Of ecclesiastical officers in the time of the Apostles,some were magisterial,some ministerial.Magisterial were the offices of preaching of the gospel of the kingdom of God to infidels;of administering the sacraments and divine service;and of teaching the rules of faith and manners to those that were converted.Ministerial was the office of deacons,that is,of them that were appointed to the administration of the secular necessities of the Church,at such time as they lived upon a common stock of money,raised out of the voluntary contributions of the faithful.
Amongst the officers Amongst the officer magisterial,the first and principal were the Apostles,whereof there were at first but twelve;and these were chosen and constituted by our Saviour himself;and their office was not only to preach,teach,and baptize,but also to be martyrs (witnesses of our Saviour's resurrection).This testimony was the specifical and essential mark whereby the apostleship was distinguished from other magistracy ecclesiastical;as being necessary for an Apostle either to have seen our Saviour after his resurrection or to have conversed with him before,and seen his works,and other arguments of his divinity,whereby they might be taken for sufficient witnesses.And therefore at the election of a new Apostle in the place of Judas Iscariot,St.
Peter saith,"Of these men that have companied with us,all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,beginning from the baptism of John unto that same day that he was taken up from us,must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection":where by this word must is implied a necessary property of an Apostle,to have companied with the first and prime Apostles in the time that our Saviour manifested himself in the flesh.
The first Apostle of those which were not constituted by Christ in the time he was upon the earth was Matthias,chosen in this manner:
there were assembled together in Jerusalem about one hundred and twenty Christians.These appointed two,Joseph the Just and Matthias,and caused lots to be drawn;"and the lot fell on Matthias,and he was numbered with the apostles."So that here we see the ordination of this Apostle was the act of the congregation,and not of St.Peter,nor of the eleven,otherwise than as members of the assembly.
After him there was never any other Apostle ordained,but Paul and Barnabas,which was done,as we read,in this manner:"There were in the church that was at Antioch,certain prophets and teachers;as Barnabas,and Simeon that was called Niger,and Lucius of Cyrene,and Manaen;which had been brought up with Herod the Tetrarch,and Saul.As they ministered unto the Lord,and fasted,the Holy Ghost said,Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.And when they had fasted,and prayed,and laid their hands on them,they sent them away."
By which it is manifest that though they were called by the Holy Ghost,their calling was declared unto them,and their mission authorized by the particular church of Antioch.And that this their calling was to the apostleship is apparent by that,that they are both called Apostles:and that it was by virtue of this act of the church of Antioch that they were Apostles,St.Paul declareth plainly in that he useth the word,which the Holy Ghost used at his calling,for he styleth himself,"An apostle separated unto the gospel of God,"alluding to the words of the Holy Ghost,"Separate me Barnabas and Saul,"etc.But seeing the work of an Apostle was to be a witness of the resurrection of Christ,a man may here ask how St.
Paul,that conversed not with our Saviour before his Passion,could know he was risen.To which is easily answered that our Saviour himself appeared to him in the way to Damascus,from heaven,after his ascension;"and chose him for a vessel to bear his name before the Gentiles,and kings,and children of Israel";and consequently,having seen the Lord after his Passion,was a competent witness of his resurrection:and as for Barnabas,he was a disciple before the Passion.It is therefore evident that Paul and Barnabas were Apostles,and yet chosen and authorized,not by the first Apostles alone,but by the Church of Antioch;as Matthias was chosen and authorized by the Church of Jerusalem.
Bishop,a word formed in our language out of the Greek episcopus,signifieth an overseer or superintendent of any business,and particularly a pastor or shepherd;and thence by metaphor was taken,not only amongst the Jews that were originally shepherds,but also amongst the heathen,to signify the office of a king,or any other ruler or guide of people,whether he ruled by laws or doctrine.And so the Apostles were the first Christian bishops,instituted by Christ himself:in which sense the apostleship of Judas is called "his bishoprick."And afterwards,when there were constituted elders in the Christian churches,with charge to guide Christ's flock by their doctrine and advice,these elders were also called bishops.Timothy was an elder (which word elder,in the New Testament,is a name of office as well as of age);yet he was also a bishop.And bishops were then content with the title of elders.Nay,St.John himself,the Apostle beloved of our Lord,beginneth his Second Epistle with these words,"The elder to the elect lady."By which it is evident that bishop,pastor,elder,doctor,that is to say,teacher,were but so many diverse names of the same office in the time of the Apostles.For there was then no government by coercion,but only by doctrine and persuading.The kingdom of God was yet to come,in a new world;so that there could be no authority to compel in any church till the Commonwealth had embraced the Christian faith;and consequently no diversity of authority,though there were diversity of employments.
