You are quite right. Owen's view of 'Independancy' was not what Congregationalism later become and it is unfortunate that Owen gets confused with the Congregational movement which came later.
Owen was thoroughly elder rule in his view of church government. He also believed that churches should work together to solve controversies that could not be resolved locally.
The primary difference between Owen (as well as the early Independents) and Presbyterianism, is that in Presbyterianism, the way the churches work together to resolve issues is through a formal and binding court whereas early Independency saw the relationship between the churches in a much more informal, pastoral way.
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Originally Posted by AV1611  Quote:
Originally Posted by Mayflower You have to ask your self, if you want to believe this or if this is done through a honest study. | There is the question of what precisely the difference is between Presbyterian and Independency. Owen rejected completely the view that the local congregation was a democracy of any sorts and opposed the idea that members should vote for ministers. He clearly saw that the biblical view was that elders rule, now as to the relations between independent congregations he saw that in matters of faith there had to be unity between them and he saw that local congregations could work togther. In short, it was a mild presbyterianism.  |