Church of Christ

This book is awesome, and everyone should read it. It's focus is ecclesiology, and it addresses this in four parts: the nature of the church, the nature of church power, the exercise of church power, and the parties who exercise church power. Much of a practical nature (or applicable to practical questions) is found in the later parts, while the first two parts set up all of the Scriptural data and principles that are used to answer the questions of the later parts.In the nature of the church, Bannerman gives a fascinating discussion of the several aspects of what the church is, and how Scripture views it. This section alone is worth reading the book. A special highlight is his discussion of the relationship between church and state. Modern Americans will feel confronted by it, and it certainly seems out of place today. But, he makes excellent points that are worth considering, and makes several insights that can be critically adopted and learned from for our modern situation. If this section alone was published as a book, I would get several copies to hand out for discussion.The church power section describes the principles which govern church power. Ultimately, there are a few important notes that then are used to evaluate everything which follows in its exercise. Church power is derived from Christ, and ministerial. It is normed by Scripture. It is spiritual, not worldly. And, it is limited. These key aspects are repeatedly used to evaluate the later questions in part 3.Part 3: the exercise of church power, is my favorite section. I loved the section on baptism, and Bannerman won me over on both discipline and holidays (which I disagreed with him initially). His discussion of the ministry is highly recommended. There are both internal and external calls, and the call consists in part in being gifted and having the character qualifications given in Scripture. If God hasn't granted such gifts, then He's not calling you to the ministry regardless if you want to do ministry!Part 4 is the one to round out the book justifying Presbyterian polity. Some of the initial discussion was repetitive, and seemed either obvious or weakly made, but the entire argument overall is solid and scriptural. His discussion of extraordinary offices is interesting, and would make modern Pentecostals furious.One of the highlights of the book is his frequent discourses on various perspectives on a topic. He will repeatedly contrast at least two other principles (which Reformed Presbyterianism is a happy medium between) with what he proposes, and show the contradictions. He does this as early as the first couple of chapters, and continues on each topic. You don't have to wait until the end to see the problems with Independency - you are familiar with its problems and implications in every area up until then! The book will not only teach you Presbyterian polity, but could also teach you Independent polity through its discussions and interactions.My first complaint is that I would have liked some more "practical" questions to be answered, but this is not much of a complaint since the book provides the principles with which to tackle almost any practical question. This helps it be timeless and applicable (even if you need to turn the mental gears a bit more than you would with a modern book). My second complaint is that I would have liked more of a discussion of the congregation's role and place, and of the individual believer in the congregation. This was not his intent, but it would have been helpful to see his perspective on the laity's place.10/10 recommend.

Bannerman's nearly 1000-page treatment of the Church of Christ is unurpassed. Nothing newer comes close. Nothing older is as thorough or wide-ranging.The book examines various aspects of Christ's Church through the lens of a set of initial presuppositions about the nature of the Church's power and calling. Carried through each aspect of the Church, this approach becomes a powerful tool for analysis, positioning the Church, truly understood, between two extremes: voluntarism, independency and separatism on one side; prelacy and episcopacy on the other.Bannerman's consistency and detailed logic may be off-putting initially, but by the end of the book you will be deeply grateful for the things you were initially irritated by as the threads come together to form a complete picture of Christ's Bride.An outstanding book. A tour de force.

I waited years for this book to be republished and I was not disappointed. Banner of Truth did a great job on publishing this important work.

The Banner of Truth has published a tremendous work by James Bannerman entitled The Church of Christ: A Treatise on the Nature, Powers, Ordinances, Discipline, and Government of the Christian Church. This work was originally published in 1869, but the Banner of Truth has been reprinting this excellent book since 1960, with the most current edition being a reprint from 2016.The Church of Christ has become the go-to resource on Presbyterian ecclesiology. In just under 1000 pages, Bannerman manages to teach on most of what consists of the doctrine of the church, and that quite extensively (and even at times, quite exhaustively).This book finds its material from the lectures that were delivered by Bannerman to his students, and one can only imagine the blessing of sitting under such teaching. It is a great gift to us that we are able to experience this teaching in the form of written instruction.Bannerman’s book consists of four parts: (1) The Nature of the Church; (2)The Power of the Church; (3) Matters in Regard to Which Church Power is Exercised; (4) Parties in Whom the Right to Exercise Church Power is Vested. Bannerman discusses what the church is, confessional issues, sacraments, church offices and authority, government of the church, church discipline, public worship, and more.A book of this size may appear to be intimidating to many within the church today, but the truth is that Bannerman writes in such a clear and understanding style that many in the church will benefit greatly from taking time to read this work. As mentioned above, it is a wonderful gift to the church, and she should take full advantage of this gift.Though reading from beginning to end may provide benefit at particular points (for instance, reading part 1 and learning about the different uses of the term church may prove very helpful when reading about the sacraments in Part 3), this is also a book in which you may read the chapters as stand-alone material. One could read the chapter on the sacraments before reading a chapter that comes prior to it. This is of course only beneficial if there is some prior working knowledge of the subjects that precede it. If this is the first time that one is taking up the subject of ecclesiology, than I would suggest reading the chapters in their given sequence.STRENGTHS:-This book is a comprehensive treatment on the topic of ecclesiology (Presbyterian church polity in particular)-Bannerman writes in a very clear and understanding manner-Provides the reader with an understanding of the what and the why of Presbyterian church polity, and both of these are derived from Holy Scripture-The book itself is absolutely beautiful (as all Banner books are), with a very elegant dust cover and very nice pictures of the Mound in Edinburgh and the New College in the very front and back of the bookWEAKNESSES:-Though this isn’t technically a weakness, there are some things that are harder for the 21st century reader to understand due to the gap in time, such as when Bannerman discusses particular controversies or issues that may not well understood today. However, even with that being said, those particular situations also reveal that “there is nothing new under the sun”, and that those issues may exist today even if in a different context.I highly recommend this book to those who desire to grow in their understanding of Christ’s Bride, the Church. I really believe that Presbyterians ought to be familiar with Bannerman’s book, but even all other non-Presbyterian Christians will undoubtedly benefit from this great work!Disclaimer: My thanks to The Banner of Truth Trust for providing me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. The opinions expressed are my own.