Excerpt from The Name, Nature, and Functions, of Ruling Elders: Wherein It Is Shown From the Testimony of Scripture, the Fathers, and the Reformers, That Ruling Elders Are Not Presbyters or Bishops, and That as Representatives of the People, Their Office Ought to Be Temporary We may therefore lay it down as a sure criterion of the scripturality and purity Of any church, that while it is found contending earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints, and for all the essential principles of ecclesiastical law, as far as they can be clearly discovered in the heavenly institutes, it is at the same time willing to receive and treat as brethren, those that are otherwise minded on matters pertaining to the outward form and order of the church, and the minute arrange ments of ecclesiastical order. 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.