Peace And Purity Provided By Authority: John Thomson’s Defense Of Presbyterian Church Polity (Part 3): Historical Background

The American Presbyterian Church was formed on the soil of the New World and the conflicts it experienced were the growing pains of a young church. At the time of the first presbytery, the three main branches of Scottish Presbyterianism in the . . . Continue reading →

Peace And Purity Provided By Authority: John Thomson’s Defense Of Presbyterian Church Polity (Part 4): American Presbyterian History

Francis Makemie (1657–1707) has been considered to be the Father of American Presbyterianism. Originally from Northern Ireland, he was ordained in Scotland in 1681 and was commission by his Presbytery to plant churches in the Chesapeake Bay area. Makemie, however, came in . . . Continue reading →

Peace And Purity Provided By Authority: John Thomson’s Defense Of Presbyterian Church Polity (Part 6): The Beginning Of Conflict

In 1739, the Presbytery of New Brunswick, which consisted of Gilbert Tennent, Eleazer Wales, William Tennent and Samuel Blair, submitted a document titled The Apology. It consisted of objections to the previous two acts of the Synod of 1738 and a polemical . . . Continue reading →