if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses eveiy word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the Church ; but if he neglect to hear the Church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, Whatso- ever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven,' etc. (Matt, xviii, 15-48). It is not said, if he shall negv lect to hear the one or two, tell it to the elders of the Church ; far less can it be meant that the offended per- son shall tell the cause of his offence to all the disciples of a presbytery or diocese consisting of many congrega- tions. But he is required to tell it to that particular Church or congregation to which they both belong ; and the sentence of that assembly, pronounced by its elders, is in a verj' solemn manner declared to be final, from which there lies no appeal to an j' jurisdiction on earth. " With respect to the constituting of elders in any Church or congregation, the Independent reasons in the following manner : The officers of Christ's appointment were either ordinary and permanent in the Chiu-ch, or they were extraordinary, and peculiar to the planting of Christianity. The extraordinary were those who were employed in laying the plan of the Gospel church- es, and in publishing the New-Testament revelation. Such were the apostles, the chosen witnesses of our Saviour's resurrection ; such were the prophets, inspired by the Holy Ghost for explaining infallibly the Old Testament by the things written in the New ; and such were the evangelists, the apostles' ministers. These can be succeeded by none in what was pecuUar to them, be- cause their work was completed by themselves. But they are succeeded in all that was not peculiar to them by bishops and deacons, the only two ordinary and per- manent orders of ministers in the Church. We have already seen that it belongs to the office of a bishop to feed the flock of Christ. The only question to be set- tled, then, is. How men are ordinarily called to that of- fice ? for about the office of the deacon there is little or no dispute. No man can now pretend to be so called of God to the ministry of the Word as were the apostles and other inspired elders, whom he chose to be the pub- lishers of his revealed truth, and to whose mission he bore witness in an extraordinary manner. But what the apostles were to those who had the divine oracles from their mouths, that their Avritings are to us; and therefore, as no man can lawfully pretend to a call from God to make any addition to those writings, so neither can any man pretend to be la^vfldly called to the min- istry of the Word already written, but in the manner which that word directs. Now tliere is nothing of which the New Testament speaks more clearly than of the characters of those who should exercise the office of bishop in the Chiu-ch, and of the actual exercise of that office. The former are graphically drawn in the epistles to Timothy and Titus, and the latter is minute- ly described in Paul's discourse to the Ephesian elders, in Peter's exhortation to ciders, and our Lord's commis- sion to those ministers with whom he promised to be always present, even unto th.e end of the world. It is not competent for any man or body of men to add to or take from the description of a Gospel minister given in these places, so as to insist upon the necessity of any qualification which is not there mentioned, or to dis- pense with any qualification as needless which is there reqiured. Neither has Jesus Christ, the only legislator to the Church, given to any ministers or people any power or right whatever to call, send, elect, or ordain to that office any person who is not qualified according to the description given in his law ; nor has he given any power or right to reject the least of them who are so qualified, and who desire the office of a bishop or elder. Let a man have hands laid upon him by such as could prove an uninterrupted descent by imposition of hands from the apostles, let him be set apart to that office by a company of ministers themselves the most conforma- ble to the Scripture character, and let him be chosen by
INDEPENDENTS
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INDEPENDENTS
the mo»t holy people on earth, yet, if he answer not the New-Testament description of a minister, he is not call- ed of God to that office, and is no mmister of Christ, but is indeed rimning unsent. No form of ordination can pretend to such clear foundation in the New Testament as the description of the persons who shoidd be elders of the Church ; and the laying on of hands is of small importance in the mission of a minister of Christ; f()r now, when the power of miracles has ceased, it is obvi- ous that such a rite, by whomsoever peiformed, can convey no powers, whether ordinarj' or extraordinary. Indeed, it appears to have been sometimes used, even in the apostolic age, without any such intention. When Paul and Barnabas were separated to the particular em- ployment of going out to the Gentiles, the prophets and teachers at Antioch 'prayed, and laid their hands on them.' But did this ceremony confer upon the apostles any new power or authority to act as mmisters of Christ? Did the imposition of hands make those shining lights of the Gospel one whit better qualified than they were before to convert and baptize the nations, to feed the flock of God, to teach, rebuke, or exhort, with all long- suffering and patience? It cannot be pretended that there was any special virtue in this ceremony. Paul and Barnabas had undoubtedly received the Holy Ghost before they came to Antioch; and, as they were apos- tles, they were of course authorized to discharge all the functions of the inferior and ordinary ministers of the Gospel. As in this instance, however, the imposition of hands appears to have been a mark of recognition of the parties as qualified for the work to which they were appointed, so Independents usually impose the hands of the bishops with the same intent. In a word, whoever ill his life and conversation is conformable to the char- acter which the inspired writers give of a bishop, and is likewise qualified bj' his 'mightiness in the Scrip- ture' to discharge the duties of that office, is fully au- thorized to administer the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper, to teach, and exhort, and rebuke, with all long-suftering, and doctrine, and has all the call and mission which the Lord now gives to any man ; while he who wants the qualifications mentioned has not God's call, whatever he may have, nor any author- ity to preach the Gospel of Christ, or to dispense the ordinances of his religion. From this view of the In- dependent principles, which is faithfullj' taken from their own writers, it appears that, according to them, even the election of a congregation confers upon the in- dividual whom they may choose for their pastor no new powers, but only creates a new relation between him and a particular flock, giving him an exclusive right, either Iby himself or in conjunction with other pastors constituted in the same mamier, to exercise among them that authority which he derives immediately from Christ, and which, in a greater or less degree, is pos- sessed by every sincere Christian according to his gifts and abilities" {Encyclop. Britannica, xii, 370-372).