiation, and the origin of the inquisition " 
 
 t Mflhler, Symbolism, p. 322.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 209 
 
 elements in this ordinance, do then also inwardly 
 by faith, really and indeed, yet not carnally and 
 corporally, but spiritually, receive and feed upon 
 Christ crucified, and all the benefits of his death : 
 the body and blood of Christ being then not cor- 
 porally or carnally, but spiritually present to the 
 faith of believers in that ordinance, as the elements 
 themselves are to the outward senses."* 
 
 2. The communicants. 
 
 The Lord's Supper is a social ordinance, and is 
 celebrated by a church in its distinctive character, as 
 a body of baptized believers. Whatever, therefore, 
 determines the conditions of membership, defines 
 also the terms of communion. That baptism is 
 prior to the supper, in the order of their observance, 
 and, therefore, that only the baptized have a right 
 to commune, is so unquestionably the teaching of 
 the Word of God, and was so manifestly the prac- 
 tice of the primitive churches, that we are not sur 
 prised at the almost universal agreement of Chris- 
 tians on this point. The splendor of a great name 
 may, for a time, give prominence to the opposite 
 error, which inverts the order of the rites ; and a 
 spurious charity may plead for its adoption ; but the 
 subject is too plain to admit of much diversity of 
 sentiment or practice. It has, indeed, scarcely ever 
 been deemed worthy of a labored discussion. All 
 
 * Baptist Confession of Faith, Chap. XXXI. 7. 
 18*
 
 210 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 the professed followers of the Redeemer, in all ages, 
 with the exception of a very small minority, have 
 concurred in the opinion that the Scriptures make 
 Baptism an indispensable prerequisite to the Lord's 
 Supper.* 
 
 Amid this universal agreement, with reference to 
 the principle of communion, there could have been 
 no diversity in practice, had all Christians concurred, 
 to the same extent, in regard to the ordinance of 
 baptism. It is at this point that they diverge. 
 Had there remained one baptism, as well as one 
 Lord, and one faith, there would have been but one 
 communion. From this point of view, it is easy for 
 a candid mind to understand the real nature of the 
 difference between Baptists and other denominations, 
 with reference to the Lord's table. The former 
 hold that nothing but the immersion of a believer is 
 baptism ; but as they maintain, in common with 
 other denominations, that baptism must precede 
 communion, they cannot receive any one who has 
 not been immersed. It is perfectly clear, therefore, 
 that the only question at issue between them and 
 the others, is as to what constitutes baptism. To 
 represent the matter otherwise, for the purpose of 
 arraying prejudices against them, and enlisting tho 
 passions where reason fails, is ungenerous as well as 
 
 * Booth, Vindic. Bap. Sec. 1. Remington, Def. of Re 
 stricted Communion. King, Prim. Ch P. II. ch. vi.
 
 CHUKCH POLITY. 211 
 
 unfair. Yet upon no point have the Baptists been 
 so frequently assailed or so generally misrepresented. 
 To receive unimmersed persons to their communion, 
 would amount not only to a virtual renunciation of 
 their own views of baptism, but an abandonment of 
 the fundamental law of communion, in the churches 
 of Christ in general. And yet, because they refuse 
 to do this, the cry of bigotry is raised against them. 
 It would be well for those who are disposed to join in 
 this cry, to consider what respect they could have 
 for persons who would thus betray, at once, their 
 own principles and the common principles of the 
 Christian world.* 
 
 * For a more full discussion of this topic, the reader is 
 referred to Dr. Howe Vs work on Communion. Phila., A. 
 B. P. Society. 1847
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 RELATION OF CHURCHES TO EACH OTHER. 
 
 ALTHOUGH the churches of Jesus Christ are inde- 
 pendent bodies, yet as they are constituted on the 
 same principles, acknowledging one Lord, one faith, 
 one baptism, and aim at the same great end, the 
 spread of the Redeemer's kingdom, it is their duty 
 to maintain friendly intercourse and fellowship with 
 each other, for the promotion of their mutual inte- 
 rests and their common welfare. In visible or- 
 ganization they are many ; but in spirit, in doctrine, 
 in design, they are one.* 
 
 This friendly relation is evinced by admitting one 
 another's members to transient communion, dismiss- 
 ing and receiving members to and from each other, 
 and by affording assistance and giving advice in cases 
 of difficulty or need. One church may send spiritual 
 teachers to another. Such were sent by the church 
 in Jerusalem to the church in Antioch.f They may 
 supply each other's temporal necessities. J In cases 
 
 *1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:5; 6: 18; Jno. 17: 2026; 
 Rom. 16 : 1, 2 ; 3 Jno. 810 ; Acts 15. 
 
 fActs 11:2227; 15:2227; 18:27; Eph. 6:21; 1 
 Cor. 16 : 1518 
 
 J 1 Cor. 16 : 13 ; 2 Cor. 8 : 14, 1324 ; 9 : 115 ; Rom. 
 15 : 26.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 218 
 
 of perplexity menacing their peace or purity, they 
 may avail themselves of the services of their bre- 
 thren, by seeking the advice of presbyteries or coun- 
 cils, composed of the pastors and delegated members 
 of sister churches. " A council has no power what- 
 ever but to examine, and give its opinion and advice. 
 It can exercise no control. Its office is to give 
 light, not to pronounce decrees." * The decision 
 of the case, whatever it may be, must rest upon the 
 final determination of the church. 
 
 Some of the objects contemplated in the institu- 
 tion of Christian churches, can be best secured by 
 their cooperation ; as the general spread of the gos- 
 pel, the gathering of new churches, the education 
 of the ministry, and the circulation of the Scriptures, 
 and other religious books. This principle was re- 
 cognized by the apostles, and the churches which 
 they founded. The church in Antioch sent forth 
 Paul and Barnabas on a missionary excursion, and 
 other churches cordially aided in their support. f 
 To accomplish these objects, churches, at the pre- 
 sent day, unite in Associations, and through them, 
 in a general Convention. 
 
