A53701:91
A guide to church-fellowship and order according to the gospel-institution
A guide to church-fellowship and order according to the gospel-institution wherein these following particulars are distinctly handled, I. The necessity of believers to join themselves in church-order, II. The subject matter of the church, III. The continuation of a church-state, and of the administration of evangelical ordinances of worship, briefly vindicated, IV. What sort of churches the disciples of Christ may and ought to join themselves unto as unto entire communion / by ... John Owen ...A guide to church-fellowship and order according to the gospel-institution wherein these following particulars are distinctly handled, I. The necessity of believers to joyn themselves in church-order, II. The subject matter of the church, III. The continuation of a church-state, and of the administration of evangelical ordinances of worship, briefly vindicated, IV. What sort of churches the disciples of Christ may and ought to joyn themselves unto as unto entire communion / by ... John Owen ...
London: printed for William Marshall, 1692
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
4. In this sta•e of things until it may be cured, which it •ill never be, by any of the ways yet proposed and insisted on; the Enquiry is concerning the Duty of any one who takes care of his own Soul, as unto a Conjunction with some Church or other. And on the Negative Part I say,
1. Such an one is bound not to join with any Church or Society where any Fundamental Article of Faith is rejected or corrupted. There may be a Fundamental Error in a true Church for a season, when the Church erreth not Fundamentally; 1 Cor. 15. 2 Tim. 2.18. But I suppose the Error in or against the Foundation, is part of the Profession of the Church or Society to be joined unto. For thereby the Nature ⟨p. 59⟩of the Church is destroyed; it doth not hold the Head, nor abide on the Foundation, nor is the Ground and Pillar of Truth. Wherefore although the So•i•i••s under a Pretence of Love, Forbearance, and Mutual Toleration, do offer us the Communion of their Churches, wherein there is somewhat of Order and Discipline commendable; yet it is unlawful to join in Church Fellowship or Communion with them. For their Errors about the Trinity, the Incarnation of Christ, and his Satin faction, are destructive of the Foundation of the Prophets and Apostles; and Idolatry, in the Divine Worship of a mere Creature, is introduced by them.
1. Such an one is boun• not to joyn with any Church or Society where any Fundamental Article of Faith is rejected or corrupted. There may be a Fundamental Error in a true Church for a season, when the Church erreth not Fundamentally;