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The Church: The Gospel Made Visible
Christians face lots of practical questions when it comes to life in the local How is the gospel displayed in our lives together? What are we supposed to do and believe? Different followers answer differently—even as they preach the same gospel! What should we think about such differences?
A church’s life, doctrine, worship, and even polity are important issues. Yet they are so rarely addressed. The Church is Mark Dever’s primer on the doctrine of the church for all who see Scripture alone as a sufficient authority for the doctrine and life of the local church. He explains to the reader what the Bible says about the nature and purpose of the church— what it is, what it’s for, what it does.
Indeed, Scripture teaches us about all of life and doctrine, including how we should assemble for corporate worship and how we’re to organize our corporate life together. God has revealed himself by his Word. He is speak- ing to us, preparing us to represent him today, and to see him tomorrow! A congregation of regenerate members, fulfilling the responsibilities given to us by Christ himself in his Word, regularly meeting together, led by a body of godly elders, is the picture God has given us in his Word of his church.
A church’s life, doctrine, worship, and even polity are important issues. Yet they are so rarely addressed. The Church is Mark Dever’s primer on the doctrine of the church for all who see Scripture alone as a sufficient authority for the doctrine and life of the local church. He explains to the reader what the Bible says about the nature and purpose of the church— what it is, what it’s for, what it does.
Indeed, Scripture teaches us about all of life and doctrine, including how we should assemble for corporate worship and how we’re to organize our corporate life together. God has revealed himself by his Word. He is speak- ing to us, preparing us to represent him today, and to see him tomorrow! A congregation of regenerate members, fulfilling the responsibilities given to us by Christ himself in his Word, regularly meeting together, led by a body of godly elders, is the picture God has given us in his Word of his church.
208 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2012
About the author
Mark Dever
128 books295 followersMark Dever serves as the senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC. Since his ordination to the ministry in 1985, Dr. Dever has served on the pastoral staffs of four churches, the second being a church he planted in Massachusetts. Prior to moving to Washington in 1994, Dr. Dever taught for the faculty of Divinity at Cambridge University while serving two years as an associate pastor of Eden Baptist Church.
In an effort to build biblically faithful churches in America, Dr. Dever serves as the executive director for 9Marks (formerly The Center for Church Reform, CCR) in Washington, D.C. 9Marks encourages pastors of local churches look to the Bible for instruction on how to organize and lead their churches. Dr. Dever also teaches periodically at various conferences, speaking everywhere from South Africa to Brazil to the United Kingdom to Alabama. Feeling a deep burden for student ministry, Dr. Dever often addresses student ministry groups at campuses throughout the country. He has also taught at a number of seminaries, including Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, AL, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL. Dr. Dever’s scholarly interests include Puritanism and ecclesiology.
Dr. Dever currently serves as a trustee of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; he also serves as a member of the board, vice-chairman, and chairman of the Forum for the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. From 1995 until 2001, he served on the steering committee for Founders Ministries, a pastoral movement for biblical teaching and healthy church life within the Southern Baptist Convention. As Guest Senate Chaplain for two weeks in 1995, Dr. Dever opened the daily sessions of the United States Senate in prayer. He is a member of the American Society of Church History and the Tyndale Fellowship. He also held the J.B. Lightfoot Scholarship at Cambridge University from 1989 to 1991.
In an effort to build biblically faithful churches in America, Dr. Dever serves as the executive director for 9Marks (formerly The Center for Church Reform, CCR) in Washington, D.C. 9Marks encourages pastors of local churches look to the Bible for instruction on how to organize and lead their churches. Dr. Dever also teaches periodically at various conferences, speaking everywhere from South Africa to Brazil to the United Kingdom to Alabama. Feeling a deep burden for student ministry, Dr. Dever often addresses student ministry groups at campuses throughout the country. He has also taught at a number of seminaries, including Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, AL, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY, and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL. Dr. Dever’s scholarly interests include Puritanism and ecclesiology.