 An association consists of delegates or messengers 
 from different particular churches. As the union of 
 the members of a particular church is founded on 
 
 * Bacon's Manual, p. 145. 
 
 t Acts 13: 2, 3; 2 Cor. 11 : 8, 12 : 13,18; Phil. 6 10-18.
 
 214 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 uniformity of faith and practice, so the union of 
 churches in a general body rests upon the same 
 principles. Thus constituted, an association is not 
 armed with coercive powers. Its authority is repre- 
 sentative, executive, advisory. To execute the 
 wishes of the churches, in reference to the objects 
 for which it was organized, and to offer its advice, 
 in cases which involve the common interest of the 
 confederation, are all that it may lawfully do. 
 Should any of the churches included in the associa- 
 tion depart from the principles of the union, by em- 
 bracing error, abusing its power over its members, 
 or neglecting attendance on the meetings of the asso- 
 ciation, it is the right and duty of this body to re- 
 monstrate, to advise, and if the church proves in- 
 corrigible, to withdraw fellowship from it; "for if 
 the agreement of several distinct churches in sound 
 doctrine and regular practice, be the binding motive, 
 ground, foundation, or basis of their confederation, 
 then it must naturally follow, that a defection in 
 doctrine or practice, in any church in that confeder- 
 ation, or any part in any such church, is ground 
 sufficient for an association to withdraw from such a 
 church or party so deviating or making defection, 
 and exclude such from them in formal manner, and 
 to advertise all the churches in their confederation 
 thereof, in order that all the churches in confedera- 
 tion may withdraw from such in all acts of church
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 215 
 
 communion, to the end that they may be ashamed, 
 and that all the churches may discountenance such, 
 and bear testimony against the defection. Such 
 withdrawing from a defective or disorderly church, 
 is such as arises from voluntary confederation afore* 
 said, and not only from the general duty that is 
 incumbent upon all orthodox persons and churches 
 to do, where no such confederation is entered into, 
 as 2 Cor. 16 : 16, 17 ; and although an association 
 ought not to assume a power to excommunicate, or 
 deliver a disorderly or defective church to Satan (as 
 some about us claim), yet it is a power sufficient to 
 exclude the delegates of a disorderly or defective 
 church from an association, and to refuse their pres- 
 ence at their consultations, and advise all the church- 
 es in confederation to do so too." * 
 
 The benefits arising from an association of church- 
 es are many. " In general, it will tend to maintain 
 the truth, order, and discipline of the gospel. 1. 
 By it the churches may have such doubts as arise 
 amongst them cleared, which will prevent disputes. 
 Acts 15 : 28, 29. 2. They will be furnished with 
 salutary counsel. Prov. 11 : 14. 3. Those 
 churches which have no ministers may obtain occa- 
 sional supplies. Cant. 8:8. 4. The churches 
 will be more closely united in promoting the cause 
 
 * Power and Duty of an Association, by Rev. B. Griffith, 
 adopted by the Philadelphia and Charleston Associations.
 
 216 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 and interest of Christ. 5. A member who is 
 aggrieved through partiality, or any other wrongs 
 received from the church, may have an opportunity 
 of applying for direction. 6. A godly and sound 
 ministry will be encouraged, while a ministry that is 
 unsound and ungodly will be discountenanced. 7. 
 There will be a reciprocal communication of their 
 gifts. Phil. 4 : 15. 8. Ministers may alternately 
 be sent out to preach the gospel to those who are 
 destitute. Gal. 2:9. 9. A large party may 
 draw off from the church, by means of an intruding 
 minister, or otherwise, and the aggrieved may have 
 no way of obtaining redress but from the association. 
 10. A church may become heretical, with which 
 its godly members can no longer communicate ; yet 
 can obtain no relief but by the association. 11. 
 Contentions may arise betwixt churches, which the 
 association is most likely to remove. 12. The 
 churches may have Candidates for the ministry pro- 
 perly tried by the association." * 
 
 Conventions are composed of delegates from asso- 
 ciations, churches, and other religious bodies. The 
 
 Summary of Church Discipline, ch. vi. published by D. 
 Sheppard, in the volume before referred to. Charleston, 
 1831. On this subject see, also, A Treatise on Church 
 Discipline, in the same volume, ch. x., xi. Griffith's Essay, 
 pp. 231237. Baptist Confession of Faith, ch. xxvii., 14, 
 15. Crowell's Manual, pp. 86, 266. Punchard on Congre- 
 gationalism, pp. 103, 119. Bacon's Manual, ch. vii. Gran- 
 tham's Christianismus Primitivus, B. II. ch. x.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 217 
 
 general principles upon which they are founded, 
 and the uses which they subserve, are the same as 
 those which obtain in the organization of associations. 
 In this country, a convention is held annually in 
 each of the States, and a general convention is 
 held triennially, consisting of delegates from many 
 States. The latter is an organization for missionary 
 purposes alone, contemplating the introduction of 
 the gospel into destitute regions, and its diffusion 
 throughout the world. 
 
 Such is the scriptural relation of churches to each 
 other ; such are the confederations which are permit- 
 ted and sanctioned by the word and the spirit of Christ ; 
 and of such alone have we any record in the early 
 annals of Christianity. All other confederations, 
 not deriving their powers from the consent of the 
 churches, and claiming a divine right of jurisdiction 
 over them, are the growth of later and corrupt 
 times. The history of their origin, development, 
 and fearful ascendency, is replete with warning and 
 admonition.* 
 
 * Hollmann Kirchenverfassung, $ 31 35. Coleman's 
 Christ. Antiq. pp. 356 367. Prim. Ch. chap. viii. King's 
 Prim. Ch. P. I. chap. viii. Mosheim (Ed. Murdock), I. pp. 
 86, 142--4. Waddington, Eccl. Hist. p. 44. Gieseler, I. pp. 
 96, 102, 152. 
 
