Catholic Word of the Day: PRESBYTERIANS, 01-25-11

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PRESBYTERIANS

Members of various Protestant bodies, following in the tradition of John Calvin (1509-64) and his Scottish disciple John Knox (1513-72). The essential structural feature of historic Presbyterianism was that the Church's government should be in the hands of presbyters. Today, however, many Presbyterians hold that the Church founded by Christ contained episcopal and congregational, as well as presbyterian, elements. A typical Presbyterian church is governed by a hierarchy of authorities, each in the nature of a court: session, presbytery, synod, and general assembly, having clearly defined functions and specific directors.

The substance of Presbyterian belief is contained in the Westminster Confession of Faith, drafted by the Puritan English Parliament in 1643. Its main provisions are the Calvinist predestination belief that the Church founded by Christ was essentially invisible and "consists of the whole number of the elect," a spiritual and not bodily presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and a deference to civil authority that is characteristically Presbyterian. A new confession of the faith, issued by the American Presbyterians in 1967, left the Westminster Confession essentially untouched. Added to the group of now recognized statements of faith, however, was the Theological Declaration of Barmen (1834), published under Karl Barth (1186-1968) during the Nazi regime, to defend the Church's freedom from political oppression.

All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Catholic Word of the Day – links will be provided later by another FReeper.

Denial of Faith	Charisms of Service	Infanticide
Episcopal Conference	Eparchy	Righteous Anger
Ecclesiastes	Immodest Looks	Creation
Sigilum (Seal of Confession)	Aggiornamento	Actus Dei
Gradual	Presbyterians

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" Added to the group of now recognized statements of faith, however, was the Theological Declaration of Barmen (1834), published under Karl Barth (1186-1968) during the Nazi regime, to defend the Church's freedom from political oppression. "

Say what? Surely you meant to say that the Declaration of Barmen was issued in 1934, not 1834, and that Barth lived from 1886 to 1968.

This is confusing to those of us who aren't familiar with it.

Calvin was nuts, btw.

I don't mean to pick nits or to suggest poor writing on your part, but otherwise this Barth dude lived to be almost 800 years old, and he saw the nazis coming almost 100 years before their time, when he was way past 600.

This is important for many who are trying to make sense of how the current affairs of both the Protestant (me) and Catholic churches came to be.

You might want to drop your source a note...

[Flame suit] Calvin was nuts, and was a deleterious influence on Christianity. It would be helpful to get the dates right, even if the intent of the original writer is semi-obvious. :)

The substance of Presbyterian belief is contained in the Westminster Confession of Faith, drafted by the Puritan English Parliament in 1643. Its main provisions are the Calvinist predestination belief that the Church founded by Christ was essentially invisible and "consists of the whole number of the elect," a spiritual and not bodily presence of Christ in the Eucharist, and a deference to civil authority that is characteristically Presbyterian.

"In 1648, the first printing of the Larger and Shorter Catechisms of the Westminster Assembly were made available for distribution and sale in England and Scotland. They remain the clearest expressions of Reformed Protestantism ever formulated..."
- May 13, This Week in Religion History

Confession and Catechisms [introduction to the Westminster Confession of Faith]

The Westminster Confession of Faith
[from the Orthodox Presbyterian Church website]
Chapter 1: Of the Holy Scripture
Chapter 2: Of God, and of the Holy Trinity
Chapter 3: Of God’s Eternal Decree
Chapter 4: Of Creation
Chapter 5: Of Providence
Chapter 6: Of the Fall of Man, of Sin, and of the Punishment Thereof
Chapter 7: Of God’s Covenant with Man
Chapter 8: Of Christ the Mediator
Chapter 9: Of Free Will
Chapter 10: Of Effectual Calling
Chapter 11: Of Justification
Chapter 12: Of Adoption
Chapter 13: Of Sanctification
Chapter 14: Of Saving Faith
Chapter 15: Of Repentance unto Life
Chapter 16: Of Good Works
Chapter 17: Of the Perseverance of the Saints
Chapter 18: Of the Assurance of Grace and Salvation
Chapter 19: Of the Law of God
Chapter 20: Of Christian Liberty and Liberty of Conscience
Chapter 21: Of Religious Worship and the Sabbath Day
Chapter 22: Of Lawful Oaths and Vows
Chapter 23: Of the Civil Magistrate
Chapter 24: Of Marriage and Divorce
Chapter 25: Of the Church
Chapter 26: Of the Communion of Saints
Chapter 27: Of the Sacraments
Chapter 28: Of Baptism
Chapter 29: Of the Lord’s Supper
Chapter 30: Of Church Censures
Chapter 31: Of Synods and Councils
Chapter 32: Of the State of Men after Death, and of the Resurrection of the Dead
Chapter 33: Of the Last Judgment

Presbyterians have a very democratic form of church government starting with the local church. The board of Elders meets with the Minister to govern the local church, within the confines of church regulations established by the local Presbytery, which is answerable to the National Assembly. Unfortunately the Assembly is quite liberal, much moreso than the local churches. My cousin’s church in Pittsburgh successfully seceded from the Presbyterian Church USA - PCUSA - because of that liberalism.

Actually Presbyterian is a form of church government, not doctrine.

There are other churches that hold to the doctrine of Grace that are congregational or have a more Episcopal form of church government BUT they are not presbyterian, they do not hold to the Westminster confession , they have their own confession of faith.

For Baptists it is the First London Baptist Confession of Faith (1644/1646) or the Second London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689).

For the reformed Episcopal it would be the Episcopal 39 Articles of Religion 1801

For the Lutheran Augsburg Confession

For the Dutch reformed it would be the Heidelberg Catechism

The Wesminister is unique to confessional presbyterians

This author is in error tying the form of church government with the doctrine. One needs only look at the Presbyterian church USA to see a church that maintains a presbyterian government but is universalist in believe and that does not hold exclusively to the Westminster Catechism.

This is a very simple thing, and it is troubling that someone that claims any knowledge would teach an error like this

One needs only look at the Presbyterian church USA to see a church that maintains a presbyterian government but is universalist in believe and that does not hold exclusively to the Westminster Catechism.

This is a very simple thing, and it is troubling that someone that claims any knowledge would teach an error like this

Fr. Hardon's "Modern Catholic Dictionary" was published in 1980. The PCUSA probably wasn't quite as far off the rails back then.

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