Southern standard. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1851-1856, 1853-06-04

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''this chapter concerning bishops and deacons
'tshould be carefully weighed by every branch of
"the Christian Church, Not only the officers
(which are of divine appointment, such as bishop
'preS5yter and ds0con should be most reliciously
preserved In The Church. but that they may have
their full effect, the persons exercising them,
should DE such rs the apostle prescrihes." End
of Chapter in lst. Tmothy.) In his comment
on verse IS Of the same chapter 3 in lst Timothy,
Clark says: 'itseems to have heen practice dicta
ted by common sense, that the most grave steady
the believers should be employed as deacons; the
inexperienced and jealous of the dedcOns should
be raised to the rank of elders and the most able and
plous OF the elders, be consecrated bishops: and
again at the close of the same paragraph, are the
following words g But deacon, preSbyter, and
bishop, existed in the apostolic Church, and may,
therefore, be considered of divine origin" To re-
turn from this depression, l will proceed to shew
that Episcopos has good claim to the rank of
presbyter Bishops are selected from the best Of
the presbyters, and must be more elevated in char
acter morals and COOL breeding, than the latter;
but presbyers have nevertheless some claim to the
protection of good name, and should not as St.
Paul saith, be held guilty, except on the evidence
of two or three witnesses. l not wiling
therefore, to lay the pamphlet at the door of any
preSbyter; but would rather ascribe it to one of
the plebs, or mere laic at the most; and were it
not for high and unfegned regard for the indorser
| would excul pate even the lacs, and would put
it upon the old veteran who sowed the tares in the
field | am decided in the opinion that none other
than the old progentor of all sinners could travel
such road at such rail way speed. "He goes it,
just as if the gap and the bottom were the objects
of his pursuit. | hope that "Presbuteros'' will
cut loose from him, and reconsider his endorse
ment; consult Wesley, read Clark and aid me in
taking the mask from this disguised enemy of the
faithful. Mark how Epscopos in his first SEN
tence regrets that certain aborers in the Vineyard
will not receive him into their company, and that
on the same page he charges them with larceny
and as worthy of the penetentiary. Could bishop
or presbyter regret such company? could one of
the lacs l affirm in behalf of my proposition
above laid down, that neither could entertain any
such regret. AS larceny must be of something of
value, l qualify the above use of the term by ma
king it dependent on the fact whether any value
is attachabe to the commodity which "Episcopos'
embraces under the word 'stuff.
Page four of 'Episcopos'' shews 'where the
shoe pinches.' The Church is vilifed and abused
because it is making encroachment on 'hs mem
bers" denominated stuff on the proceeding
page. His ''stuff" has been "plundered' ''his
members" have deserted and hence the pamphlet
of Episcopos. Disappointment and chagrin mark
every page, and passion stirred up to an uncontro-
utmost limits of propriety. If in fact he be bish-
op, priest or lac, will WOO him back into the re-
gions of sense and good breeding, by directing his
attention to the following words of Clark the Com
mentator to wit Sin former times, bishops wrote
much, and preached much and their labors were
greatly owned of God. No Church since the A
postle's days, has been more honored in this way,
than the British Church. And although bishops
are here as elsewhere, appointed by the state yet
we cannot help adoring the good providence OF
God, that taken as body, they have been an hon
or to their function. And since the reformation
of religion in these lands the Bishops have in gen
eraii Seen men Of great learning and probty; and
the ablest advocates of the christian system, both
as to its authenticity, ana We purity and excellence
of Its doctrines and morality" Fres5uteros, have
you any respect for the opinion of your common
tator? Had you rather follow Wesley and Clark
or EpiScopos and Powell? You must know that
the pamphlet in question is unworthy of any one
who bears the name of christian. Withdraw your
Endorsement then, and let my proposition above
set forth as to its authorship stand established
/ Ii, however you are determined to whz along af-
ter such locomotive on such road l will make
one more effort to dsconnect you before you reach
the fearful gap. One Of the strong grounds of in
fidelity against the christian religion has always
been the alledged imperfect constitution of the
church as 1t came from the hands Of Christ and
the Apostles; that the boosted offspring of Di-
vine inspiration would have died of the ricketts, in
infancy, had 1t not been for patent nostrum pre-
scrbed by human wisdom. This is one of the
grounds maintained by the infdel, but learned
and eloquent Gibbon. He disdaining to take an
undue advantage in philosophical combat, or too
well read in the Fathers and the scriptures to ven
! ture upon denial of the fact, makes the impor-
tant admission that bishops were established in
full power before the end of the first century,
/ For the benefit of those who may not wish to soil
their fingers with so profane work, quote from
the first volume of Gibbons Rome, page 427 the
! following words 1.-THE advantages of this epis-
! copal form of government, which appears to have
/ been introduced before the end of the first centu-
ry, were so obvious, and so important for the flu
ture greatness, as we'll as the present peace oil
Christianity thati was adopted without delay, by
all the societies which were already scattered over
the empire, had acquired in a very early period
the sanction of antiquity, and is still revered by
the most powerful churches, both of the East and
of the West, primitive, and even as divine
establishment" The same author says further
In note 112 on page 428 latter we have passed
the difficulties of the first century, we find the
Episcopal government universally established, till
ii was interrupted by the republican genius of the
Swiss and German reformers." From Gibbon
then we have the admission of the Episcopacy be-
fore the end of the first century, and an unbroken
succession from that time to the reformation in the
sixteenth century. What are the difficulties OF
the first century alluded to by Gibboa? Not
whether Episcopacy was established by the apos-
ties; but whether Christianity itself could boast
of any other than human Origin The fact that
| EpScopacV was established by the apostles was