Excerpt from The Expositor, Vol. 6: With Etching of Rev. Alexander Maclaren, D.D. By H. Manesse Such a thing I take to be the existence of the Christian ministry as a distinct order. That the distinction between clergy and laity was recognised at the end of the second century is so notorious that detailed proof is superfluous. Nve never lose sight of the distinction as we trace the history back. When we come to one of the earliest of extra-canonical writings, the Epistle of Clement, the dis tinction between the clergy and laity is well marked. The former office is so regarded as permanent, that the deposition of a presbyter against whom no grave offence can be charged is treated as a sin. When we turn to the New Testament writings, we find, in the Oldest document in the collection, the First Epistle to the Thessalonians (v. A class of men commended as highly deserving, for their work's sake, of the esteem and love of those addressed; and these are described as labouring among them, as being over them in the Lord, and as admonishing them. From the second of these phrases we infer that the persons described held permanent Office in the Church and from the third that the work in which they laboured, if at all secular, was not entirely so. This completely har monizes with the admonition in a later epistle (heb. Xiii. Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch in behalf of your souls, as they that shall give an account. It is needless to produce other New Testament testimony, for I regard it as beyond dispute that the Church from the first had officers, charged not merely with secular but with spiritual duties. What gra dations of office there were, and what things there were which a clergyman might do and a layman might not, are points remaining for inquiry. 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.