The True Nature of a Gospel Church and Its Government

by John Owen

This Puritan classic on the doctrine of the church contains the following The Subject-Matter of the ChurchII. Of the Formal Cause of a Particular ChurchIII. Of the Polity, Rule, or Discipline of the Church in GeneralIV. The Officers of the ChurchV. The Especial Duty of Pastors of ChurchesVI. Of the Office of Teachers in the Church, or An Inquiry Into the State, Condition, and Work of Those Called Teachers in the ScriptureVII. Of the Rule of the Church, or of Ruling EldersVIII. The Nature of Church Polity or Rule, With the Duty of EldersIX. Of DeaconsX. Of ExcommunicationXI. Of the Communion of Churches

Genres: Ecclesiology

338 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 20, 2014

About the author

John Owen was an English theologian and "was without doubt not only the greatest theologian of the English Puritan movement but also one of the greatest European Reformed theologians of his day, and quite possibly possessed the finest theological mind that England ever produced" ("Owen, John", in Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals, p. 494)

Reviews

[Cody Justice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gold.

[Alex McEwen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't realize this was going to be my summer of ecclesiology, but here we are. Owen has crafted a wonderfully unique Reformed and Presbyterian view of ecclesiology.

Refreshingly, Owen gives quite a bit of space to the role of the Diaconate, which is often missing in many contemporary Presbyterian and Reformed ecclesiologies. Additionally, it's interesting to see how Owen identifies only two ordained offices in the church, while explaining how ruling elders (REs), teaching elders (TEs), and bishops originate from the same office but have distinct functions. This may have been one of the most convincing arguments for the RE/TE distinction I have ever read.

At times, it felt like Owen was exploring his own opinions on the subject as he wrote, resulting in some sections that ramble on in stream of thought. Nevertheless, I appreciated how ecumenical Owen was throughout the work. He calls for the church to work across lines of tradition and nationality to build the Kingdom of God.

The work felt like a proto-Peter Leithart work in the most positive way possible.