Baptist and Elders part 1

By Mark Dever

[Originally delivered at the Issues in Baptist Polity Conference, hosted by The Baptist Center for Theology and Ministry at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, February 6, 2004.]

Introduction

part 1
1. Elders in the Bible

A. Basic usage
B. The Question of Single vs. Plural

part 2
2. Elders in History

A. Early Church
B. Reformation Recoveries
C. Baptist Elders in the Past
D. Current Influences in the Revival of Elders in Baptist Churches

part 3
3. Elders in Baptist Life Today

A. Significance of Polity Questions
B. Context of Congregationalism
C. Elder Rule or Elder Leadership?
D. Relationship of Elders to Others
E. Personal Testimony

References

Introduction. Last week, John Bisagno, retired pastor of the First Baptist Church of Houston, Texas, said at the Tennessee Baptist Evangelism Conference that one of the two most divisive issues in Baptist churches today is church government. We no longer live in those ordered days that I grew up in, and that Louie D. Newton, pastor for decades of Atlanta’s Druid Hills Baptist Church described so well in his book Why I Am A Baptist: “The first step I undertook when I became pastor of Druid Hills Church was to set up the Pastor’s Cabinet, composed of the heads of all the departments of the church life—Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Board of Deacons, Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Finance Committee, Chairman of the Trustees, Chairman of the Board of Ushers, Clerk, Treasurer, Chairman of the Relief Committee, Superintendent of the Sunday School, Director of the Training Union, President of the Woman’s Missionary Society, President of the Brotherhood, Minister of Music, Chairman of the Music Committee, Chairman of the Guest Book Committee, Chairman of the Youth Council, Librarian, and Members of the Church Staff.”[1] Ah the confidence of mid-twentieth century corporate organization! Newton continued, “Stemming from this idea of the Pastor’s Cabinet, all plans of evangelism, enlistment, stewardship and promotion are first discussed in this small, responsible group, then submitted to the larger groups for questions and suggestions, and finally, after the widest possible conference and agreement, submitted to the church for approval or disapproval.”[2]

Would earlier Baptists have approved of such a plethora of unbiblical offices in our churches? Perhaps so. The Philadelphia Baptist Confession (1742) says in chapter 1 “Of the holy Scriptures”, section 6: “The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for His own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set down, or necessarily contained in the Holy Scripture; unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new revelation of the Spirit, or traditions of men.”

“Nevertheless we acknowledge the inward illuminations of the Spirit of God, to be necessary for the saving understanding of such things as are revealed in the Word, and that there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and government of the church, common to human actions and societies; which are to be ordered by the light of nature, and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the word, which are always to be observed.”

Church government is a matter about which there is some latitude. Baptists have always realized this. Yet at the same time, Baptists have also always realized that there are some instructions in Scripture about our churches’ polity. This morning I want us to examine first, elders in the Bible, and then, at a little more length, elders in history, and then, spend the last part of our time on some more practical comments on elders in Baptist life today.

I. Elders in the Bible

. Basic Usage

Baptists, perhaps more than any other historic Protestant group, go to the New Testament for the justification of our polity. The Roman Catholic Church, of course, did this, though without the pressing necessity of our doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture. They could relax into the authority of the magisterium of the church, content that dominical words were nice when they could be had, but entirely unnecessary, since Christ’s Spirit continued to work through His vicar on earth, the successor to Peter in the chair of Rome.

Protestants, on the other hand, were all about the Bible. Luther and the Anabaptists, Zwingli, Tyndale, Calvin and Cranmer all turned and criticized their Roman Catholic inheritance saying that it had become not merely a development of what we see in Scripture, but a distortion of it, and therefore needed to be re-formed, according to Scripture. While the magisterial reformers were constantly limited by what the state would allow, the Baptists, having rejected infant baptism, and thus any hope of church and state being co-extensive, were free to treat Scripture as fully and finally sufficient, even on the potentially controversial topic of church structure. And so they, and we, turn to the Bible, believing it to be sufficient to teach us even how to organize our churches.

I remember once when teaching on this topic of elders in a Baptist church, an older lady shot back “But it isn’t Baptist!” While I didn’t say this to her, I certainly think that “Baptist” has always intended to mean ultimately faithful to Scripture. So the question we must begin with is, not ‘is it Baptist?’, but ‘is it Biblical?’ Do we find elders in the New Testament?

Words with the presbut root occur 75 times in the NT. Nine of those occurrences refer to people of chronologically more advanced age.[3] Four times it refers to those who’ve gone before.[4] Twelve times in Revelation, John uses such words to refer to the heavenly elders.[5] Twenty-nine times (all in the gospels and Acts) the word is used to refer to the Jewish non-priestly leaders in the Sanhedrin, or in local synagogues. The other 20 times, the word refers to elders in churches: in the Jerusalem church,[6] in Lystra, Iconium and Antioch[7], in Ephesus[8], in the towns of Crete[9], and other general references.[10] John also refers to himself twice as “the elder”,[11] though whether this is a term of office or another designation attached to him personally, we cannot say. It is this last set of twenty occurrences that we are most interested in.

