He looks to the fractured relationship between two men we hold in high esteem: John Owen and Richard Baxter. Owen is, of course, the author of such enduring works as The Mortification of Sin and Communion with God. Baxter, meanwhile, wrote The Saint’s Everlasting Rest and The Reformed Pastor. Each of these books continues to bless, equip, and encourage God’s people hundreds of years later. Each of these men continues to influence the church for good. Yet each of them was hostile to the other and together they got locked into a long and ugly battle they never resolved.
Wouldn’t it be nice if Christians only ever got along? Wouldn’t it be grand if all the discord we see in the world around us was completely foreign to the church? Wouldn’t it be heavenly if believers ever only experienced peace? I suppose it would be heavenly and, therefore, more than we can realistically hope for in this life. That being the case, we need to learn to deal with conflict—conflict within both the local church and the wider church.
I suppose we are prone to think that the battles that rage in the church today are unusual or unique, but the sad fact is that Christians have disagreed with one another in every age of church history. The sadder fact is that they have often done so in ways that are concerning, shocking, or even downright horrific. This is sometimes true even of people we count as heroes of the faith, people who have influenced us in such meaningful ways.
In When Christians Disagree, historian Tim Cooper goes back in time to draw lessons from a sad episode from days past. He looks to the fractured relationship between two men we hold in high esteem: John Owen and Richard Baxter. Owen is, of course, the author of such enduring works as The Mortification of Sin and Communion with God. Baxter, meanwhile, wrote The Saint’s Everlasting Rest and The Reformed Pastor. Each of these books continues to bless, equip, and encourage God’s people hundreds of years later. Each of these men continues to influence the church for good. Yet each of them was hostile to the other and together they got locked into a long and ugly battle they never resolved.