Presbyterianism has been present in the United States since colonial times and has exerted an important influence on broader American religion and culture. Throughout U.S. history, Presbyterians have played a prominent role in society. From their initial arrival in the new world in the early 1640s, they established the first Presbytery in 1706 under Rev. Francis Makemie in Philadelphia. Presbyterians mainly came from Scotland or Ulster (now Northern Ireland) to the middle colonies, most often Pennsylvania. Presbyterians (particularly Jonathan Dickinson and Aaron Burr Sr.) established Princeton University in 1746 to educate clergy in alignment with the theology pioneered by William Tennent, and later produced the "Princeton Theologians" such as Charles Hodge. Influenced by Scottish theologians such as Samuel Rutherford and John Knox, Presbyterians largely believed that "Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God", which led them to support the American Revolution. The Revolutionary War was dubbed the "Presbyterian Rebellion" by King George III and other loyalists.Gardiner, The Presbyterian Rebellion, Phd Dissertation, Marquette University, 2009 Since the founding of the United States, many Presbyterians, both laity and clergy, from both the pulpit and presidency, have shaped and influenced the history and culture of the United States.
History European origins Reformed Protestantism, of which Presbyterianism is a subset, originated in the Swiss Reformation under the leadership of Heinrich Bullinger, Huldrych Zwingli, John Knox, William Farel, and John Calvin. Among these men, the theology of John Calvin and John Knox would have the most influence. A defining characteristic of Reformed theology is a belief in predestination—that before the creation of the world, God chose some people for salvation (the elect), and this choice relied completely on God's will and in no way on human merit.
Reformed Protestants rejected many aspects of Roman Catholic theology and practice. Latin was abandoned as a liturgical language in favor of the vernacular, and preaching (rather than celebration of the Mass) became the main emphasis of church services. The traditional seven sacraments were reduced to two—baptism and the Lord's Supper. Many Reformed churches also rejected episcopal polity in favor of presbyterian polity. According to presbyterian polity, rather than rule by bishops, congregations are governed by a representative body of elders called a session. Sessions receive oversight from a series of higher representative authorities: presbyteries, synods, and general assemblies.
Reformed ideas would spread from Continental Europe to Scotland and England, where they would shape the Presbyterian churches there. As a result of the Scottish Reformation, the Church of Scotland adopted Reformed theology and presbyterian polity. Its major leader was John Knox, who studied with Calvin in Geneva. The English Reformation went in a different direction. While its Thirty-nine Articles of faith reflect mainstream Reformed theology, the Church of England and the Church of Ireland retained episcopal polity and maintained, in modified form, some liturgical traditions inherited from the Roman Church. Within the English church, there were those by the late 1500s who subscribed to presbyterian polity, and these English Presbyterians produced a collection of confessional statements, the Westminster Standards, that, to varying extents, would become authoritative for Presbyterians. In the 1600s, Presbyterianism was brought to Northern Ireland as a result of large-scale colonization from Scotland during the Plantation of Ulster.
Colonial era Synod of Philadelphia In the late 1600s, economic problems and religious persecution prompted many Scotch-Irish to migrate to America, and most settled in the Middle Colonies. Their numbers were augmented by Presbyterian migration from Puritan New England, and soon there were enough Presbyterians in America to organize congregations. The first ministers were recruited from Northern Ireland, including Francis Makemie, who is known as the "father of American Presbyterianism." While several Presbyterian churches had been established, they were not yet organized into presbyteries and synods.
In 1706, Makemie and seven other ministers established the first presbytery in North America, the Presbytery of Philadelphia. The presbytery was primarily created to promote fellowship and discipline among its members and only gradually developed into a governing body. Some of the members had Scotch-Irish and Scottish backgrounds. The Scotch-Irish party stressed a dogmatic adherence to confessional standards, professional ministry, and orderly, centralized church government. Other members were of English and Welsh ancestry. Having been born and educated in New England (nearly all had attended Yale College), their views on subscription and church authority were influenced by New England Congregationalism. The New England party emphasized "spontaneity, vital impulse, adaptability" and experiential piety.
As growth continued, the presbytery reorganized itself into America's first synod, the Synod of Philadelphia or General Synod, in 1717. The presbytery had avoided divisive theological controversies, and the synod followed suit in its early years, as it functioned without any official confessional statement. The Church of Scotland and the Irish Synod of Ulster already required clergy to subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith, but not the Larger or Shorter Catechisms. This had caused controversy in those countries. In the 1720s, the Scotch-Irish group demanded that all ministers and ministerial candidates subscribe to the Confession. This was opposed by the New England group, which felt that requiring subscription elevated the confession to the same level of authority as the Bible.
