blamed."-2 Cor., vi., 3. minister (a deacon) by the gift of the grace of God, which he hath given unto me by the effectual working of his power." -Eph., iii., 7. "Christ Jesus our Lord hath enabled me, for that he counted me to be faithful, putting me into the ministry (the deaconship).”—1 Tim., i., 12. "The Gospel of which I, Paul, was made a minister (a deacon).”—Col., i., 23. For the special and later sense, see 1 Tim., i.i., 8: "The deacons must be grave."-1 Tim., iii., 12. "Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife;" and, Romans, xvi., 1 : "I commend to you Phebe, a deaconess, of the Church of Cenchrea."

"Whereof I have been made a

We are struck with the title of deacon, as a special title, because a particular institution has appropriated this name; but in the first series of passages that we have cited, it is not more special than is the word dovλoç (slave, servant), in Philippians, i., 1: "Paul and Timothy, slaves or servants of Jesus Christ." And how has it happened that the members of the clergy do not bear the name of douli (dovλoi), and the ministry that of döuleia (dovλɛia), as some of the members of the clergy have taken the name of deacons, and their function, that of the diaconate?

2. Presbyter (elder). "Let the elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor."-1 Tim., v., 17. 66 They sent to the elders by the hands of Barnabas."-Acts, xi., 30. Acts, xv., passim. "He sent from Miletus to Ephesus, and called the elders of the Church."-Acts, xx., 17. "I left thee in Crete, that thou shouldst ordain elders in every city." -Titus, i., 5. "Is any among you sick, let him call for the elders of the Church."-James,

V.,

14.

Our versions commonly render рɛobúтepоç by pastor, which we scarcely find applied to ministers except in Ephesians, iv., 11: "Some pastors and teachers."

* The New Testament of the Vaudois ministers, Lausanne, 1839, translates, Servants of the Assembly.

3. Bishop appears to be the synonym of elder, in Titus, i., 5, 7:"That thou shouldst ordain elders." Now a bishop must be without blame;" and in Acts, xx., 17, 28, Paul calls the elders of Ephesus, and commends to them the flock over which the Holy Ghost has made them bishops. See also Philippians, i., 1: "Paul and Timothy to the bishops and deacons," etc.; and, 1 Tim., iii., 2: A bishop must be without blame."

This does not forbid that there should be bishops over other bishops-inspectors of inspectors: "Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses."1 Tim., v., 19; and Titus, i., 5, cited above. But this does not suppose an institution, it was only an expedient.

4. Apostles or Delegates.—“Our brethren-they are apostles of the churches, and the glory of Christ.”2 Cor., viii., 23.

It must, however, be remembered that the word is applied kar' εžoxηv (par excellence), to the immediate envoys of Jesus Christ, in Acts, ii., 42: " They persevered in the doctrine of the apostles."

Our intention is not to determine the work, the particular function, which each of these names designates.† We believe that the words elder and bishop denote officers of churches, whether they were or were not charged with the function of teaching, a function attached to a gift or a grace, which does not appear to have determined the designation of elders or bishops, since neither the one nor the other of these words appears in the famous passages, Ephesians, iv., 11, and 1 Cor., xii., 28-30. And as for the word deacon, it has a sense much more general, and also a sense much more spe

* Messengers of the Assemblies.-Translation of the Vaudois ministers.

+ Consult NEANDER on this: Geschichte der Apostel, i., 1, p. 37-47. VULLIEMIN: Maurs des Chrétiens pendant les trois premières Siecles, p. 178, et suiv.

cial than the two others, designating either any kind of Gospel work, or a very particular function in a church. Our object, without stopping to distinguish the different applications of the ministry, is solely to explain, by means of words, characters common to all-characters of the evangelical ministry, in whatever department it may be exercised. What we have found in the three first words, that is to say, without going beyond the proper terms, and before approaching figures, are the ideas of voluntary service, of authority (founded in one case on age), and of oversight. But it is proba ble that figurative expressions will instruct us further; for their purpose, in every subject, is to descend to a greater depth in the idea than the expression strictly conveys. We proceed then to cite figurative expressions, which unquestionably are applied, by anticipation, to ministers of the Gospel.