Dr. Dever currently serves as a trustee of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; he also serves as a member of the board, vice-chairman, and chairman of the Forum for the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals. From 1995 until 2001, he served on the steering committee for Founders Ministries, a pastoral movement for biblical teaching and healthy church life within the Southern Baptist Convention. As Guest Senate Chaplain for two weeks in 1995, Dr. Dever opened the daily sessions of the United States Senate in prayer. He is a member of the American Society of Church History and the Tyndale Fellowship. He also held the J.B. Lightfoot Scholarship at Cambridge University from 1989 to 1991.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 124 reviews
December 11, 2022
I've read this book 3-4 times now. It's still good.
December 10, 2023
Brilliant writing for Christians to consider as they think about ecclesiology. Great challenges for Baptists. Just excellent (07.24.23).
Re-reading for the internship was phenomenal. So many things popped that didn't at first. Re-reading this after a semester of synoptic reading on ecclesiology reminded of the lost, but needed practice of re-reading books! Once again, clear writing with broad historical citations. A great representation of Baptist ecclesiology, but also a great resource for anyone wanting to read a modern, shorter work on ecclesiology (12.07.23).
Re-reading for the internship was phenomenal. So many things popped that didn't at first. Re-reading this after a semester of synoptic reading on ecclesiology reminded of the lost, but needed practice of re-reading books! Once again, clear writing with broad historical citations. A great representation of Baptist ecclesiology, but also a great resource for anyone wanting to read a modern, shorter work on ecclesiology (12.07.23).
January 2, 2024
Such an easy book to read, well documented and a healthy call to be the church - as defined by the One who birthed the church. I loved it!
June 4, 2022
John Bunyan willfully spent 12 years of his life in prison because of his beliefs on church polity. While the reason for his imprisonment was in element related to his refusal to give up preaching. Bunyan could have easily became an Anglican and continued preaching. Thus, at the substance of Bunyan’s willingness to suffer the hardships of an English prison in the 1600s were his convictions that the Bible clearly and authoritatively taught a form of church polity that was not Anglicanism. Today, John Bunyan sounds like a glutton for suffering. But what if Bunyan was onto something? What if Christ who purchased the church by His own blood also has directed her in how she is to assemble and worship?
…dramatic theme music…
The Church: The Gospel Made Visible
In this book, Mark Dever shows that God has given regulation and order to how His people are to congregate and what they are to do. Beginning with the Scriptures, Dever shows that God has given direction to his church that includes her nature, attributes, purpose, and more. After devoting much of the book to what Scripture says in regards to the church, Dever then briefly discusses what Christians have historically believes. The concluding portion of the book looks to bring the various details together in a picture of a New Covenant church.
For anyone looking to learn more about church polity, Dever’s book is an excellent one. The only reason that I haven’t given it 5 stars is that for me it doesn’t constitute a “must read” but a “should read.” Regardless, any saint will be blessed if they “take up and read.”
…dramatic theme music…
The Church: The Gospel Made Visible
In this book, Mark Dever shows that God has given regulation and order to how His people are to congregate and what they are to do. Beginning with the Scriptures, Dever shows that God has given direction to his church that includes her nature, attributes, purpose, and more. After devoting much of the book to what Scripture says in regards to the church, Dever then briefly discusses what Christians have historically believes. The concluding portion of the book looks to bring the various details together in a picture of a New Covenant church.
For anyone looking to learn more about church polity, Dever’s book is an excellent one. The only reason that I haven’t given it 5 stars is that for me it doesn’t constitute a “must read” but a “should read.” Regardless, any saint will be blessed if they “take up and read.”
September 9, 2019
Spectacular! This book is Mark Dever at his very best.
September 28, 2019
Great, concise primer on Baptist ecclesiology. Dever’s greatest strength is his clarity, conviction, and historical awareness. All three of those shine in this book. His section on freedom of religion and critiquing multi-site and multi-service were very illuminating.
June 8, 2016
What is the local church and how ought it to function? That is the question this book addresses. So many conversations about church life involve people relating what they like or don't like, what they prefer or don't prefer about their congregation or others. As Christians (and particularly Baptist church members) we need to step back and think about what church is in the first place. This book does just that. The Gospel Made Visible is a book about church polity that is not too academic or dry for the average reader, but is not simplistic or shallow either. It's a great book for anyone, Baptist or not, who wants to know what Baptists believe (and what the Bible teaches) about church structure.
