John Owen on the Creeds and Confessions

[asterisktom]

"Yea, from the beginning, they [church councils] were so far from being the only way of preserving truth, that it was almost constantly prejudiced by the addition of their authority unto the confirmation of it. Nor was there any one of them wherein “the mystery of iniquity” did not work, unto the laying of some rubbish in the foundation of that fatal apostasy which afterwards openly ensued.

...

"The Lord Christ himself has taken it upon him to build his church on this rock of his person, by true faith of it and in it. He sends his Holy Spirit to bear testimony unto him, in all the blessed effects of his power and grace." John Owen, "Christologia"

 

[AustinC]

I'm struck by the parallelism of building a church and the building of the walls of Jerusalem by Nehemiah.
Archaeologists have discovered that some portions of the wall were poorly and haphazardly built as compared to other portions. This was due to the builders lack of skill and diligence.
Reading the quote from Owens, I see him essentially stating that those councils who attempted to build on the foundation, which is Christ Jesus, sometimes did a horrible job of building.

Trying to build upon that sloppy and unstable wall sometimes requires tearing it down and rebuilding.

Continuing to build on an unstable wall is a disaster that will lead to the inevitable collapse of that portion of the wall.

 

[Martin Marprelate]

John Owen was arguably the greatest English theologian.
He was largely responsible, under God, for the Savoy Declaration, the Statement of Faith produced by the Congregationalists at their Conference at the Savoy, London in 1658. Like the 1689 Baptist confession, it was based upon the Presbyterian Westminster Confession.

 

[Jerome]

John Owen...was largely responsible...for the Savoy Declaration

John Owen, though he was instrumental in formulating the WCF, had the right idea: Counsels and creeds have no Scriptural precedence, and we must always be careful to maintain them as ministerial tools (if that) rather than magisterial impositions.

 

[Yeshua1]

"Yea, from the beginning, they [church councils] were so far from being the only way of preserving truth, that it was almost constantly prejudiced by the addition of their authority unto the confirmation of it. Nor was there any one of them wherein “the mystery of iniquity” did not work, unto the laying of some rubbish in the foundation of that fatal apostasy which afterwards openly ensued.

...

"The Lord Christ himself has taken it upon him to build his church on this rock of his person, by true faith of it and in it. He sends his Holy Spirit to bear testimony unto him, in all the blessed effects of his power and grace." John Owen, "Christologia"

Do you see any here building upon creeds and Confessions, and not the scriptures themselves?

 

[Yeshua1]

John Owen was arguably the greatest English theologian.
He was largely responsible, under God, for the Savoy Declaration, the Statement of Faith produced by the Congregationalists at their Conference at the Savoy, London in 1658. Like the 1689 Baptist confession, it was based upon the Presbyterian Westminster Confession.

Who would you consider to have been best modern one?

 

[Martin Marprelate]

@Jerome,
As an Independent /Congregationalist, Owen had little influence on the WCF, which is a Presbyterian document, though he may have attended the Westminster Assembly which drew up the confession. As I wrote, he was a prime mover in producing the Savoy Declaration which was based on the WCF, but adapted for congregationalism.

 

[Martin Marprelate]

Who would you consider to have been best modern one?

Dunno. I spend more time in the 17th Century than I do in the 21st.
The person who has had the greatest influence on me is probably Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, if you class him as modern. However, he would have classed himself as a preacher rather than a theologian.

 

[Yeshua1]

Dunno. I spend more time in the 17th Century than I do in the 21st.
The person who has had the greatest influence on me is probably Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, if you class him as modern. However, he would have classed himself as a preacher rather than a theologian.

The problem is that majority of the well known and used were systematic theologians, so guess would be listed among the ranks Berkhof, Grudem, JI Packer, and being influential in a bad way, NT Wright!