which are peculiar to its office, he ascribes it to an office separate from that of any of the other members. As the apostle, moreover, when he mentions him who teacheth, and him who giveth, speaks not merely of gifted brethren as exercising the endowments which are requisite for these offices, but of such only as were ordained to these particular functions, is it not manifest that when he mentions likewise him who ruleth, he must intend not merely gifted brethren as governing the church, but those only who are invested with that particular office? Now, if mere qualifications for being a pastor or a deacon will not authorize those who possess them to exercise these gifts as pastors or deacons, till they are set apart to these offices, it appears equally obvious, that though the apostle were allowed here to speak of those who ruled as barely exercising their gifts for ruling with diligence, he cammot mean that any were to exercise these gifts for that end, but such as had been ordained to the office of ecclesiastical rulers. Investiture therefore with the office of ruling is as much requisite to the exercise of rule, as investiture with that of a pastor is to teaching, and investiture with that of a deacon is to giving. And as this office is essentially different from the former, and requires qualifications totally distinct, we are warranted to affirm that there must be an office of ruling in the church of Christ completely different from that of teaching; an office, for which as all have neither gifts nor authority, that cannot be exercised by all, and which, as many have endowments for it who are totally unfit for being public teachers, may be exercised by many who cannot be teachers of the church of God. Still it is objected, that though we hear, in this passage, of him who ruleth, it may be only the person's own family that is intended. But to this it is answered, that the various duties here mentioned by the apostle as performed by the different persons of whom he speaks, are represented by him as performed to the church only, and consequently that it must be a rule which relates more immediately to the affairs of this society which is designed. It is contended with Doddridge and other Independents, that it is a rule or presidency (as they say that the word means,) which refers merely to the distribution of the charitable collections of the church? This would make him who ruleth, the same with the deacon, or him who giveth, which, in a division M $ to. of the different offices of the church, as is here stated, would be extremely inaccurate. It is said, moreover, that the exhorter, who is the same with the teacher, is mentioned apparently as a different office-bearer from him; and him that sheweth mercy, who is the same with the deacon, or him who giveth, as a different office-bearer from him; and why may not the name of him who ruleth be here supposed to be given to the deacon, or him who giveth, in reference to his presidency over the church-stock, though it makes him who ruleth, and him who giveth, the same office-bearer ? But even though it were allowed that he who teaches, and he who exhorts, or, as some render it, who reproves and comforts, were the same office-bearer, and that he who giveth, and he who sheweth mercy, were the same minister, it is plain that different branches of their office are referred He who teaches men the doctrines and duties of Christianity performs a very different part from him who reproves, or comforts, or exhorts; and he who was appointed by the church to shew mercy in the various ways in which it was manifested in the primitive times to Christian brethren, who were strangers and in distress, certainly performed a very different duty from him who merely gave. If presiding · here, however, means presiding over the church-stock, and if he who ruleth be the same with him who giveth, it is em ploying two expressions, in an enumeration of things which are different, for the very same part of the office of the deacon. Besides, it has been the opinion of many most respectable men, both among Presbyterians and Independents, that he who taught, and he who exhorted, were not persons who fulfilled only different parts of the same office, but persons who discharged offices entirely distinct. former, according to them, was the catechist or teacher, who prepared young persons for personal admission to the privilege of membership, as well as the catechumens who had become converts from idolatry, or who publicly explained the truths of religion without dispensing privileges; the latter was the stated pastor or bishop*. And with re The * See Calvin's Institutes; Beza upon the place; Owen on the Nature of a Gospel-church, chap. vi; Goodwin's Church-catechism, p. 16; where he expressly declares," that the apostle makes "them distinct officers, and that they have their several works to "attend to, the pastor not being to attend to the doctrine, nor the "teacher to exhortation." gard to him who giveth, and him who sheweth mercy, it is well known that it was the opinion of Beza* and Goodwint, that they were either separate offices, or parts of the same office, so distinct from each other, as that many, who could discharge the last, could not perform the first. By him who giveth, they understood the deacon, and by those who shewed mercy, those pious persons whose employment it was, in the primitive times, to perform offices of mercy to Christians who were strangers, and were poor or afflicted. Of these office-bearers we have some account in 1 Tim. v. 9, 10, where, as Calvin remarks, though aged widows are particularly mentioned as intrusted with this office, the word τις any one," is used, and which, being either masculine or feminine, shews that it might be communicated to men, perhaps advanced in age, as well as to women. Since then it appears that all the other phrases employed in this enumeration denote either separate offices, or separate parts of the same office, he who ruleth" must signify also some office, or some part of an office, completely different from what is suggested by any of the other phrases. And since it cannot be explained