Artikelbeschreibung

Jesus Christ is King of God’s Church. However, who governs the Church under Him? How is the Church to be ruled? How do these questions relate to the Word of God? The present book does not offer final answers to these questions, but tries to throw light on the historical context. The book has resulted from a research of the beginnings of the history of Presbyterian church-rule. It focuses on the Elizabethan era of the English Church, when Presbyterianism emerged as a reaction against autocratic one-man-rule on the one hand, and against ‘radical’ conceptions of rule-by-many on the other hand. Instead of these two extremes, Presbyterians liked the idea of church-rule by limited groups of office-bearers. Their adage was: ‘a few of the best rule the rest’.