Keys of the Kingdom - 1

Here we consider the introduction of John Cotton's book, "The Keys of the Kingdom". In endorsing this book, Thomas Goodwin and his colleagues advocate for a "middle way" of church government, and their goal is to resolve the long-standing conflicts in church history over who holds power within the church. The central argument is that church power, rather than being held solely by a few individuals (like the Pope or bishops), should be distributed among different groups within the local church, each group in the church is assigned a specific, share of input and authority, based upon the word of Jesus Christ.