as signifying him who presides over the church-stock, or as referring to any part of the deacon's office, without making it the same with him who giveth, or him who sheweth mercy, it appears naturally to follow that the rule or presidency here mentioned, must be a rule or presidency entirely different, and a rule which is the same with that of the elder who governs, though he does not teach. M'Knight indeed aserts, that by him who ruleth seems to be designed the person who presided in his turn in the meetings of the church, and appointed those who were to speak for their edification, who, from the extraordinary gift of discerning spirits with which he was endowed, detected and prevented heretical teachers from ministering among them, and whose province it was, along with his fellow-presidents, to decide in those cases of civil controversy which happened among the saints. See 1 Cor. vi. 1, 2. there appears to be no authority from scripture for such an office; and if this were admitted, then, even according to McKnight, as we are informed in 1 Tim. v. 17, that there * Consult him upon the place. But were some elders who presided or ruled well, and did not preach, it would elevate laymen above the pastor and teacher, and give them a power to prescribe to them in some cases their particular work. Besides, though it were granted that there was such an office, there seems to be no proper reason for limiting their power to the direction of the worship and services of the church, and the decision simply of civil controversies. There is a rule or presidency in the church much more important than what is mentioned by this expositor, a rule which extends to the dispensation of the privileges and the infliction of the punishments of this spiritual society. Would it not then be very extraordinary, if, in a professed enumeration of the ordinary offices which are instituted in it, and which specifies the deacon and teacher, no notice should be taken of this very interesting function, by whomsoever it is to be exercised? Besides, as this interpretation supposes that a few of the laymen, conjoined with the pastors, decided not only in civil controversies, but fixed the labours of the ministers of the church, and even exercised the power of denying to heretical or apostate teachers, without consulting the brethren, the liberty of speaking or preaching in their assemblies, is not this conceding that a few of the members, together with the pastors, in many important cases, may govern the church? And, if they may exclude the teachers from the rights of teachers, why not also exclude the members, if they shew themselves unworthy of the privileges of members; and consequently will not the same institution be authorized by this interpretation for which Presbyterians contend, when they say that a few of the members who do not teach, together with the pastors, are authorized as elders to govern the church? Or is it said, that we may reject in part the interpretation of M'Knight, and maintain that the word denotes merely presidency, without supposing that the person who presided had any other power over those among whom he presided than that of a chairman or moderator, who simply states the vote, preserves order, and determines when the number on two sides is equal? It is replied, that the term, That the apostle here is speaking only of ordinary office seems evident, among other things, notwithstanding the unsubstantiated assertion of M'Knight to the contrary, from this consideration, that there is not one of them, as far as is here stated, for the dis charge of which one extraordinary qualification was required. when it signifies to preside, as far as we know, uniformly denotes a much higher authority-an authority which entitles him to govern and direct those over whom he is placed, and not merely to sit as a moderator while they consult and determine. It is employed, for instance, in scripture, as was before observed, 1 Tim. iii. 4, 5, 12, to denote the authority connected with a Christian's presiding over or ruling his family; and in Tit. iii. 8, 14, to signify the command which he should exercise over himself, so as to excel in good works. It is used too, as was before remarked, by Thucydides, to signify the government of a state-προεισηκει τον δημου, σε he governed the people;" by Aristotle, in his Polit. lib. iii. cap. x, according to Constantinus in his Lexicon,in the same sense-προεισήκεσαν αυτών, they governed them; byXenophon, in his Economics, in a similar acceptation-AgosαTUS SEAUTOU Targidos, "who presidest over, or governest thy country;" by Herodotus, for the superintendent of the ar mory or arsenal— της οπλοθηκης προσηκως, « having been set over the armory; by the same writer, for the magistrates or governors of cities-TewsWTES TWY Toλs; by Plato, in his Epistles (Epist. vii), in the same sense-syuλns TROTS Tows, the prefect or governor of a great city ;" and by Demosthenes pro Corona, in a similar acceptation-xa μεγίσων δη πραγματων προςάς, 66 set even over the greatest "matters, or having the supreme power." Now, since the. word, as far as we know, signifies not merely to preside over an assembly, who, as rulers, are vested with an equality of power with the president himself (the point of preserving order alone excepted), and can even make determinations which can authoritatively bind him no less than themselves, how can it be supposed that, in the present passage, it is to be taken in this acceptation, and that a number of men would be said to preside as governors over the church, agreeably to this strong expression, when all that is meant is only that they sat as chairmen in their meetings, and preserved order, while, in every other point, they were more completely subject to the power of the members than the members were to that of the presidents? But if, as we are here taught, there be a class of men who are to rule in the church, not merely as chairmen and moderators, but as governors, in whom alone, together with the pastors, the administration is vested; and if these men, as is here asserted, be distinguished from the pastor, the teacher, the deacon, |