SECTION V. 39 them, they may make heathenish or hellish decrees, and bind them on the consciences of men. Answer III. And yet further, in thethird place, I add, if this decree at Jerusalem had not been the direction and deter. mination of the Holy Spirit, by the lips of inspired men, why should the churches'at Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia ; Acts xv. 23. submit to a vote or opinion of the church at Jerusalem, any more than the church at Jerusalem should submit to an opinion of the church at Corinth, or Rome, or Antioch ? What was done at Jerusalem by inspired men once, on an extraordi- nary occasion, cannot be made a binding example or rule, for the determination of conscience in all following times, and iu ordinary church-affairs, where uo inspired persons are present ; for by this precedent, one church would have power given it to determine for another; which I know no church pretends to, but that of Ronk. And finally, It is plain, if this scripture give authority to uninspired teen in ordinary cases, it gives this dominion to the whole church at Jerusalem, not to the bishops or elders only; for this was not a council made up of the elders, bishops or re- presentatives of the churches of Jerusalem, Antioch, Syria, and Çilicia, but of the Apostles, elders, and brethren of the church at Jerusalem ; and yet they authoritatively determined. the case for the churches of the Gentiles, which they should never have done, if there had been no apostles or inspired persons there. Whatsoever therefore the church at Jerusalem determined as a duty for the Gentile churches to practise in a dubious case, be- cause it had apostles, and many inspired persons in it, con be no sufficient authority for synods, convocations, or councils of bishops, or elders of modern churches, to determine other du- bious cases, for their own or other congregations, and bind their consciences to any point of faith or practice merely by their authority, when they have no inspired persons among them. But I only glance at these things, and will not enter into a debate about them at present. VI. Though baptism and the Lord's-supper are ceremo- nies of divine institution, yet is not the New Testament in a great measure silent as to the persons who shall celebrate them I answer, the scripture acquaints us, that the'commission to baptize was plainly given here to those who were appointed to teach thenations; Mat. xxviii. 20. And the light of nature shews us, that thosepersons who are furnished with talents, and chosen, and called, and solemnly appointed to preach the gos- pel to men, to offer up their prayers and praises to God, and to lead the worship in churches, are certainly in the natureof things, the most proper persons to administer or celebrate such rites or ordinances, as should be attended with the word and prayer ;
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