The Jews of Jesus’ day had lay-members of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem that were called elders. Local synagogues also had bodies of ruling men called elders. In Hellenistic cities, such ruling councils were called gerousias.

In the New Testament, references among Christians to elders, shepherds or pastors, and bishops or overseers are interchangeable. This is seen most clearly in Acts 20, when Paul meets with the elders (presbuterous) of the church in Ephesus, as he calls them in Acts 20:17. In 20:28 Paul says to these elders: Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers [or bishops, episkopous]. Be shepherds [or pastors, poimainein] of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. In Eph. 4:11, Paul says that Christ “gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers.” The word Paul uses there for “pastor” is poimenas, related to the word for “shepherd.” Also, in I Peter 5:1-2, Peter addresses the elders telling them to pastor or shepherd God’s flock, serving as overseers or bishops. In I Peter 2:25, Jesus is called the “shepherd and overseer of your souls.” That second word, including words related to it with the episkop root, occurs 11 times in the New Testament. In Titus 1, Paul gives a list of qualifications for a particular office similar to the one he gives to Timothy in I Timothy 3. In both places the officer being described is called an episkopon, that is, a bishop or overseer. But in Titus 1, Paul says in verse 5 that he left Titus in Crete so that he would make sure there were presbuterous, elders in every town. Then, after giving some qualifications for such service in v6, he goes on in v7, referring to the same person as an episkopon, a bishop or overseer. Again, we conclude that in the New Testament, references among Christians to elders, shepherds or pastors, and bishops or overseers are interchangeable.[12]

This conclusion is not controversial. Baptists of the past knew this well. So, in chapter 26, paragraph 8 of the Second London Confession (1689) we read “the officers appointed by Christ . . . are Bishops or Elders and Deacons.” Though in so many ways, the Second London Confession was simply a re-affirmation of the Westminster Confession, and at a few other places of the Congregationalist Savoy Declaration, this section was wholly new, being authored by the Baptist ministers assembling in 1677. In Article 13 of the New Hampshire Confession (1833/1853) we read that the church’s “only proper officers are Bishops or Pastors, and Deacons.” In Article 14 of Basil Manly, Jr.’s Abstract of Principles (1859) we read “The regular officers of a church are Bishops or Elders, and Deacons.” In Article 12 of The Baptist Faith and Message (1925) we find the same language: “Its Scriptural officers are bishops or elders and deacons.” It is not until 1963 that this Biblical and historic word finally seems to drop out of official usage by the Southern Baptist Convention, when, in Article 6 of The Baptist Faith and Message (1963 and 2000) “Its Scriptural officers are pastors and deacons.” Even then, there was no change in understanding. Herschel Hobbs, who chaired the 1963 revision committee, wrote in 1964, “Pastor—this is one of three titles referring to the same office. The other two are ‘bishop’ and ‘elder.’”[13]

B. The Question of Single vs. Plural

We move on now to another question about the elders that we find in the New Testament. Do we find that in each local congregation there was one bishop or elder or pastor, or were there multiple ones?

The pattern in the Jewish towns of Palestine was to have multiple elders. Thus in Luke 7, the Centurion sent some elders of the local Jewish community there in Capernaum to appeal to Jesus for him. These town leaders are referred to in the OT in Deut. 19:12 in the discussion of cities of refuge, in Deut. 21 in connection with actions to be taken in the case of unsolved murders and disobedient children. Centuries later, we find this same structure in Ezra 10:14 during the time of the return from the Babylonian Exile. It is this same kind of town elders that the Centurion seems to have encountered and used in Luke 7.

The pattern in the Jewish synagogues was also of plural leadership. Arising, we think, during the Babylonian exile, synagogues functioned as the religious and civil gathering for instruction in God’s law, and, consequently, for leading the community. Ten adult males were required to have public worship at a synagogue. There were various officers, including the ruler (like Jairus in Mark 5:22 [plural rulers]; Acts 13:15 [interesting, it’s plural]; like Crispus in Acts 18:8 [singular]).

As for the New Testament evidence for the plurality of elders, it’s clear that the heavenly elders in the book of Revelation are plural. In fact, we even know that there are 24 of them. It’s also clear that the references to the Jewish elders all indicate that they were a body of men.

But what about in Christian churches? Paul would usually have those who labored with him in establishing churches, but he clearly had the lead role. He was also an apostle. Certainly, if there were multiple elders in young churches we couldn’t expect them all to be fully financially supported. Paul wrote not to the elders of the church in Ephesus, but to Timothy alone. The Lord Jesus addressed His letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2-3 to the “angel” or “messenger” [singular] of each church. So would any or all of these be indications that there was only one elder in each church in the New Testament?

