THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
cance. The churches holding to the Presbyterian polity have developed in the course of their history such a natural relation to one great type of Christian doctrine that the words Calvinistic and Presbyterian are to a large extent synonymous. It is, therefore, proper to use the phrase " Presbyterian system " as designating the doctrinal, ethical, governmental and liturgical principles and regulations of the Presbyterian churches. The controlling idea of the Presbyterian system of thought, both theoretically and practically, is the doctrine of the divine sovereignty. By this sovereignty is meant the absolute control of the universe in all that it contains, whether visible or invisible things, by the one supreme, eternal, omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent God for wise, just, holy, and loving ends, known fully alone to himself. This divine sovereignty finds practical expression in the Presbyterian system, through its organizing principle, the sovereignty of the word of God as the supreme and infallible rule of faith and practise. The Presbyterian system accepts and incorporates, as a perpetually binding obligation, only those principles and regulations which can be proved to be of Scriptural origin and warrant. It may be maintained that while in other churches than the Presbyterian, the sovereignty of God and the sovereignty of his word are recognized, it is only in those churches vvhich adhere closely to the Presbyterian system that the logical outcome in faith, government, and worship of these two great truths, finds definite, general, and vital expression.
2. Polity: The Presbyterian polity, it is maintained, finds clear warrant in the Holy Scriptures. Divine in its origin, one of its chief lesser sources
was the Jewish ecclesiastical system of 1 . Scripta- the time of Christ, excluding the priestral Basis, ly element. In that system the people
were associated together in synagogues or congregations for worship and godly living, and were governed by bodies of men called elders (Acts xiii. 15). In each congregation also, there was an officer known as the chief ruler of the synagogue, who was the president of the elders, and instruction was given either by the " legate " of the synagogue or by the doctors of the law (see Synagogue). The elders also constituted the bodies called the local sanhedrins, which exercised judicial functions within limited districts; while the control of the affairs of the Church-State as a whole was vested in a council composed of priests, elders, and scribes, designated as the Great Sanhedrin. Under this Jewish system our Lord lived. One of the first acts of his ministry was performed in the' synagogue at Nazareth (Luke iv. 16), and the authority of the synagogue was recognized by him (Matt, xviii. 17) in the command " Tell it unto the church." The general features of the Jewish system were, it is believed, adopted by the primitive Christian Church, modified in matters of detail by apostolic authority. The elders of the synagogue became the ciders of the Christian congregation (Acts xiv. 23); the chief ruler of the synagogue was probably reproduced in the episcopos or parochial bishop; the local sanhedrin was modified and established as the presbytery; and the Great Sanhedrin was the pro-
2. Government.
totype of synods, general assemblies, and councils. The Presbyterian polity, also, finds divine warrant in and gives clear expression to the main principles of ecclesiastical polity set forth in the New Testament. These principles are: (1) The supreme headship of Jesus Christ, as both man and God, involving submission to his law, contained in the Christian Scriptures, as the only rule of faith and practise. (2) The parity of the ministry as ambassadors or representatives of the Supreme Divine Head of the Church. (3) Participation by the people, as members of the household of God, in the government of the Church, through officers chosen by them. (4) The unity of the Church, involving an authoritative control not by individuals, but by representative courts. (5) The right of private judgment in all matters of religion, subject only to the lordship of God over the conscience.
These principles were essential factors in the government of the New Testament Church, and as applied in Presbyterian government result in views of the Church, her officers, and judicatories as follows:
(1) Of the Church: There is an invisible and there is a visible Church. " The catholic or universal Church, which is invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ the head thereof." "The visible Church, which is also catholic or universal under the gospel (not confined to one nation as before under the law) , consists of all those persons in every nation, together with their children, who make profession of the holy religion of Christ, and of submission to his laws" (Westminster Confession, Chap. xxv.). The name "catholic" or "universal" is therefore the exclusive property of no one communion or denomination, and all churches holding to the fundamentals of the Christian religion are churches of Christ.
(2) Of Church Power: The power of the Church is simply ministerial, declarative, and spiritual. It is ministerial, in that the Church exercises power only by Christ's authority. It is declarative, in that the Church is limited to the interpretation of principles and laws already contained in the word of God. The Church can neither add to nor take away from this divine law. It is spiritual, in that the Church is to be concerned alone with ecclesiastical affairs. The Church is not to exercise power in or over the State, neither is the State to usurp authority in or over the Church.
(3) Of the Particular Church: The immense multitude of those persons in every nation who make profession of the Christian religion can not meet together in one place, and therefore, "it is reasonable and warranted by Scripture example that they should be divided into many particular churches." Presbyterians hold that without reference to the form of government, "a number of professing Christians, with their offspring, voluntarily associated together, for divine worship and godly living, agreeably to the Holy Scriptures," are a particular church. Every Christian congregation has inherent rights for which it is not dependent upon any alleged superior authority, except as it voluntarily submits to a certain form of government. The only souitc of authority is Jesus ( Ihrist, the great head of the Church.
(4) Of the Officers of the Church : (a) The Ministry: There is but one order in the ministry, and all ministers are peers each of the other. Denying an apostolical succession of diocesan bishops with authority over ministers, Presbyterians affirm an apostolic succession of apostolic men who have been specially set apart "to prayer and to the ministry of the Word," and who are ordained to their office by ministers alone (Acts vi. 4; II Tim. ii. :.'). The distinctive mark of a true minister is not Apostolic Succession (q.v.: also see Succession, Apostolic) in any sense, but the call ol God to the work of preaching a pure Gospel. Further, the diocese of the New Testament bishop was limited to his parish, and every pastor is, therefore, at once both preacher ana parochial bishop. "Pastors, not prelates" such are P«s*>'terian ministers, (b) The Eldership: The Ncw-Testament presbyter was a ruler in the local pongregation, and was chosen to office by the people (Acts xiv. 23). In each con-