First, in the aftermath of the General Assembly perhaps it would be good to point out this post from a few months ago quoting from the Princetonian Samuel Miller’s classic work, The Ruling Elder.

Then there was Charles Hodge’s article in the 1843 Princeton Review, in which he began cataloging what we knew and (for his purpose, more importantly) what we did not know about the government of the New Testament Churches where he let go of this little tidbit without seeming to think it was controversial enough to require further argument: “In addition to deacons, we know that were in some instances appointed, but we have no evidence that this was the universal practice.”