Sunday, April 27, 2008

The Real Turretin on: Ordination

"While the ministry flourishes in the Church, it (the Church) ought indeed to use it (the ministry) in the calling of pastors, nor can pastors be ordinarily instituted except by a ministry already constituted " (says Turrettin).

(source - p. 270 - no specific citation to Turretin)

Turrettin lays it down that "the pastors exercise the right which belongs to the body, as representing it, and in such away that that right always belongs radically to the body;" and again, "when a ministry is wanting or miserably corrupt, the Church, can elect for itself ministers for its edification even without the intervention of a ministry; as well both because this right it has from God, as because always and everywhere it is bound to preserve a ministry" tenetur ministerium conservare.

(source - p. 275 - no specific citation to Turretin)

Nevertheless, it appears that these translations may be gathered from Part III, Locus XVIII, Question XXV, items XVIII-XIX of Turretin's Institutes of Elenctic Theology (link).

I thought it worth pointing out that Turretin leaves open the possibility of ministers being ordained from non-ministers - i.e. ordination by the flock, rather than by the shepherds. I'm not sure what Turretin's Biblical warrant for this is - but perhaps the warrant is simply this: it is necessary that there be elders - and the specifically provided-for way of ordination is the preferred way they be appointed. Nevertheless, ordination is not something magical - necessarily requiring a chain of hand on head contact going back to Christ.

-TurretinFan

No comments:

Post a Comment

Comment Guidelines:

1. Thanks for posting a comment. Without you, this blog would not be interactive.

2. Please be polite. That doesn't mean you have to use kid gloves, but please try not to flame others, even if they are heretics, infidels, or worse.

3. If you insult me, I'm more likely to delete your comment than if you butter me up. After all, I'm human. I prefer praise to insults. If you prefer insults, there's something wrong with you.

4. Please be concise. The comment box is not your blog. Your blog is your blog. If you have a really long comment, post it on your blog and post a short summary of it here.

5. Please don't just spam. It's one thing to be concise, it's another thing to simply use the comment box to advertise.

6. Please note, by commenting here, you are relinquishing your (C) in your comments to me.

7. Remember that you will give an account on judgment day for your words, including those typed in comment boxes. Try to write so you will not be ashamed if it is read back before the entire world.

8. Stay on topic. If your comment has nothing to do with the post, email it to me (my email can be obtained through my blogger profile), or simply don't post it.

9. Don't post as "Anonymous." If you are going to post anonymously, at least use some kind of recognizable "handle," so we can tell you apart from all the other anonymous folks. (This is moot at the moment, since recent abuse has forced me to turn off "anonymous" commenting.)

10. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you; and abstain from doing to others what you would not wish upon yourself.