 19
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 ADVANTAGES OF SCRIPTURAL CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 BEFORE proceeding to enumerate the advantages 
 of the divine plan 'of ecclesiastical organization and 
 government, I shall present a condensed summary 
 of the principles which have been established in the 
 foregoing investigations. The Scriptures teach that 
 the Christian Church the Holy Church Catholic 
 is the spiritual body of the Redeemer, and is 
 composed of those, in every age of the world, who 
 are spiritually renewed, and vitally allied to their 
 Great Head. Some have already ascended to 
 heaven, others are serving him upon earth, and an 
 innumerable multitude are yet to be born. The 
 number will be complete when they are assembled 
 at the judgment seat of Christ. This church uni- 
 versal has its earthly representative, or antitype, in 
 a particular visible church. Each particular church 
 is a local society, composed of persons who have 
 been baptized upon a credible profession of faith in 
 the Son of God, and have solemnly covenanted to 
 walk together in the spirit of the Gospel, acknowl- 
 edging Christ as their Lord, and his word as their 
 infallible guide. Upon such a church, Christ has
 
 CHOKCH POLITY. 219 
 
 conferred the prerogative of self-government, under 
 his laws. It is the right and duty of a church to 
 interpret these laws for itself, and to declare what it 
 considers the will of Christ to be, with reference to 
 doctrines, ordinances, moral duties, the terms of 
 communion, and church order, and to govern all its 
 members accordingly; to receive persons to fellow- 
 ship and to expel offenders ; and to choose its own 
 officers. In the execution of the laws of Christ, it 
 is responsible solely to Him. Churches are therefore 
 independent of each other, so far as coercive inter- 
 ference is concerned ; yet they sustain an intimate 
 relationship ; are bound to promote, in all lawful 
 ways, each other's welfare ; and to unite their efforts 
 in the general advancement of the Redeemer's king- 
 dom. A church when fully organized is furnished 
 with two classes of officers, one of them having spe- 
 cial charge of its spiritual interests, the other, of its 
 temporal or secular concerns. In these classes, 
 there is no distinction in grade. All bishops are 
 of equal rank, and so are all deacons. 
 
 Such is the scriptural church polity, as adopted 
 by Baptist churches, in opposition to all other exist- 
 ing systems. It differs from all sorts of prelacy, 
 Roman, Oriental, Episcopal, and Wesleyan, by the 
 principle, that all the servants of Christ in the work 
 of the gospel are of equal rank. It is distinguished 
 from Episcopacy and Presbyterianism, by the princi-
 
 --<> CHURCH 1'OLITY. 
 
 pie that the only organized church is a particular 
 church, a society of believers, who statedly meet in 
 one place, for the transaction of its business. It, 
 therefore, excludes every such thing as a provincial 
 or national church, the aggregation of churches, and 
 the centralization or consolidation of church power. 
 It is distinguished from all churches established by 
 law, by asking no aid from the civil ruler, and 
 denying to him all right to interfere with its con- 
 cerns. It differs from these systems by the princi- 
 ple that all church power resides in the church, and 
 not in its officers ; and resides in each church 
 directly and originally by virtue of the voluntary 
 compact of its members, under its divine charter. 
 In fine, it is distinguished from all other systems by 
 the principle that every individual is personally 
 responsible for his religious acts and exercises, that 
 no infant is born a member of the church, nor can 
 be made such by any ecclesiastical rite, personal 
 piety being insisted on as an indispensable qualifica- 
 tion for membership. 
 
 In our estimate of the advantages of scriptural 
 church polity, it is necessary to distinguish between 
 the legitimate tendencies of the system and its 
 actual results. As the gospel contemplates the 
 perfect holiness of its possessors, but, in consequence 
 of the deep-seated depravity of the human heart, 
 never accomplishes it in the present life, so the
 
 CHURCH POUTV. 221 
 
 direct tendencies of the divine plan of church order 
 are retarded and counterworked by other influences, 
 which prevent their complete development, in the 
 actual condition of the churches, An approximation 
 to the high standard of the Scriptures is all that can 
 reasonably be expected.* 
 
 I. The scriptural church polity effects an entire 
 separation between the church and the world, the 
 regenerate and the unregenerate. By its requisition 
 of personal piety in all who approach its ordinances 
 and enjoy its special privileges, it gives to the 
 household of faith a distinctive character, and makes 
 it a witness for God, in the midst of a world lying 
 in wickedness. Had the true principles of church 
 polity been universally recognized, no ecclesiastical 
 establishments would ever have existed, empowered 
 by the civil magistrate to subjugate the conscience, 
 and employing pains and penalties to enforce the 
 reception of its dogmas. The spiritual despotism 
 of pampered hierarchies would have been unknown, 
 
 * This obvious principle furnishes a satisfactory reply to 
 all such special pleading as is found in Marshall's Notes on 
 Episcopacy, chapter V. It might be easily shown that the 
 Church of England, of which this writer is so strenuous an 
 advocate, is, in the language of one of her own sons, "the 
 child of regal and aristocratical selfishness and unprinci- 
 pled tyranny, and bears and has ever borne the marks of 
 her birth." Dr. Arnold. Life and Correspondence, p. 478. 
 Appleton & Co., New York. 
 
