When Christians Disagree

Tim Cooper

Reviewed by: James Gidley

When Christians Disagree: Lessons from the Fractured Relationship of John Owen and Richard Baxter, by Tim Cooper. Crossway, 2024. Paperback, 184 pages, $18.99. Reviewed by OP elder James Gidley.

It is a sound maxim that you should not meet your heroes. Their heroic stature is diminished by a close-up view of their faults and failings. Therefore, if either John Owen or Richard Baxter is your hero, beware of this book, for it provides a close-up view that will take your hero off his pedestal.

Cooper attests his high regard for both men: “The achievements and the example they have left behind are mightily impressive” (7). But, at the same time, “they are a lived example of how even the most godly Christians disagree and do a pretty poor job of it” (7). What follows is a concise parallel biography of the two seventeenth-century ecclesiastical giants and the influences that led to their theological differences and their intense dislike for each other.

Owen (1616–1683) and Baxter (1615–1691) lived through the same era in the same country, and each entered the gospel ministry, but they had very different experiences. Owen was educated at Oxford University (11–12) and eventually became its vice-chancellor. Baxter lacked the benefit of a university education and was largely self-taught (12). Owen’s position at Oxford kept him near the center of the swirl of national events during the turbulent period of the English Civil War and the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. Baxter came to prominence through his remarkable effectiveness as the pastor of a Church of England parish in Kidderminster and was directly and deeply affected by the fighting and the theological radicalism of Cromwell’s army. Cooper sees these differences in life trajectory as largely responsible for their differing viewpoints, even largely explaining their theological differences.

Cooper’s aim is to encourage us to be more kind and gentle in our assessments of those with whom we disagree. He believes that our distance from Owen and Baxter in time and circumstances will make it easier for us learn from their story: “We have nothing at stake in these two men, so we can observe them dispassionately and objectively” (4).

For Calvinists committed to the Westminster Standards, this is the Achilles heel of Cooper’s project. We cannot be dispassionate about Baxter’s heterodoxy, which makes our own faith rather than the righteousness of Christ the ground of our justification. Baxter’s view has been labeled Neonomianism, because he conceived of the gospel as a new law. Owen, on the other hand, was the champion of Reformed orthodoxy. Cooper emphasizes that Owen and Baxter “shared an enormous amount of common ground” (69) and believes that they should have given more weight to their areas of agreement. Nevertheless, their differences on justification strike at the heart of the gospel. The theological part of the controversy between Owen and Baxter is very much alive to us, and rightly so.

I recommend this book to anyone who would like a brief and accessible introduction to the lives and times of Owen and Baxter. However, I cannot recommend the author’s approach to their controversy on justification.