Ratio disciplinae fratrum Nov-Anglorum. A faithful account of the discipline professed and practised; in…

One is at a Loss about certain Passages in Antiquity. If the Five or Six Brethren, whom Clemens with his Church, sent with his Excellent Letter unto the Church of Corinth, were not such Ruling Elders, yet Firmillian, Bishop of Caesarea, in the Third Century, seems to join the Seniors (or, Elders) with the Pastors, and says, That at certain times, they met for to settle and order ⟨p. 124⟩Matters committed unto their Care. And about fifty Years after, Mensurius, Bishop of Carthage; having occasion to travel, committed some Treasures of the Church unto certain Elders, who afterward proving Wicked Men. began the Schism of the Donatists. And in the Acts of the Justification of Caecilian, which are more Ancient than the Council of Nice, we read of Elders distinct from the Bishops and Priests. Austin also several times makes mention of Elders distinct from the Ministers of the Churches: Particularly he does it in the Inscription of his CXXXVII. Epistle. Yea, in his XIX. Sermon on the Words of our Lord, [The Third in the Appendix of Tom. 10] he declares the Duty of their Employments. The Council of Carthage, A. C. 407. diverse times mentions these Elders, as defending the Rights of the People against the Bishops. Yea, we find them not Extinct in France and Italy, at the End of the Sixth Century.

One is at a Loss about certain Passages in Antiquity. If the Five or Six Brethren, whom Clemens with his Church, sent with his Excellent Letter unto the Church of Corinth, were not such Ruling Elders, yet Firmillian, Bishop of Caesarea, in the Third Century, seems to join the Seniors (or, Elders) with the Pastors, and says, That at certain times, they met for to settle and order ⟨p. 124⟩Matters committed unto their Care. And about fifty Years after, Mensurius, Bishop of Carthage; having occasion to travel, committed some Treasures of the Church unto certain Elders, who afterward proving Wicked Men. began the Schism of the Donatists. And in the Acts of the Justification of Caecilian, which are more Ancient than the Council of Nice, we read of Elders distinct from the Bishops and Priests. Austin also several times makes mention of Elders distinct from the Ministers of the Churches: Particularly he does it in the Inscription of his CXXXVII. Epistle. Yea, in his XIX. Sermon on the Words of our Lord, [The Third in the Appendix of Tom. 10] he declares the Duty of their Employments. The Council of Carthage, A. C. 407. diverse times mentions these Elders, as defending the Rights of the People against the Bishops. Yea, we find them not Exinct in France and Italy, at the End of the Sixth Century.