 19*
 
 222 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 and the gospel would have been left free to achieve 
 its triumphs by its own sublime and incomparable 
 power. Christ's kingdom is not of this world. His 
 churches ask nothing of the civil ruler but what 
 every citizen, Jew or Gentile, may lawfully claim 
 protection in the just exercise of their rights and 
 privileges. They have no right to invoke the aid of 
 government to sustain the distinctive institutions, 
 rites, or doctrines of Christianity. Legal compulsion, 
 in reference to the affairs of the soul, besides being 
 absurd, is an impious invasion of the supremacy of 
 the Most High, and the worst form which human 
 tyranny can assume.* 
 
 II. Another advantage of the scriptural form 
 of church government is, that it promotes general 
 intelligence among the members of the church. 
 
 Where the government of a church is entrusted 
 to one, or to a select portion of its members, the 
 rest feel relieved of all responsibility; but where 
 all are interested, and are solemnly charged with 
 the management of its concerns, all must appreciate 
 their obligation to study the word of God, devoutly 
 and carefully, that they may become familiar with 
 the great principles by which they are to be guided. 
 The consciousness of occupying so solemn and 
 dignified a position, cannot but exert the happiest 
 
 * Ilaldane, Social "Worship, chap. XIV.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 228 
 
 influence on the mind. When it is remembered by 
 the servant of the Lord Jesus, that it is his high 
 privilege to share, directly, in the reception of 
 members into the church, the exercise of discipline, 
 the choice of officers, and everything else that 
 affects the prosperity of the Redeemer's kingdom, 
 he has the strongest possible inducement to prepare 
 himself for the proper performance of his duties. 
 This is one of the most valuable peculiarities of 
 our polity. Other forms may be expected to secure 
 these advantages only in proportion as they approach 
 the scriptural standard. 
 
 III. Scriptural church polity is best fitted to 
 maintain the purity of the churches. 
 
 It is readily granted that the freedom of our gov- 
 ernment the right of the people to choose their 
 own pastors, and in every other respect to manage 
 their own ecclesiastical affairs, demands an aggre- 
 gate of wisdom and piety greater than is needed 
 under other forms. But it must be remembered 
 that the scriptural church polity involves a scriptural 
 constituency. The members of a church become 
 such, only after an entire moral transformation. 
 They profess to have been born again, taught by the 
 Spirit of G-od, and brought into subjection to his 
 will. Genuine piety in the mass of the members 
 constitutes the surest pledge of purity, and the 
 most effectual rampart against false doctrine, heresy,
 
 224 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 and general corruption. There is much less danger 
 that the majority of the church will become unsound, 
 than that a few men, claiming to be their authorita- 
 tive guides, will swerve from the faith. 
 
 IV. It best secures the rights of individual 
 members. 
 
 Should a member be aggrieved by any of his 
 brethren, whether private or official, he may apply 
 for redress to the church. He is not subject to the 
 control, nor liable to suffer from the caprice, of any 
 irresponsible power. Trial by jury is justly regard- 
 ed as the palladium of personal rights. In a 
 Christian church, a member, when arraigned upon 
 any charge, enjoys the benefit of trial by a jury of 
 his peers, composed of all his fellow-members. 
 There is, therefore, every reason to expect an impar- 
 tial verdict. 
 
 V. Another advantage of the scriptural polity 
 is found in the motives which it suggests to dili- 
 gence, activity, and fidelity in the ministry. 
 
 The direct accountability of rulers to the 
 people is a principle of vast importance, and its 
 beneficial influence is clearly recognized in the best 
 forms of civil government. An officer of the church 
 is amenable to his brethren for the proper discharge 
 of the duties of his station. Should he become 
 negligent, indolent, heretical, or corrupt, he may be 
 deposed. He cannot continue, as under some other
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 225 
 
 systems, to be an incubus to the church, and a scan- 
 dal to the cause of Christ. 
 
 VI. Scriptural church polity is favorable to 
 human progress, to the establishment of free 
 institutions. 
 
 It recognizes distinctly the democratic principle, 
 that the people are the source of power the foun- 
 tain of all legitimate authority while, at the same 
 time, it guards against its abuses, by the limitations 
 of a written constitution. The church does not 
 interfere with the state, it enjoins obedience to 
 rulers, and may exist under any form of civil 
 government ; but it cannot be denied that the 
 spirit which pervades its polity is eminently con- 
 ducive to the political welfare of mankind, and the 
 general advancement of free principles. A people 
 thoroughly imbued with the spirit of our ecclesiasti- 
 cal organization, republicans in church as well as 
 state, will be faithful guardians of the public weal, 
 and every church will prove a citadel of defence 
 against tyranny. The intimate relation which 
 subsists between ecclesiastical and civil freedom is 
 too often overlooked. They are twin sisters, and 
 live or die together. He who surrenders his relig- 
 ious rights to the clergy, or commits the keeping of 
 his conscience to them, and submits to be ruled by 
 them, whether in councils or conferences, renounces 
 his Christian birth-right, and, as he has become the
 
 226 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 voluntary slave of a priest, he may, at any time, be 
 made the vassal of a tyrant.* 
 
 VII. Another striking feature of the system 
 which I have delineated from the word of God, 
 and the last that I shall mention, is its simplicity. 
 
 It presents no imposing visible organization, 
 recognizes no priesthood clothed with mysterious 
 powers ; symbolizes with none of the superstitions 
 of the world, " gay religions, full of pomp and 
 gold." The principles of church polity are level 
 to the comprehension of all who are qualified for 
 membership in a church. There are no wheels 
 within wheels, inferior and superior courts of 
 judicature, no intricate machinery, nothing in the 
 government of a church which a plain man may 
 not understand. Its practicability, under any cir- 
 cumstances, is one of its best recommendations.! 
 
