Review: Reformation of the Church by Iain Murray (part 1 of 12)
This post is the first of what will ultimately be twelve essays interacting with Iain Murray's book The Reformation of the Church.
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In his introduction to The Reformation of the Church: a collection of Reformed and Puritan documents on Church issues, Iain Murray lays out his reasons for publishing this volume of collected works. He outlines how questions of the internal life of the Church were being discussed widely in England at the time of the volume’s publication, driven largely by an ecumenical movement that raised these topics in an attempt to “burst the bands” of denominationalism (p. 7). Murray points out that the Reformers and Puritans wrote extensively on the Church, and that their works had virtually disappeared from the conversation by the early twentieth century. This volume is intended to remedy that deficiency, providing the perspective of the men who perhaps more than anyone else in history had to consider the nature of the Church as they dealt with the world-shaking implications of the recovery of the gospel of justification by faith alone.
It is quite appropriate that Murray chose to contribute to the conversation about the Church by recovering the writings of the Reformers. At a time when the Archbishop of Canterbury explicitly denies the sufficiency of Scripture for “the proper conduct of life and the ordering of the church, [p. 8]” nothing could be more appropriate than the testimony of men whose lives, works, and, for many, their martyrdom, were driven by the conviction that Scripture was indeed sufficient—and supremely authoritative—for shaping the character of the Church.
One might question the effectiveness of the volume as a contribution to the target discussion. After all, how much influence could it have with those who explicitly deny the authority or sufficiency of scripture or both, when Murray himself states that “the documents provided in this book…will be of help only to those who are prepared to bring everything to the judgment of Scripture [p. 9]?” Upon further reflection, however, perhaps it indeed contributes much to the great conversation about the Body of Christ. Clearly this conversation is much wider than mid-twentieth century debates about ecumenism, and input from the Reformers and Puritans should be useful to practically every Christian, whether clergy or layman, who wants to think carefully and biblically about the Church.
In Section I of the book, entitled “The Nature of the Church,” Murray presents excerpts from works by John Calvin and a number of English reformers who were martyred for their faith, many during the reign of Mary Tudor in the 1550s. The selections focus on arguing that the Roman Catholic Church is not the true church and on laying out the distinguishing marks of a true and faithful visible church. The authors differ slightly on the second point—all of them who deal with it include faithful preaching of God’s Word and right administration of the sacraments, while Nicholas Ridley adds charity and “faithful observing of ecclesiastical discipline [p. 19].”
Ever since the Reformation, evangelical Protestants have referred to these practices as the marks of a true church. Are these the only necessary and sufficient marks, or were they asserted over against Roman Catholic error? That is, apart from the context of the reformation, if we were asked to list the scriptural marks of a true church today, would we come up with these three (preaching, sacrament, discipline), and would there be any others?
The logic of the Reformers’ argument, becomes clear when one considers the role that each of these practices serves in the Church. God’s Word creates His people, and His self-revelation in the Bible is the only way we are able to know Him and his salvation in Christ. Preaching, therefore, creates, sustains, and perfects God’s people The ordinances, in turn mark out the boundaries of God’s people. Baptism witnesses the conversion of a believer and his entrance into the fellowship of the church, and the Lord’s Supper displays the continued fellowship of believers with one another in the unity of Christ. Church discipline maintains the purity of God’s people, guiding believers to continued repentance and cutting off from fellowship those who evidence their unbelief by refusing to repent.
To a Reformed evangelical in the twenty-first century, the arguments that these Reformers draw out of Scripture seem natural, basic, even obvious. At the time, however, they would have been astoundingly controversial for their distinct contradiction of Roman Catholic doctrine. In a time when contradicting Rome was rather hazardous to one’s health, one can hardly help admiring these men for their deep commitment to God’s Word. They clearly feared God, rather than men, and we would do well to learn from their faithful example.
________________________
In his introduction to The Reformation of the Church: a collection of Reformed and Puritan documents on Church issues, Iain Murray lays out his reasons for publishing this volume of collected works. He outlines how questions of the internal life of the Church were being discussed widely in England at the time of the volume’s publication, driven largely by an ecumenical movement that raised these topics in an attempt to “burst the bands” of denominationalism (p. 7). Murray points out that the Reformers and Puritans wrote extensively on the Church, and that their works had virtually disappeared from the conversation by the early twentieth century. This volume is intended to remedy that deficiency, providing the perspective of the men who perhaps more than anyone else in history had to consider the nature of the Church as they dealt with the world-shaking implications of the recovery of the gospel of justification by faith alone.
It is quite appropriate that Murray chose to contribute to the conversation about the Church by recovering the writings of the Reformers. At a time when the Archbishop of Canterbury explicitly denies the sufficiency of Scripture for “the proper conduct of life and the ordering of the church, [p. 8]” nothing could be more appropriate than the testimony of men whose lives, works, and, for many, their martyrdom, were driven by the conviction that Scripture was indeed sufficient—and supremely authoritative—for shaping the character of the Church.
One might question the effectiveness of the volume as a contribution to the target discussion. After all, how much influence could it have with those who explicitly deny the authority or sufficiency of scripture or both, when Murray himself states that “the documents provided in this book…will be of help only to those who are prepared to bring everything to the judgment of Scripture [p. 9]?” Upon further reflection, however, perhaps it indeed contributes much to the great conversation about the Body of Christ. Clearly this conversation is much wider than mid-twentieth century debates about ecumenism, and input from the Reformers and Puritans should be useful to practically every Christian, whether clergy or layman, who wants to think carefully and biblically about the Church.
In Section I of the book, entitled “The Nature of the Church,” Murray presents excerpts from works by John Calvin and a number of English reformers who were martyred for their faith, many during the reign of Mary Tudor in the 1550s. The selections focus on arguing that the Roman Catholic Church is not the true church and on laying out the distinguishing marks of a true and faithful visible church. The authors differ slightly on the second point—all of them who deal with it include faithful preaching of God’s Word and right administration of the sacraments, while Nicholas Ridley adds charity and “faithful observing of ecclesiastical discipline [p. 19].”
Ever since the Reformation, evangelical Protestants have referred to these practices as the marks of a true church. Are these the only necessary and sufficient marks, or were they asserted over against Roman Catholic error? That is, apart from the context of the reformation, if we were asked to list the scriptural marks of a true church today, would we come up with these three (preaching, sacrament, discipline), and would there be any others?
The logic of the Reformers’ argument, becomes clear when one considers the role that each of these practices serves in the Church. God’s Word creates His people, and His self-revelation in the Bible is the only way we are able to know Him and his salvation in Christ. Preaching, therefore, creates, sustains, and perfects God’s people The ordinances, in turn mark out the boundaries of God’s people. Baptism witnesses the conversion of a believer and his entrance into the fellowship of the church, and the Lord’s Supper displays the continued fellowship of believers with one another in the unity of Christ. Church discipline maintains the purity of God’s people, guiding believers to continued repentance and cutting off from fellowship those who evidence their unbelief by refusing to repent.
To a Reformed evangelical in the twenty-first century, the arguments that these Reformers draw out of Scripture seem natural, basic, even obvious. At the time, however, they would have been astoundingly controversial for their distinct contradiction of Roman Catholic doctrine. In a time when contradicting Rome was rather hazardous to one’s health, one can hardly help admiring these men for their deep commitment to God’s Word. They clearly feared God, rather than men, and we would do well to learn from their faithful example.
posted by Jeff at 7:52 PM
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