Presbyterianism

I

Introduction

Presbyterianism, a form of church government and a particular theological tradition found in the Presbyterian and Reformed denominations. The churches in this tradition constitute one of the four major groups that issued from the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century—Lutheran, Anabaptist, Anglican, and Presbyterian and Reformed.

II

Church Organization

The term Presbyterian is from the Greek presbyteros (“elder”), and church government by elders characterizes the organization of Presbyterian and Reformed churches. Both clergy and laity may be elders, and in most Presbyterian churches today, both men and women are elders.

Presbyterian church government is often called a “mixed” system of democratic and hierarchical elements, because the power is balanced between clergy and laity and between congregations and larger governing bodies of the church. Although the structure of Presbyterian church government varies, it usually consists of ascending church bodies, or courts. Each congregation is governed by a ruling body called a session, or consistory, composed of the pastor and the elders, who are elected representatives of the congregation. Congregations belong to a presbytery, or classis, which coordinates and governs the activities of congregations within a particular geographic area. The members of a presbytery include all the pastors and elected representative elders from each of the congregations.

The power to ordain ministers lies in the presbytery, in contrast to episcopal forms of church government, in which this is done by a bishop, and congregational church government, in which the congregation retains the power of ordination. In a larger sense, the presbytery serves as a communal bishop, exercising both pastoral and judicial responsibilities for its churches.

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Presbyteries belong to synods, which are larger geographic units of the church, and a general assembly, or general synod, unites the entire church. At these levels as well, the church is governed by its elders—clergy and laity elected as representatives of the people.

III

History

The roots of Presbyterianism can be traced to the theology of John Calvin, the leader of the Protestant Reformation in Geneva (see Calvinism). Calvin sought to establish a church government based on the New Testament concept of the office of elder, but Calvin and the early reformed theologians did not finally insist on presbyterianism as the only form of church government sanctioned by the Bible. This has allowed some variation in the forms of Calvinist government and the potential for toleration of other ecclesiastical polities. For example, many Congregational and Baptist churches consider themselves Calvinist in theology but do not have a presbyterian form of church government.

From its earliest days, the Reformed tradition was the most international of all branches of Protestantism. It quickly spread from Geneva through France, Germany, and Holland into eastern Europe, the British Isles, and North America. When Calvinists organized churches with a presbyterian form of government on the European continent, they called them Reformed; in the British Isles and North America, these churches were known as Presbyterian.

Until the 19th century, Presbyterianism's greatest strength was in Britain, Holland, and North America, but with the rapid expansion of missionary activity after 1800, Presbyterian or Reformed churches were established on every continent. Currently, English-speaking members of the Presbyterian and Reformed churches are a minority, and large Presbyterian and Reformed churches can be found in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and elsewhere throughout the world.

A

Theology

Although the theology of Presbyterianism is characterized by diversity today, Calvin's theology serves as a central source. His most important and influential work is Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536), which he revised throughout his life (see Calvin, John). The last edition (1559) has been the most widely used.

Like the German religious reformer Martin Luther, Calvin emphasized the two central doctrines of the Protestant Reformation: the authority of Scripture and justification by grace through faith. Also, like Luther, Calvin reduced the number of Christian sacraments to two—baptism of both infants and adults, and the Lord's Supper (see Eucharist). Calvin differed from Luther and other Protestant reformers in his understanding of the nature of the Lord's Supper, church government, and the role of the law in Christian life. His theology is characterized by its reliance on the Bible as interpreted through the aid of the Holy Spirit and by his stress on the sovereignty of God and the inability of people to achieve salvation through their own works.

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