With the 20 references to Christian elders in churches, the evidence would tend to say that the normal pattern in the New Testament is for there to be more than one elder in each congregation. It should be noted that John referring to himself as “the elder” in II and III John may be a contrary indication to this. Certainly he seems to have been known by this title. But if he was writing to those outside his own congregation, this title may have suggested not so much an office, as a wide recognition. It’s difficult to say on such slight information.

The other four New Testament authors who refer to Christian elders are James, Peter, Paul and Luke. James, in James 5:14, instructs the Christians he writes to “call the elders [plural] of the church [singular] to pray over him.” Peter, in the verses in chapter 5 already mentioned, writes as an elder to the “elders [plural] among you.” If I Peter 5:5 should be translated “elder” instead of “older men” then it seems that Peter would be assuming that there would be plural elders in a single congregation. It certainly wouldn’t be ruled out. Paul greets the bishops [plural] in the church [singular] at Philippi when writing to them (Phil. 1:1). And he exhorts the elders of the church at Ephesus in Acts 20:28 to be “bishops” [plural] to the flock [singular] which God had called them. Paul mentions elders in writing to Timothy and Titus. To Timothy he reminds him of the body of elders (in I Tim. 4:14) that had laid their hands on him. And then in I Tim. 5:17, Paul refers again to the elders [plural] who direct the affairs of the church [singular]. Two verses later, he refers to accusations not against THE elder, but against “an elder” presbuterou used without an article. This would be consistent with Paul assuming that Timothy would have multiple elders in one congregation. In Titus 1:5, Paul exhorts Titus to “appoint elders [plural] in every town [kata polin, that’s distributive, in each town] as I directed you.” So certainly the churches established in Crete at least were to have a plurality of elders in each local congregation. We see from Luke’s account in Acts 20:17, noted above, that the church [singular] in Ephesus had elders [plural]. If we look at the end of Paul’s first missionary journey in Acts 14, it seems in 14:23 that Paul and Barnabas “had elders [plural] elected for them in each church [singular].” And then, repeatedly in the book of Acts, the church in Jerusalem is represented as having a plurality of elders. No multiple congregations are referenced, no house churches. The reference to meeting together is found in Acts 2:42, and there it is all together in the Temple courts. Never are “churches” in Jerusalem referred to; only the congregation [singular]. On the other hand, the elders are referred to—always in the plural—in Acts 11:30, throughout chapter 15 in the account of the Jerusalem council (15:2, 4, 6, 22-23), 16:4 and in 21:18. Therefore, any Baptist making an argument for one group of elders leading many house congregations is making a good argument for Presbyterianism, but not for historic Baptist congregationalism. Should that argument be sharpened to one individual leading all of those house churches, then it is more an argument for divine-right episcopalianism, and even the Episcopalians don’t make that argument.

That is all the direct evidence in the New Testament, and, as best I can tell, it seems to indicate that the common and even expected practice was to have a plurality of elders in each local congregation.[14]

[1] Louie D. Newton, Why I Am a Baptist (Beacon Press, 1957), 202.

[2] Newton, 203.

[3] Luke 1:18; 15:25; John 8:9; Acts 2:17; Philemon 9; I Timothy 5:1, 2; Titus 2:2, 3.

[4] Matt. 15:2; Mark 7:3, 5; Heb. 11:2.

[5] Rev. 4:4, 10; 5:5, 6, 8, 11, 14; 7:11, 13; 11:16; 14:3; 19:4.

[6] Acts 11:30; 15:2, 4, 6, 22, 23; 16:4; 21:18.

[7] Acts 14:21, 25.

[8] Acts 20:17.

[9] Titus 1:5.

[10] I Timothy 4:4; 5:17, 19; James 5:14; I Peter 5:1, 5(?).

[11] II John 1; III John 1.

[12] So concluded R. B. C. Howell, pastor of First Baptist Church, Nashville, Tennessee: “The only officers appointed by God to preach, and administer ordinances, and whose commission has come down to our times, are called indifferently, elders, bishops and presbyters; all of which names, when referring to office, convey the same idea.” R. B. C. Howell, “Ministerial Ordination,” The Baptist Preacher, p. 137.

[13] Herschel H. Hobbs, What Baptists Believe, (Broadman Press, 1964) p. 85.

[14] The Anglican scholar and pioneer missiologist, Roland Allen, came to this same conclusion. “. . . it seems to be an irresistible conclusion that the elders appointed by St. Paul were definitely appointed with power to add to their number and thus to secure to new Churches a proper order and certainty of sacramental grace. Finally, St. Paul was not content with ordaining one Elder for each Church. In every place he ordained several. This ensured that all authority should not be concentrated in the hands of one man,” Roland Allen, Missionary Methods: St. Paul’s or Ours, pp. 138-139.

Part 2

copied with permission from 9marks.org