how many, and what are the scriptural officers of a christian church? for a church, being a society, must have not only laws, but officers to execute them. how many orders are there in the ministry? these are questions which have at times greatly divided the christian world.
baptists assert that the officers of a church are two,—and of right, can be no more,—pastor and deacons. in this opinion agree some other denominations, while the various episcopal sects insist that there should be three sets—deacons, priests, and bishops, to which the church of england adds archbishops. others add to this number indefinitely; and the romish church carries the list up to ten or twelve, ending with the pope. now it is not so much what this church preaches or practices, but on what basis were the primitive churches—the churches of inspiration—organized. our [p. 147] lord did not live to shape, and model, and put in order all things for the full equipment of his people, that they might be thoroughly furnished unto all good works, but he did give to his apostles a spirit of wisdom by which they should be able to do all this, and carry out his plans, in the organization of his kingdom after he had left them. we assume that the first churches were organized on the divine plan, and seek to ascertain what that plan was.
in the new testament, the words bishop, presbyter, elder, are used to designate church officers. they all, however, designate the same office, and therefore officially mean the same thing; indeed, they are not infrequently applied to the same individual. the bishop—called also the presbyter, or elder—was the pastor, or overseer of the spiritual flock, watching, guiding, and feeding it, as the shepherd does his sheep. the deacons were chosen to attend to the temporal interests of the church, as appears by the election of the seven, recorded in the sixth chapter of acts. this was done in order that the apostles might be free from the temporal cares, and thus able to give their attention more exclusively to the spiritual welfare of the people. the word deacon means a minister, [p. 148] a servant. it is sometimes applied to the apostles, and even to christ himself, in the general sense as one who “came, not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” some of the first deacons were also efficient preachers of the gospel, but their work as deacons pertained to other services in the churches. while, therefore, the deacon is a church officer, his office does not constitute an order in the ministry at all, its functions belonging to temporal concerns, and not to a spiritual service. the service usually performed by clerks, trustees, and the like, it may be presumed, so far as such service was needed in the first churches, was devolved on the deacons.
pastors, by whatever name they may have been known, had the same service, and were of the same grade, dignity, and authority. in the first churches there were no high orders of clergy placed over lower grades, and over the churches ruling with superior authority. all were equals among equals, and all equally ministered to the churches. if in the same church there might chance to be several to whom the titles bishop, presbyter, or elder were applied, they were all of equal rank or authority, [p. 149] though one might be selected to serve as the pastor of the church, and devote himself to its local interests; while the others might give themselves to more general missionary work.
neander says: “the word presbyter, or elder, indicates rather the dignity of the office, since presbyters among the jews were usually aged and venerable; while bishop, or episcopos, designated the nature of their work as overseers, or pastors of the churches. the former title was used by jewish christians as a name familiar in the synagogue; while the latter was chiefly used by the greek and other gentile converts, as more familiar and expressive to them.” “they were not designed to exercise absolute authority, but to act as presiding officers and guides of an ecclesiastical republic: to conduct all things, with the cooperation of the communities, as their ministers and not as their masters.” introd. to cole., prim. ch., p. 20; ch. hist., vol. 1., p. 184; plant. and train., p. 147.
mosheim says: “the rulers of the churches were denominated sometimes presbyters, or elders, a designation borrowed from the jews, and indicative rather of the [p. 150] wisdom than the age of the persons, and sometimes also bishops: for it is most manifest that both terms are promiscuously used in the new testament of one and the same class of persons.” “in these primitive times, each christian church was composed of the people, the presiding officers, and the assistants, or deacons. these must be the components of every society.” eccl. hist., cent 1., p. 2; ch. 2, secs. 5, 8.
gieseler asserts: “the new churches everywhere formed themselves on the model of the mother church at jerusalem. at the head of each were the elders (presbyter, bishop), all officially of equal rank, though in several instances a peculiar authority seems to have been conceded to some one individual from personal considerations.” ch. hist., part 1, div. 1, ch. 2, sec. 29.
waddington declares: “it is also true that in the earliest government of the first christian society,—that of jerusalem,—not the elders only, but the ‘whole church,’ were associated with the apostles; and it is even certain that the terms bishop and elder, or presbyter, were in the first instance and for a short period, sometimes used synonymously, and indiscriminately applied to the [p. 151] same order in the ministry.” hist. christ. church, ch. 2, sec. 2.
archbishop usher says that “bishop and presbyter differed only in degree, and not in order.” see cole., anc. christ. exemp., ch. 8, sec. 6.
bishop burnett says: “as for the notion of distinct offices of bishop and presbyter, i confess it is not so clear to me.” vindic. ch. of sects, p. 366.
doctor coleman says: “it is generally admitted by episcopal writers on this subject, that in the new testament, and in the earliest ecclesiastical writings, the terms bishops and presbyters, or elders, are synonymous, and denote one and the same office.” “the office of presbyter was undeniably identical with that of bishop, as has been shown above.” “only two orders of officers are known in the church until the close of the second century. those of the first are styled either bishops or presbyters; of the second, deacons.” anc. christ. exemp., ch. 8, sec. 6; ch. 6, sec. 5.
this author cites many of the early christian fathers who bore the same testimony, among whom are clement of rome, polycarp, justin martyr, iren?us, jerome, [p. 152] chrysostom, theodoret, and others. many prelatical writers, besides these above quoted, frankly admit the same facts.
the apostle paul, it is stated (acts 20:17, 18), called together the elders (presbyters) of the ephesian church. but in verse 28 he calls these officers overseers (episcopos). here the terms presbuteros and episcopos were certainly used interchangeably.
paul and timothy, in their address to the philippian christians, specify three classes as evidently constituting the entire body of disciples. they say, “to all the saints in christ jesus, which are at philippi, with the bishops and deacons.” saints, bishops, and deacons embraced the whole church.
timothy was instructed by paul as to the qualifications of pastors to be placed over the churches. (1 tim. 3:1.) particular directions are given as to both bishops and deacons, but no mention is made of elders—clearly because they were the same as bishops.
titus is likewise enjoined to secure pastors for the church in crete. (titus 1:5, 7.) these pastors are called elders in verse 5 and bishops in verse 7.
[p. 153]pastors and deacons, therefore, are two orders, and these officers simply were known or needed in the apostolic churches. in this, also, the views held by baptists are in harmony with the customs of the churches in the first and purest age of christian history.
