History of the Presbyterian Churches of the World, Adapted for Use in the Class Room

History of the Presbyterian Churches of the World Adapted for use in the Class Room BY R. C. REED D. D. Professor of Church History in the Presbyterian Theological Seminary at Columbia, South Carolina; author of •• The Gospel as Taught by Calvin." PHILADELPHIA Zbe TKIlestminster press 1912 BK ^71768 Copyright. 1905, by The Trustees of the I'resbyterian Board of Publication and Sabbath-School Work. Contents CHAPTER PAGE I INTRODUCTION I II SWITZERLAND 14 III FRANCE 34 IV THE NETHERLANDS 72 V AUSTRIA — BOHEMIA AND MORAVIA . 104 VI SCOTLAND 126 VII IRELAND 173 VIII ENGLAND AND WALES 205 IX THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA . 232 X UNITED STATES (Continued) 269 XI UNITED STATES (Continued) 289 XII UNITED STATES (Continued) 301 XIII UNITED STATES (Continued) 313 XIV UNITED STATES (Continued) 325 • XV CANADA 341 XVI BRITISH COLONIAL CHURCHES .... 357 XVII MISSIONARY TERRITORY 373 APPENDIX 389 INDEX 405 iii History of the Presbyterian Churches CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION WRITERS sometimes use the term Presbyterian to cover three distinct things, government, doctrine and worship ; sometimes to cover doctrine and government. It should be restricted to one thing, namely, Church Government. While it is usually found associated with the Calvinistic system of doctrine, yet this is not necessarily so ; nor is it, indeed, as a matter of fact, always so. Presbyterianism and Calvinism seem to have an affinity for one another, but they are not so closely related as to be essential to each other. They can, and occasionally do, live apart. Calvinism is found in the creeds of other than Presby terian churches ; and Presbyterianism is found professing other doctrines than Calvinism. Let it be understood then that Presbyterianism does not signify any particular system of doctrine or form of worship ; and that its only and exclusive meaning is a certain form of Church gov ernment. The Apostolic Church Presbyterian. — A complete history of the Presbyterian churches must include the Church founded by the apostles. Taking the govern ment of the synagogue as their model, they organized the Church under very simple forms. They appointed pres byters or elders in every church, and committed to them i 2 HISTORY OF PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES its oversight, charging them to " take heed unto . all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church," or to exercise pastoral care over it. Some of these presbyters labored in word and doctrine ; others did not ; but they all ruled. No distinc tion in name, or qualification, or office was made between them. They were designated indiscriminately by the two titles, bishop and presbyter, and were all exhorted to dis charge the duty of pastors. All presbyters were bishops, and all bishops were presbyters. A plurality were ap pointed in every Christian congregation, and being of equal rank and authority, they must of necessity have exercised their rule jointly. This is Presbyterianism, reduced to its simplest elements — a government in the hands of presbyters, ruling jointly. The Church of the Second Century. — Assuming that certain letters ascribed to Ignatius are genuine, we learn from them that very early in the second century a dis tinction began to be made between the presbyters. To one in each church the title of bishop was restricted, and he was accorded superiority over the others. Gradu ally, and yet very .swiftly, the .distinction broadened, and by the end of the second century, the bishop was an officer ''crrarty'TrJ^rtmfnated~"irr'rank and. .authority from the elder. And so it came to pass that at an early period, out of the Presbyterianism established by the apostles, a certain type of episcopacy emerged. The evolution was not simultaneous, however, throughout the entire Church. It progressed more rapidly in some regions than in others. Traces of the older form of gov ernment lingered in certain places down to the fourth and fifth centuries. It should also be noted that the episco pacy at first evolved was not diocesan, but parochial. INTRODUCTION 3 Each particular church, as that at Smyrna or Philadel phia, had its bishop, its council of elders and its board of deacons. So far as our limited information permits us to judge, the organization of the Church, during the second century, differed in no essential from the organization which we find to-day among the various bodies of Pres byterians. The elders and deacons were substantially the same then as now, and the bishop of the second century differed in no important particular from the Presbyterian pastor or bishop of the twentieth century. Continued Evolution, Resulting in Papacy. — The process of evolution cannot be traced in all of its details with absolute certainty, — the sources of our knowledge are too limited and defective; but the process can be traced with approximate accuracy in its general outlines. There is reason to think that the process of evolution began by making one presbyter in each congregational presbytery, or session, permanent moderator, just as it is common in our day for this position to be assigned to the preacher, or teaching presbyter in each Presbyterian church. The one selected for permanent moderator would, as a matter of course, be the one noted for superiority of gifts and force of character. On him very naturally, and for the same reason, would devolve the principal care of the church. He would also be the medium of communication between the different churches, and would, therefore, take the lead in all matters affect ing the common interests of the various Christian com munities. As heresies and other disorders began to affect these communities, his position would grow in importance, and his influence increase in power. It is a well-attested fact that nothing contributed so much to create the office of bishop as an office distinct from that 4 HISTORY OF PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES of presbyter, and to lift it to a position of supremacy in the government of the Church, as the demand for speedy and stringent discipline to suppress rising disorders. The testimony of Jerome, who lived A. D. 340-420, is that " before factions were introduced into religion by the prompting of the devil, the churches were governed by a council of presbyters ; but as soon as each man began to consider those whom he had baptized as belonging to him self and not to Christ, it was decided throughout the world that one elected from among the elders should be placed over the rest, so that the care of the church should devolve on him, and the seeds of schism be removed." Again he says : " When afterwards one presbyter was elected that he might be placed over the rest, this was done as a remedy against schism, that each man might not drag to himself, and thus break up the Church of Christ." Bishop Lightfoot quotes approvingly these testimonies of Jerome, and adds : " To the dissensions of Jews and Gentile converts, and to the disputes of gnostic false teachers, the development of episcopacy may be mainly ascribed." The motive which prompted a de parture from scriptural simplicity was the belief that, for the preservation of sound doctrine and good order, it was necessary to concentrate power in a few hands, that dis cipline might be more effectively administered. This motive continued to operate, along with less worthy ones, until parochial episcopacy was changed into diocesan, and that into the papacy. The city bishop was exalted above the country bishop, the metropolitan above the city bishop, the patriarch above the metropolitan, and finally the patriarch of Rome was exalted as Pope over all. The Extinction of Presbyterianism. — The lifting up of the bishop meant the letting down of the pres INTRODUCTION 5 byter. The latter, having been robbed of the title which defined his scriptural function, was soon robbed of his function itself. Ceasing to be a bishop in name, he ceased to be an overseer in reality. He was degraded to the posi tion of a servant, and had his sphere of labor assigned him by his bishop. Excluded from all part in the gov ernment of the church he was deputed by the bishop to preach and administer the sacraments. About this junc ture the idea of the sacerdotal character of the ministry was introduced into the church, and in keeping with this idea the presbyter's name was curtailed to priest. As the priestly idea gained ground, a magical virtue was attrib uted to the sacraments, and preaching was for this reason discredited, and fell into neglect. Henceforth the princi pal business of the priest was to hear confessions, pre scribe penance and celebrate mass. Not only did the ruling elder fall out by the way, but the teaching elder also disappeared, and in their place arose a monstrous creation of a degenerate church — a so-called priest, usurp ing the functions of the one Mediator, and claiming that by the use of a set phrase, he could change a little wafer into the body and blood of the living and glorified Christ. When all traces of the New Testament presbyter had vanished, there was but little of Presbyterianism left. Church Polity and the Reformers. — The government of the Church was not made a matter of profound and prayerful investigation by the early reformers. The inti mate relation between doctrine and polity was not sus pected, and consequently men who were ready to die for purity of doctrine were unconcerned about the constitu tion of the Church. The uniformity of doctrine through out the countries that had separated from Rome was re 6 HISTORY OF PRESBYTERIAN CHURCHES markable. The explanation is to be found in the fact that the Bible had been exalted to the position of supreme arbiter, and devout souls everywhere carried their doc trinal problems to the same tribunal and received the same answer.

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