What do you think?
Rate this book
A Treatise of Ruling Elders and Deacons
The inducement that persuaded me first to write, and then to publish this little treatise of ruling elders and deacons, were chiefly these, (1.) The sensible impression that the Lord hath made upon my spirit, as also (I know) upon the spirits of the godly of the land, of the great prejudice that comes to this poor church by a multitude of men in these offices, who neither know their duty, nor make conscience to perform it. (2.) The vindicating the doctrine of our church concerning these church-officers, that mouths of such who speak evil may be stopped, and others who stumble may be satisfied. (3.) The pressing desire of brethren, ministers, and elders in the presbytery and congregation where the Lord had set me; all which did receive some spirit and life, when I found my name among those to whom the general assembly of {308} this church did commit and recommend this work long ago.
1 person is currently reading
4 people want to read
About the author
James Guthrie
8 books1 followerJames Guthrie (c.1612 – 1661), was a Scottish Presbyterian minister who was exempted from the general pardon at the Restoration of the Monarchy and hanged in Edinburgh. He was the eldest son of the laird of Guthrie, Forfarshire and was educated at St. Leonard's College, St. Andrews, where he graduated M.A., and became one of the regents, distinguished for his lectures on philosophy.
Guthrie was originally an episcopalian, and is said to have been zealous for prelacy and the ceremonies. Yet in 1638 the strongly antiprelatic assembly at Glasgow put him in the list of those ready for ecclesiastical vacancies. In January 1639 Samuel Rutherford was made divinity professor at St. Andrews, and under his influence Guthrie became a Presbyterian. In 1642 he was ordained minister of Lauder, Berwickshire, and soon distinguished himself in the cause of the National Covenant. He was a member of the General Assembly from 1644 to 1651. In 1646 he was one of seven commissioners appointed by the Committee of Estates to wait on Charles I at Newcastle-on-Tyne with a letter from the General Assembly.
In 1650 Guthrie treated General John Middleton with a high-handedness which sealed his own fate. Middleton, who joined Charles II immediately on his landing on 23 June, took the lead in a project for a royalist army in the north. On 17 October Guthrie, by the "Western Remonstrance", withdrew from the royalist cause; on 14 December he sent a letter to the General Assembly at Perth denouncing Middleton as an enemy of the Covenant, and proposing his excommunication. Guthrie was appointed to pronounce the sentence next Sunday, and, despite a letter from the assembly bidding him delay the act, carried out the original order. At the next meeting of the commission (2 January 1651) Middleton was loosed from the sentence after public penance. He never forgave the affront.
At the Restoration, Guthrie and nine others met in Edinburgh (23 August 1660) and drew up a "humble petition" to the king setting forth their loyalty, and reminding him of his obligations as a Covenanter. The meeting was ordered to disperse, and as the warning was unheeded arrests were made. Guthrie was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle. On 25 September his stipend was sequestrated. He was transferred to Dundee on 20 October, and thence to Stirling, where he remained till his trial. On 20 February 1661 he was arraigned for high treason before the parliament, Middleton presiding as commissioner. He was found guilty and on 28 May Parliament ordered him to be hanged at the cross of Edinburgh on 1 June.
Guthrie was originally an episcopalian, and is said to have been zealous for prelacy and the ceremonies. Yet in 1638 the strongly antiprelatic assembly at Glasgow put him in the list of those ready for ecclesiastical vacancies. In January 1639 Samuel Rutherford was made divinity professor at St. Andrews, and under his influence Guthrie became a Presbyterian. In 1642 he was ordained minister of Lauder, Berwickshire, and soon distinguished himself in the cause of the National Covenant. He was a member of the General Assembly from 1644 to 1651. In 1646 he was one of seven commissioners appointed by the Committee of Estates to wait on Charles I at Newcastle-on-Tyne with a letter from the General Assembly.
In 1650 Guthrie treated General John Middleton with a high-handedness which sealed his own fate. Middleton, who joined Charles II immediately on his landing on 23 June, took the lead in a project for a royalist army in the north. On 17 October Guthrie, by the "Western Remonstrance", withdrew from the royalist cause; on 14 December he sent a letter to the General Assembly at Perth denouncing Middleton as an enemy of the Covenant, and proposing his excommunication. Guthrie was appointed to pronounce the sentence next Sunday, and, despite a letter from the assembly bidding him delay the act, carried out the original order. At the next meeting of the commission (2 January 1651) Middleton was loosed from the sentence after public penance. He never forgave the affront.
At the Restoration, Guthrie and nine others met in Edinburgh (23 August 1660) and drew up a "humble petition" to the king setting forth their loyalty, and reminding him of his obligations as a Covenanter. The meeting was ordered to disperse, and as the warning was unheeded arrests were made. Guthrie was imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle. On 25 September his stipend was sequestrated. He was transferred to Dundee on 20 October, and thence to Stirling, where he remained till his trial. On 20 February 1661 he was arraigned for high treason before the parliament, Middleton presiding as commissioner. He was found guilty and on 28 May Parliament ordered him to be hanged at the cross of Edinburgh on 1 June.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 5, 2025
Some Things Shouldn’t Change
Guthrie provides a clear, coherent, and compelling treatment of the offices of ruling elder and deacon. This brief treatise defines and delineates their role in Christ’s church. A few matters of note: One, his lengthy discussion on church discipline comprises one of the main duties of the ruling elder, and the inclusion of such is to our day a glaring admission of our own lack of church discipline.
Two, Guthrie provides practical advice on dividing up the congregation among ruling elder and deacon pairs that would elevate our level of pastoral care today. New books are published each year on this topic because we want to over-complicate the responsibilities we most want to avoid. Guthrie’s simplicity argues for the importance of pastoral visitation.
