Church polity: or The kingdom of Christ

Front matter

J LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.;

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* UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. J

Preface

Church Polity has become the absorbing topic of the Christian world. In common Tvith all thinking men, I have devoted considerable time to its examination ; and have made some progress in the preparation of a volume mth the design of exhibiting the polity of the New Testament, and tracing the gradual departures from it in the churches which succeeded those planted by the apostles. The completion of the work, on the plan proposed, will require several years, even under circumstances the most favorable to the prosecution of my labors. Perhaps I may not complete it at all, I have, therefore, ;jT.elded the more readily to the suggestion of my worthy friend, the editor of the Periodical Library, to prepare a smaller work, which is now submitted to the public. May the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls bless it to the instruction of the flock, for which he labored and died.

The Author.

Mercer University, July, 1846.

Preface To Second Edition

The favorable reception with which this little book has met, has encouraged me to prepare a new and enlarged edition, which is now offered to the public, mth the hope that it may contribute to the diffusion of correct sentiments on the subject of which it treats.

J. L. Reynolds.

Richmond^ Augicst, 1848.

Corruption of Scriptural Church Polity, - - - 228

THE KINGDOM OP CHRIST.

Chapter I. Statement Of The Subject

When Christ uttered, in the jadgment hall of Pilate, the remarkable words — **I am a king,"* he pronounced a sentiment fraught with unspeakable dignity and power. His enemies might deride his pretensions and express their mockery of his claim, by presenting him with a crown of thorns, a reed and a purple robe, and nailing him to the cross ; but in the eyes of unfallen intelligences, he was a . king. A higher power presided over that derisive ceremony, and converted it into a real coronation. That crown of thorns was indeed thf diadem of empire ; that purple robe was the bad^'- of royalty ; that fragile reed was the symbol o unbounded power ; and that cross the throne o? . dominion which shall never ond.

This pregnant truth contained the fulfilment of the hopes which had cheered mankind through all previous generations. When our first parents had broken the covenant, graciously made with them by their Creator, and were expelled from the garden of Paradise, they bore with them the seeds of a glorious promise, which, scattered by their posterity among the nations of the earth, sprung up in the form of a general expectation of a golden age ; * and, entrusted to a particular race, inspired them with the confident hope that a deliverer would afterwards arise, who, assuming the position and responsibilities of the second Adam, would arrest the dominion of sin and death, and gather together the covenant people into a kingdom of holiness and love.

The promise which was committed to our first parents, when they traced, with lingering footsteps, the path of their departure from paradise, was entrusted, as a special mark of the divine favor, to Abraham and his seed ; and, in its subsequent announcement and corroboration, still further limited to Isaac, to Jacob, and finally to David, who was chosen of God as the favored individual in whose lineage should appear the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

This conception of the Messiah's kingdom was still further developed and amplified by the prophets,

* Hengstenberg^s Christology, 1, p. 14-19.

CHURCH POLITY. S

a succession of inspired men, from Samuel to Malachi, who sustained a most important relation to the Jewish Theocracy. While to the priests were committed the direction and support of the ritual service, the external worship of Jehovah, it was the main design of the prophets to cherish and diffuse a theocratic spirit, by which the people might be retained in loyalty to their invisible king. In this elevated sphere were their functions discharged, and to this end were their labors directed. They may thus be considered the forerunners and prototypes of the ministers of the Christian dispensation.*

In the discharge of their high functions, the prophets announced the coming of the Messiah ; predicted the time of his appearance ; and, grouping together the most striking and imposing characteristics of earthly sovereignties, presented a magnificent picture of his spiritual kingdom, and of the happiness which the nations would enjoy under his mild and equitable reign. This happy period would be signalized by the restoration of the long lost harmony between Judah and Israel, and the entrance of the

* Der Prophetismus der Hebra^r von A. Knobel. Th. I. S. II. Baumgarten-Crusius' Biblische Theologic, § 6, 1. " The primary notion of a prophet," says Stillingfleet, " doth not lie in foretelling future events, but in declaring and interpreting to the world the mind of God, which he receives by immediate revelation from himself." Origines Sacree, B. II. chap. 5th. Stuart on the 0. T. p. 90, note.