 * " I am convinced," says Dr. Arnold, " that the whole 
 mischief of the great anti-christian apostacy has for its 
 root the tenet of a priestly government transmitted by a 
 mystical succession from the apostles." Life, p. 320. 
 Again, " That the church system, or rather the priest sys- 
 tem, is not to be found in the Scriptures, is as certain as 
 that the worship of Jupiter is not the doctrine of the 
 gospel." p. 409. 
 
 f The limits to which I proposed to confine myself, in 
 this chapter, permitted nothing beyond a cursory glance at 
 some of the advantages of the revealed polity. For a more 
 extensive view of the subject, the reader is referred to Pun- 
 chard on Congregationalism, Part V. Haldane's Social 
 Worship, chap. XIII. Christian Eeview, May, 1846.
 
 CHUECH POLITY. 227 
 
 The following anecdote was communicated to the Chris- 
 tian "Watchman several years ago, by the Rev. Dr. Fishback, 
 of Lexington, Ky. 
 
 " Mr. Editor. The following circumstance which occurr- 
 ed in the state of Virginia, relative to Mr. Jefferson, was 
 detailed to me by Elder Andrew Tribble, about six years 
 ago, who since died when ninety-two or three ^ears old. 
 The facts may interest some of your readers. Andrew Trib- 
 ble was the pastor of a small Baptist church, which held its 
 monthly meetings at a short distance from Mr. Jefferson's 
 house, eight or ten years before the American revolution. 
 Mr. Jefferson attended the meetings of the church for 
 several months in succession, and after one of them, asked 
 Elder Tribble to go home and dine with him, with which he 
 complied. 
 
 "Mr. Tribble asked Mr. Jefferson how he was pleased 
 with their church government. Mr. Jefferson replied, that 
 it had struck him with great force, and had interested him 
 much ; that he considered it the only form of pure democ- 
 racy that then existed in the world, and had concluded that 
 it would be the best plan of government for the American 
 colonies. This was several years before the Declaration of 
 Independence, To what extent this practical exhibition of 
 religious liberty and equality operated on Mr. Jefferson's 
 mind, in forming his views and principles of religious and 
 civil freedom, which were so ably exhibited, I will not say."
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 CORRUPTION 0V SCRIPTURAL CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 THE simple and beautiful system of ecclesiastical 
 polity which was established by the inspired found- 
 ers of the primitive churches, retained only for a 
 brief period its original perfection and symmetry. 
 The innovations and corruptions which menaced it 
 were distinctly foreseen by the apostles themselves. 
 Paul said to the elders of the church of Ephesus, 
 " I know this, that after my departing shall grievous 
 wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock." * 
 John encountered the opposition of one of these 
 disturbers of the peace, in the person of Diotrephes, 
 who was so inflamed with the passion for preemi- 
 nence that he rejected the authority of the apostle 
 himself, f Thus we find the germs of corruption 
 existing even in the primitive churches. To antici- 
 pate their development and counteract their insidious 
 influence, the apostles lifted their voices in solemn 
 warning and remonstrance. Notwithstanding this, 
 the churches began to decline from the apostolic 
 order before the close of the second century, and 
 
 * Acts 20 : 29. 
 
 t 3 Jno. 9 ; cf. Clem. Ep. ad Cor. 14.
 
 CHURCH POLITT. 229 
 
 even within the lifetime of some who had been con- 
 temporary with the inspired teachers. The causes 
 and the manner of this transition will now be briefly 
 indicated. While the early corruptions of church 
 polity are to be ascribed mainly to the pride and 
 ambition of the clergy, it must be confessed that 
 other causes contributed to these deplorable results. 
 
 I. The excellences by which the primitive pas- 
 tors were distinguished, proved one of the earliest 
 occasions of corruption to the churches. 
 
 The position of a Christian pastor, in those days, 
 was one of great peril. In all persecutions for the 
 truth's sake, the storm spent its fury chiefly upon 
 him ; and the steadfastness with which he endured 
 its violence, entitled him to the love and confidence 
 of his flock. To such men, who were ready to lay 
 down their lives for the cause of Christ, the churches 
 naturally supposed that they might entrust their 
 dearest rights. Their members, scattered by perse- 
 cution, and prevented from meeting together for the 
 management of their ecclesiastical affairs, were 
 induced by the necessity of the case to commit 
 them to the hands of their pastors, and thus an un- 
 scriptural authority was given to religious teachers. 
 This authority was, doubtless, at first faithfully ex- 
 ercised, and held as a boon, not as a right ; but, in 
 the course of time, the origin and nature of the 
 trust were overlooked, and their ambitious succea- 
 20
 
 230 CHUKCH POLITY. 
 
 sors claimed a divine right to dictate to the churches 
 and control their movements. The tendency of 
 power to pass from the many to the few, is strong 
 under any circumstances ; but it is particularly so, 
 when the transfer is prompted by reverence for 
 elevated piety, and gratitude for distinguished ser- 
 vices. This was the case with the early churches. 
 The lamentable consequences of their defection 
 should prove a warning to all other churches, and 
 impress them with the importance of guarding their 
 rights against the aggression of even the most wise 
 and pious men. Clerical despotism reaches its im- 
 perial elevation by slow and almost imperceptible 
 advances ; it is the first step that is the most dan- 
 gerous. 
 
 The sentiment of respect for superior excellence, 
 to which I have adverted, led, also, to a change in 
 the relations of the ministers among themselves. 
 " After the death of the apostles and the pupils of 
 the apostles, to whom the general direction of the 
 churches had always been conceded, some one 
 amongst the presbyters of each church was sufFered 
 gradually to take the lead in its affairs. In the 
 same irregular way the title of bishop was appro- 
 priated to this first presbyter." * 
 
 II. Another cause of the corruption of the 
 apostolic church polity is found in the ascendency 
 
 * Gicseler, Ch. Hist. 1, { 2. Httllmann, S. 20.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 231 
 
 of the churches in the cities over those in the country. 
 
