PREFA СЕ. In presenting the following pages to the public, the author deems no other apology necessary than that which is furnished by the fact that he believes himself to be in the conscientious performance of duty. If he is not greatly mistaken, at no time has the discussion of the subject, on which he has written, been more imperatively demanded than at the present. All christians, without distinction of name, who believe in the Apostles' creed as a summary of faith, believe in “The Holy Catholic Church." But this church, of necessity, has a ministry. Who are they? This is the important question; for a decision of it, will guide us directly to the church in which we believe. When we know who are the ministry, we know which is the church. It is possible for men to profess her faith, teach her doctrines, and administer her ordinances; but, can they show a valid commission for what they do in God's name and in Christ's stead? If not, then that society for which they minister cannot be consider"The Holy Catholic Church," or any part thereof; for that church has a divinely commissioned ministry. ed as The whole question of the church therefore and the true meaning of this article of the creed resolves itself into the question of THE MINISTERIAL COMMISSION. And this is the subject to which we now invite the readers serious and patient attention. It is one which both in view of time and eternity, is of the very greatest importance.— For, however some may endeavor to depreciate the government, by bringing into comparison with it the doctrines of the church-alledging that the one is for time, the other for eternity-the one external, the other internal and spiritual; yet it is nevertheless true, that by the government, the doctrine is duly preserved and administered, and for this very purpose was it instituted. The higher our estimate of the value of the faith of the gospel, the more should we esteem the guardian and dispensor of that faith. Break up the ministry; render it essentially defective by stripping it of all authority as a divinely appointed order; and how long will the church's faith remain inviolate? Is there not an essential connection between them (not mere ly in individual cases) as the church stands opposed to the world; a connection established by God himself? And shall man venture to sever it, and not tremble for the consequences? Behold in the wreck of church governments (defective governments that held the seeds of dissolution in themselves) the ruin, in many instances, of the christian faith; and in its stead the various and dangerous heresies that have sprung up! The surface of the christian world is strewn with them. We do not however say that all who have not the divine government have thereby lost the faith. But multitudes have, and as for the rest, how long can they hope to stand upon a basis which has, and professes to have, no divine authority for its support? In a word, if the church of the gospel is the palladium of the faith of the gospel, then to know it, to love and protect it, is one of the highest acts of christian zeal and duty. CONTENTS. The nature and necessity of the Commission :-The Commis- sion divine-Essential to the Church in the Apostolic age, and therefore, essential ever afterwards. Without this commission there can be no authorized ministry, and consequently, no church. The true principle of UNITY is adherence to the com- The Commission found in Christ's final charge to the eleven Apostles:-The first commission given by the Saviour to the twelve, was temporary and limited. It expired. The se- cond, after the resurrection, the perpetual commission and The ordaining power given by commission to the Apostles only:— First, the terms of the commission convey this power. Second- ly, it is implied in the nature of the objects contemplated by the commission. Thirdly, the Apostles exercised it on several oc- The perpetuity of the Apostolic Office :-Being the only office Christ left on the earth-if it perished, all of visible and divine authority perished. The explicit promise of perpetuity. The office actually transmitted in its integrity, so that there were The office of Elder or Presbyter in the Apostolic Church :-The origin of the term. They did not bear the Apostolic commis- sion. They neither held the office nor bore the title of Apos- tles. Their origin according to the account in the New Testa- The direct argument för Episcopacy :-Meaning of the term Bishop. The argument. Parity tested by applying it to the Apostolic church. It unchurches the Apostles, dethrones, and excommunicates them. Presbyterianism unchurches the whole The succession preserved and continued by Divine power, as the Bible is preserved, and for the same reasons. Moral proofs. Apostolic and other canons on the subject. Historic proofs. Objections answered. English succession traced to the Apos- tles. British church independent of Rome proved by direct and indirect evidence. The mode of computing the Easter fes- tival observed in the British church. The theory of Dr. Lin- . gard examined. The historic testimony unimpeached from St. Paul to Bishop White. The true ground, as a doctrine of the Bible and of the church, upon which to rest the succession.— Mosheim's congregational theory examined-Jerusalem, Eph- The real strength of the argument for an unbroken succes- ..... "The plea of recessity" for dissenting from the church ex- ........ The sense of the Church expressed in her "Thirty nine Ar- ticles," on the subject of the church and ministry. The views |