Gentiles within the fold of the people of God. The kingdom of the Messiah was not to be limited by geographical divisions, nor restricted to a peculiar nation. The whole world was to be invited to its privileges, and all nations made to share in its blessings.* The most opulent earthly kingdoms had perished, and the most powerful dynasties been destroyed ; even Judah and Israel, though blessed with divine protection and guidance, had bowed their necks to the oppressor, and gone into captivity ; but the kingdom of the Messiah would never perish, and of his government there would be no end. The uttermost parts of the earth were to be its boundaries, and eternity the measure of its duration.f

When the fulness of the time was come, Jesus of Nazareth appeared, and appropriated these predictions of the Messiah to himself. In striking harmony with the theocratic representations of the prophets, he denominated the dispensation which he introduced, ** the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven ; ''{ t Twesten's Dogmatik, I. S. 323. Knapp's Theol. § 91. For a full examination of the Messianic predictions of the O. T. see Hengstenberg's Christology.

X The word in the original, which is translated kingdom^ is equivalent to kingly authority ; and this expression, modified according to the context, may generally be substituted for it. Dr. Dagg's interpretation of John 3 : 5, pp. 9, 23. The expression, kingdom of heaven, is a periphrasis for the and claimed the honor and allegiance due to a divine messenger. Attesting his mission by infallible signs, and declared to be the Son of God with power by his resurrection from the dead, he stood forth, in virtue of his divinity and the appointment of the Father, the head of that spiritual kingdom, of which the Jewish theocracy was but a feeble type.*

The predictions of the prophets and the admoni-

Christian state or dispensation, and is evidently derived from the mode of thought and speech common to the Jews. " The God Jehovah was their proper king, supreme over their state and nation. He governed them through the instrumentality of human regents and deputed kings.

Their constitution was theocratic, to make use of a happy term, first applied to the subject by Josephus. Hence, the Israelitish state and nation are called the possession, and the peculiar people of Jehovah ; as Ex. 19 : 6 ; Psalms 114 : 2. In the same way the later Jews applied the phrase, kingdom of God, or of heaven : vid. Schoettgen, de regno coelorum, (Hor. Heb. T. I. extr.) ; and Wetstein on Matt. 21 : 25." Knapp's Theology, ^ 99. (1.) vid. Bland on Matt. 3 : 2. Campbell on the Gospels, Diss. 5, part 1.

The Lexicons have blundered sadly on this phrase. Tholuck, after an elaborate criticism on Wahl, Bretschneider, and others, gives the following as the true definition: " Christ designates, by * the kingdom of heaven,' the community of those, who, united through his Spirit under him as the head, rejoice in the truth and enjoy a holy and blissful life ; all of which is efiiected through communion with him." Biblical Repository, I, p. 567. Christian Review, IV., p. 380. Even this is a partial view.

1* b CHURCH POLITY.

tions of Jesus were sufficiently perspicuous to have prevented the formation of erroneous opinions with respect to the nature of this kingdom. Christ declared explicitly that he claimed not to be an earthly monarch ; refused to be made king ; * and proved, by many incidents in his life, how little he thought of interfering with the civil concerns of men.f In immediate connection with the assertion of his royalty, he declares that his kingdom is not of this world. { And as if to relieve the minds of his disciples of all doubt on the subject, he predicted the destruction of Jerusalem, and the overthrow of the Jewish political state. ||

The history of our race has developed nothing more clearly, than the tenacity with which the mind clings to errors which are sanctioned by universal belief, and hallowed by venerable associations. Notwithstanding our Lord's unambiguous language, with respect to the nature of his kingdom, his followers continued, up to the period of his ascension, § deeply tinged with the Jewish notion of the Messiah ; and few of them rose to the elevated conception of a spiritual economy, which, obliterating all national distinctions, and swaying its sceptre over the souls of men, would dispense to Jew and Gentile alike,

its healino; and savin o; influence. Lons; after the disciples had attained and promulgated correct views on this subject, the old Judaizing leaven continued to work. A large number of the early professors of Christianity, including several distinguished fathers, were persuaded into an expectation of the temporal reign of Christ ; * and Chilaism, although repeatedly convicted of folly and delusion, has subsequently appeared, at intervals, in the history of the Church, and numbered multitudes among the victims of its gross hallucinations. Its latest modem development, Millerism, has just spent its force in our own country.

