The Church: The Gospel Made Visible [Paperback]

Have you been searching for a modern Baptist ecclesiology? Look no further. Mark Dever says in the opening pages that he decided to rewrite and expand his chapter from Akin's A Theology for the Church into book length because nothing has been produced like this from a Baptistic perspective. There just aren't any works that we can point people to. So, now you have a new resource. This is not a long book either. It's very manageable. Dever, a true scholar, made this book very accesible. Neither does he need many words to express what he has to say. The words he does use are powerful. It's one of those books that you will want to underline almost every sentence.

It's densely packed with insight from a pastor-theologian who has built his preaching ministry around the Word of God. Dever's passion is for healthy churches. He believes that God's Word is sufficient for every aspect of the church. This is the first part of the book. I. What Does the Bible Say? Here he gives us the biblical foundations of the church. Then he looks at historical issues related to the life of the church in II. What Has the Church Believed? Finally Dever answers in the final part III. How Does It All Fit Together? This is the modern application for church life.

While I did initially expect the book to be longer, Dever packs it with footnotes and points the reader to many reference sources. It's a great primer on Ecclesiology. I would recommend it if you're familiar with Dever's previous works on healthy churches because this treatment of the church seems to be more of a complete thought, more well-rounded. And, if you're not familiar with Dever this would be the best place to start.

Let me answer an objection I could foresee, "Read a Baptist book?" Yes, even if you're not persuaded by credobaptism, this book will truly help you biblically define what a church is. Dever's solid foundations and formulations will challenge you to think Scripturally about many of our accepted practices within the church today. Many of the blurbs in the front will attest to this as well.

Over the years, I've grown weary reading books that relate to ecclesiology. Recent works that focus on the church are either driven by pragmatic presuppositions, man-centered principles, or church growth techniques that compromise the essence of the gospel, not to mention the mission of the church. Mark Dever's newest book, The Church: The Gospel Made Visible is a totally different kind of book. He steers clear from the usual drivel that saturates many books devoted to ecclesiology. Indeed, the church is should be thankful for such a work.

Part One: What Does the Bible Say?

The first section focuses on the nuts and bolts of the church. Dever leaves no stone unturned. The nature of the church is explored, membership is reviewed, polity is discussed, church discipline is covered, among other things. Each section is rooted in the biblical text. The writing is clear and compelling. The reader walks away from the first part with a clear understanding on what Scripture says concerning the church.

Part Two: What Has the Church Believed?

Part two explains the classical distinctions between the visible and invisible church and the local and universal church. The author includes a helpful discussion on the rise of denominations.

Also included is an illuminating discussion on the history of ordinances. A wide variety of traditions are surveyed. And the various positions are presented for the Lord's Supper as well as baptism.

Part Three: How Does it All Fit Together?

The final section discusses the marks of the church, namely - the faithful preaching of God's Word and the faithful administration of the two ordinances. Dever includes a helpful section on church membership. He writes, "Churches that submerge difference of age, race, status, background, or employment give witness to the power of the gospel."

One of the most helpful chapters is devoted to developing a biblical leadership model. Dever's holds to an elder led/congregationally affirmed leadership structure. He adds, "The most coherent way to understand the New Testament's presentation of local church polity is to recognize the role of both individual leaders and the congregation as a whole." He does not minimize the role of the congregation. Dever writes, "The congregation is not in competition with the elders. The congregation's authority is more like an emergency brake than a steering wheel. The congregation more normally recognizes than creates, responds rather than initiates, confirms rather than proposes."

In the final analysis, "a right ecclesiology matters for the church's leadership, membership, structure, culture, and even character. Ultimately, a right ecclesiology touches on God's glory itself ... Therefore, getting the doctrine of the church right becomes a benefit to the people, as the truth about God and his world is more correctly known, taught, and modeled."

The Church: The Gospel Made Visible should receive a wide readership and will be a tremendous tool in the hands of faithful pastors and shepherds!

4.5 stars

The questions of the role and organization of the church is one mostly ignored in Evangelicalism today. Topics such as church membership and church discipline are largely left by the wayside as planters from various denominations map out their plan of attack when it comes to the church. There are many arguments for why this is but along with the arguments one would find any number of supporting texts from the Bible to support their argument. Some do so knowing the biblical mandates for the church and others interpret the text to fit their desires of what they think the church should be like. Mark Dever has written The Church: The Gospel Made Visible, in part, to combat the errors of those who think they can define apart from biblical precepts who and what the church is.

Dever breaks the material down into manageable bite-sized chunks yet do not leave the reader feeling unsatisfied. Part 1 begins by digging into the biblical text to find out exactly what the Bible says of the church. Here Dever broadly dusts off the shelves of history and biblical texts to give the readers a clearer and broader picture of the topics expounded in the latter portion of the book. Part 2 takes a historic look at what the church has believed in the past. Dever does not leave the reader with a one-sided view of Baptist-specific history but points out other denominational history as well. Part 3 concludes the book taking the pieces of the puzzle and fitting them together in coherent and exegetically accurate portrait of Christ' Bride.

Dever does not shy away from pointing out topics that would cause his readers to shift uncomfortably in their seats. He is biblically faithful when exploring the topics of discipline in the church, ordinances and/or sacraments, and briefly touches upon the topic of tithing, which was largely absent from the text as a whole. Dever also does an excellent job of shining light on extra-Baptistic practices which can be held to, but Dever is hesitant to leave them there. He passionately shines the light on the biblical text in such a way as to snuff out error where it is due. He is faithful to speak on the topics which the Bible propounds clearly but is very careful to not speak where the Bible does not, which is one thing I admired about this writing. There was a small section which I would have enjoyed reading more in-depth, regarding Dever's positions (i.e. multi-site churches) but I was content to leave it where Dever had.

Overall I would say this text is a brief synopsis of the church and what that means for anyone who would call themselves a Christian. Dever points out from the outset that this text was primarily written for Baptist members but it surely goes beyond that. At some points I had to grab my Bible to make sure what Dever was saying was accurate and at other points I was grabbing for my pen so that I could take notes. This text is exegetically rigorous but because of the clarity which Dever writes with, you won't need a seminary degree to understand it. Some may want to throttle Dever and some may want to congratulate him but what I found was this; Dever isn't trying to be an all-star in the church with this text, he is simply being faithful to the biblical records of what the church is and should be. I appreciate what this book has taught me and highly recommend it to any who would profess Christ. Even if you're not Baptist this volume will be extremely helpful in the describing what the Bible has to say about the church.

You can pick up your copy of this by clicking the following link.

The Church: The Gospel Made Visible By Mark Dever / B&H Academic

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