The name “Presbyterian” applies to a diverse group of churches that
adhere in some degree to the teachings of John Calvin and John Knox and
are led by representative elders (presbyters) of their congregations.
Within the broad category, there are some which can be considered
conservative or fundamental, and some which would be called liberal or
progressive. On the conservative side is the Presbyterian Church of
America (PCA), with about 335,000 members in 1,700 congregations, while
the Presbyterian Church, USA (PCUSA), with 2.3 million members in 10,000
congregations, is more liberal. Several smaller groups have formed over
the years and cover the spectrum of beliefs and practices.
The Presbyterian Church was first organized in Scotland under the
leadership of John Knox. The Church of Scotland was affiliated with the
Roman Catholic Church, even though it maintained an attitude of
independence. John Knox was a priest in the Church of Scotland and was
fed up with the abuses he saw in the Catholic leadership. He was exiled
to England after his involvement in the murder of Cardinal Beaton in
1546. While in England, he was licensed to preach in the Church of
England and was instrumental in reforming the Book of Common Prayer.
When Mary Tudor ascended the English throne and started her bloody
persecutions of the Church of England, Knox fled to Europe, where he met
John Calvin and began to study Reformed theology. In 1559, Knox returned
to Scotland and became a vocal proponent of Reformed theology and the
concept of presbyterian leadership in the church. A number of Scottish
lords had already been promoting religious reformation, and they gladly
supported John Knox's teaching. Under Knox's leadership, these “Lords of
the Congregation” wrote the Scottish Confession of Faith in 1560, which
ended papal rule in Scotland and outlawed the Mass. The Scottish
Confession remained the primary doctrinal guide for the Church of
Scotland until the Westminster Confession in 1647.
In the early 1600s, King James I sent many Scotch Presbyterians to
Northern Ireland in an effort to displace the Irish and establish
British control there. By the early 1700s, these Scotsmen were ready to
migrate to America because of the economic trials they faced in Ireland.
The first Presbytery in America was formed in 1706 in Philadelphia, and
Presbyterianism spread rapidly in the colonies. One distinctive of the
Presbyterian Church has been their emphasis on the education of their
ministers. In the colonial period, the Presbyterian Church required
advanced theological training for its ministers, whereas the Methodists
and Baptists often allowed untrained men who were zealous for the gospel
to carry on ministry. The result was fewer Presbyterian frontier
preachers, but more theologians and seminary teachers. Even today, more
theologians come from Presbyterian or Reformed backgrounds than from
other groups, and Presbyterian theologians have made significant
contributions to theological issues.
Throughout the history of the Presbyterian Church, there have been
splits and mergers based on theological and practical issues. In the
colonial period, there was an “old side/new side” split over the
acceptance of the revivalist preachers in the Great Awakening. In 1810,
the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, which supported revivalist
preachers, split from the main church. From 1837 to 1869, there was a
split between “old school” and “new school” churches, with the “new
school” teaching a modified understanding of sin and holiness. When the
two groups merged again in 1869, it was with an increased tolerance for
doctrinal diversity, which led to greater changes in the early 20th
century.
Until the 1930s, Presbyterians held a leading role in the various
debates over doctrinal integrity. Some of the key men in supporting the
Bible Conference movement were C.I. Scofield (1843-1921), James Brookes
(1830-1897), William Erdman (1834-1923), Billy Sunday (1863-1935),
William Biederwolf (1867-1939), and J. Wilbur Chapman (1859-1918). With
doctrinal liberalism creeping into their seminaries, Presbyterians such
as Louis Talbot (1889-1976), Lewis Sperry Chafer (1871-1952), and
William Anderson (1889-1935) helped start new Bible colleges. As men
like these saw the Presbyterian Church continue to tolerate doctrinal
diversity, they led their churches to form new groups. In 1936, the
Orthodox Presbyterian Church was formed. In 1938, the Bible Presbyterian
Church was organized. In 1973, the Presbyterian Church of America came
about. In 1981, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church was formed.
While most Presbyterian churches will agree on general themes such as
the depravity of man, the holiness of God, and salvation by faith, there
is wide divergence in how they define and apply those themes. Some
churches treat sin as a disease and essentially erase any personal
responsibility, while others hold a firm line that sin is a violation of
God's unchanging law. Some teach that the Bible is verbally inspired of
God, and therefore infallible, while others teach that it is man's book
and therefore subject to error. As with any other
church, a person would be well advised to carefully examine not only the
formal statements of doctrine, but also the practical implementation of
those doctrines to determine whether a church is conforming to Scripture
(1 Thessalonians 5:21).
( Recently, some Presbyterian groups have begun recognizing gay marriage, an unscriptural position. Other groups allow homosexuals and lesbians positions of authority in the church. As with many denominations, the Presbyterian church is becoming more and more liberal, and abandoning sound scriptural doctrine....Keygar )