Systematic Theology (Volume 3 of 3)Strong, Augustus Hopkins
Religion
Systematic Theology (Volume 3 of 3)
Strong, Augustus Hopkins
Baptists -- Doctrines; Theology, Doctrinal
Baumgarten, Apostolic History, 1:456—“They—the two apostles—allow
presbyters to be chosen for the community by voting.” Alexander,
Com. on Acts—“The method of election here, as the expression
χειροτονήσαντες indicates, was the same as that in _Acts 6:5, 6_,
where the people chose the seven, and the twelve ordained them.”
Barnes, Com. on Acts: “The apostles presided in the assembly where
the choice was made,—appointed them in the usual way by the
suffrage of the people.” Dexter, Congregationalism,
138—“ ‘_Ordained_’ means here ‘prompted and secured the election’
of elders in every church.” So in _Titus 1:5_—“_appoint elders in
every city._” Compare the Latin: “dictator consules creavit” =
prompted and secured the election of consuls by the people. See
Neander, Church History, 1:189; Guericke, Church History, 1:110;
Meyer, on _Acts 13:2_.
The Watchman, Nov. 7, 1901—“The root‐difficulty with many schemes
of statecraft is to be found in deep‐seated distrust of the
capacities and possibilities of men. Wendell Phillips once said
that nothing so impressed him with the power of the gospel to
solve our problems as the sight of a prince and a peasant kneeling
side by side in a European Cathedral.” Dr. W. R. Huntington makes
the strong points of Congregationalism to be: 1. a lofty estimate
of the value of trained intelligence in the Christian ministry; 2.
a clear recognition of the duty of every lay member of a church to
take an active interest in its affairs, temporal as well as
spiritual. He regards the weaknesses of Congregationalism to be:
1. a certain incapacity for expansion beyond the territorial
limits within which it is indigenous; 2. an undervaluation of the
mystical or sacramental, as contrasted with the doctrinal and
practical sides of religion. He argues for the object‐symbolism as
well as the verbal‐symbolism of the real presence and grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Dread of idolatry, he thinks, should not make
us indifferent to the value of sacraments. Baptists, we reply, may
fairly claim that they escape both of these charges against
ordinary Congregationalism, in that they have shown unlimited
capacity of expansion, and in that they make very much of the
symbolism of the ordinances.
(_e_) From the power of the whole church to exercise discipline. Passages
which show the right of the whole body to exclude, show also the right of
the whole body to admit, members.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account