January 1, 2023
Doing para-church ministry for a while has made me a bit indifferent about the church, so I’m super glad I read this book! It’s quite dry/reads like a textbook, but I have a much greater appreciation for the church now.
April 23, 2023
Good intro for a solid Baptist ecclesiology.
February 9, 2024
Big fan.
February 19, 2019
Every pastor should probably read this once, and then keep it on hand for reference.
September 29, 2023
Good overview
March 29, 2019
This book gives great detail on the church. Dever always writes in an informative style. This book is very readable.
September 3, 2021
Very solid on defending congregational polity. Would’ve wished some things were phrased differently, but I get why he’s adamant in word choice.
May 30, 2023
1. Mark Dever believes the Bible teaches that a rightly ordered church is a gathered church, a congregational church, and a baptist church. Not only does he believe that a church’s life, doctrine, worship, and polity are important issues, he also believes that the Bible addresses them. Dever wants to move away from Christians today only having two gears on their theological bike: essential and unimportant. He argues that ecclesiology, among other doctrines, fits in a third category: important.
The most important part of the book is Part 1, where Dever goes through what the Bible says about the church. What is the nature of the church? What are the attributed of the church? Should the church have membership? Is there a particular polity the New Testament prescribes? What is the purpose of the church? These are all questions Dever answers with the Bible.
To support his beliefs, the second part of the book is a historical proof for his assertions. Dever considers, “What has the church historically believed?,” in regards to the church, ordinances and organization.
This is a short and helpful introduction to ecclesiology. One may not agree with all Dever’s assertions, but the study of the church appears to be a forgotten doctrine for evangelicalism. Utilize this book to drive you deeper into the Word and begin asking the same questions Dever seeks to answer.
2. Read again in December 2018. This is a really helpful book. After spending five months reading ecclesiology, this book is all the more clear. Read it with a friend or pastor.
3. Read again in December 2022 for the CHBC internship.
4. Read again in May 2023 for the CHBC internship.
The most important part of the book is Part 1, where Dever goes through what the Bible says about the church. What is the nature of the church? What are the attributed of the church? Should the church have membership? Is there a particular polity the New Testament prescribes? What is the purpose of the church? These are all questions Dever answers with the Bible.
To support his beliefs, the second part of the book is a historical proof for his assertions. Dever considers, “What has the church historically believed?,” in regards to the church, ordinances and organization.
This is a short and helpful introduction to ecclesiology. One may not agree with all Dever’s assertions, but the study of the church appears to be a forgotten doctrine for evangelicalism. Utilize this book to drive you deeper into the Word and begin asking the same questions Dever seeks to answer.
2. Read again in December 2018. This is a really helpful book. After spending five months reading ecclesiology, this book is all the more clear. Read it with a friend or pastor.
3. Read again in December 2022 for the CHBC internship.
4. Read again in May 2023 for the CHBC internship.
November 7, 2022
Read this for a seminary class on ecclesiology. I generally choose NOT to read Mark Dever books these days, so like some of my other reviews, it's hard to know how to rate something that I would never really want to read in the first place.
It's not that I dislike Mark Dever so much as I swam far too long in the Southern Baptist, neo-Reformed circles that he's in and I just struggle to stomach it anymore. Not that I think they're wrong per se so much as missing the forest for the trees. And this book certainly falls into that category. But he was also rather enjoyable to read and far more gracious toward views that differed from his own than I expected.
And for those with WAY too much time on their hands, here's the book summary I wrote for class. Might as well put it in since I bothered to take the time to write !
Mark Dever’s The Church: The Gospel Made Visible is an accessible, popular-level book which describes the definition, nature, and purpose of the church. While the book is clearly aimed at a non-technical audience, the book is deeply researched and widely footnoted for those who would want to explore the topics more deeply than Dever’s survey allows. The book presents a fairly standard Reformed Baptist view of the church (xii) , well-defended and structured in three main parts.