As the reign of Christ has primary reference to the human race, the Messiah appeared in human form. By his mysterious incarnation, he formed the connecting link between the subjects of his kingdom and himself, allying his divine nature to theirs, and making them partakers of his own. Every real member of Christ's kingdom bears the likeness of its great king. As ** the habitation of God through the spirit," the divine and the human are united in him. It is also a necessary inference, from the principle which was stated at the beginning of this paragraph, that the instrumentality by which the kingdom of Christ is promoted among

* Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte von Dr. F. H. Meier, §32.

men must be material as well as spiritual, human as well as divine. These divine and spiritual elements in its organization, are not cognizable by the senses, and must, of course, be invisible. It is only in reference to its human or material elements that it becomes visible. Its local and temporal developments are visible, but its efficient agencies and ultimate ends are spiritual. Wherever the phrases which designate the Messiah's reign, occur in the Scriptures, they refer to it under the one or the other of these aspects. The idea of a visible kingdom of Christ, as embodied in the visible church, is foreign to the letter and spirit of the New Testament.*

The late Dr. Mason, in a workf which is distinguished for the confidence with which he asserts his sentiments, rather than the conclusiveness of his reasoning, or the correctness of his principles of interpretation, maintains that by the kingdom of heaven is designed the ''external visible church.'' ** This," he contends, '' can be but one, or else it would not be a kingdom, and the kingdom, but several. And this one must be visible, because its ordinances are administered by visible agency." To

* E-obinson in his Lexicon, p. 130, has assigned this meaning to the phrase, but the texts he cites fail to establish it. — e. g. Matt. 6 : 10, manifestly relates to the spiritual reign of Christ. Schleusner does the same. Pasor is more correct.

t Essays on the Church New York, 1843, p. 18.

CHURCH POLITY.

prove his position, the excellent author relies upon several passages of Scripture, particularly those parables in which an analogy is suggested between the kino-dom of God and the usao;es of common life.* His argument is founded upon an erroneous view of the nature and design of a parable, and especially of those which he cites in support of his position. ** The parables of the Saviour," as Neander has remarked, *' we may define as representations, by which the truths, relating to the kingdom of God, axe exhibited in a vivid manner to the eye of the mind, by means of special relations and analogies of common life, whether derived from nature or the world of mankind."! I^ was no part of his design, in any of them, to present an exact representation of the kingdom of heaven, considered as a unit, but simply to illustrate some particular truth connected with the christian dispensation. To attempt to press the analogy beyond its legitimate limits, and find a specific correspondence between each point in the narrative or fact and the Messiah's kingdom, is contrary to the most approved principles of interpretation. For illustration, it is simply necessary to refer to two parables, which occur in immediate connection with those which Dr. M.

has cited. The parables of the mustard seed and of the leaven are intended to represent the diffusiveness of genuine piety, under two different but related aspects. There is but one idea in both of them, though clothed in different drapery, and relating to different forms of development. The former indicates the diffusion of piety, or the extension of the reign of heaven among masses of mankind ; the latter refers to the development of the same principle in an individual. There is, therefore, an analogy between the mustard seed and the leaven, on the one hand, and vital religion on the other.

If we proceed to examine the parable of the sower, upon which the author relies with so much confidence, we shall see that it is susceptible of a similar interpretation. It teaches the important truth, that in the progress of the Gospel its pure and legitimate effects would sometimes be mingled with foreign admixtures ; that in those organizations which would be established for the propagation of the truth, spurious professors would obtrude themselves among the genuine subjects of his kingdom. Human sagacity could not prevent this conjunction, but a separation would be effected at the end of the world. The parable of the net, to which Dr. M. also refers, teaches the same truth.

