Gospel Church Government by John Owen, abridged and simplified by Jeffrey T. Riddle (Grace Publications)
Dr. Jeffrey T. Riddle’s “simplified and abridged” version of John Owen’s book, ‘The True Nature of a Gospel Church and its Government’, entitled ‘Gospel Church Government’, is of tremendous importance and deserves the attention of all serious Christians. The original book was published posthumously in 1689, while the abridged version first appeared in 2012, consisting of a modest 110 pages. The value and importance of ‘Gospel Church Government” lie in the following points:
1. It gives a concise and plain exposition on five aspects of the church — the nature of the church, the officers of the church, the manner of governing the church, church discipline, and inter-church relationship.
2. It serves as a handy manual to prepare men for office in the church, and to remind existing officers of the nature and scope of their duties.
3. It expounds the church government of the Savoy Declaration of Faith and Order, the confession of faith of the Congregational, or Independent, Churches (not to be confused with Congregationalism, the form of church government held by many independent churches today, including the General Baptists).
4. It gives the correct understanding of the church government espoused in the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, held by Reformed Baptists today, which was borrowed wholly from the church government of the Savoy Declaration but with minor amendments on the number of remaining church offices.
The last point needs further clarification. The Savoy Declaration of Faith and Order, drawn up by the Independents (or Congregationalists) in 1658, was largely identical to the Westminster Confession of the Presbyterians, issued in 1647. Attached to the Savoy Declaration was the Platform of Church Polity, drawn up by John Owen, in which was described its distinctive form of church government, different from that of Presbyterianism and Episcopalism.
Two groups of Baptists emerged in Britain in the early 17th century — the General Baptists and the Particular Baptists. The General Baptists were influenced by the Anabaptists of Continental Europe to a large degree, adopting their Arminian doctrine of salvation as well as their Congregational view of church government. Today, the General Baptists continue to hold to Arminian soteriology and democratic congregationalism.
The Particular Baptists emerged from the Independent Churches, rejecting the infant baptism of the latter in favour of believer’s baptism. They produced their confession of faith in 1677, based largely on the Westminster Confession of the Presbyterians, calling it the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith. When persecution against the dissenters (those who disagreed with the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of England) ceased, the Particular Baptists republished the 1677 Confession in 1689, signed by thirty-seven leading ministers who represented more than one hundred churches in England and Wales. Today, the Second London Baptist Confession is also known as the 1689 Confession. Chapter 26 of the 1689 Confession was taken largely from the Platform of Church Polity of the Savoy Declaration, with minor amendments made. Instead of four remaining offices in the church, the 1689 Confession declares that there are two remaining offices — those of elders and deacons.
Since the 1980s, many Calvinistic, as well as Reformed, Baptist churches have adopted the Parity/Equality View of eldership in which ‘all pastors are elders, and all elders are pastors’. The Reformed Baptists who hold to this view have attempted to explain the teaching of the 1689 Confession according to their view of the eldership. Other Reformed Baptists, however, argue that the 1689 Confession teaches the view of eldership held by John Owen, in which ‘all pastors are elders, but not all elders are pastors’. 1 Timothy 5:17 teaches two kinds of elders — both exercising rule in the church, while one is set aside full-time to “labour in word and doctrine”. While the bishop (overseer) and the presbyter (elder) refer to the same person (Tit. 1:5, 7; Phil. 1:1; Acts. 20:17, 28), the pastor (noun) refer to the regular teacher of the church (Eph. 4:11). The elders who “labour in word and doctrine” are the pastors. Normally, there is one pastor in a church helped by a number of ‘ruling elders’, who together as an eldership (2 Tim. 4:14), shepherd (verb) the flock of God (1 Pet. 5:2; Acts 20:28). The pastor also has the responsibility of administering the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, as shown by Chapter 28:2 and Chapter 30:3 of the 1689 Confession, consistent with John Owen’s teaching. As to the manner of ruling the church, the elders make the decisions which are brought to the congregation for consent. This is different from the democratic congregationalism practised by some Reformed Baptist churches. It is also different from elders making the decisions without the need of congregational consent, practised by some other Reformed Baptist churches.
We see now the great value of this book, ‘Gospel Church Government’. (Those who wish to pursue this subject further might want to consult ‘The Keys of the Kingdom’, ‘A Garden Enclosed’, and ‘Against Parity’, written by the present reviewer, and also ‘A Way to Zion (1650)’ by Daniel King.)
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