Theory of the Eldership [pp. 702-759]

Theory of the Eldership.
the term, be it remembered, which was employed by the
African Fathers, by Calvin, and Knox, by the Books of Discipline, and by the Waldenses. Senior is also the comparative
degree of senex, old, and means older, and is generally applied
to age, and to the respect and endearment associated with age,
and not to office or rule. Senator and not senior is the Latin
term for the members of the Roman Senate, whose position
was not considered an office, but rather a dignity or rank like
that of the nobili of Venice.
The Presbyters of the Old Testament-What?
This theory finds no support, therefore, from the primary
and fundamental meaning of the terms presbyter, in Greek,
and senior, in Latin. It is however affirmed, that the elders
of the Old Testament, and of the ancient synagogue, were, as
this theory requires, of one order as rulers, of whom there were
two classes-one of rulers only, and one of rulers who were
teachers also; and that these were not laymen, but ecclesiastics, who wvere both ordained, and ordainers by imposition of
hands. Our Saviour and his apostles, it is said, found this
theory of the eldership in practical operation, and transferred
it to the Christian church. Let us then take up these positions.
On the real use and import of the term elder, and its Hebrew
cognates, we regard the work of the now late and deeply
lamented Dr. J. Addison Alexander on "The Primitive Offices
of the Christian Church," to be exhaustive. He illustrates its use
"from the very beginning of time, in all countries, under every
variety of government, and under all changes in the form of
government. It belongs, in short, to the phraseology of the
patriarchal constitution of the earliest societies, and is employed
in Scripture in application to the elders of Egypt, of Midian,
of Moab, &c.; and not only to elders of countries, but also to
local magistrates and judges." (P. 5, &c.) In all cases, these
elders "were representatives of the people," and are frequently
"taken for the people," and "for ALL the people." (P. 4, 5.)
They were also the representatives of the people in civil and in
sacred things. "The people therefore were originally and properly the chief depositaries of the governing power. They were
convened and consulted on all important occasions, and without
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