Page:Essay on the First Principles of Government 2nd Ed.djvu/201

 think the very contrary, if it be in the power of words to convey such a meaning.

If we consider the plan of the primitive church, we shall see that it was evidently formed upon that of the Jewish synagogue; in which the elders (all of whom promiscuously instructed the rest) were persons of the greatest age and experience, and he that is called the ruler of the synagogue (to which the office of the christian bishop corresponds) was only one of them, distinguished, indeed, by some titles of honour, but with no superior power worth mentioning. This is the reason why both the rulers of the synagogues among the Jews, and bishops in christian churches, are generally called elders, in common with the rest. The office of deacon was also the same in both, and needs no description in this place.

The apostles always represent themselves as appointed witnesses of the life, sufferings, and resurrection of Christ;