Five disputations of church-government and worship

Sect. 15. Argument 5. The stated or fixed President of a Presbytery may Ordain (with his fellow Presbyters) But many of our Parish Pastors are the fixed Presidents of Presbyteries: therefore they may ordain. The Major I take for granted by all that stand to the Ordinary descriptions of a Bishop: For the stated President of a Presbytery, is not only a Bishop, in the judgement of Forbes, Bishop Hall, Bishop Usher and such other, but is indeed the Primitive Bishop in their judgement, and such a Bishop in whom they would rest satisfied, and do propose such for the Churches Peace▪

Sect. 15. Argument 5. The stated or fixed President of a Presbyterie may Ordain (with his fellow Presbyters) But many of our Parish Pastors are the fixed Presidents of Presbyteries: therefore they may ordain. The Major I take for granted by all that stand to the Ordinary descriptions of a Bishop: For the stated President of a Presbyterie, is not only a Bishop, in the judgement of Forbes, Bishop Hall, Bishop Vsher and such other, but is indeed the Primitive Bishop in their judgement, and such a Bishop in whom they would rest satisfied, and do propose such for the Churches Peace▪

Sect. 16. And the Minor is notorious: For 1. In the most of our ordered Churches there is a Presbytery of Ruling Ecclesiastic Elders. 2. In many there are divers preaching Presbyters (which may satisfy them that are against mere ruling Elders) as I showed before. And if these be not inferior to the chief Pastor in Ecclesiastical Degree, yet they are his Compresbyters, and he is (in all Parishes that I know where Curates or Assistants are) their stated President or Moderator, so that we have in all such Congregations (according to the doctrine of the Bishops ⟨p. 203⟩themselves) not only such Bishops as were in the Apostles days when there was no subject Presbyters, but also such Bishops as were in Ignatius days, when the fixed President or Bishop had many Presbyters, to whom he was the President or Moderator.