'Ours is a true church of God'

<p>How do we discern a true church? Given the current ecclesiastical climate this is an increasingly pressing question. This study looks at how William Perkins a great seventeenth-century Church of England theologian responded to this issue. Particular focus is given to his understanding of the distinctions between the visible and invisible church and the marks of a true church namely word sacraments and discipline. Judged against these marks Perkins argued passionately that the Church of England was a true church of God.</p><p>He also in line with traditional Reformed ecclesiology allowed significant doctrinal and practical decline before a church ceased to be a true church. The criteria he outlined for leaving a church amounted to nothing less than the obstinate and persistent overthrow of cardinal Christian doctrine and worship.</p><p>Perkins' careful teaching calls us to consider our response to declension in the church today. Ultimately his ecclesiology calls us to have a high view of the unity of the visible church and in many causes to labour for recovery rather than to leave.</p>