OVERVIEW OF THE CONTENTS
The first section of the book is a biblical overview of the church in Scripture. From the standpoint of a baptistic/free church theology, it makes sense that Dever would start with the Bible’s teaching on the topic (xvi) rather than historical or practical theology. Dever’s overview of the nature, attributes, marks, membership, polity, discipline, purpose, and hope of the church (the main nouns for each of the first eight chapters of the book) lays a strong, biblically-based foundation for an understanding of the church: “The church is the body of people called by God’s grace through faith in Christ to glorify him together by serving him in his world” (3). While he indeed writes from a Baptistic standpoint, he is fair and even with his descriptions of other traditions and understandings. Most of what he lays out in this section would be unoffensive to most Protestants, though there might be some quibbles here and there, especially from the non-Baptists. The strength of this section comes not from its innovation, but from its clarity and simplicity.
The second section delves into historical theology, helping to lay the groundwork for the historical influences that inform the biblical defenses he gave in Part 1. He covers three historical threads: the development of ecclesiology, ordinances/sacraments, and polity. He rightly points out the uniqueness of the Baptist view that “the visible church composed only of the baptized regenerate is the hallmark of Baptists” (105). As he moves into a discussion of ordinances—sacraments in most other traditions (27)—his historical review helps give clarity to the differences between the different church traditions (99-101). Finally, his discussion on polity skirts briefly over non-Baptist views (116-118) before spending the majority of the time on Dever’s tradition and understanding (118-121).
The third and final section of the book is centered on practice. This is probably the heaviest Baptistic section of the book, since moving to particular practices starts to draw lines between different yet similar theological stances. Thus the discussion in chapters twelve through fifteen will be of less relevance or even convincing to those not generally persuaded by Baptist thought. That’s not necessarily bad, but loses much of the quasi-ecumenicism that marked the first section especially.
CRITIQUE AND INTERACTION
As already stated above, the clarity and simplicity of the book is probably its greatest strength. The book neither talks down nor oversimplifies the subjects under discussion. Yet within that, the increasingly Baptistic views presented makes one wonder if perhaps the book should have been titled The Baptist Church instead of simply The Church. Yet Dever seems unafraid to assert why he can stick with the shorter title since “it seems clear that a biblically faithful church is a Baptist church” (153). While writing polemically is certainly not just acceptable but noble, such a view nearly pigeonholes this entire work in such a way that it holds little value for someone who is not Baptist. And honestly, holding that statement until near the end of the book feels a tad bit like burying the lead.
Further, Dever is himself not advocating for a majority Baptist position nor even necessarily what could be called a historically Baptist position. The former point is true since Dever, an unashamed Southern Baptist, by no means holds positions that would be considered majority in those circles. As to the latter point, Baptists are notorious for not having well-defined or coherent theological stances—an unfortunate by-product of the free church mindset. Thus, while his arguments are internally cogent, these views are most certainly his own and lose some of their power for that fact, especially when he attempts to appeal to historical or even present-day precedent.
Unfortunately, in a book that seems so concerned with presenting a “biblical” view of the church—an endeavor truly to be commended—Dever’s effort seems to fall short. He can’t seem to help finally appealing for the ongoing moniker “Baptist” (153), a “senior pastor” (142), written church covenants (121), and “members’ meetings…where decisions are made by voting” (142). While these may be good and prudent things, they are not “biblical” in the same sense that he lays a foundation in the beginning. And the inability to draw a strong enough distinction there waters down the impact of the entire book. In the end, this feels like a book by a RC Cola-Baptist trying to get his Coke- and Pepsi-Baptist companions to join him. And in that, it perhaps has merit. But for anyone playing on non-Baptist teams, this book holds some interest, but little persuasion or sway.
It's not that I dislike Mark Dever so much as I swam far too long in the Southern Baptist, neo-Reformed circles that he's in and I just struggle to stomach it anymore. Not that I think they're wrong per se so much as missing the forest for the trees. And this book certainly falls into that category. But he was also rather enjoyable to read and far more gracious toward views that differed from his own than I expected.
