40 Questions about Elders and Deacons

by Benjamin L. Merkle

Book Overview

Arranged in a Q & A format, this volume tackles the major questions that pastors, church leaders, and students ask about congregational church government, a topic of much interest in the church today. It provides readers with a clear analysis of key biblical passages, succinct answers (4-8 pages each), and discussion questions. The unique format of the book allows the reader to pick and choose what issues are most pertinent to their interests and...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0825433649
• ISBN13: 9780825433641
• Release Date: November 2007
• Publisher: Kregel Academic & Professional
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

The Book to Start With When Considering The Role of Elders

This book features short treatments addressing a broad range of questions relative to the role and function of elders and deacons. While the author favors a church structure with a plurality of elders, he does a good job explaining the variety of different structures that churches have and how those structures came about.

Solid meat from Scripture!

I [...] found this book to be MOST excellent! So many churches - pastors and members - fail to STUDY the Word of God to see what He has told His children about these two offices in His church. When Christians rely on human wisdom we go astray. This book helps anyone who has an interest understand the issues that every church grapples with and see that Lord has provided His instructions for His children. This is one of the very few books that I am really excited about. I do think every elder, deacon, and serious saint of the Living Lord Jesus ought to read this book. Let us who claim Christ NOT rely on our understanding, but in all our ways, look to Him. This book helps us do that with some vitally important questions facing every church.

Clear biblical instruction regarding elders and deacons

A few weeks into my first semester of M.Div. work at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary I met Ben Merkle in class. It wasn't a seminary class though. Our wives were both expecting their first baby, and we all happened to be in the same birth-instruction class together. We shared a few meals, went to church together a couple of times, and our wives helped each other out after the birth of the children. Ben was involved in Ph.D. studies and doing work for all the world-class New Testament scholars teaching at Southern. While reading through 40 Questions About Elders and Deacons, the book actually brought back specific memories of Ben's spirit, passion, and scholarly abilities. I distinctly remember him being both precise and concise in discussion. Regarding the specific topic of elders and deacons, I remember how he spoke in terms of exegetical concerns rather than practical theology or historical theology. In the introduction, he explicitly lays out this same foundation, alerting the reader that this will be a thorough examination of the Biblical texts on ecclesiology. This book does not disappoint! As stated in the title, there are forty questions relating to elders and deacons, each answered in four to five pages. It seems any question about elders and deacons that is not addressed in this book is actually a question not addressed in the New Testament. In other words, some questions are "What if" situations falling under the guidelines of common sense and the leadership of the Holy Spirit, rather than having a specific verse of divine revelation to guide our ecclesiology. But what this book offers is an incredibly concise answer to just about every question about eldership that can be answered from the Scripture. I challenge you to try to think of a question about eldership that could be answered from Scripture that he does not tackle. Ben does not shy away from the tough issues either. Women elders, the salvation of an elder's children, the authority and role of an elder - time and again these types of issues are addressed by asking, "What does the Bible say?" He does not simply give his own understanding of the difficult texts. He clearly lays out all the options for how people interpret a passage, and then walks the reader through his own understanding the text. Church leaders would be wise to get a copy of this book for each of their elders, and to keep a copy on a shelf in the room in which they meet. Read it, mark it up, wrestle with the texts, and gain a lot of understanding as to what God's Word says about the leadership of the church. In closing, here is a great quote from the beginning of the work: "As believers we so easily forget what an unspeakable privilege it is to be part of the community of the saints, the church of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the head of the church, and we derive our instructions from Him. The church is not a human institution or idea. The ordering of the church is not a matter of our wisdom or pref

An Excellent Tool For Churches

When our church was in the middle of a major constitution revision, the committee recommending changes had access to a pre-publication version of Merkle's book. The easy-to-use format along with the Bible-saturated clear and concise answers to the very questions we were asking proved invaluable to our work. I am convinced that "40 Questions About Elders and Deacons" will become a standard tool used by pastors, elders, deacons, seminarians, and anyone else looking for clear Biblical direction on some of the tough questions relating to church leadership issues.