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Captains and Courts

A Biblical Defense of Episcopal Government

by the Rev. Dr. Ray R. Sutton

Bishop Ray Sutton is an esteemed Reformed minister who has published a number of books. He also wrote a good little book (about 100 pages), titled Captains and Courts. But up until now, the book has been unpublished and generally unavailable. In this book, Dr. Sutton offers many helpful ideas about the priesthood of all believers, the Lord's Supper, and a number of other topics. The central theme of his book, however, is a positive Biblical defense for the Episcopalian form of Church government.

Whether you are Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Congregationalist, or Independent, this book certainly deserves a thoughtful read. Even if your ideas on church government do not change, you will be blessed by Sutton's insights on a number of practical Christian doctrines.

After years of the book being unpublished, Dr. Sutton has given me permission to make this book available for free download from this website. There are already some pdf copies of this book floating around the world via email, but this copy is greatly cleaned up, and is much better suited for reading and printing. To my knowledge, this is the first time Dr. Sutton's book, Captains and Courts, has been made available to the general public as an online resource.

Without further ado, here is Dr. Sutton's book, for your reading pleasure:

Captains and Courts

Enjoy!

Would you like to comment on Dr. Sutton's book, Captains and Courts? If so, then feel free to join the discussion here or here or here.

Index of Captains and Courts:

Chapter 1 - Where Do We Begin?
Chapter 2 - Old Testament Royal Priesthood
Chapter 3 - New Testament Royal Priesthood: Hierarchy
Chapter 4 - New Testament Royal Priesthood: Pastoral
Chapter 5 - New Testament Royal Priesthood: Legal
Chapter 6 - New Testament Royal Priesthood: Symmetry
Chapter 7 - New Testament Royal Priesthood: Participatory
Chapter 8 - Deacons
Chapter 9 - Presbyters
Chapter 10 - Bishops
Chapter 11 - Comparisons

Return to The Bible Lighthouse homepage.

Discuss Theology online at The Reformation Superhighway.