1. Pastor is not, as we may be inclined to think, the synonym of elder, but that of teacher.-See Ephesians, iv., 11. We have already said that the office of elder or administrator is not embraced in that solemn distribution of powers or virtues (xapíopara), of which we have before spoken. Moreover, the passage in Ephesians, iv., 11, is the only one in which the title of pastor is directly applied to ministers of the Gospel; but, without doubt, it is applied to them indirectly when Jesus Christ is called the Shepherd (pastor) and bishop of our souls (1 Peter, ii., 25), and when Jesus Christ said to Simon, "Feed my sheep."—John, xxi., 16, 17.

The word pastor, taken in a figurative sense, occurs in the Old Testament, but it is there applied indifferently to prophets and to magistrates.† Besides, in the sense of the Theoc

* M. Vinet did not add, until after a revision of his lecture, the word apostle to this first series of names, which no doubt is the reason that he does not here present the idea of mission, which is included in the fourth.

† Ποιμένες λάων. “ It has almost come to pass that religion and ustice keep pace in the republic, and that men are consecrated by

racy, magistrates were pastors, even as pastors were magistrates. They were two forms of the same employment. Nevertheless, in Ezekiel, xxxiv., passim, it is admirably applied to a pastor, in the actual sense of the word.

2. Steward or Dispenser.—“Let a man so account of us as stewards of the mysteries of God; moreover, it is required of stewards that a man be found faithful."-1 Cor., iv., 1, 2. 3. Embassador.-"Now, then, we are embassadors for Christ."-2 Cor., v., 20.

4. Angel or messenger." The seven stars are the angels of the seven Churches."-Apoc., i., 20.

5. Ruler." Obey them that have the rule over you" (πείθεσθε τοῖς ἡγουμένοῖς ὑμῶν).—Hebrews, xiii., 17.

6. Builder.-"I have laid the foundation as a wise master-builder.”—1 Cor., iii., 10.

7. Workman.—"We are workers together with God; ye are God's husbandry, God's building."-1 Cor., i., 19. "A householder hired laborers into his vineyard."-Matt., xx., 1. "The harvest is great, but the laborers are few; pray, then, the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers into his harvest."-Matt., ix., 37, 38. "I have planted, Apollos watered, but God giveth the increase."-1 Cor., iii., 6.

8. Soldier." Epaphroditus, my fellow-soldier."-Philip. pians, ii., 25. "Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."-2 Tim., xi., 3.

Let us first remark that, of all the designations by which we might expect to see the minister of religion defined or characterized, only one is wanting in the New Testament. It is that of priest, although it is the Christian word presbyter which has furnished the word priest. There may be priests in those religions which wait for the true and sovereign Priest; there are none in that religion which has re

the magistrate as well as by the priesthood."-LA BRUYÈRE, Les Caractères; the chapter entitled De quelques usages. See BURNET, A Discourse of the Pastoral Care, page 45.

ceived and which believes in him. In this no one is priest, because every one is priest; and it is remarkable that in the Gospel it is only to Christians in general that this word is applied. See 1 Peter, ii., 9: "Ye are a chosen people," "a royal priesthood," etc.-the fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah, lxi., 6: "Ye shall be called the priests of the Lord, and ye shall be named the ministers of our God."

It was necessary to have a sacrifice perpetuating the only and once accomplished sacrifice, in order to recover the idea of the ancient priesthood, which was absorbed in the supreme and eternal priesthood of Jesus Christ.

For us, who do not receive the real presence, what remains in the minister when once the supernatural gifts have ceased? The Christian, only the Christian, consecrating his activity to make others Christians, and to confirm in Christianity those who have embraced this religion. He does habitually what occasionally, and in a special manner, all Christians should do. He does it with a degree of authority proportioned to what we may suppose a man has of knowledge and fitness, who has consecrated himself exclusively to that work. But he has no revelation peculiar to himself. In announcing the wisdom of God as a mystery (1 Cor., ii., 7), in giving himself to be a steward of the mysteries of God, he does not profess to be more inspired than the humblest believer. is a steward, a manager of the common interest; he does not take, like Jesus Christ, of that which is his own (John, xvi., 15), but of that which belongs to all. If he thinks it is right, according to the word of St. Paul, that believers should obey him as their spiritual ruler, the sense in which he understands this leaves intact the liberty and responsibil ity of those who obey. He protests against the idea of domineering over the heritage of the Lord, 1 Peter, v., 3, compared with 2 Cor., i., 24: "Not that we have dominion over * Baoiλelov leparévua. See NEANDER, Geschichte der Apostel, i., 162,

163

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