66 you will be able to conceive of the fact as it was. "When Peter, or either of the other Apostles, came to any city where there were Christians, "out of the number he chose one or more aged men, of blameless lives, who had wives and chil“dren, and were well acquainted with the Scrip66 tures, to be set over the rest. These were cal"led Presbyters, that is Elders, whom both Peter "and Paul also style Bishops, that we may know "that Bishops and Presbyters were the same." Again, in his Commentary on the second verse of the same chapter, he says, "I have often said, "that if we would wish to have the Christian com"monwealth rightly established, it is necessary "that there be, in every city, three or four Bishops, "who should superintend the Church, and, if any ແ thing should be at any time delinquent or lost, 66 restore it." But this is not all. Luther declared his principles on this subject by his practice, as well as by his writings. He was ordained a Presbyter in the Romish Church, in the year 1507, in the 24th year of his age*. As a Presbyter, he considered himself as authorized to ordain others to the Gospel ministry; and accordingly, soon after assuming the character of a Reformer, he actually did or * Vid. Gerhard, De Ministerio, p. 147, 148. The same fact is also attested by Zanchius. In 1v. Præcep. p. 774. Gerhard, who lived not long after Luther, expressly asserts that he was ordained a Presbyter, with the imposition of hands, in the year above mentioned. dain*. Nay, he went a step further. Though a firm believer in the doctrine of the primitive parity of ministers, he seems to have considered it as not unlawful to have diocesan Bishops or Superintendents in the Church, when either the form of the civil government, or the habits or wishes of the people rendered it desirable; always, however, placing their appointment on the ground of human expediency alone. Accordingly, in the year 1542, when an Episcopal seat within the electorate of Saxony became vacant, Luther, at the request of the Elector, though himself nothing more than a Presbyter, consecrated Amsdorff Bishop of that dioceset. But if Luther had believed in "the Apostolic institution of diocesan Episcopacy," as Dr. Bowden tells us he did, could he have acted thus? It is not possible. It would have been a grossness of inconsistency and dishonesty with which that holy Reformer was never charged. Nor did Luther abandon either his principles or his practice, on this subject, to his last hour. This appears from the following testimony of his biogra pher, concerning what occurred a few days before his death." From the 29th day of January till the "17th day of February, he was continually occuแ pied about the matters of concord and agreement "of the aforesaid noble princes, bringing it unto a most godly conclusion. And besides his great 66 * Melchior Adam, 129. + Ibid. 150. "labour in so necessary a cause, he preached in "the mean time, four worthy sermons, and two "times communicated with the Christian Church there, in the holy Supper of the Lord; and in "the latter communion, which was on Sunday, he "ordained two ministers of the word of God, after "the Apostles' manner*." This great Reformer, then, in the solemn anticipation of death, and when he expected, in a few days, to appear before his eternal Judge, still claimed and exercised the right of ordaining ministers, as he had done for near thirty years; and what is more, his biographers, who were eminent divines of the Lutheran denomi nation, and Luther's most intimate friends, declare, that, in their judgment, as well as that of their illustrious chief, ordination by a Presbyter was in conformity with "the Apostles' manner." Nor did Luther stand alone, among the Churches of his denomination, in maintaining the primitive parity of Gospel ministers. This is evident from the Confessions, and other ecclesiastical documents, which were early set forth, and which have been ever since received by those Churches. Among the standards of the Lutheran Churches, the Augustan Confession holds the first rank. It was drawn up by Melancthon, approved by Luther, "The True History of the Christian Departing of the "Rev. Dr. Martin Luther; collected by Justus Jonas, Mi"chael Celius, and Joannes Aurifaber, which were present "thereat." and formally presented to the Emperor Charles V, by those Reformers, and their adherents, in the year 1530, as a summary of the doctrines received by them. In this celebrated Confession there is a reference to a charge brought against the Lutherans by the Papists, that they had abolished the order of Bishops, as a superior grade of Clergy. The fact is not denied, but defended; and that on the ground that it was necessary to obey God rather than man; and to be guided by Scripture rather than human traditions. It is observable, also, that in this Confession, the preaching of the Gospel, and the administration of the Sacraments, are represented as the highest functions of the ministry, and the right to perform these as including all other ministerial power*. The work next in authority, as a compend of Lutheran doctrine, is the famous Defence of the Augustan Confession, composed by Melancthon, in the year 1530; presented to the Emperor at Augsburg, the same year; acknowledged as the Creed of the Protestants there assembled; published in 1531, and solemly adopted as one of the standards of the Lutheran Church, by her principal civil and ecclesiastical guides of that day. In the 7th chapter of this Defence, the following passage is found. Speaking of Episcopacy, they say," Concerning this point, 26 we have often declared, in the present conven❝tion, that we earnestly desire to retain the eccle * See the article on Ecclesiastical Power throughout "siastical polity, and those grades which are estab"lished in the Church, although brought in by hu man authority. For we know that this form of "ecclesiastical discipline, as it is described in the "ancient Canons, was introduced by the Fathers "of the Church with good and useful counsel." -Here is one of the strongest testimonies imaginable in favour of the doctrine of primitive parity. In a Confession of Faith, drawn up and subscribed by some of the most eminently pious and learned Divines that ever lived,while they express a strong predilection in favour of that Episcopal regimen which they found in the Church, and which had been long established; they still declare, that they consider it as "brought in by human authority"—and as resting on no other ground than " the good and useful counsel of their fathers." The work next in authority in the Lutheran Churches, is the famous collection of Articles drawn up and adopted at Smalkald, in 1537. They were composed by Luther, subscribed by him, and also by Melancthon, Jonas, Bugenhagius, Myconius, and many other illustrious Lutheran Divines; and solemnly acknowledged, at a general meeting of Protestants, in the city whose name they bear, as containing a summary of their theological and ecclesiastical principles. In those articles, the following declarations are found. "It is clear, even "from the confession of our adversaries, that this power, (to wit of preaching, dispensing the Sacra"ments, excommunication, and absolution,) is |