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The Protestant Reformation and Its Relationship to the Presbyterian Church

from the Worship Commission

(many thanks to Donna Long for preparing this for us!)

John Calvin (first item below)

John Knox

John Witherspoon

Structure of the Church

John Calvin’s Role in the Reformation.

Presbyterians trace their history to the sixteenth century and the Protestant Reformation. Presbyterian heritage, and much of what they believe, began with the Swiss/French theologian/lawyer John Calvin (1509–1564), whose writings solidified much of the Reformed thinking that came before him.

Calvin did most of his writing from Geneva, Switzerland. From there, the Reformed movement spread to other parts of Europe. The final edition of his most influential work, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, appeared in 1559. By then, the work consisted of four books of eighty chapters, and each book was named after statements from the creed: Book 1 on God the Creator, Book 2 on the Redeemer in Christ, Book 3 on receiving the Grace of Christ through the Holy Spirit, and Book 4 on the Society of Christ or the Church. Book 4 describes what Calvin considers to be the true Church and its ministry, authority, and sacraments. He denied the papal claim to primacy and the accusation that the reformers were schismatic. For Calvin, the Church was defined as the body of believers who placed Christ at its head. By definition, there was only one "catholic" or "universal" Church. Hence, he argued that the reformers, "had to leave them in order that we might come to Christ." The ministers of the Church are described from a passage from Ephesians, and they consisted of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and doctors. Calvin regarded the first three offices as temporary, limited in their existence to the time of the New Testament. The latter two offices were established in the church in Geneva. He also believed that the civil and church authorities were separate and should not interfere with each other.

Calvin defined a sacrament as an earthly sign associated with a promise from God. He accepted only two sacraments as valid under the new covenant: baptism and the Lord's Supper (in opposition to the Catholic acceptance of seven sacraments). He completely rejected the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation and the treatment of the Supper as a sacrifice. He also could not accept the Lutheran doctrine of sacramental union in which Christ was "in, with and under" the elements. Rather than holding a purely symbolic view, Calvin noted that with the participation of the Holy Spirit, faith was nourished and strengthened by the sacrament. In his words, the eucharistic rite was "a secret too sublime for my mind to understand or words to express. I experience it rather than understand it."

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John Knox’s Role in the Reformation.

John Knox, a Scotsman who studied with Calvin in Geneva, Switzerland, took Calvin's teachings back to Scotland. The Presbyterian church traces its ancestry back primarily to Scotland. John Knox (c. 1510 – 24 November 1572) was a Scottish clergyman and leader of the Protestant Reformation who is considered the founder of the Presbyterian denomination. He was educated at the University of St Andrews and worked as a notary-priest. Influenced by early church reformers such as George Wishart, he joined the movement to reform the Scottish church. He was caught up in the ecclesiastical and political events that involved the murder of Cardinal Beaton in 1546 and the intervention of the regent of Scotland, Mary of Guise. He was taken prisoner by French forces the following year and exiled to England on his release in 1549.

While in exile, Knox was licensed to work in the Church of England; he quickly rose in the ranks to serve King Edward VI of England as a royal chaplain. In this position, he exerted a reforming influence on the text of the Book of Common Prayer. When Mary Tudor ascended the throne and re-established Roman Catholicism, Knox was forced to resign his position and leave the country.

Knox first moved to Geneva and then to Frankfurt. In Geneva, he met John Calvin, from whom he gained experience and knowledge of Reformed theology and Presbyterian polity. He created a new order of service, which was eventually adopted by the reformed church in Scotland. He left Geneva to head the English refugee church in Frankfurt but he was forced to leave over differences concerning the liturgy, thus ending his association with the Church of England.

On his return to Scotland, he led the Protestant Reformation in Scotland, in partnership with the Scottish Protestant nobility. The movement may be seen as a revolution, since it led to the ousting of Mary of Guise, who governed the country in the name of her young daughter, Mary, Queen of Scots. Knox helped write the new confession of faith and the ecclesiastical order for the newly created reformed church, the Kirk. He continued to serve as the religious leader of the Protestants throughout Mary's reign. In several interviews with the queen, Knox admonished her for supporting Catholic practices. Eventually, when she was imprisoned for her alleged role in the murder of her husband, Lord Darnley, and James VI enthroned in her stead, he openly called for her execution. He continued to preach until his final days.

