진리 안에서 그리고 자발성에 의한 하나됨: 성경적 교회 일치를 향한 존 오웬의 탐구

Abstract

John Owen’s ecclesiology has not drawn scholars’ interests despite his great efforts for the unity of the church throughout his life. In particular, Owen devoted a great amount of his energy to defending Congregationalism from the charge of schism. Owen believed not only that the church fell into schism but that the concepts of unity and schism themselves were seriously corrupted. Owen felt the need for a biblically grounded criterion determining the meaning of unity and schism. Owen’s concept of the ecclesiastical unity is closely related to the very concept of the church. Given that the church can be distinguished into the invisible catholic church, visible catholic church, and the particular church, we cannot deal with the unity of the church in general. Since it is impossible to breach the unity of the invisible catholic church,the only last two churches should be seriously considered with regard to unity and schism. Owen believed that since the fundamental truth is the only ground for the unity of the visible catholic church, no church should be charged for schism as far as she faithfully defends the Christian truth. Owen also argued that the members of a particular church should be united by voluntary agreement, and force should not be used in the church for the sake of unity. These two ways, unity in truth and unity by voluntary agreement, are the only biblical way of the church unity. On the basis of his own interpretation of the Scripture on unity and schism, Owen argued that congregationalism is not a schismatic movement but the true way to the Christian unity since his Congregational churches were firmly united in the truth and all their members enjoyed the mutual communion in love.