Presbyterianism

Discipline.

Presbyterian discipline is now entirely confined to exclusion from membership or from office. Though it is the duty of a minister to warn against irreverent or profane partici pation in the Lord's Supper, he himself has no right to exclude any one from communion; that can only be done as the act of himself and the elders duly assembled in session. A code of instructions for the guidance of church courts when engaged in cases of disci pline is in general use, and bears witness to the extreme care taken not only to have things done decently and in order, but also to prevent hasty, impulsive and illogical procedure in the investiga tion of charges of heresy or immorality. Cases of discipline are now comparatively rare, and, when they do occur, are not charac terized by the bigoted severity which prevailed in former times and was rightly denounced as unchristian.

The extent to which the Presbyterian form of church govern ment prevails throughout the world has been made more manifest in recent years by the formation of the "General Council of the Alliance of Reformed Churches holding the Presbyterian System," the object of which is to promote unity and fellowship among the numerous branches of Presbyterianism throughout the world. Since 1910 the Presbyterian churches have encountered, in common with others, the obstacles and the impetus created by the World War. The gains have outweighed the losses upon the whole. Numerically, to judge from the statistics presented to the general council held at Cardiff in July 1925 the total membership of the Presbyterian churches had increased between 1913 and that date by well over 2,000,000. The precise figures are, for 1 oo organised churches which it has been possible to reach, 8,670,500 souls; so that, on the usual scale of estimating people under the direct in fluence of a Church, there are over 40,000,00o who are Presby terians.

From this general outline of Presbyterianism we now turn to consider its evolution and history in some of the countries with which it is or has been specially associated. We omit, however, one of the most important, viz., Scotland, as the history is fully covered under the separate headings of SCOTLAND, CHURCH OF and allied articles.

Switzerland.

The Swiss, owing to their peculiar geographical position and to certain political circumstances, early manifested in dependence in ecclesiastical matters, and became accustomed to the management of their church affairs. The work of Zwingli as a Reformer, important and thorough though it was, did not con cern itself mainly with church polity. Ecclesiastical affairs were, as a matter of course, wholly under the management of the can tonal and municipal authorities, and Zwingli was content that it should be so. The work of Farel, previous to his coming to Geneva, was almost entirely evangelistic, and his first work in Geneva was of a similar character. It was the town council which made arrangements for religious disputations, and provided for the housing and maintenance of the preacher. When Calvin, at Farel's invitation, settled in Geneva (1536) the work of reforma tion became more constructive. "The need of the hour was organi

zation and familiar instruction, and Calvin set himself to work at once." The first reforms he wished to see introduced concerned the Lord's Supper, church praise, religious instruction of youth and the regulation of marriage. In connection with the first he desired that the discipline de l'excommunication should be exer cised. His plan was partly Presbyterian and partly consistorial. Owing to certain circumstances in its past history, Geneva was notoriously immoral. "The rule of dissolute bishops, and the ex ample of a turbulent and immoral clergy, had poisoned the morals of the city. Even the nuns of Geneva were notorious for their conduct." Calvin suggested that men of known worth should be appointed in different quarters of the city to report to the ministers those persons in their district who lived in open sin ; that the ministers should then warn such persons not to come to the communion; and that, if their warnings were unheeded, discipline should be enforced. It was on this subject of keeping pure the Lord's Table that the controversy arose between the ministers and the town councillors which ended in the banishment of Calvin, Farel and Conrad from Geneva. In 1538 the ministers took upon themselves to refuse to administer the Lord's Supper in Geneva because the city, as represented by its council, declined to submit to church discipline. The storm then broke out, and the ministers were banished.

Calvin's refusal to administer the sacrament, for which he was banished from Geneva, is important as a matter of ecclesiastical history, because it is the essence of the whole system which he subsequently introduced. It rests on the principles that the Church has the right to exclude those who are unworthy, and that she is in no way subject to the civil power in spiritual matters. Dur ing the three years of his banishment Calvin was at Strassburg, where he had been carrying out his ideas. His recall was greatly to his honour. The town had become a prey to anarchy. One party threatened to return to Romanism ; another threatened to sacrifice the independence of Geneva and submit to Berne. It was felt to be a political necessity that he should return, and in 1541, somewhat reluctantly, he returned on his own terms. These were the recognition of the Church's spiritual independence, the division of the town into parishes, and the appointment (by the municipal authority) of a consistory or council of elders in each parish for the exercise of discipline. The arrangement was, how ever, a compromise. The state retained control of the ecclesiasti cal organization, and Calvin secured his much-needed system of discipline. Fourteen years of friction and struggle followed, and if there came after them a period of comparative triumph and repose for the great reformer it must still be remembered that he was never able to have his ideal ecclesiastical organization fully realized in the city of his adoption.