While your observation that the term “elder” can be reference to age is a nice contribution to this discussion, it is hardly representative of the usage range “elder” had in the early christian milieu. I think R.A. Campbell has a point that “elder” could be a generic honorific that includes all church officers who were generally called the ranks of established family men. LDS author Grant Underwood makes a similar point in the reference in my recent blog. For me that helps explain why it is hard for scholars to distinguish between bishops (overseers) and presbyters (elders). For example Raymond Brown utilized the hybrid presbyter-bishops, allowing missionary outposts in different cultures to take a separate development arc and seeing Luke and Paul harmonize the two conceptual officers towards the end of Acts. Then the monarchial bishop gradually emerged to rule over a college (quorum) of elders. That is one development model and I address another in my Bishops and Deacons post. The house church model has bishops and elders arising from the family patriarchs that hosted Church meetings and then gradually formed a hierarchy. I am not totally sold on a model yet, they all seem to have their strengths and weaknesses.

Another approach I have been evaluating, observes that bishops were very close in function with mebaqqers such as found among the Essenes. Ultimately mebaqqer derive from pagan (Persian and Greek) concepts of an overseer. Nibley points out how 2nd century and onwards bishops shared many traits in common with their pagan counterparts, but I think some more recent scholarship explains how such an influence crept in much earlier.

“None of those references say they are appointing elders.”

You are right. I tried to pack too much into one sentence in my summary of Merkle’s article. Specifically the list I quote shows instances of laying on of hands sometimes in the context of commissioning and sometimes in receiving the Holy Ghost. It is only after considering his other passages– Acts 14:23, Titus 1:5 and 1 Tim 4:14– that his comment about elders makes sense.

And for the record I do not agree with Merkle on all his points. His article stops being useful to me when it engages in polemics against Episcopalian ordinations.

None of those references say they are appointing elders. Elders are just that–elderly, older:

1 Peter 5:
1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
3 Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.
4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.
5 Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble.

Lance

The relevance of this observation is that ordination does not tell the whole story. Under the Law of Moses, priests were consecrated via a purification ritual which empowered them to perform some temple ordinances. The High Priest also had a special initiation ceremony. So at most, my original blog entry really only explores one aspect of how priesthood holders become empowered and authorized to perform their duties.

I may actually disagree with your contrasting intellectual exploration with gaining a testimony. There are several scripture passages that suggest that we should study things out in our minds as a pre- or co-requisite to receiving spiritual confirmation or enlightenment. I have sought after the best of man’s knowledge to establish a plausible reconstruction of ordination in early Christianity and have avoided labeling it as “proof.”

Tod, good questions. I am not sure I have a one size fits all answer, but each anomaly is worth contemplation. If I have any method it would be to develop a sound understanding from the familiar and common before trying to speculate about anomalies. I believe we are more entitled to receive inspiration about the underlying meaning behind what we are commanded to do than we are for people in other circumstances.

I like what section 84 reveals about the priesthood “in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.” I think that Ferguson somewhat understates that the laying of hands accompanied prayer. What I think really happened is that it accompanied prophecy. The ordainer speaks as moved by the Holy Ghost, or as Mattingly puts it the laying on of hands represented the word of God. The word of God provides blessings and promises that empower the ordained to meet the challenges of his assigned responsibilities. Some secondary purposes of ordaining is that it allows the congregation to recognize the authority of the ordained and it passes on a portion of the honor (or mantel) from ordainer to the ordained (following Numbers 27). “No man taketh this honor unto himself” Hebrews 5:4

At least some of this analysis is transferable to other situations that call for imposition of hands like the bestowal of the Holy Ghost or performing a healing blessing. If the laying on of hands physically represents the word of God through prophecy, it is worthwhile to consider that the word of God can be relayed through other mechanisms. One might notice that some anomalies are associated with Jesus being present. While Jesus at times has laid down the proper steps to follow for various ordinances and even set a “proper” example, I think some of his anomalous examples help us understand the reality behind the symbol better. Jesus’ physical presence was a big enough sign that the word of God was being spoken.

Other anomalies occur at the beginning of dispensations, perhaps as logistics problem (who else could have baptized Adam?) or to emphasize some aspect of an ordinance that might get lost in rote and repetitious mechanics. Other times a pentecostal-like experience is needed to help establish the efficacy of that ordinance in the sacred memory of believers, even if such an experience is not reproduced on the scale in every subsequent instance.