nomination of the country is there so great a diversity of opinion [as in the Episcopal church] about doctrines, church polity, etc. But we hear," he adds, "of no discipline on account of this diversity. The probability is, that discipline on these accounts would rend and break up the church.” And again he says: "There is no church in the world, that has in fact so great a diversity of opinion in her own bosom, as the Church of England, and not a little of downright infidelity. And yet no one can reasonably doubt, that if she continue to let discipline for opinion alone, etc. . . . . . that most important branch of Protestantism will ere long be redeemed from her past and present disadvantages, and recover the primitive vitality of Christianity, so as to have it pervading and animating her whole communion. Nor is it less certain, that by attempting discipline for opinion, she would forever blight all these prospects."66 In the Lutheran church in Germany, christian discipline has fallen into equal neglect. So totally is it disregarded that according to the declaration of a devout minister of that church,67 persons of abandoned character, known to be such, and the most notorious slaves of lust are publicly and indiscriminately received to the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. What ecclesiastical hierarchy, or national establishment was ever known to maintain, for any long period, the purity of the church? 8. This mode of discipline gives spiritual life and power to the church. The moral efficiency of any body of believers depends, not upon their number, but upon the purity of their lives, and their fidelity in duty. A church composed of men who are a living exemplification of the power of the Christian religion by their holy lives, and by the faithful discharge of their 66 Thoughts on the Religious State of the Country; with Reasons for preferring Episcopacy. By Rev. Calvin Colton, pp. 199, 200. 67 Liebetrut, Tag des Herrn, S. 331. duties, such a church, and such only, is what the Lord Jesus designed his church should be,-the pillar and ground of the truth. Now this being conceded, under what form of discipline do we find the purest church? Where do we discover the greatest circumspection in the admission of members? Where, the strictest watch and fellowship, the kindest efforts to recover the fallen, and the most faithful endeavors to defend the honor of the Christian name, and to promote pure and undefiled religion? Without intending any invidious reflection, may we not request of the reader a careful consideration of this subject? Let him remember, also, what his own observation may have taught him, that a single case of discipline, rightly conducted, gives renewed energy to the whole body, quickening every member into newness of life in the service of the Lord. Let him estimate, if he can, the moral efficacy of a living church, quickened into healthful, holy action, compared with one which has a name to live and is dead. Let him ponder well these considerations, before he decides to go over to a communion that tolerates a general neglect of the Christian duty which we have been contemplating. CHAPTER VI. EQUALITY AND IDENTITY OF BISHOPS AND SOON after the ascension of our Lord, it became expedient for the brethren to appoint a certain class of officers to superintend the secular concerns of their fraternity. These were denominated diάzovoi, servants, ministers, deacons. In process of time, another order of men arose among them, whose duty it was to superintend the religious interests of the church. These were denominated oi ngoiorάμɛvoi, Rom. 12: 8. 1 Thess. 5: 12; oi rovuevo, Heb. 13: 7, 17, 24; пQEGẞúrεool, Acts 20: 17; iлioxoлot, Acts 20: 28, equivalent to the terms, presidents, leaders, elders, overseers. These terms all indicate one and the same office, that of a presid ing officer in their religious assemblies. Officers of this class are usually designated, by the apostles and the earliest ecclesiastical writers, as presbyters and bishops,-names which are used interchangeably and indiscriminately to denote one and the same office. The appropriate duty of the bishop or presbyter at first was, not to teach or to preach, but to preside over the church, and to preserve order in their assemblies. "They were originally chosen as in the synagogue, not so much for the instruction and edification of the church, as for taking the lead in its general government." "1 The necessity of such a pre 1 Neander's Apost. Kirch. I. p. 44 seq. Comp. Siegel, Handbuch, IV. S. 223. Ziegler, Versuch, der kirchlichen Verfassungsformen, S. 3-12. Rothe, Anfänge, I. S. 153. So, also, Gieseler, Rheinwald, Böhmer, Winer, etc. siding officer in the church at Corinth is sufficiently apparent from the apostle's rebuke of their irregularities. "How is it, then, brethren? When ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying." 1 Cor. 14: 26. The apostle, however, allows all to prophesy, to exercise their spiritual gifts; and only requires them to speak one by one," that all things may be done decently and in order. The ordinary officers of the apostolical church, then, comprised two distinct classes or orders. The one was known by the name of deacons; the other, designated by various titles, of which those most frequently used are presbyters and bishops. Our proposition is, that Bishops and Presbyters, according to the usage of the apostles and of the earliest ecclesiastical writers, are identical and convertible terms, denoting officers of one and the same class. In this proposition we join issue with the Episcopalians, who assert that bishops were divinely appointed as an order of men superior to presbyters. We, on the other hand, affirm that presbyters were the highest grade of officers known in the apostolical and primitive churches; and that the title of bishop was originally only another name for precisely the same officer. Even after a distinction began to be made between presbyters and bishops, we affirm that the latter were not a peculiar order distinct from presbyters and superior to them. The bishop was merely one of the presbyters appointed, like the moderator, to preside over the college of his fellow-presbyters, but belonging still to the same body, performing only the same pastoral duties, and exercising only the same spiritual functions. Like the moderator of a modern presbytery or association, he still retained a ministerial parity with his brethren, in the duties, rights and privileges of the sacred office. Our sources of argument in defence of this general proposition are two-fold,-Scripture and History. I. The scriptural argument for the equality and identity of bishops and presbyters. This may be comprised under the following heads: 1. The appellations and titles of a presbyter are used indiscriminately and interchangeably with those of a bishop. 2. A presbyter is required to possess the same qualifications as a bishop. 3. The official duties of a presbyter are the same as those of a bishop. 4. There was, in the apostolical churches, no ordinary and permanent class of ministers superior to that of presbyters. 1. The appellations and titles of a presbyter are used interchangeably with those of a bishop. One of the most unequivocal proof-texts in the Scriptures is found in Acts 20: 17, compared with verse 28. Paul, on his journey to Jerusalem, sent from Miletus and called the presbyters, noeoßvzégovs, elders, of Ephesus. And to these same presbyters, when they had come, he says, in his affectionate counsel to them, "Take heed to yourselves, and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you bishops, inoxóлovs, to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood." Both terms are here used in the same sentence with reference to the same men. We have another instance, equally clear, of the indiscriminate use of the terms, 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, and ordain presbyters, noɛoẞvréQovs, in every city, as I had appointed thee." Then follows an enumeration of the qualifications which are requisite in these presbyters, one of which is given in these words: "A bishop must be blameless, as the Steward of God." Again, it is worthy of particular attention, that the apos |