Charles Hodge Quotes

The Popish Theory, Which Assumes That Christ, The Apostles And Believers, Constituted The Church While Our Saviour Was On Earth, And This Organization Was Designed To Be Perpetual.

The Office Of Presbyters Is A Permanent One.

All Church Power Is, Therefore, Properly Ministerial And Administrative. Everything Is To Be Done In The Name Of Christ, And In Accordance With His Directions.

The Functions Of These Elders, Therefore, Determine The Power Of The People; For A Representative Is One Chosen By Others To Do In Their Name What They Are Entitled To Do In Their Own Persons; Or Rather To Exercise The Powers Which Radically Inhere In Those For Whom They Act.

It Is A Thoroughly Anti-christian Doctrine That The Spirit Of God, And Therefore The Life And Governing Power Of The Church, Resides In The Ministry, To The Exclusion Of The People.

The Independent Or Congregational Theory Includes Two Principles; First, That The Governing And Executive Power In The Church Is In The Brotherhood; And Secondly, That The Church Organization Is Complete In Each Worshipping Assembly, Which Is Independent Of Every Other.

So Too, In Forming A Constitution, Or In Enacting Rules Of Procedure, Or Making Canons, The People Do Not Merely Passively Assent, But Actively Cooperate. They Have, In All These Matters, The Same Authority As The Clergy.

Ruling Elders Are Declared To Be The Representatives Of The People.

There Can, Therefore, Be No Doubt That Presbyterians Do Carry Out The Principle That Church Power Vests In The Church Itself, And That The People Have A Right To A Substantive Part In Its Discipline And Government.

In Every System Of Theology, Therefore, There Is A Chapter De Libero Arbitrio. This Is A Question Which Every Theologian Finds In His Path, And Which He Must Dispose Of; And On The Manner In Which It Is Determined Depends His Theology, And Of Course His Religion, So Far As His Theology Is To Him A Truth And Reality

If The Church Is A Living Body United To The Same Head, Governed By The Same Laws, And Pervaded By The Same Spirit, It Is Impossible That One Part Should Be Independent Of All The Rest.

All The Reasons Which Require The Subjection Of A Believer To The Brethren Of A Particular Church Require His Subjection To All His Brethren In The Lord.