History of Protestantism in the Netherlands - James Aitken Wylie

that elders and deacons ought to be nominated by
the Consistory and proposed to the congregation
without the intervention of the magistrate. Gaspar
Koolhaes, on the contrary, maintained that elders
and deacons, on being nominated by the
Consistory, should be approved of by the
magistrates, and afterwards presented to the
congregation. The dispute came before the
magistrates, and decision was given in favor of the
latter method, that elders and deacons elect should
receive the approval of the magistrate before being
presented to the people. The States of Holland,
with the view of preserving the public peace and
putting an end to these quarrels, appointed certain
divines to deduce from Scripture, and embody in a
concise treatise, the Relations of the Civil and
Ecclesiastical Powers -- in other words, to give an
answer to the question, what the magistrate may do
and what he may not do in the Church. It is almost
unnecessary to say that their dissertation on this
difficult and delicate question did not meet the
views of all parties, and that the tempest was not
allayed. The worthy divines took somewhat
decided views on the magistrate's functions. His
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