 The gospel was first preached in large cities such 
 as Jerusalem, Corinth, and Rome ; churches were 
 founded in them, and thence, as from centres of in- 
 fluence, Christianity was extended in the surround- 
 ing regions. Visitants to the city were converted, 
 and connected with the metropolitan church ; and, 
 in process of time, when their number became 
 sufficiently large, they were constituted into church- 
 es in the country. These churches naturally looked 
 to the mother church for aid and counsel, received 
 their first pastors from it, and were in constant in- 
 tercourse with it. They were regarded as branches 
 of the metropolitan church. " In this connection 
 and coalition, between the original church and the 
 smaller ones that sprang up around it, began that 
 change in the original organization of the apostolical 
 churches which gave rise to the Episcopal system, 
 and which in the end totally subverted the primitive 
 simplicity and freedom in which the churches were 
 at first founded." * 
 
 When the elders of the city churches came to 
 have a president, or chief presbyter, charged with 
 the general supervision of its affairs, his jurisdiction 
 was extended over the country churches connected 
 with it ; and in this way diocesan episcopacy was 
 
 * Coleman, Prim. Ch. p. 249. Gieseler, I, p. 103. Hall- 
 maun, S. 22, 30.
 
 232 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 introduced. Had the independence of the rural 
 churches been maintained, this defection from prim- 
 itive episcopacy could never have occurred. 
 
 III. The original polity of the churches was cor- 
 rupted by the introduction of the doctrine that the 
 ministers of the Christian church were the successors 
 of the Jewish priesthood. 
 
 If this notion were true, of course the Christian 
 ministry and the Jewish priesthood must be similar 
 in rank and station. The bishop corresponded to 
 the High Priest, the presbyters or elders to the 
 priests, and the deacons to the Levites. They 
 were no longer incumbents in office at the pleasure 
 of the people, and dependent upon them, but were 
 divinely appointed to instruct and rule them. 
 " When once the idea of a Mosaic priesthood had 
 been adopted in the Christian church, the clergy 
 soon began to assume a superiority over the laity. 
 The customary form of consecration was now sup- 
 posed to have a certain mystic influence, and hence- 
 forth they stand in the position of persons appointed 
 by God to be the medium of communication between 
 him and the Christian world." * This unscriptural 
 and impious dogma was the source of that ghostly 
 tyranny which presumed to extend its empire over 
 heaven and hell, opening or shutting their gates at 
 pleasure, and by its subsequent ascendency kept the 
 
 * Gieseler, I, p. 156. .Mflnscher, Handbuch, iii. S. 15.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 233 
 
 Christian world for centuries in a worse than 
 Egyptian bondage.* 
 
 Another effect of this doctrine was the claim on 
 the part of the clergy to tithes for their support. 
 Moreover, they argued that "if the ministration of 
 condemnation be glory, much more doth the minis- 
 tration of righteousness exceed in glory" and 
 therefore claimed superior contributions in tithes and 
 offerings to Christian ministers. " And what is 
 still more extraordinary, by such wretched reasoning 
 the bulk of mankind were convinced." f 
 
 IV. The institution of provincial synods, and af- 
 terwards of general councils, contributed its influence 
 to the subversion of the primitive polity of the 
 churches. 
 
 The first of these assemblies was held against the 
 Montanists. J They were composed originally of 
 the representatives of independent churches, select- 
 ed for the purpose of deliberating upon matters 
 which affected their common interests. From these 
 synods the laity was excluded ; at least there exists 
 no evidence to prove that any but the clergy took 
 part in their deliberations. They were advisory 
 
 * Some Protestant ministers in this country, arrayed in 
 gown or surplice, gravely pretend to these awful preroga- 
 tives. Risum teneatis, amici ? 
 
 f Campbell, Lee. Eccl. Hist. X, P. I. Gibbon's Rome, 
 I. p. 276. 
 
 t A. D. 160, 170. Euseb. V. 16. Gieseler, 1, p. 102. 
 20*
 
 234 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 bodies, and if their decisions assumed the form of 
 laws, it was rather by common consent than as 
 imperative enactments. It was not long, however, 
 before they presumed to claim the right of giving 
 authoritative laws to the churches. Their original 
 character, as deliberative and advisory assemblies, 
 was exchanged for one of higher pretensions, 
 claiming legislative and judicial authority, and thus 
 invading the independence of the churches. 
 
 These synods needed a moderator ; and as they 
 were usually held in the capital of the province, the 
 presiding officer of the city church was commonly 
 chosen. The position, which was at first yielded to 
 him from a spirit of courtesy, was afterward claimed 
 as an official right. The institution of these assem- 
 blies thus promoted at once the aggrandizement of 
 the clergy in general, and the exaltation of one in 
 each province to a position of vast and irresponsible 
 power. " The practical effect of these councils, 
 from the beginning, was to give increasing consider- 
 ation and influence to the clergy, which continually 
 increased, until it finally ended in the full establish- 
 ment of the ecclesiastical hierarchy." * 
 
 The history of these ecclesiastical assemblies evin- 
 ces that it is not without reason that the movements 
 
 * Coleman, Chr. Antiq. p. 364. Prim. Ch. chap. viii. 
 Waddinglon, Ch. Hist. pp. 4345. Gibbon, Rome, I. p. 
 274. Gieseler, I, $ 66.
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 235 
 
 of similar bodies, at the present day, are watched 
 with jealous solicitude. Associations and conven- 
 tions ought to be restricted within their appropriate 
 limits, as advisory and executive bodies. Any at- 
 tempt on their part to invade the independence of 
 the churches, by controlling their faith or practice, 
 or assuming the supervision of matters which have 
 not been entrusted to them, should be promptly and 
 steadfastly resisted. 
 