And for those with WAY too much time on their hands, here's the book summary I wrote for class. Might as well put it in since I bothered to take the time to write !
Mark Dever’s The Church: The Gospel Made Visible is an accessible, popular-level book which describes the definition, nature, and purpose of the church. While the book is clearly aimed at a non-technical audience, the book is deeply researched and widely footnoted for those who would want to explore the topics more deeply than Dever’s survey allows. The book presents a fairly standard Reformed Baptist view of the church (xii) , well-defended and structured in three main parts.
OVERVIEW OF THE CONTENTS
The first section of the book is a biblical overview of the church in Scripture. From the standpoint of a baptistic/free church theology, it makes sense that Dever would start with the Bible’s teaching on the topic (xvi) rather than historical or practical theology. Dever’s overview of the nature, attributes, marks, membership, polity, discipline, purpose, and hope of the church (the main nouns for each of the first eight chapters of the book) lays a strong, biblically-based foundation for an understanding of the church: “The church is the body of people called by God’s grace through faith in Christ to glorify him together by serving him in his world” (3). While he indeed writes from a Baptistic standpoint, he is fair and even with his descriptions of other traditions and understandings. Most of what he lays out in this section would be unoffensive to most Protestants, though there might be some quibbles here and there, especially from the non-Baptists. The strength of this section comes not from its innovation, but from its clarity and simplicity.
The second section delves into historical theology, helping to lay the groundwork for the historical influences that inform the biblical defenses he gave in Part 1. He covers three historical threads: the development of ecclesiology, ordinances/sacraments, and polity. He rightly points out the uniqueness of the Baptist view that “the visible church composed only of the baptized regenerate is the hallmark of Baptists” (105). As he moves into a discussion of ordinances—sacraments in most other traditions (27)—his historical review helps give clarity to the differences between the different church traditions (99-101). Finally, his discussion on polity skirts briefly over non-Baptist views (116-118) before spending the majority of the time on Dever’s tradition and understanding (118-121).
The third and final section of the book is centered on practice. This is probably the heaviest Baptistic section of the book, since moving to particular practices starts to draw lines between different yet similar theological stances. Thus the discussion in chapters twelve through fifteen will be of less relevance or even convincing to those not generally persuaded by Baptist thought. That’s not necessarily bad, but loses much of the quasi-ecumenicism that marked the first section especially.
CRITIQUE AND INTERACTION
As already stated above, the clarity and simplicity of the book is probably its greatest strength. The book neither talks down nor oversimplifies the subjects under discussion. Yet within that, the increasingly Baptistic views presented makes one wonder if perhaps the book should have been titled The Baptist Church instead of simply The Church. Yet Dever seems unafraid to assert why he can stick with the shorter title since “it seems clear that a biblically faithful church is a Baptist church” (153). While writing polemically is certainly not just acceptable but noble, such a view nearly pigeonholes this entire work in such a way that it holds little value for someone who is not Baptist. And honestly, holding that statement until near the end of the book feels a tad bit like burying the lead.
Further, Dever is himself not advocating for a majority Baptist position nor even necessarily what could be called a historically Baptist position. The former point is true since Dever, an unashamed Southern Baptist, by no means holds positions that would be considered majority in those circles. As to the latter point, Baptists are notorious for not having well-defined or coherent theological stances—an unfortunate by-product of the free church mindset. Thus, while his arguments are internally cogent, these views are most certainly his own and lose some of their power for that fact, especially when he attempts to appeal to historical or even present-day precedent.
Unfortunately, in a book that seems so concerned with presenting a “biblical” view of the church—an endeavor truly to be commended—Dever’s effort seems to fall short. He can’t seem to help finally appealing for the ongoing moniker “Baptist” (153), a “senior pastor” (142), written church covenants (121), and “members’ meetings…where decisions are made by voting” (142). While these may be good and prudent things, they are not “biblical” in the same sense that he lays a foundation in the beginning. And the inability to draw a strong enough distinction there waters down the impact of the entire book. In the end, this feels like a book by a RC Cola-Baptist trying to get his Coke- and Pepsi-Baptist companions to join him. And in that, it perhaps has merit. But for anyone playing on non-Baptist teams, this book holds some interest, but little persuasion or sway.
