Posted in Catholicity, Ecclesiology, Patristics, Sacraments, Separatism & Schism, The Visible Church on November 10, 2025| Leave a Comment »
A very insightful and theologically rich article on Augustine and the Church. I realize now just how much classic Westminsterian ecclesiology and sacramentology owes to him, especially as he articulated biblical truth over against the Donatists.
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Posted in Catholicity, Connectionalism & Conciliarism, Separatism & Schism on September 18, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Among other sins forbidden under the Second Commandment, according to Thomas Boston, are
“All making of things to be sin or duty which God hath not made so, Matth. xv. 2. Whatever be men’s pretences in this, it is an invading of the power and authority of the great Lawgiver, an accusing of his word of imperfection, and very dangerous, Prov. xxx. 6. This is the great occasion of sad divisions and schisms in the church, while men, not content with plain duty appointed of God, make the conceptions of their own hearts sins and duties, which God never made so, and impose them on others as terms of Christian communion, which superstition can never be sanctified by their fathering it wrongously on the scripture, Prov. xxx. 6.”
Thus legalism and pietism are really at their core but idolatrous manufactures of men, narrowing the Lord’s heritage.
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Whole doctrine catholicity | “Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners” (Song 6:10)?
Posted in Catholicity, Communion of the Saints, Connectionalism & Conciliarism, Separatism & Schism on September 9, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“The PASTOR procureth the peace of the kirk by following after the things which make for peace; Rom .xiv.; for by the discipline and assemblies of the kirk he preserveth verity, without which there is either no unity, or such unity as is but a conspiracy, and resisteth heresy, the mother of the greatest divisions. So long as our assemblies had their liberty, there could arise no heresy among us; if it had broken out in a parish, a consistory or presbytery would have borne it down; or if it had proceeded further, then the synod, or if it had not been able, the national assembly, would have suppressed it. For the same reason the Kirk of France, which was nearest to ours, hath been free of heresy. In the low countries, if the kirks had enjoyed the liberty of their assemblies, which they wanted for a long time, Arminianism had neither troubled them nor their neighbours. He never can find in his heart to urge or enforce unprofitable and untimely ceremonies upon the kirk, if it were for no other cause but that they have been the apples of contention, and the cause of many schisms, and will choose rather, with Jonah, to redeem the quietness and safety of the kirk with the loss of himself, than for his own particular ends to raise the smallest tempest that may peril her peace; he carrieth himself no otherwise in his ministry than becometh the humble servant of the kirk, and feareth to be affected with Diotrephes’ ambitious humour of aspiring above his brethren, which is a special preservative of peace: he studieth to preserve holiness, without which there can be no sound nor wholesome peace; he is ever at war with that which is contrary to holiness, and sendeth away all scandalous livers with the workers of iniquity, that peace may be upon the Israel of God, Psal. xxv.”
David Calderwood, The Pastor & the Prelate (1628)
Whole doctrine catholicity | “Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners” (Song 6:10)?
Posted in Catholicity, Communion of the Saints, Connectionalism & Conciliarism, Free Church of Scotland, Separatism & Schism, The Visible Church on August 26, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“In the second place, the principles laid down demonstrate the evil of schism, or of causeless separation in the Church. The visible Church of Christ was intended by Him to be catholic and one; and notwithstanding of the dissemination far and wide throughout the world of the separate societies of professing Christians, it would be one in reality, as comprehending all and uniting all, were it not for the sinful infirmities of its members. That can be no light offence which gives to the one kingdom of God in this world the appearance of a kingdom divided against itself, and liable to fall. It were impossible, indeed, to deny that there may be real and sufficient ground for separation from some particular local Church. That a particular Church may itself apostatize from the faith, or be guilty of imposing upon its members terms of communion, to comply with which would be sin, there cannot be a doubt; and in such a case separation becomes a duty to be discharged, and not an offence to be avoided. But in separating in such circumstances from the Church, the schism lies not with the parties who separate, but with the Church that compels and causes the separation. In thus going forth from it, we maintain, in fact, rather than infringe on the higher unity of the one Church of Christ. But for parties to separate wantonly, and on insufficient grounds, from the communion of the visible Church, is a grave and serious offence against the authority of Christ in His house. To go out from the communion of the visible Church, and to widen its breaches wilfully, and for trivial reasons, is to set ourselves against the desire and design of Christ that His kingdom in this world should be catholic and one. And when schism is aggravated by the permanent abandonment of a Church profession and Church state,—when causeless separation from any one Church of Christ is followed by the disavowal of all,—when the outward profession that makes a man a member of the visible Church is cast off, and all Christian fellowship is disowned, the guilt incurred is of a ruinous kind.” ” The visible Church,” says the Confession of Faith,” is the house and family of God, out of which there is no ordinary possibility of salvation” (emphasis mine).
James Bannerman, The Church of Christ
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Whole doctrine catholicity | “Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners” (Song 6:10)?