 V. The doctrine of a visible church catholic may 
 be enumerated among the causes which subverted 
 the primitive ecclesiastical order. 
 
 This notion, which was early developed, necessa- 
 rily blended the churches together under a uniform 
 organization, which required a visible head, and 
 led directly to the establishment of the papacy. 
 To maintain uniformity, the central representative 
 of sovereignty must be clothed with unlimited power 
 over every portion of the vast confederation.* That 
 this doctrine is a misconception of the notion of 
 Christian unity, and is unsupported by the word of 
 God, has already been shown. f 
 
 Gieseler, I, 49, 66, 82. Coleman, Prim. Ch. p. 270. 
 
 t " There is," says Dr. Arnold, " a societas generis huma- 
 ni, and a societas hominwn Christianorum, but there is not 
 one respublica or civitas of either, but a great many. The 
 Roman Catholics say there is but one respublica, and there- 
 fore, with perfect consistency, they say that there must be 
 one central government." Life, p 166.
 
 236 CHUKCH POLITY. 
 
 VI. The introduction of infant baptism was an- 
 other cause of the corruption of church polity. 
 
 The grounds upon -which this rite was introduced, 
 by identifying it with regeneration, and making it 
 essential to salvation, placed it in direct antagonism 
 to the genius of Christianity. Besides imparting 
 increased potency to the cause of corruption, which 
 was already in existence, it exercised a direct and 
 powerful influence upon the churches, and, in the 
 end, effected an entire revolution in their polity. 
 After its introduction, the churches were no longer 
 composed of believers who had been baptised upon 
 profession of their faith in the Redeemer ; the dis- 
 tinction between real and nominal Christianity was 
 obliterated : forms and ceremonies usurped the place 
 of vital godliness ; Christianity itself was virtually 
 repealed ; and the pure and benign system of Jesus 
 of Nazareth degenerated into a profane and cruel 
 superstition.
 
 ADDENDA. 
 
 [The following paragraphs, -which ought to have 
 been inserted at the close of Chap. VII., were acci- 
 dentally omitted :] 
 
 If it be the duty of each church, as a separate 
 and independent body, to bear its unequivocal tes- 
 timony to the truth, it is equally so when it is 
 united with others. A union of churches upon 
 grounds that permit the rejection of principles 
 which each is separately pledged to sustain, is an 
 absurdity so gross and palpable, that it is surpris- 
 ing it should find any advocates. It has indeed 
 been said that "uniformity is not to be secured 
 and preserved by confederacies of churches, confes- 
 sions of faith, or written codes or formularies 
 framed by man, as bonds of union for the churches 
 of Christ. " * To this it may be replied, that while 
 it is true that the recognition of a common confes- 
 sion does not always secure real uniformity, and 
 this will always be the case, so long as deceivers 
 exist who are base enough to profess what they do 
 not believe, yet this method affords the nearest ap- 
 
 Gospel Developed, By W. B. Johnson, D. D. p. 200.
 
 238 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 proximation which can be made to so desirable a 
 result. Real uniformity can exist only among 
 those who " all speak the same thing, and are per- 
 fectly joined together in the same mind and in the 
 same judgment." 1 Cor. 1 : 10. A union of contra- 
 dictions is an impossibility. Agreement in senti- 
 ment is the bond of Christian union. "I have 
 heard a great deal," says the judicious Fuller, " of 
 union without sentiment ; but I can neither feel nor 
 perceive any such thing, either in myself or others. 
 All the union 'that I can feel or perceive arises 
 from a similarity of views and pursuits." All 
 other grounds of union are impracticable and worth- 
 less, and all the hopes of ecclesiastical prosperity or 
 denominational enlargement which are based upon 
 them will prove deceptive in the end. " Christian 
 enlargement is not accomplished by extending our 
 connections, but by confining them to persons with 
 whom we can have fellowship, communion, concord, 
 and a mutual participation of spiritual interests"* 
 
 * Fuller's "Works, II. pp. 657, 659. Bacon's Manual, 
 App. A. For a further vindication of written articles of 
 faith, the reader is referred to Crowell's Ch. Mem. 
 Manual, pp. 71, 118, and especially to the able essays 
 of Andrew Fuller, on creeds and subscriptions, and 
 similar topics. Works, II., r p. 629, seq. In a work entitled 
 " Social Religion Exemplified, by Rev. M. Maurice," p. 
 64, I find the following brief statement of the ends sub- 
 served by a confession of faith :
 
 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 239 
 
 If the views which have now been presented 
 with reference to the rights and powers of Christian 
 churches be correct, they are placed in a position of 
 great eminence and responsibility. All the author- 
 ity which Christ has not reserved to himself, he has 
 delegated to them. They are the guardians of his 
 cause upon the earth. To them he has committed 
 a solemn and responsible trust. It is their impera- 
 tive duty to retain it in their own hands, and dis- 
 charge the duties involved in it, with a zeal and fi- 
 
 " Since the Bible is allowed to be the only rule of faith 
 and practice, and a very sufficient one, what need was there 
 of a confession of faith and a church covenant ? It is re- 
 plied: 1. The apostolic churches had something similar, 
 called the principles of the oracles of God, and the form of 
 sound words. 2. Persons may in general subscribe to the 
 Bible, who at the same time do not believe its contents, as 
 the Sadducees of old respecting the five books of Moses, 
 with all ancient and modern heretics. 3. A collection of 
 the first principles of the oracles of God, is of great use, 
 that in their light, as truths of the greatest importance, 
 other things that offer themselves may be tried. 4. This is 
 no imposition, becanse all men have an equal right to col- 
 lect from scripture what they apprehend to be the princi- 
 ples of faith. 5. An explicit declaration of our principles 
 is honest and generous. 6. Fundamental principles, col- 
 lected into one consistent view, appear with stronger evi- 
 dence, and make deeper impressions. A constellation 
 gives a clearer light than dispersed stars. 7. The various 
 heresies in the world make it necessary there should be 
 confessions of faith, that they which are approved may be 
 made manifest"
 
 240 CHURCH POLITY. 
 
 delity proportionate to the honors and privileges it 
 confers. The fact itself is a noble and affecting ap- 
 peal to their best sentiments, and it should be the 
 aim of the churches to vindicate the wisdom of the 
 Redeemer in their organization, by proving that 
 the trust has not been bestowed in vain.
 
