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they are however at once and easily conceived from the nature of the office, which arises out of the reason and necessity of things, and of which sufficient appears in the history of the first plantation of Christianity, and may be inferred from the qualifications which the apostles thought necessary to the man who should be chosen to the office.

Thus then among the Jews, the rulers of the people, of the army, of the synagogue, together with the Sanhedrim, were called Elders, as being presumed to be taken from among that class who were accounted most sage and experienced. This word was naturally enough transferred to the chief officer of the Christian church. Now we apprehend that two causes will account for the mistakes on the supposed plurality of Elders in the Christian assemblies; first, that the term Elder is used in the New Testament, both in its original sense, and in that which usage had affixed to it as expressive of office. The passage in Peter (1 Epis. v. 1) "The Elders that are among you I exhort, who am also an elder," we take to refer to old men, old in the cause of Christ; and in that way it is contrasted with the younger (verse 5); likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves to the elder." May not the term also be used in a sense not expressive of office in the 15th of Acts? The Elders who are spoken of as being with the Apostles and church of Jerusalem, assisting in their deliberations, were probably those early and experienced converts, whose knowledge of Christianity, and interest in the cause of truth, would attach them about the persons of the apostles, give a weight to their opinions, and particularly qualify them to assist in the important discussion which at that time agitated the church.

The second point to which we would advert is, that the term Elder must of necessity have been used in the plural, whenever the apostles were writing to or speaking of the officers of the church, when it subsisted in provinces and large cities, where several assemblies were held, each distinct assembly having over it a distinct Elder. Thus (Acts ii. 30) in the anticipation of a famine in Judea, the church of Antioch determined to relieve their brethren of Judea by sending them pecuniary assistance, "which (says the historian) also they ́did, and sent it to the Elders by the hands of Barnabas and Paul."

At Ephesus we find Paul called together the Elders

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At Ephesus we observe Paul calling together the Elders of the several assemblies, previous to his taking leave of that city. We find him addressing them, exhorting them, holding up his conduct as an

of the church; and here we cannot but conclude that there were several assemblies of Christians meeting in that great and populous city. The success that attended Paul's teaching in this place, the years he abode there disputing in the schools of the philosophers and synagogues of the Jews-the uproar that was raised against him by the interested Demetrius for having turned away much people, and endangering the interests of himself and fellow craftsmen, who lived on the superstition of the city, are evidence in favor of our conclusion.

BISHOP. The Greek word Episcopus, from which the term Bishop is derived, signifies an overseer or inspector, and is applied in the New Testament to the office of Elder, of which indeed it is but another name, as the word Overseer is sufficiently expressive of the duties of the office of Elder. And though in their radical and verbal import the two terms Elder and Bishop are different from each other, yet we shall see they are used indifferently, and esteemed convertible by the writers of the New Testament. Thus Paul informs Titus that he had left him in Crete to set in order the things that were wanted, and ordain Elders in every city. He begins to describe the qualifications of an Elder, and immediately adds for a BISHOP must be blameless," an Overseer must be blameless," &c. It is observable that our translators in the common version have in some instances dropped the word Bishop, and rendered it Overseer, as in the instance of the apostle charging the Elders of the church of Ephesus, to feed the church of God, over which the holy spirit had made them Overseers-made them Bishops, if the word had been uniformly rendered.

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The term Elder or Elders occurs fifty-five times in the New Testament, exclusive of the Revelations, thirty of which relate to the Elders of the Jewish people; twelve as it should seem to elders as it respects age; twelve to the officers of the Christian church; and in one instance it is translated Presbytery, though in this place Wakefield properly renders it elders, as it is the same word so translated elsewhere, and there is no word for Presbytery or Presbyter in the New Testament.

The Bishop then, and the Elder, appear to be one and the

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example to them, and enjoining them to "feed the church of God," over which they were the appointed overseers. (Acts xx. 28.)

same character, and there is every reason for supposing that but one such officer existed in each separate assembly of Christians. It is remarkable too that there is a particular distinction made by the apostles, when writing to believers in different places; such as those in a kingdom or province, and those of a town or city. The first of whom are generally addressed in the plural, as the churches of Judea, Asia, and Macedonia, but the latter in the singular, as the church of Jerusalem, the church at Philippi, Thyatira, Sardis, &c. And as the apostles never speak of churches in the plural, when applied to any particular town or city, it follows, that when the Elders of the church therein are mentioned, it must refer to the Elders of the different societies or branches of the whole church in that place.

We would observe here, that in order to preserve the liberties of the church, no distinct society should be so numerous as to be incapable of forming a deliberative assembly. The moment it approaches to that point, is the signal for branching off into smaller bodies. It is owing to the existence of large bodies that a necessity has appeared for a presbytery in the Christian assemblies; and thus the affairs of the many have get into the hands of the few, who have, generally speaking, managed them in a manner more consistent with their own particular interest than the general good.

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QUALIFICATIONS OF AN ELDER.

"Ir any one (says Paul) desire the office of overseer in the church, he wisheth for an honourable employ. ment. This overseer then must be blameless, married to one wife only, sober, chaste, respectable, a lover of hospitality, ready to teach, not riotous, no striker, not greedy of dishonourable gains; but gentle, peaceable, no lover of money, ruling his own family well, and having his children in subjection with all decorum (for how shall he who is not able to rule his own house take care of an assembly of God?) no novice, lest he be puffed up, and so fall into the snare of the accuser. He ought also to have a good testimony from them without; lest he fall into reproach, and a snare of the accuser." (1 Tim. iii. 2, 7.)

Again, if any one be blameless, a husband of one wife, with children that are believers, and not charged with riot and unruliness; for this overseer of the church, as God's steward, must be blameless, not self-willed, not passionate, not riotous, no striker, not greedy of dishonourable gains, but a friend to hospitality, a lover of goodness, chaste, just, holy, temperate; keeping to the true doctrine which he hath been taught, that he may be able to encourage some by wholesome instruction, and confute others who contradict."* (Titus i. 5, 9.)

*This must refer to private instruction, as it appears from 1 Tim. v. 17, that the gift of public teaching was not an indis. pensable qualification to the office of Elder.

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OF DEACONS.*

DEACONS are servants to the church, persons appointed to attend to its ordinary concerns, and to administer to the temporal wants and necessities of its members. In the history of the first plantation of Christianity, when as yet the church was unorganized, and circumstances required them to have all things in common, we observe that seven men of good report were chosen to attend to the daily distribution of alms to the widows. This gives a sufficient insight into the nature of the office of deacon, which of course must have preserved a similar character when the several assemblies were completely organized. The term Deacon however, as signifying servant, is of itself sufficient to convey an idea of the nature and duties of the office.t

"Deacons (says the apostle) must be respectable, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of dishonourable gains, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience; and let these be tried first, then if blameless, let them become deacons." (1 Tim. iii. 8, 11.)

* Deacon, from the Greek (Diaconos) Minister, or Servant. There were also in the Apostolic age, Females appointed to this office. In 1 Tim. iii. 11, where our translation has it,/ even so must their wives be grave," it should be Deaconesses, instead of wives. That females should have filled offices of this sort was highly proper, their business being to attend to the poor, in which many situations might occur where it would be indelicate for the man to act,