In 1729, the Synod reached a compromise with the passage of the Adopting Act. It required clergy to assent to the Westminster Confession and both the Larger and Shorter Catechisms; however, subscription was only required for those parts of the confession deemed "essential and necessary article of faith". Ministers could declare any scruples to their presbytery or the synod, which would then decide if the minister's views were acceptable.
Old Side–New Side Controversy (1730–1758)
During the 1730s and 1740s, the Presbyterian Church was divided over the impact of the First Great Awakening. Drawing from the Scotch-Irish revivalist tradition, ministers such as William and Gilbert Tennent emphasized the necessity of a conscious conversion experience and the need for higher moral standards among the clergy. Gilbert Tennent was personally influenced by the ministry of Jacob Frelinghuysen, a Dutch Reformed pastor in Raritan, New Jersey. Frelinghuysen himself had been influenced by contact with Pietism.
Other Presbyterians were concerned that revivalism presented a threat to church order. In particular, the practice of itinerant preaching across presbytery boundaries, and the tendency of revivalists to doubt the conversion experiences of other ministers, caused controversy between supporters of revivalism, known as the "New Side", and their conservative opponents, known as the "Old Side". While the Old Side and New Side disagreed over the possibility of immediate assurance of salvation, the controversy was not primarily theological. Both sides believed in justification by faith, predestination, and that regeneration occurred in stages.
In 1738, the Synod took two actions that infuriated the revivalists. They first required candidates for ordination who did not have college degrees to be examined by a committee of the Synod before being allowed to join a presbytery. At the time, there were no Presbyterian colleges in America, and candidates for the clergy were forced to attend either Harvard or Yale (both Congregational institutions), or study in Britain. Candidates unable to do so received training from pastors or at informal academies. One such academy was founded by William Tennent and became known as the Log College. The new ordination requirement was taken as an insult to these informally trained ministers, many of whom were revivalists. The second action restricted the right of clergymen to preach outside of their presbytery. Revivalists objected to this restriction, noting that itinerant preaching helped to spread the gospel and alleviate clergy shortages.
Tensions between the two sides continued to escalate. When the Synod met in May 1741, relations between the two factions had reached the breaking point. By the time the meeting had concluded, a definite split had occurred. The Old Side retained control of the Synod of Philadelphia, and it immediately required unconditional subscription to the Westminster Confession with no option to state scruples.
The New Side was initially organized as the Conjunct Presbyteries of New Brunswick and Londonderry. In 1745, the Presbytery of New York, led by moderate revivalist Jonathan Dickinson, left the Philadelphia Synod and joined the Conjunct Presbyteries to form the New Side Synod of New York. The new Synod required subscription to the Westminster Confession in accordance with the Adopting Act, but no college degrees were required for ordination.
While the controversy raged, American Presbyterians were also concerned with expanding their influence. In 1740, a New York Board of the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge was established. Four years later, David Brainerd was assigned as a missionary to the Native Americans. New Side Presbyterians were responsible for founding the College of New Jersey (later Princeton University), primarily to train ministers, in 1746. In 1755, the New Side Synod created the Presbytery of Hanover (named for Hanover County, Virginia), which encompassed Virginia and the Carolinas. In addition, the Old Side Synod had one minister located in the South.
By 1758, both sides were ready for reconciliation. Over the years, New Side revivalism had become less radical. At the same time, Old Side Presbyterians were experiencing numerical decline and were eager to share in the New Side's vitality and growth. The two synods merged to become the Synod of New York and Philadelphia. The united Synod required unqualified subscription to the Westminster Confession, but clergy candidates would also be examined for their "experimental acquaintance with religion" (i.e., their personal conversion experiences).
Following America's victory in the Revolutionary War, the Synod of New York and Philadelphia proposed the creation of a national Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. The first General Assembly met in 1789.
Covenanters and Seceders Divisions originating in Scotland and Ireland were also duplicated in America, giving rise to Presbyterian denominations not affiliated with either Old Side or New Side synods. Within the Synod of Philadelphia, three ministers had Covenanter sympathies, believing that submission to the National Covenant (1638) and the Solemn League and Covenant (1643) were perpetual obligations. After the Old Side–New Side split, one of these men, Alexander Craighead of Middle Octorara, Pennsylvania, asked Scotland's Reformed Presbytery to send ministers to America (Craighead had already joined the Synod of New York by the time his request was answered). In 1751, the Reformed Presbytery sent John Cuthbertson to serve the Covenanters of Pennsylvania and lay the foundation of the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America.