"also taught and handled, that the Priests ought

not to use these keys of the Lord, otherwise than "according to the meaning and will of Christ, ex66 pressed in his word*."

From public Confessions drawn up by the Refor mers, let us descend to individual opinions expressed by those illustrious Witnesses for the truth, in different countries. Of these the following speci

men will be sufficient.

through the inOf the former

Ursinus, a learned German Divine, contemporary with Luther and Melancthon, speaks the same language. Ministers," says he, are either immediately called of God, or mediately "strumentality of the Church. "class, were Prophets and Apostles. Of the latter "class there are five kindis, viz. Evangelists, Bi"shops, or Pastors, Teachers, Ruling Elders, and "Deacons. Evangelists are ministers appointed "to go forth and preach the Gospel to a number "of Churches. Bishops are ministers ordained to "preach the word of God, and administer the sa"craments, in particular Churches. Teachers are "ministers appointed merely to fulfil the function "of teaching in particular Churches. Ruling El"ders are ministers elected by the voice of the "Church, to assist in conducting discipline, and to "order a variety of necessary matters in the "Church. Deacons are ministers elected by the

*Harmony of Confessions, Sect. 11.

"Church, to take care of the poor, and to distribute "alms*."

The very learned Musculus, also of Germany, a Reformer contemporary with Luther, and who embraced his principles, having proved from Acts 20. Phillip. 1. 1. Titus 1. 5. and 1 Peter v. 1. that, in the Apostles' times a Bishop and Presbyter were all one, adds as follows: "But after the Apostles' "times, when, amongst the Elders of the Church, "(as Jerome saith,) schisms arose, and, as I verily "think, they began to strive for the pre-eminence "by little and little, they began to choose one "out of the number of the Elders, who was placed "above the rest, in a higher degree, and called Bi"shop. But whether that device of man profited "the Church or no, those who lived in succeeding "times could better judge, than when it first be

gan. If Jerome had seen as much as those who

came after him, he would, no doubt, have con"cluded that this was never brought in to take 66 away schism, but was a project of the Devil to "waste and destroy the primitive ministry, appoin"ted for feeding the Lord's flock." Again, he declares," Whence it evidently appears that, in the "times of the Apostles, Elders, Pastors, and Bi66 shops were one and the same in God's Church."

It is beyond all dispute, that the first and "Apostolic Church, was, by the Apostles so con"stituted, that the Elders of the Church did ex

* Ursin. Corpus Doctrinæ, Par. 111. p. 721.

❝ercise a common Episcopal care over the Lord's flock, and enjoyed the same function of teaching " and governing, and were therein subject to no "head or president*,”

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66

Zsegedin, an eminent Lutheran divine of Hungary, contemporary with Luther and Calvin, delivers, in substance, the same doctrine. The following quotations are decisive. "May one Pastor pre"side over other pastors? The practice, indeed, "hath obtained that Presbyters should preside, "each one in his own College, and that this person alone should be called Bishop. This, however, arose from human custom, and is by no means supported by the authority of Scripture. "And from perverting the signification of a word "this evil hath arisen, that, as if all Presbyters "" were not Colleagues, and called to the same func❝tion, one, under the pretext of a new title, arroga"ted to himself a dominion over otherst." Again, "hence learn that all Pastors are equal both in "their vocation and function; and that there is no prelatical tyranny constituted. It is necessary, "indeed, that, among brethren, there should be 16 some one to convene the college, to state the bu"siness, and, when it is necessary, to write and "speak in the name of the college. But this per

66

son, to avoid the odium of prelatical tyranny, may "be called Superintendent. The power of Super

*Loci Communes De offic. Minist. p. 360-362. tLoci Communes, p. 197. Fol. Quint. Basil. 1608.

Ꮓ

"intendents ought to be temporary and definite, "not not perpetual" Again, "Is the title of Bishop common to all ministers of the word? Yes,

certainly. For Paul, in the first chapter of the "Epistle to the Philippians, represents many Bi"shops as belonging to one Church. The titles "Bishop, Pastor, Presbyter, are, therefore, synony"mous. Bishop is a term expressive of duty and "care, not of dignity."-Again, "The Popish "Bishops are false Bishops; not successors of the

แ

Apostles, but of Balaam, cruel, heretical, enemies "of Christ, who esteem the Episcopate on ac

count of its introducing them to great riches. "While Paul comprehends under the name of Bi"shop, all Pastors, the Papists will have it that

none is to be held as a Bishop but the one who "is chosen by the college to preside over his breth"rent."

The learned Junius, an eminent Dutch professor of divinity, who lived at the commencement of the Reformation in Holland, and who was, of course, nearly contemporary with Luther, wrote very fully and explicitly in support of Presbyterian principles. In his work entitled Ecclesiastici, he decidedly, and with great learning, maintains, that

Loci Communes, p. 197.

† Ibid. 202.

Of this illustrious Reformer, it is related, that he preached in the city of Antwerp at midnight, with no other light than that which was produced by the flames of burning martyrs.

Pastors, Ruling Elders, and Deacons, are the only three scriptural orders of Church officers; that Pastors, or ministers of the word and sacraments, are the highest order, and, of course, are invested with the power of ordaining; that the second class are men of distinguished piety and prudence, chosen from among the members of the Church, to assist the Pastor in the government of the Church; and that the Deacons are appointed to collect and distribute the alms of the Church. He affirms that these three orders are set forth in Scripture, and existed in the primitive Church. He declares that a scriptural Bishop was the Pastor of a single Congregation; and that giving this title, by way of eminence, to one of the Pastors in a city or district, was a practice introduced after the time of the Apostles, and is to be be considered as a departure from the primitive model*.

The same writer, in his Animadversions on Cardinal Bellarmine, is still more pointed and positive against the claims of diocesan Episcopacy, and in favour of the Presbyterian doctrine of parity.-It is really amusing to trace the Popish Cardinal through all his reasonings and cavils, and to observe what a remarkable coincidence there is between him and Dr. Bowden; and it is no less worthy of notice that Junius, though he wrote nearly two hundred and fifty years ago, and, of course, many

Ecclesiastici, sive de Nat. et Administrat. Ecclesiæ, &c. Lib. 11. Cap. 2, 3, 4.