An Assertion of the Government of the Church of Scotland in the Points of Ruling-Elders and of the Authority of Presbyteries and Synods with a Postscript in Answer to a Treatise Lately Published Against Presbyteriall Government.

A rigorous defense of Presbyterian church government by one of Scotland's foremost seventeenth-century theologians. Drawing on Scripture, church history, and the testimony of Reformed divines, Gillespie argues for the biblical warrant of ruling elders as a distinct office and the binding authority of presbyteries and synods. Part I establishes the elder's function from texts in Romans, 1 Corinthians, and 1 Timothy; Part II defends classis and national assembly government against Independents and Erastians. A Postscript answers contemporary Episcopal objections with characteristic precision.