Fortunately we are not left to conjecture here. Christ has given his own interpretation of the parable of the sower. He tells us '* tte field is the world," not the church; and **the children of the kino-dom" are distino-uished from *'the children of the wicked one." If it be urged that these latter are represented in a subsequent verse, as forming a part of his kingdom, since it is said that the angels shall '' gather out of his kingdom all things that offend," it is sufficient to reply that the royal authority of Christ extends over his foes as well as his friends. The former may appear in visible connection with his genuine disciples, but have never been recognized by him. Even if this parable were ambiguous, the many passages of Scripture, in which moral and spiritual qualifications are mentioned as indispensable to admittance into the kingdom of the Redeemer, would be sufficient to determine who are his real subjects.*

Great stress is laid, by Dr. M.,t upon the predictions in the Old Testament, in which the kingdom of the Messiah is described. In his judgment they manifestly refer to an external visible community. This view, however, betrays a very imperfect apprehension of the nature of those prophecies, and of just principles of interpretation. He sustains his position only by attaching a literal sense to figurative representations. The passages which he

has quoted are taken from the second part of the book of Isaiah,* one of the most splendid portions of the prophetic writings, in which the prophet, ravished with the glorious vision of the new theocracy, which the Spirit reveals to his mental gaze, portrays it in glowing language, and in imagery derived from the earthly theocracy, or the kingdoms of the earth. A literal interpretation is, here, out of the question. The kingdom which he depicts can be realized only in the spiritual theocracy of the Redeemer. With reference to chap. 60, upon expressions in which Dr. M. relies with great confidence, it may be said, without any assumption of superior perspicacity, in the language of a distinguished critic : — *' It can scarcely be necessary to remark, that the whole representation is figurative throughout."! But Dr. M. thinks that '' that light, which was to shine upon the Gentiles, and the * brightness' of that * rising,' which was to attract the * kings,' must of necessity be external." — p. 10. But can any one, after even a cursory glance at this chapter, 60, believe that this light is a material, visible li^ht ; that the darkness which covers the people is its opposite in nature ; and that kingr will actually behold this light ? It is clear that the terms are used figuratively — darkness being th^ t Hengstenberg's Christology, yol. I, p. 438.

symbol of sin and misery — light, of righteousness and happiness.* The chapter has no reference to a '' yisible church catholic," but simply describes the extent of the Messiah's reign, and the blessings by which it would be attended.

This kingdom belongs to Christ as Mediator. It differs from his natural kingdom, not in the extent of its sway, but in the authority from which it is derived, and the object for which its government is administered. As God, he possesses an indefeasible right to rule the universe ; but as Mediator, he exercises his rule in accordance with the provisions of the covenant of grace, and administers the affairs of his kingdom with special reference to his chosen people. t* This kingdom has been committed to him by the Father as the reward of his obedience unto death. As that obedience is possessed of a retrospective efficacy, and delivers from guilt and condemnation the faithful who died before the advent of the Redeemer ; so his royal authority, which was first publicly committed to him at his resurrection from the dead, was exercised in the administration

* Rosenmtiller thinks the figurative use of these expressions is so evident as scarcely to need notice. Per Iticem Hierosolymee oriturum felicem ejus statum significari, uti supra 45 : 75, 8 : 8, 10, vix monitu opus. Yid. Scholia in V. T. II. p. 747.

t Dick's Theol. Lee. LXIV. CoJ. 1 : 15, 19 ; Heb. 1 : 3, 14.

of his kingdom in every age. His incarnation was only the removal of his audience chamber to earth ; the visible manifestation of the divine sovereign ; and his ascension to heaven was his public coronation in the sight of the universe.

The benefits of Christ's kingdom are restricted to its real, accredited subjects. But for the purpose of administering its government and promoting its interests, he has been invested with all power in heaven and in earth.* He sways his sceptre over the armies of heaven, the inhabitants of the earth, and the spirits of hell. All the agents of the universe are held in his hand, and execute his will. All will be made contributors to the promotion of his kingdom, and will grace his final triumph.

