Presbyterian

From Conservapedia

The Presbyterian Church is a mainline Protestant denomination founded in the Church Reformation of the 1500s. They were differentiated from the Lutherans over sacraments and church government, among other doctrines. John Knox founded the Scotch Presbyterian church in about 1560. Presbyterianism can thus be seen as Calvinism in the Scottish tradition.

Traditionally the ethics of the church lean towards strictness and firm church and self discipline. Authority in Presbyterian churches is given to Scripture. Presbyterians are Calvinist in doctrine and their faith is summarized in the Westminster Standards. Church organization is highly structured with a representational system of ministers and laypersons (presbyters) in local, regional and national bodies (called presbyteries and synods'). The largest governing body of the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. is called the General Assembly, which is made up of representatives of all the presbyteries.

The Presbyterian Church is the dominant religion in Scotland, and because of this was historically strong in areas of the United States where large numbers of Scots-Irish settled, although many Americans of Scots-Irish ancestry would later convert to the Baptist and Methodist faiths during the early 1800s.

In the early 20th century, the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., the majority of American Presbyterians, modernized much of its theology. The results of such modernization (i.e., a move towards Liberal Christianity) include the well-respected scholar J. Gresham Machen leaving Princeton Theological Seminary and Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. and helping to found Westminster Theological Seminary and Orthodox Presbyterian Church.