The Nature of the Church

As well as expounding the Westminster Confession’s teaching on the church, this volume is a remarkable distillation of the massive contribution made to the subject of church government by the chief Scots Commissioners at the Assembly. George Gillespie and Samuel Rutherford wrote at length about key matters of church government, and the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland summarized these in eight general heads of doctrine—focusing mainly on church and state questions and other matters of government within the church.

John Brown of Wamphray’s brief treatment, however, brings us to consider the visible church from the widest perspective. In continuity with the whole stream of Christian thinking on the subject before him, he stressed the worldwide nature of the church as an organic, aggregated, and unified whole. His treatment of the subject, “while reflecting the thought of Gillespie and Rutherford, has an independent value, and takes its place equally” with their contributions.

“This is perhaps the very best book written by any of our Scottish divines on the ministry, church government and ecclesiastical discipline. It embraces in one treatise a full review of all the topics discussed separately in many volumes by Gillespie and Rutherford.”—John Macpherson (1847-1902)

About the Author:

John Brown of Wamphray (1610-1679) was one of the great theological writers in the later period of the Second Reformation. He was the minister of Wamphray near Dumfries. Together with other faithful ministers, he was removed from his congregation after the restoration of Charles II and exiled to Holland. There he pastored the Scots Church at Rotterdam and wrote a large number of books.