The reign of the Redeemer is to be perpetual. Such is the description given of it in ancient prophecy and confirmed by Christ and his apostles, t The only apparent exception to the general tenor of the Scriptures, is found in 1 Cor. 15 : 24, 28. But even this passage, upon a more careful examination, will be found to comport with the representations which are elsewhere found of the perpetual duration of the Messiah's kingdom. The import of this passage seems to be, that God has committed to Christ the

government of his mediatorial kingdom and invested him with full power to carry it on to perfection, by ** placing all things under his feet." His enemies oppose his progress in vain ; for he must finally triumph, and put down all opposing " rule, and all authority and power." When this glorious period arrives, he will present the kingdom to his Father, in all the amplitude and splendor of a redeemed and purified possession. His mediatorial work, so far as it regards this world, will be accomplished. He will then see of the travail of his soul, and be satisfied. But lest it should be supposed that he will then abdicate his throne, and resign the authority delegated to him by the Father, the apostle adds — '' And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all." He will still act as the representative of the Father, and administer the government of his kingdom in subservience to the interests and happiness of his redeemed and glorified people.*

* It has been supposed that the phraseology of the 25th verse implies the termination of the reign of Christ. " He must reign till, &c." But the word does not necessarily limit the reign of Christ to the event specified, viz : the subjection of his foes. It is said in Romans 5 : 13 — " Until the law, sin was in the world." But this does not imply that sin did not exist after the giving of the law. See also parallel expressions in Genesis 28 : 15 ; 1 Samuel 15 : 35 ;

The reign of Christ is a subject of unspeakable dignity and interest. With it are connected the noblest prospects and dearest hopes of mankind. Sages have dreamed of ideal republics ; poets have painted the glories of a golden age ; and the human race, groaning under the curse of sin, and burdened with the accumulated sorrows of earth, have earnestly longed for a period of respite from grief, and a state of pure and permanent felicity. Under the dominion of the Redeemer, these hopes are fulfilled, these expectations are realized. With the condescension that marks the character of the king, and the unexampled benignity which induced him, at the cost of his own sufferings and death, to rear this kingdom, as an asylum for guilt and a refuge for sorrow, he invites the nations to its rights and immunities. The right of citizenship is proffered, without distinction of clime or country, sex or station. In the distribution of its favors, no regard is had to Jew or Greek, Barbarian or Scythian, bond or free. The possessors of uncertain riches are blessed with spiritual wealth ; and the poor are made rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom of heaven. All its subjects are the sons of God, the redeemed of Christ. Imbued with the graces of heaven, fum-

Isaiah 22: 14; Psalms 112: 8; 1 Timothy 4: 13. The passage is similarly interpreted. Biblical Repos. 3, p. 749- 755, and Am. Biblical Repos. 2, p. 443.

ished with every thing necessary to their comfort and happiness, and favored with occasional glimpses of the glory in reversion, they possess, even on earth, a joy which is unspeakable, and a peace which passeth all understanding. And when the reign of Christ is fully consummated, and all his followers have entered the heavenly world, they will accede to an inheritance which is as infinite in value, as it is interminable in duration. It is a matter of vast importance, of imperative necessity, to every man that he be a member of this kingdom of Christ. Admittance is granted and the conditions clearly defined. The king himself has inscribed over its portal the solemn words, *' Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

2*

Chapter II Sources Of Proof

As the kingdom of Christ Is a subject of pure revelation, it may justly be expected that every thing pertaining to its nature, and to the external organizations by which its principles are to be diffused among men, will be found in the inspired volume, in which that revelation is deposited. But in opposition to this obvious and rational inference, it is asserted by many that the Scriptures contain no specific directions with respect to the outward development of Christ's kingdom — no form of Church government.* If this assumption were correct, if neither Christ nor his apostles had left anything determinate, with respect to the earthly relations of his church, but committed its organization and management entirely to fallible men, we should feel bound humbly to submit to his will, and acquiescing in the wisdom of the arrangement, should do whatever human sagacity and prudence might suggest, to discharge the delicate and momentous trust cora-

