The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum The PCA's Leinhart Case - True Colors Sgine Through

John,

What Robin and I and a host of others are advocating is what we believe to be the "equality of elders" based upon the biblical requirements for that office. I personally don't find any bifurcation of the one office based upon a man's formal education or lack of it. Nor do I find anywhere a separate category of elder based upon a man's ability and/or desire to teach/preach. What I do find is that among the elders some are more gifted to preaching/teaching than others and thus they are given the majority of that responsibility.

However, again I must stress that one of the major requirements for a man being ordained into the Eldership is that he must be, "apt to teach" (1Tim 3:2; 2Tim 2:24) and "Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers." (Titus 1:9). There are no exceptions. If a man does not have this ability, then he cannot be considered for the office of Elder.

The "one man" view not only has no biblical support, it practically is unsuitable for there is little to no accountability. The modern error of bowing to the "professional" has led to more problems in the church than one could count. For the sake of argument, IF there was a legitimate bifurcation between preaching/teaching elders and ruling elders, it would logically mean that the ruling elders would have more power/authority than a preaching/teaching elder for the area of discipline naturally falls upon them. The desirable standard of a "plurality" of elders is well founded and theoretically should work well. But again, because of this bifurcation and the "esteem" afforded preaching/teaching elders and the fallacious idea that a seminary-trained man is far more capable and knowledgeable than a man who hasn't been professionally trained, the churches who advocate and/or practice this view are highly susceptible to serious problems... and history justifies that assessment.

Iain Murray has an excellent article on this issue which you can read HERE.