Friday, March 1, 2013

The Church of Scotland and International Presbyterianism in the 1640s

Over the past few centuries, Presbyterians have largely lost sight of the international implications of presbyterian church government--that it requires the church to be one in formal communion under binding councils throughout the world.  But there have been times in the past when serious attempts were made by the Reformed churches to preserve the international dimensions of church communion.  One great example was the Synod of Dordt.  Another great example was the Solemn League and Covenant, and particularly the attempt of the churches in Britain (and particularly the Church of Scotland) during the 1640s to reach out to Reformed churches in other nations in the hope of helping them to similarly covenant and reform themselves with the goal of developing and strengthening clear presbyterian international ties.

To illustrate the attempts made by the Church of Scotland in the 1640s towards these ends, here is a letter from the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland to the "Kirks in the Netherlands" in the year 1644.

May we recover this vision!

UPDATE 3/4/13:  See the comments for a couple of great quotations on this subject from James Porteous in his book, "Jesus Christ the King of the Church."  Here is one of them:

Presbytery is the proper manifestation of the unity of the Church. Let these principles of associated representative government be logically and fully embraced, and its range must be commensurate with the entire Church. It cannot stop with nations, it must embrace the world. The visible Church can no more be restricted to nations, or partitioned among these as separate and independent portions, than may the congregations of a locality. The Church is one in all the earth.

Exactly!

UPDATE 5/10/13:  The FPCS has recently released a new catechism of its distinctive principles that deals with the subject of the international catholicity of the church.
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2 comments:

  1. Caleb HembdMarch 2, 2013 at 3:47 PM

    Dear Mr. Hausam,

    You might be interested to read James Porteous on this, in his book "Jesus Christ The King of the Church" - a book on presbyterian church government. I downloaded the book from some website a few weeks ago, but can't find it now. Anyway, if you do locate it, see his comments on pp. 322-330. For now I'll just post his introductory comments on universal presbyterianism:

    "3. Universal

    "Presbytery is the proper manifestation of the unity of the Church. Let these principles of associated representative government be logically and fully embraced, and its range must be commensurate with the entire Church. It cannot stop with nations, it must embrace the world. The visible Church can no more be restricted to nations, or partitioned among these as separate and independent portions, than may the congregations of a locality. The Church is one in all the earth. Universality of government is confessedly one of the most difficult matters in the present state of the Church and the world. Still the subject may be proposed in order to after-solution. The answers to two questions appear to give ground to hope that difficulties will all be eventually overcome, and that the unity of the kingdom will ultimately prevail.

    Is Universal Government by Presbytery Scriptural?

    The commission of Christ and the actions of the apostles, as well as the predictions of the Divine Word, furnish the reply. Not only in all the world, and to every creature, is it to be preached—the gospel is to be everywhere acted out. Everything commanded by Christ is, in all the world, to be taught and practised. Wherever persistent offences exist, believers are to tell and to hear the Church.

    Then the assembly at Jerusalem was not local, not even national—it was universal. Not only the Jewish nation, Syria, and other lands—yea, by the apostles, ‘all nations’ were represented in that assembly. If that example be refused as a model for a universal assembly, it must also be refused as a model for any. Decline to entertain the question as to an assembly for the world, as there exemplified, and all authority for national and local synods is removed. If this be so, then this is the model to which the Church must ever seek to conform. When realized, the prophetic word will be literally fulfilled, when ' out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem: and He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people' (Isa. ii. 3, 4)

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  2. Mark HausamMarch 4, 2013 at 9:15 AM

    Thanks for sharing this, Caleb! It puts the matter wonderfully!

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