August 1, 2018
This book is unintentionally hilarious. Mark Dever, a Baptist minister, walks the reader through all the essential components of what makes a true church and finds, to no one's surprise, that Baptist churches are the best examples of true Christian churches.
I am not Baptist but Catholic, and so I heartily disagree with the author. But, I did appreciate his passion for the importance of "church" in living out faith. Too many Christians think that faith is just as meaningfully lived out as an individual endeavor, but it was always intended to be lived out fully in community.
I am not Baptist but Catholic, and so I heartily disagree with the author. But, I did appreciate his passion for the importance of "church" in living out faith. Too many Christians think that faith is just as meaningfully lived out as an individual endeavor, but it was always intended to be lived out fully in community.
August 6, 2022
If you’re looking for a clear, short, concise, well thought-out book on the local church, Dever provides that here.
If you’ve read or listened to Mark Dever on the local church much of what you’ve read and heard will likely be found in this book.
This is perhaps probably one of the better and more clear books I’ve read on the subject. It’s an easy read with logical flow. Dever moves virtually anything that would slow to the reader down into a footnote, which this reader found remarkably wise and helpful.
If you’ve read or listened to Mark Dever on the local church much of what you’ve read and heard will likely be found in this book.
This is perhaps probably one of the better and more clear books I’ve read on the subject. It’s an easy read with logical flow. Dever moves virtually anything that would slow to the reader down into a footnote, which this reader found remarkably wise and helpful.
February 6, 2017
This is a good book, and I enjoyed revisiting it these past couple of weeks. Stylistically, Dever is kind of a boring author (am I allowed to say that?), and this little book can be pretty dry. But in general, Dever succeeds in what he sets out to do; he develops a helpful and succinct ecclesiology and he gives some formidable arguments for the standard debated and neglected areas in evangelical churches (i.e., membership, discipline, congregational polity, church priorities, etc.).
January 23, 2017
This book kick-started several polity-based conversations that helped eventually shape my current understanding of the church. It's a good place to begin for someone who doesn't know much about church polity, but definitely not a place to stay.
February 21, 2019
Great book about the church.
- What the church is.
- What the church believers.
- And how the Church operates.
- What the church is.
- What the church believers.
- And how the Church operates.
January 1, 2020
Even a second time this book is a continual wealth of scriptural wisdom!
August 6, 2017
An excellent book on ecclesiology for people who haven’t engaged much with the subject. However it has a few weaknesses:
1. Dever often makes a point (ie, that Congregationalist is the most Biblical ecclesiological arrangement) without refuting the claims of the convictions which are different but close to his conclusion. He’ll engage with the more obvious aberrations or errors but doesn’t spend much time diving into differences with little details.
2. The book is repetitive. It could have easily been 120 pages. The last third essentially repeats the first third in a different arrangement. This space could have been cut or used to address the above issue.
3. The church history portion (the middle section) was highly effective and informative. I would have liked to see this mixed in with his explanation of the various positions he took rather than keeping it separate. I think this decision added to the feeling of repetitiveness.
Quibbles aside, a worthwhile read, especially on the importance of the church, membership, and church discipline. I would recommend for new believers and kids who have grown up in the church.
1. Dever often makes a point (ie, that Congregationalist is the most Biblical ecclesiological arrangement) without refuting the claims of the convictions which are different but close to his conclusion. He’ll engage with the more obvious aberrations or errors but doesn’t spend much time diving into differences with little details.
2. The book is repetitive. It could have easily been 120 pages. The last third essentially repeats the first third in a different arrangement. This space could have been cut or used to address the above issue.
3. The church history portion (the middle section) was highly effective and informative. I would have liked to see this mixed in with his explanation of the various positions he took rather than keeping it separate. I think this decision added to the feeling of repetitiveness.
Quibbles aside, a worthwhile read, especially on the importance of the church, membership, and church discipline. I would recommend for new believers and kids who have grown up in the church.
