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The Ministry of the Word
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 February 2009
Extract
Any study of the nature of the Christian Ministry must begin by affirming the necessity of the Church. The New Testament knows of no“Church-less”Christianity. Furthermore, it is not only the invisible Church that matters for the Gospel, i.e.“the whole number of the elect that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one under Christ the head ”. The visible Church is also vitally relevant to the Gospel, consisting of“all those throughout the world that profess the true religion, together with their children ”. To identify the visible Church more particularly, the Westminster Confession of Faith proceeds:“Unto this catholic visible Church, Christ hath given the ministry, oracles and ordinances of God, for the gathering and perfecting of the saints in this life, to the end of the world; and doth by His own presence and Spirit, according to His promise, make them effectual thereunto.”
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- Copyright © Scottish Journal of Theology Ltd 1949
References
page 163 note 1 West. Conf. Faith, XXV, I.
page 163 note 2 op cit. XXV, 2.
page 163 note 3 op cit. XXV, 3.
page 163 note 4 Calvin, Institutes 4.1.9.
page 164 note 1 West Conf. Faith, XXV, 4.
page 164 note 2 Calvin, Institutes 4.3.1.
page 164 note 3 This treatment of the Old Testament by traditional Reformed theology is in marked contrast to the standpoint of The Apostolic Ministry, with its far-fetched interpretation of the Shaliach. See the criticism in Scottish Journal of Theology, Vol. I, No. 2, pp. 195–196.Google Scholar
page 165 note 1 op cit. 4.3.2.
page 165 note 2 Story, R. H., Apostolic Ministry in the Scottish Churches, p. 5.Google Scholar
page 166 note 1 Calvin, Institutes, 4.3.6.
page 166 note 2 R. H. Story, op. cit. p. 238.
page 167 note 1 Cf. the general position put forward in The Apostolic Ministry.
page 167 note 2 Simpson, P. Carnegie, Evangelical Church Catholic, p. 156.Google Scholar
page 168 note 1 It is disappointing to find this misunderstanding about “from above ” and “ from beneath ” still persisting even in such an erudite work as The Apostolic Ministry.
page 169 note 1 op cit.p. 148.
page 169 note 2 Moffatt, J., The Presbyterian Churches, p. 116.Google Scholar
page 169 note 3 The Apostolic Ministry emphasises the holder of the office rather than the function of the office.
page 169 note 4 Form of Presbyterial Church Government.
page 170 note 1 Calvin, Institutes 4.3.11
page 170 note 2 op cit. 4.3.15.
page 170 note 3 Form of Presbyterial Church Government.
page 170 note 4 ibid.
page 170 note 5 Larger Catechism, Q. 158.
page 171 note 1 Directory for the Public Worship of God.
page 171 note 2 West. Conf. Faith, XXVII, 4.
page 172 note 1 Larger Catechism, Q. 159.
page 173 note 1 Reviewed Scottish Journal of Theology, Vol. 2, No. 1.Google Scholar