A Brief Vindication of the Non-Conformists

A sharp apologetic treatise defending England's Non-Conformists against Dr. Stillingfleet's charge of sinful schism. Owen argues that the root of separation lies not in the dissenters' stubbornness but in the imposition of unscriptural ceremonies on tender consciences. Drawing on apostolic precedent and the New Testament model of congregational liberty, he contends that mutual forbearance—not compulsion—is the only path to Protestant unity. Written in 1680 amid active persecution, it remains one of Owen's most urgent and personally felt defences of freedom of conscience.