* Hooker Eccl. Pol. B. 3 J 2. § 11. So also Tomline, Paley and other Episcopal divines. Burton's Hist. Church, p. 60. Neander, in Coleman's Prim. Ch. Introduc. p. 18.

mitted to us. But happily for us and for the interests of his kingdom, he has not imposed upon us this fearful responsibility. The Scriptures are a sufficient rule of faith and practice. The principles of ecclesiastical polity are prescribed in them with all necessary comprehensiveness and clearness. The founder of the Church has provided better for its interests, than to commit its affairs to the control of fallible men. *' Whatever ways of constituting the church may to us seem fit, proper, and reasonable, the question is, not what constitution of Christ's church seems convenient to human wisdom, but what constitution is actually established by Christ's infinite wisdom." *

It would have been happy for the world if men had been satisfied with the simple form of ecclesiastical polity contained in the New Testament. Rejecting this, or proceeding upon the assumption that the New Testament contains none, they have attempted to trace analogies between Christ's church and the defunct forms of Judaism, or enorafted upon it rites and ceremonies borrowed from Heathen-

* Edwards's Works, 4, p. 377.

This point is very ably discussed by Dr. Smyth, in his learned work on Presbytery, ch. II., and on Prelacy, Lee. II., Note C. Lee. III., Vid. Dr. Wood's Lectures on Church Government, pp. 9-12. Haldane's View of Social Worship, &c. ch. 2. Milton's Reason of Church Government, ch. I., II.

ism. From the close of the second century down to the present time, a considerable party have derived their notions of ecclesiastical polity from the Jewish temple and priesthood.* And even a late writer has supposed that its rudiments may be discovered in the Jewish sacerdotal institute. f A more gross misconception of the genius of Christianity than is implied in this Judaizing system, can scarcely be imagined. No two persons can be more unlike than a Jewish priest and a Christian minister ; and to argue from the prerogatives and duties of the one to those of the other is a gross paralogism.

To model the church of Christ after the Jewish temple is to abjure our liberty in the Gospel, and to relapse into the weak and beggarly elements of Levitical bondage. '' To argue from a Levitical priesthood to a Christian ministry, and to prove the validity of the latter institution by an appeal to the former, and specially to compare the official duties of the two respective classes, with an assumption that they are parallel, is out of all question." J

* Puncliard's Hist, of Congregationalism, p. 22. Campbell's Lee. on Eccl. Hist. Lee. X. part I. Gieseler's Church Hist, I. § 65. Mosheim, I. p. 144. Neander, p. 111. Kirchenverfassung von K. D. Hilllmann, S. 35.

t Spiritual Despotism, by Isaac Taylor, Sec. 3.

J Stuart on the Old Testament, pp. 88, 388-392. Edwards's Works, ly. pp. 390, 594. "Wood's Lectures on Church Government, p. 13. Lord Bacon advised the removal of the offensive term priest from the English Liturgy.

The unscriptural notion of a human priesthood in the church of Christ, is fraught with pestilent error, and has led to the most enormous abuses. It has substituted a new class of mediators between Grod and man, to the exclusion and dishonor of the one Mediator, the man Christ Jesus ; for, as Dr. Arnold has observed, '* the essential point in the notion of a priest is this : that he is a person made necessary to our intercourse with God, without being necessary or beneficial to us morally. His interference makes the worshipper neither a wiser man, nor holier than he would have been without it ; and yet it is held to be indispensable. This unreasonable, unmoral, unspiritual necessity, is the essence of the idea of priesthood.'' Viewed in its relations to the cardinal truths of Christianity, no error can be more utterly subversive of the Gospel. We are not, therefore, surprised at the earnestness with which he combats it, and the indignation with which he denounces it, as '* the worst and earliest form of Anti- Christ."* It was this human priesthood *' bedecked in deformed and fantastic dresses, in palls ' and mitres, gold and gewgaws, fetched from Aaron's

Pacification of the Church, Works I. p. 356. This argument is, in the hands of Prelacy, self-destructive ; for the Jewish hierarchy was not prelatical. Smyth's Presbytery, ch. XIII. Taylor's Spiritual Despotism, Sec. 3.