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The historical doctrinal standards of presbyterian churches in America were born in England and carried to the "New World" by those who settled here. The development of these standards has an interesting history. England, like other European countries, was under the rule of the Roman Catholic Church. The 16th century Protestant Reformation in England had many peculiarities. One of these is that the Reformation in England was more political than it was religious. England did not have an outstanding Reformation leader like Luther, Zwingli, Calvin or Knox. Instead, as the Roman Catholic Church became more and more secular the people of England began to view the power of the Pope as just another foreign prince and they began to resent his rule.
In spite of this discontent, it was King of England and his desire for a divorce that propelled the Church of England into the Reformation. King Henry VIII desired to divorce his wife, Catherine, and marry Anne Boleyn instead. When the Pope failed to grant the divorce King Henry had Parliament pass a law which made him head of the Church of England. While King Henry replaced the Pope as head of the Church of England, he still maintained that any doctrine contrary to the Catholic Church, and failure to acknowledge him as head of the Church of England were heresy. So, when Henry died in 1547 the Church of England was still, for the most part, solidly Catholic. Nevertheless, sentiment for the Reformation grew during the reign of Henry VIII, and with the succession of his son Edward IV, many changes were implemented. These changes moved the Church of England steadily toward reform. At the point where it appeared a complete reformation was possible, Edward IV died and was succeeded by his sister Mary in 1553. Mary was strongly Catholic and proceeded to undo all the changes that had been made. Laws passed during the reign of Edward IV regarding the church were repealed, the Catholic form of worship was restored, and church leaders favoring reform were removed from office. Bloody Mary, as she came to be known, had almost 300 church leaders executed for heresy. Many other church leaders fled to Geneva where they were warmly welcomed by John Calvin. The previous work of the reform in England was completely undone. Mary was succeeded to the throne by her sister Elizabeth in 1558. Elizabeth had been educated under the supervision of Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Cranmer, a prominent Protestant, was martyerd by Queen Mary. Elizabeth, a Protestant, now took the opportunity to reestablish the Protestant movement in the Church of England. The persecutions of Bloody Mary had done much to arouse sentiment against the Catholic Church and this worked in the favor of reform. Many of the Protestants who fled to Calvin's Geneva under Queen Mary now returned, greatly influenced by Calvin's ideas. Because these reformers wished to see the Church of England purified, they were called Puritans. |
The changes made during the 40+ year reign of Queen Elizabeth would not be undone. Even though the Puritans saw oppression under Elizabeth's successors James I and Charles I, they continued to gain prominence in Parliament. When Charles I tried to overthrow the Puritan controlled Parliament he was defeated in the Thirty Years War by Oliver Cromwell and executed in 1649. During this civil war Parliament abolished the form of government in the Church of England and convened an assembly of 121 clergymen and 30 laymen to create a new creed and form of church government. This Westminster Assembly (so-called because it met in Westminster) was overwhelmingly made up of Puritan Presbyterians.
The Westminster Assembly, which did its work thoroughly and well, turned out to be one of the most influential gatherings in the history of the church. This Assembly, which met from 1643 to 1647, drew up the Westminster Confession of Faith and prepared the Westminster Larger Catechism for use from the pulpit and the Westminster Shorter Catechism for the teaching of children. The Confession of Faith is the last great creed to come out of the Protestant Reformation. The Confession of Faith and the two catechisms, all excellent expositions of Reformed doctrine, were adopted by Parliament in 1648. The Confession of Faith was also adopted by the General Assembly of Scotland. This work of reforming the Church of England to Calvinism was completed in 1648, the same year the Thirty Years War ended with the Peace of Westphalia. This is not the end of the story, however. Upon the death of Oliver Cromwell, Charles II (Son of Charles I) was restored to the throne. Charles II, and his brother James II who succeeded him, implemented many changes that moved the Church of England back towards Catholicism. The Puritans, who desired to reform the church from within, were now forced to separate from the church instead. Conspiring with Louis the XIV of France, James II planned to completely restore the Church of England to Catholicism. Mary, daughter of James II, was married to William III, king of the Netherlands. A champion of Protestantism, William drove James II from power and William and Mary were crowned King and Queen of England in 1688. James II, with the support of the French army, returned to occupy the Catholic area of Southern Ireland. The people of Northern Ireland, which were strongly Protestant, supported William. William defeated James in 1690 at the Battle of Boyne, saving Protestantism for Holland, England and America. The result was that religious toleration was granted to Protestant dissenters and they could now freely worship alongside the established Episcopal Church of England. The Westminster Standards (the Confession and Catechisms) continue to be the doctrinal standards of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. |
