Associational Churchmanship: Second London Confession of Faith 26.12–15

Recovering our confessional heritage #2

by James M. Renihan

ISBN13: 9780976003984

“Theology does not occur in a vacuum. It develops out of real-life situations. Men study the Word of God, contemplate its teaching, and express their conclusions. Often it is the circumstances of life that force them to think more closely and clearly about their doctrinal views and that sharpen the expressions of truth. When Arius challenged the divinity of Christ, Christians faced new questions, and the result of the debate was a clearer view of the deity of our Savior. We could give many illustrations from the history of the Church of that increasing clarity and understanding in the Creeds and Confessions of Christianity.

The doctrine of associational churchmanship expressed in our Confession is another one of these circumstances. Our discussion will involve the following: first, the three ways to describe interchurch relations; second, the church in the Second London Confession of Faith (2LCF); third, an overview of chapter 26.1-11 and brief exposition of 26.12-13; fourth associationalism; and finally, a conclusion and application.” ~ James M. Renihan

Genres: Theology

90 pages, Paperback

Published December 1, 2016

Reviews

[Brance Gillihan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, easy to read, but challenging in all the right ways. This book forces us to reconsider, not only our commitment to and participation in an association of like-minded churches, but more importantly, our reasons for doing so and our expectations of how such associationalism benefits us and others.

"We live in a consumerist culture that thinks about ourselves, but in associationalism, we need to think about others and remember the words of the Lord Jesus Christ who said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' That is what associationalism is."

[Chandler Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent and helpful introduction to Baptist associationalism.

[Stephen Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent primer explaining the basics of the particular baptist vision of church government. Provides exactly what one would expect by fleshing out some of the important details of the London Baptist Confession. My only wish was that there was a little more commentary on the Scriptural texts used.