Guthrie provides a clear, coherent, and compelling treatment of the offices of ruling elder and deacon. This brief treatise defines and delineates their role in Christ’s church. A few matters of note: One, his lengthy discussion on church discipline comprises one of the main duties of the ruling elder, and the inclusion of such is to our day a glaring admission of our own lack of church discipline.
Two, Guthrie provides practical advice on dividing up the congregation among ruling elder and deacon pairs that would elevate our level of pastoral care today. New books are published each year on this topic because we want to over-complicate the responsibilities we most want to avoid. Guthrie’s simplicity argues for the importance of pastoral visitation.
June 7, 2018
I read this book thanks to the suggestions of one of my loyal readers who told me a place where I can read about Calvinists to my hearts content. Admittedly, I am not a particular fan of Calvinism [1], but since like Jane Austen I like writing about ordination, I figured this would be an intriguing book to read. And it certainly was a short (about 25 pages) and intriguing book to read, although not necessarily for the reasons I was thinking about. Indeed, quite surprisingly to me, I found the author of this treatise to be an object of considerable pity and empathy for our shared tendency to write in such a way that offends the ruling powers that be, even if I did find plenty in this short work that was worthy of criticism and disagreement. Even so, I did not find the author to be disagreeable even where I disagreed with him. Rather, I think this book to be useful and instructive in showing the sort of assumptions that readers bring to texts that prevents them from seeing eye-to-eye with those who bring different assumptions to the same texts.
This short work can be said to be divided into three parts and numerous smaller chapters. The first part of the book, which takes up several pages, serves as a biography of James Guthrie, the writer of the treatise. This is a wise policy, because it opens the book on a mood of sympathy as the courageous and honorable writer is shown as being a victim of the vengeful authorities of Restoration Scotland who put him on a show trial in Parliament and condemned him to death and stole his estates and turned his family into beggars. After an preface and a note to the (assumed Christian) reader, there are seven chapters that deal with ruling elders, where the author attempts to differentiate between elders who are devoted to preaching and teaching from those who are devoted to ruling over congregations, a differentiation that I plainly do not see in scripture. After this there are a few short chapters that examine deacons and their role in serving congregations, which focuses on how deacons appear in the pastoral epistles rather than their appearance in Acts. After that there are some short notes before the book ends.
My disagreement is one based on the assumptions that the author brings to the text that I do not share. The author seems to be possessed of that notable Calvinist tendency to make grand and sweeping assumptions. For one, because he sees preaching and teaching and administering as different gifts, he sees entirely different orders of elders involved in all three of these gifts. Furthermore, when he sees the qualities demanded of elders and sees elders in 1 Timothy being commended for ruling well, he assumes that the qualities of an elder belong to a ruling elder specifically rather than seeing that elders as a whole have responsibilities in preaching, teaching, and ruling. Part of the fun of reading a book like this is seeing a writer attempt to weasel his way out of an implication of the text that he does not want to accept, such as seeing that an elder is supposed to be able to teach, even if the author does not consider a ruling elder as having that particular bailiwick. Although my disagreement with the author's assumptions on ruling elders makes this book of limited personal interest, the author's life history does give me a sympathy for him that I would not have with the Calvinists of my own acquaintance.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2012...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
This short work can be said to be divided into three parts and numerous smaller chapters. The first part of the book, which takes up several pages, serves as a biography of James Guthrie, the writer of the treatise. This is a wise policy, because it opens the book on a mood of sympathy as the courageous and honorable writer is shown as being a victim of the vengeful authorities of Restoration Scotland who put him on a show trial in Parliament and condemned him to death and stole his estates and turned his family into beggars. After an preface and a note to the (assumed Christian) reader, there are seven chapters that deal with ruling elders, where the author attempts to differentiate between elders who are devoted to preaching and teaching from those who are devoted to ruling over congregations, a differentiation that I plainly do not see in scripture. After this there are a few short chapters that examine deacons and their role in serving congregations, which focuses on how deacons appear in the pastoral epistles rather than their appearance in Acts. After that there are some short notes before the book ends.
My disagreement is one based on the assumptions that the author brings to the text that I do not share. The author seems to be possessed of that notable Calvinist tendency to make grand and sweeping assumptions. For one, because he sees preaching and teaching and administering as different gifts, he sees entirely different orders of elders involved in all three of these gifts. Furthermore, when he sees the qualities demanded of elders and sees elders in 1 Timothy being commended for ruling well, he assumes that the qualities of an elder belong to a ruling elder specifically rather than seeing that elders as a whole have responsibilities in preaching, teaching, and ruling. Part of the fun of reading a book like this is seeing a writer attempt to weasel his way out of an implication of the text that he does not want to accept, such as seeing that an elder is supposed to be able to teach, even if the author does not consider a ruling elder as having that particular bailiwick. Although my disagreement with the author's assumptions on ruling elders makes this book of limited personal interest, the author's life history does give me a sympathy for him that I would not have with the Calvinists of my own acquaintance.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2012...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2018...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
July 4, 2021
The author has nailed the subject in a simple and plain manner.
His discussion on the qualifications of elders and deacons are biblically solid and theologically sound.
He explained the subject under four headings (1.) Their name. (2.) Their institution. (3.) Their calling. (4.) Their qualification and duty.
This book is recommended to all Presbyterians and those who are seeking to learn biblical pattern of church government.
His discussion on the qualifications of elders and deacons are biblically solid and theologically sound.
He explained the subject under four headings (1.) Their name. (2.) Their institution. (3.) Their calling. (4.) Their qualification and duty.
This book is recommended to all Presbyterians and those who are seeking to learn biblical pattern of church government.
January 1, 2017
It's a short book pertaining to the offices found in the Presbyterian Church. I was expecting more details, but the author was writing specifically to some members who were asking him the same questions.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews