The Presbyterian Creed

by Fortson, S. Donald, III; Calhoun, David B.

• ISBN13: 9781606084809
• ISBN10: 1606084801
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-02-16
• Publisher: Wipf & Stock Pub

Summary

The American Presbyterian creed up until the second half of the twentieth century has been the confessional tradition of the Westminster Assembly (1643-48). Presbyterians in America adopted the Westminster Confession and Catechisms in 1729 through a compromise measure that produced ongoing debate for the next hundred years. Differences over the meaning of confessional subscription were a continuing cause of the Presbyterian schisms of 1741 and 1837. The Presbyterian Creed is a study of the factors that led to the ninteenth-century Old School/New School schism and the Presbyterian reunions of 1864 and 1870. In these reunions, American Presbyterians finally reached consensus on the meaning of confessional subscription that had previously been so elusive.

Author Biography

"This book will interest Presbyterians and those who love history, the church, and theology. It gives an intriguing glimpse of intellectual activity and ecclesiastical politics during the tumultuous nineteenth century. And it shows how history can help shape and guide our thinking today." -David B. Calhoun Professor of Church History, Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, from the Foreword S. Donald Fortson III is Associate Professor of Church History and Practical Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte, North Carolina. He earned his BA at Covenant College and his MDiv and DMin at Columbia Theological Seminary. He lives in Charlotte with his wife Nancy and children Caroline and Samuel and is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xiii
Preface	p. xv
The Colonial Confession	p. 1
Subscription in the Old World	p. 1
American Subscription	p. 6
Compromise of 1729	p. 10
Practicing Confessional Subscription	p. 13
Synod of 1736	p. 17
Schism and Subscription	p. 21
The Great Awakening	p. 22
Old Side Protest	p. 23
Synod of New York	p. 25
"That Paragraph About Essentials"	p. 28
Reunion in 1758	p. 34
The Subscription Formula	p. 37
New Divinity and Revivalism	p. 42
Jonathan Edwards and New England Theology	p. 42
1801 Plan of Union	p. 47
New Divinity and Subscription	p. 49
Revivals in the South	p. 54
Finney and New Revivalism	p. 57
Missions, Education and Taylorism	p. 61
Debate Over Missions	p. 61
Educating Presbyterian Ministers	p. 65
Taylorism	p. 71
Reaction to New Haven	p. 75
Old School Discord Over Subscription	p. 78
A House Divided	p. 82
First Trial of Albert Barnes	p. 82
"Letters to Presbyterians"	p. 87
Protests Against the General Assembly	p. 92
Southern Awakening	p. 98
The Great Schism	p. 103
Second Barnes Trial	p. 103
General Assembly of 1836	p. 111
Reaction to the Assembly	p. 119
Catastrophe of 1837	p. 123
New School Presbyterians	p. 128
A New Church	p. 129
New School Calvinism	p. 135
Colonial Heritage	p. 138
Understanding the Schism	p. 146
Old School Charles Hodge	p. 152
The Constitutional History	p. 152
Reply to Dr. Cox	p. 160
"Adoption of the Confession"	p. 162
Practicing Discipline	p. 167
Presbyterians in the South	p. 172
United Synod of the South	p. 173
Reunion Proposal and Old School Response	p. 177
Old School Schism of 1861	p. 180
Union with the Independent Presbyterian Church	p. 183
Old School Pursues the New School	p. 187
Lynchburg Conference	p. 189
Southern Churches Unite	p. 194
Old School Resistance	p. 194
Reunion of 1864	p. 201
Cumberland Presbyterians	p. 207
Southern Moderation	p. 209
Northern Reunion and Sectional Division	p. 213
Henry B. Smith and New School Subscription	p. 214
Road to Reunion	p. 222
New School Vindication	p. 227
Spirituality of the Church	p. 228
Correspondence North and South	p. 232
Conclusion	p. 239
Bibliography	p. 243
General Index	p. 265
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