 NOTICES BY THE PRESS, OF THE FIRST 
 EDITION. 
 
 The following are some of the notices of the first edition : 
 " The Kingdom of Christ, by Rev. J. L. Reynolds, Prof, of Bib. Lit. 
 in Mercer University, Ga., constitutes the thirdjUumber of the Period- 
 ical Library. The subject is well treated by the author. We know 
 of no work on the nature and organization of the church better 
 suited to general circulation. It should be in the hands of every 
 Baptist, as containing a brief, but clear and able defence of the doc- 
 trine we hold concerning the constitution of the Church of Christ." 
 South. Western Baptist Chronicle. 
 
 " Prof. Reynolds shows in this little work, that he has bestowed 
 much thought upon the subject. He has with great clearness and 
 force exhibited the Polity of the New Testament, and traced the 
 gradual departure from it in the Churches which succeeded those 
 planted by the Apostles." Western Baptist Review. 
 
 " The Kingdom of Christ. An exceedingly able little work bear- 
 ing the above title, has just been received from the publisher. It is 
 an able treatise on the great question respecting Church Polity. It 
 defends the sentiments of the Baptists with much power, and we 
 hope the day is not far distant when the distinguished author will be 
 permitted to present the larger volume to the public." Chrystal 
 Fount. 
 
 " The style of the work of Prof. Reynolds is very handsome ; it 
 exhibits much learning and research ; and we believe every position 
 of the writer meets our hearty concurrence. VCe object only to its 
 brevity. It seems to be the abridgment of a larger design. Bro. K. 
 will, we trust, soon write out his views on the whole subject, and 
 place them before the public in a more perfect form. Meantime we 
 should be glad to see this work in the hands of all our friends. It 
 is the cheapest and best work of the kind in the nation." Dr. How- 
 til, of Tenn. Baptist. 
 
 21
 
 " The subject of this work has received a large share of attention 
 from many distinguished men during the last year or two, but not 
 more than it has deserved. It is important, especially in the Churches 
 that adopt the form of Church government which Baptists have 
 always advocated. Bro. Reynolds has done much service in this 
 cause. The chapter on Church Membership is worth more than the 
 price of the book. Buy and read it." Mississippi Baptist. 
 
 A VALUABLE WORK. 
 
 JUST published, by HARROLD & MURRAY, the SCRIPTURE 
 CATECHISM, suitable for Bible Classes, Sabbath Schools, Families, 
 but especially for the instruction of Servants, prepared by Rev. 
 Robert Ryland, President of the Richmond College, and Pastor of the 
 first African Baptist Church, Richmond, "Virginia, pp. 148. ISrno. 
 
 The work is divided into 52 lessons, or one for each week, contain- 
 ing the following subjects : A Divne Revelation, God a Spirit ever 
 present, God all powerful, God eternal, God unchangeable, The 
 Truth and Justice of God, The Holiness of God, The Unity of God ; 
 God the Father, Son and Spirit ; God the Creator, the Providence of 
 God, Angels, Satan, Man, The Fall of Man, His Depravity, The Law, 
 The Saviour, Proofs, Deity of Christ. Humanity do., The Death and 
 Atonement do., The Kesurruction of do., The Exaltation of do, Re- 
 pentance, Faith, Justification, Adoption, Sanctification, Perseverance, 
 The Holy Spirit, The Divine Purposes, Death, The Resurrection, The 
 Judgment, Heaven, Hell, The Church, The Ministry, The Deacons, 
 Baptism, The Lord's Supper, Church Discipline, Deportment, Relative 
 Duties, Parents and Children, Masters and Servants, Civil Authorities, 
 Prayer, Spread of the Gospel. 
 
 The work has met with very flattering reception by all who have 
 cmmined it. We have room for only two extracts. 
 
 From Rev. Richard Fuller, D.D., of Baltimore. 
 
 " It giTes me pleasure to recommend such an excellent little book 
 
 as the Scripture Catechism. Its fulness and simplicity, and (what is 
 
 rare) the aptness of the questions from the Bible, render the work 
 
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 From the Baptist Guardian. 
 
 " The plan of this work, as might be expected, is plain and practi- 
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 little volume embraces a large amount of scriptural truth. In short, 
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 subserving the purpose for which the author designed it, we hope to 
 see it introduced into Sunday Schools. We know no text-book in 
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 Part of the edition is so bound as to be mailed. To persons send- 
 ing us, by letter, 25 cents, we will send one copy ; one dollar, 6 copies. 
 HARROLD & MURRAY. 
 
 
 From Rev. J. S. Jeter, Richmond, Va. 
 
 Messrs. Harrold If Murray, Having examined, with some cares 
 the Scripture Catechism, I do not hesitate to pronounce it an excel- 
 lent work, admirably adapted, not merely to the instruction of colored 
 people, but of Bible Classes and Christians in general. The plan of 
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 circulation. J. B. JETER.
 
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