December 17, 2018
Having taken in quite a bit of Dever's teaching over the years, I wasn't sure if this book would feel like old re-runs. Thankfully, it did not. This is a highly distilled (concentrated) source of Biblical, theological, historical, and practical teaching.
I found there were a few tremendously helpful summaries of centuries-long debates, and the footnotes often had great quotes and references for further study. It's the kind of book that comes out of many decades of reading and study and reflection, but manages to be very concise.
Don't be surprised that Dever lands where he does - Reformed, Baptist, congregational. I marked my copy - well, it's my brother's, but I'll buy him a fresh copy - with all kinds of notes and comments. I can tell it will be very useful as a quick reference in the future.
I found there were a few tremendously helpful summaries of centuries-long debates, and the footnotes often had great quotes and references for further study. It's the kind of book that comes out of many decades of reading and study and reflection, but manages to be very concise.
Don't be surprised that Dever lands where he does - Reformed, Baptist, congregational. I marked my copy - well, it's my brother's, but I'll buy him a fresh copy - with all kinds of notes and comments. I can tell it will be very useful as a quick reference in the future.
February 10, 2018
Some parts of this book are better than others. His main point is good along with various things pertaining to congregationalism, membership, leadership, and discipline within a church. Other areas are problematic like the relation of Israel, the kingdom, inferences from history, and reference to the "universal church." The "universal church" is a misnomer that is as unhelpful as it is unbiblical. Even though he conceded the "universal church" can be found in early writings but not in the New Testament, he continued to use the term. I appreciate the main point that the further we get from Scripture concerning how we define, structure, and function as a church, the more we obscure the Gospel.
May 30, 2022
This is a great introduction to church ecclesiology - what a church should look like, why it matters, and how the church is tied to the gospel itself as a visible representation of the good news. I found this book to be very clear, very scriptural, and very encouraging to see how churches can fulfill Ephesians 3:10, “so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.”
“The polity of the church is like the prongs of a ring which hold the precious treasure of the gospel - comparatively unimportant, it’s purpose is to secure that which is of most importance.”
“The polity of the church is like the prongs of a ring which hold the precious treasure of the gospel - comparatively unimportant, it’s purpose is to secure that which is of most importance.”
August 3, 2023
This is a good book covering the topic of Christ's Church from a variety of angles. A shortfall in the book, which I have noticed with several other writers as well, is the author will occasionally make a statement - set out as an undeniable fact - but he does not provide Scriptural basis for the statement. He just expects everybody to have the same opinion or reach the same conclusions as though it was completely obvious and without question. This is obviously frustrating when the topic is one the reader has questions about. Overall, though, it is a solid book that I could unhesitatingly recommend.
June 26, 2019
Great introduction to biblical ecclesiology, or what the Bible teaches about the church.
Recommended.
"The doctrine of the church is important because it is tied to the good news itself. The church is to be the appearance of the gospel. It is what the gospel looks like when played out in people's lives. Take away the church and you take away the visible manifestation of the gospel in the world." (p. 165)
Recommended.
"The doctrine of the church is important because it is tied to the good news itself. The church is to be the appearance of the gospel. It is what the gospel looks like when played out in people's lives. Take away the church and you take away the visible manifestation of the gospel in the world." (p. 165)
January 13, 2021
Excellent--Dever excels on this topic and this is one of his best. He provides faithful commentary on the biblical foundations of the doctrine of the church, giving fair historical treatment to various questions that have arisen within the various ecclesiological traditions but unabashedly arguing for baptistic elder-led Congregationalism. Great resource that is attainable and engaging. written for a popular audience.
July 31, 2021
This is a thorough, yet accessible, book on ecclesiology that should be required reading for every pastor or church leader. (And as a true congregationalist, I would recommend that those not in church leadership should read this as well!)
As Dever argues, “The church is the gospel made visible.” Therefore, the doctrine of the church is absolutely critical and this book does an excellent job teaching it.
As Dever argues, “The church is the gospel made visible.” Therefore, the doctrine of the church is absolutely critical and this book does an excellent job teaching it.
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