Excerpt from The Ecclesiastical Polity of the New Testament Unfolded: And Its Points of Coincidence or Disagreement With Prevailing Systems Indicated It is necessary that the reader should distinctly remember the nature of the work undertaken, which is not to explain or defend the opinions and practices of any one denomination on the subject of ecclesias tical polity, nor to identify the polity of the New Testament with modern Congregationalism; but to investigate the volume of inspiration with the view of unfolding its teachings, and to point out their agreement or discordance with the principles and usages of modern sects. For this purpose, the Author has endeavoured to keep his leanings in perfect subservience to the divine word; and he is not aware that they have misled him in his explanations. If they have done so in any instance, it has been unconsciously. The reader is therefore entreated to recollect, that the Lecturer stands before him, not as the advocate of Congregationalism in particular, but as an humble, and he trust-s an honest, inquirer into the revealed will of God. If he expects to find the thorough defender of any other system than what is sanctioned by infallible authority, he will be grievously disappointed. Hence the Writer alone is accountable for the sentiments advanced. The Opinions advocated, are not to be charged on the denomination to which he has the honour of belong ing. They possess no aficial authority. The Lecturer is not an expositor of the prevailing sentiments held by the Congregational body. Many of his brethren would probably disagree with some of the statements. At all events, they must not be held responsible for them. Whether true or false, the burden of them rests on the shoulders of him who makes them. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.