Posted in Catholicity, Church of Scotland, Connectionalism & Conciliarism, Separatism & Schism, The Visible Church on August 26, 2025| Leave a Comment »
“Schism and division among the ministers and members of the church is a grievous malady that we at present labour under. Surely it is a most unnatural distemper that causes the sheep of Christ to bite and devour one another, and the members of Christ to separate as aligns; yea, not only to break up Christian communion, but break out in uncharitable reflections, bitterness, wrath, clamour and evil speaking, one against an other. A strange distemper! that puts those who will delightfully worship God together through a whole eternity, in such a case, that they cannot keep fellowship together here! A distemper that makes men renounce communion with those they once delighted in, and with whom the glorious Head doth still hold communion: that takes many off from the vitals and essentials of religion and employs their time in public controversies about party opinions, the grounds of separation, the characters of preachers, and things which rather tend to be. get alienation of affections, and angry quarrels, than to promote saving knowledge, faith, love, and godly edifying. Oh! how, like a judgment is that spirit of strife and division which God hath poured out upon this land for our former misimprovement of the gospel, and contempt of many glorious evils Christ? and calamities! Ah, what a flood-gate doth it open to many evils and calamities! That is a true doth word it of the apostle, James iii, 16, “Where envying and strife is there is confusion and every evil work.” What a plague must that be that produces every evil work? What a dreadful disease it is, that turns Christian converse into vain janglings, that hinders social prayers, that mars the success of the gospel, weakens the interest of religion, propagates all kind of evil, and exposes the church to the scorn and derision of her enemies! How applicable is that word to us, Lam. ii. 13, “Thy breach is great like the sea, who can heal thee?” Surely none but he that hath the balm of Gilead.”
Whole doctrine catholicity | “Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners” (Song 6:10)?
Posted in Audio Resources, Catholicity, Church of Scotland, Church Order & Discipline, Separatism & Schism, Terms of Communion, The Secession Church on February 11, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Just recorded three of John Brown’s Letters on the Constitution, Government, and Discipline of the Christian Church: No. 4, “Of the Qualifications of Church Members,” No. 18, “Of Scandals and Discipline,” and No. 19, “Of Church Fellowship and Separation.” Very solid and worth your time. Visit the entire WPE Audio library at the tab up top.
Below I’ve included a few striking passages, followed by the entire PDF. A few observations. First, I note that his letters definitely reflect his Secession outlook vis-a-vis certain corruptions of the Church of Scotland at the time. Second, baptized children may revoke their church standing by falling into heathenish “principles or practices.” Next, it would seem that Brown agrees with me (or better, I with him) that a working knowledge of the Shorter Catechism is more or less the cognitive requisite for an intelligent profession of faith. And while he counts as useful and warranted to utilize confessions and catechisms as a means to ascertaining an intelligent profession of faith, he has great misgivings against overloading the minds and consciences of applicants by the misuse of obliging them to public covenanting. He has said what I have long thought: to require taking vows to historically involved and obscure documents easily calls for implicit faith.
(more…)Posted in Audio Resources, Catholicity, Church of Scotland, Connectionalism & Conciliarism, Separatism & Schism, Thomas Boston on February 4, 2025| Leave a Comment »
Thomas Boston preached this sermon in 1708, which I’ve just recorded here. He addressed very tangible forms of division in his day, but its relevance is timeless. Visit the entire WPE Audio library at the tab up above.
Whole doctrine catholicity | “Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners” (Song 6:10)?
Posted in Audio Resources, Catholicity, Church of Scotland, Church Order & Discipline, Separatism & Schism, The Visible Church on November 26, 2024| Leave a Comment »
MacPherson explains the radically catholic ecclesiology of our Scottish Presbyterian forbears. Listen to an audio recording of the chapter where he treats this subject here.
Whole doctrine catholicity | “Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners” (Song 6:10)?
Posted in Audio Resources, Catholicity, Church of Scotland, Connectionalism & Conciliarism, Free Church of Scotland, Separatism & Schism, The Visible Church, tagged books, durham, reading, writing on September 9, 2024| Leave a Comment »
A false dichotomy, if one is to take James Durham seriously:
“Never, never did men run to quench fire in a city, lest all should be destroyed, with more diligence than men ought to bestir themselves to quench this [sin of schism] in the church; never did mariners use more speed to stop a leak in a ship, lest all should be drowned, than ministers especially, and all Christian men should haste to stop this beginning of the breaking in of these waters of strife, lest thereby the whole church be overwhelmed. And if the many evils which follow thereupon, the many commands whereby union is pressed, yea, the many entreaties and obtestations whereby the Holy Ghost does so frequently urge this upon all, as a thing most acceptable to him and profitable to us; if, I say, these and many other such considerations have not weight to convince of the necessity of this duty to prevent or heal a breach [emphasis mine], we cannot tell what can prevail with men that profess reverence to the great and dreadful name of God, conscience of duty, and respect to the edification of the church and to their own peace at the appearance of the Lord in the great day, wherein the peace-makers shall be blessed, for they shall be called the children of God?”
Read more about the Scottish doctrine of visible church union and the sin of schism in MacPherson’s classic below. And an audio recording of that particular chapter can be accessed here.
Whole doctrine catholicity | “Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners” (Song 6:10)?
(more…)Posted in Catholicity, Communion of the Saints, Connectionalism & Conciliarism, Samuel Rutherford, Separatism & Schism, The Visible Church on September 2, 2024| Leave a Comment »
“Christ is a drawing and an uniting Spirit; then all that are in Christ should be united. Certainly the divisions now in Britain cannot be of God. The wolf and the good Shepherd are contrary in this; the good Shepherd loves to have the flock gathered in one, and to save them, that they may find pasture, and the flock may be saved: the wolf scatters the flock; or if the wolf would have the flock gathered together, it is that they may be destroyed. Then it would be considered, if a bloody intention of war between two protestant kingdoms, for carnal ends, and upon forced and groundless jealousies, be from an uniting Spirit, and not rather from him, who was a murderer from the beginning.”
For a good, one-chapter introduction to the historic Scottish Presbyterian views of visible Church union or ‘catholicity,’ have a listen to “Church Unity & the Sin of Schism,” by John Macpherson, in his Doctrine of the Church in Scottish Theology.
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Whole doctrine catholicity | “Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners” (Song 6:10)?
West Port Experiment 