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John Witherspoon

In preparation for Reformation Sunday on October 31 the Worship Commission is offering each Sunday some background on the Protestant Reformation and its relationship to the Presbyterian Church. Today we have a summary of John Witherspoon’s role in the church.

The early Presbyterians in America came from England, Scotland and Ireland. The first American Presbytery was organized at Philadelphia in 1706. The first General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (PCUSA) was held in the same city in 1789. The Assembly was convened by the Rev. John Witherspoon, the only minister to sign the Declaration of Independence. This was indicative of the active support of Presbyterians for the American War of Independence.

John Witherspoon was born near Edinburgh in 1723. He matriculated at the University of Edinburgh at 13 and earned both his master of arts and divinity degrees there. He served churches as pastor and was moderator of the synod of Glagow and Ayr. An eloquent spokesman for the Popular (conservative) church party, he deplored the spiritual vacuity of the "paganized Christian divines" of his day and attracted the attention of intellectuals at home and abroad for his courage and leadership.

Witherspoon was just the man for the presidency of the College of New Jersey, which was torn between new-and old-side factionalism, and the job was offered him in 1766. The call to the college in Princeton, N.J., was more than an educational mission. The Presbyterian Church was divided in counsel and looked to the new president to heal its wounds. As was explained to Witherspoon, the college president "was from his office as it were the bishop of all our American churches and ruled in all our church judicatories." Under Witherspoon the schism was healed, the organization strengthened, and the church grew rapidly.

Witherspoon's common sense approach to morality was influenced by the Enlightenment ethics of Scottish philosophers. He held that certain doctrines are central to a living faith, and that actions should flow from belief in those doctrines. The doctrines were, in Witherspoon’s own words, “the lost state of man by nature; salvation by the free grace of God; justification by the imputed righteousness of Christ; and sanctification by the effectual operation of the Holy Spirit”. The actions included Sabbath keeping, public worship and reception of the sacraments, and private worship.

Witherspoon believed morality was a science that could be taught and developed through education or sociability. In accordance with the Scottish moral sense philosophy, he taught that all human beings--religious or otherwise--could be virtuous. Many of his students, including James Madison and Aaron Burr played prominent roles in the development of the new nation.

As a native Scotsman, long wary of the power of the British Crown, Witherspoon soon came to support the Revolution, joining the Committee of Correspondence and Safety in early 1774. He was elected to the Continental Congress as part of the New Jersey delegation and, in July 1776 voted for the Resolution for Independence. In answer to an objection that the country was not yet ready for independence, , according to tradition he replied that it "was not only ripe for the measure, but in danger of rotting for the want of it."

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Structure of the Presbyterian Church

In preparation for Reformation Sunday on October 31, the Worship Commission has been offering each Sunday some background on the Protestant Reformation and its relationship to the Presbyterian Church. Today we have a summary of how the structure of the Presbyterian Church developed out of the Protestant Reformation.

Presbyterian polity is a method of church governance typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session or consistory, though other terms, such as church board, may apply. Groups of local churches are governed by a higher assembly of elders known as the presbytery or classis; presbyteries can be grouped into a synod, and synods nationwide often join together in a general assembly. Specific roles in church services are reserved for an ordained minister or pastor known as a teaching elder, or a minister of the word and sacrament.

Presbyterian polity was developed as a rejection of governance by hierarchies of single bishops (episcopal polity), but also differs from the congregationalist polity in which each congregation is independent. In contrast to the other two forms, authority in the presbyterian polity flows both from the top down (as higher assemblies exercise considerable authority over individual congregations) and from the bottom up (as all officials ultimately owe their elections to individual church members). This theory of government developed in Geneva under John Calvin and was introduced to Scotland by John Knox after his period of exile in Geneva. It is strongly associated with Swiss and Scottish Reformation movements, and with the Reformed and Presbyterian churches.

The Worship Commission

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This is the "portal" to pages that will also serve as our newsletter -- to be printed for those without access to the Internet and made available in the Narthex.To request addition of content, to submit content, and to let me know of any errors you see here, please contact Anne at secondcentury@live.com