The Nature, Government and Function of the Church

by Stephen C. Perks

There is perhaps no subject that Christrians have discussed, debated and argued over more fiercely than that of the nature, government and function of the Church. In this book the author attempts to set out biblical principles that can, in the main, be acted upon and applied in all Christian Churches, regardless of denomination. In this way the author seeks to apply the Reformation dictum Ecclesia reformata semper reformanda—"the church reformed is always fit to be reformed"—to the modern Church in order to encourage a more faithful practice of the Church's Great Commission in our day.

116 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Jason Garwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really, really good.

[Josiah Richardson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perks here is trying to make the case that we have left our historical roots in regards to how we view the church - all things ecclesiology. Much like Bojidar Marinov, the idea of having a local church membership doesn't make perks very happy. He starts his argument by saying that ekklesia has been mistranslated for hundreds of years and that it doesn't really mean a physical church body or building (I disagree). If this is the case all usages of the term should be re-examined for proper exegesis. Perks does this and it leads him to the understanding that local church membership should not necessarily be encouraged for everyone, that the roles of elders and deacons should be reimagined, and that a Presbyterian understanding of church government should thus be avoided.

All conclusions that I don't agree with.

Yes ekklesia has contextual translation issues, but it should be noted that whenever the term is used it has a particular body in mind, not a universal body. Elders and deacons should retain their God given responsibilities of guarding the table, executing church discipline as needed, and sheltering the flock from heresies and heretics. Because no man is perfect and will inevitably fence the table from true Christian's, administer church discipline on his own terms, and prevent gospel truths from entering the church because he personally disagrees with him, there must be a non-biased governing body to oversee the interworkings of the local body.

[Christopher Brehm · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good, some interesting ideas and historical analysis.

[Jonathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

What was good was better said elsewhere. He makes a case for Cottonian Independency, throwing in legitimate jabs at modern bureaucratic Presbyterianism.

[Chris Comis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too pro-congregationalist and anti-presbyterian for my palate. He does have some good arguments though against the kind of top-down uber-hierarchical presbyterianism that seems to pervade much of American presbyterianism these days. The best line in the book was his quote from John Milton, "New Presbyter is but Old Priest writ large."

I think this book is a needed e-break to all those Presbyterians (like me) who forget just how much our cherished "presbyterianisms" can get in the way of fruitful Kingdom building.