( 104) a 7ofo.1. The Elder to the Elell Lady Whether tholeTexts, r Tim. 5. r. Rebuke, not an Elder. v.19. Receive not an accufation againft an Elder] : fpeakofan Elder by Office or by Age, is uncer- tain ; ifit be by Office, the other Textsdefcribe them. Jam. 5. 14. Is anyman lick? 'Let him call for the Elders of the Church. All _thefe Texts thew that everChurch had Elders by the inflitution of the Holy Ghoft : That they were the Teachers, Worshippers, Rulers, and were among thepeople, prefent with their flock, perfona]ly doing theirOffices, &c. And theScripture mentioneth no otherthat I canfind. And ofthis I have Dr.Hammonds full confe]Iion,Annotat.'inAl1.r i. t dirt. before cited : withall thofe whom he mentioneth ofhis party and mind. And as for them of the contrary opinion, they tell us that in Scripture times the NamesPresbyter &Bithop were common : And that the word [Bishops] fome- times fignified all the Presbyters ( theBithops as Presbyters and theSubpresby- tens) as in Phil. r. 14. And that theword [ Presbyters] fometimes fignifieth the Bithops only, and fometime both conjunétly : But they are none of them able to give us any one inflance withproof, ofa Text which fpeakethofSub- ¡led Presbyters? (I mean fubjez in Order or degree to Bithops of thefingle Churches, and not fubjeû to the Apoftles and General officers.) And while weprove that God appointed fuchrentire Presbyters as are here defcribed, and .they: cannot prove ágainft (Dr. HammondOr us) that any one text fpeaketh ofa lower order or rank, I think weneed no other Scriptureevidence. CHAP. XIII. The faze 'confirmed by-the Ancients. ÌS for Humane tef it oriy, theheap is Co great brought in by Day. Blonde', ,]j\, that I have the lefs mind to fay any more of it ; But (hall only ( betides all that is Paid before,on theby) recitea few of thole teftimones which molt convinced my own underflanding in thereadingof them in the Authors them- felves,leaving others to take what they fee belt outofBlonde's (tore. I. I know that fomewhat may be faid againft what I (hall firfl cite, .but I think notof fufficient force. I begin with it thoughnot firfl in time becaufe tuft in Authority. The r. Coiled. Mean. in their Epiftle to the Church of Alexand. and all the Churches of 'Egypt, Libya, and Pentapolie, thus decree concerning thole that were Ordained by hleletius, ( as Söcrat. lib. r. e. 6. ránflated by Gryneees) Hi auteti qui Dei gratia &vef(rir. precibus. adjuti ad nul- hunt
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=