PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN THE UNI TED STATES.
In dealing with the history of the Presbyterian Churches in America, it will be helpful to note first, the constituent principles of the Presbyterian system of theology, worship and government, the relation of these principles to the formation of the American Republic, and the several Churches which are the exponents of the system.
(1) The Presbyterian System. The doctrine of the divine sovereignty is the controlling idea of the Presbyterian System. By this is meant the absolute control of the universe, with all that it has contained, does and will contain, whether visible things or invisible things by the one su preme, omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent Spirit, for wise, just, holy and loving ends. This sovereignty, however, does not make God "the author of sin, neither is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or con tingency of second causes taken away, but rather established."—Westminster Confession, Chapter III, Section I.
The divine sovereignty finds expression in the Presbyterian System in the statement of cer tain great principles, four of the most important of which are as follows: (a) The sovereignty of the Word of God over creed and life. Neither the human reason nor the Church have been vested with power to dictate to men either what they are to believe or how they are to act ; this high prerogative belongs alone to God, and his will in all essential matters of belief and practice is contained in the Holy Scriptures, and in them alone. (b) The sovereignty of God in salvation; salvation is not of works but of grace; it is not through character but by faith. Faith is the root of character, and works are the outcome of grace. "The principal acts of saving faith are accepting, receiving, and resting upon Christ alone for justi fication, sanctification, and eternal life, by virtue of the covenant of grace."—Westminster Confes sion, Chapter XIV, Section 2. (e) The sover eignty under God of the individual conscience in matters of religion, as expressed in the historic declaration, "God alone is Lord of the conscience. and bath left it free from the doctrines and com mandments of men which are in anything con trary to his Word, or beside it, in matters of faith or worship."—Westminster Confession, Chapter XX, Section 2. (d) The sovereignty of Christ in his Church, "There is no other head of the Church, but the Lord Jesus Christ."—IVestmin Confession, Chapter XXV, Section 6. This sovereignty of Christ involves the right of all be lievers to recognition as members of his body, and as entitled to an active share in all Church privileges. As a result of the principles just stated, the Presbyterian Church has formulated what it believes to be a system of theology, church government, ethics and worship, in full harmony with the will of God as revealed in Holy Scrip ture.
(2) Presbyterian Principles and the Ameri can Republic. The predominant influence in the history of mankind has always been that resident in ideas. It is this fact which gives to truth its supreme worth. The ideas above referred to, and which are of the essence of the Presbyterian System, were the controlling ideas of the Protes tant Reformation, and found expression in the documents known as the Westminster Standards. These Standards were framed by the world famous Westminster Assembly of Divines, at Lon don, Great Britain, in 1647.. Doctrinally, the sys tem of thought found in them bears the name of Calvinism, from its chief theologian, John Calvin of Geneva. Politically, the system is the chief source of modern republican government. Ban croft speaks of "the political character of Calvin ism, which, with one consent, and with instinctive judgment, the monarchs of the day feared as republicanism." The English Calvinists, com monly known as Puritans, early found a home on American shores, and immigrants of the Protes tant faith of other nationalities, were their natural allies. The majority of the early Colonists were Calvinists. They brought with them to the new land those doctrinal ideas which exalt in the hu man mind the sovereignty of God, which bring all lives and institutions to the test of the Holy Scriptures, which teach that the divine being is no respecter of persons, and which lead logically to the conclusion that "all men are born free and equal." Further, the early British settlers, whether Presbyterians or Puritans, were all believers in the Westminster Confession, for that creed was adopted by the Congregationalists in 1648, and by the Baptists, except as to Baptist peculiarities, in 1677. The German and Dutch Calvinists in the Colonies were also in full sympathy with its doctrines. These facts made the principles of the Confession dominant in the formation of the American Republic. Those who maintained them, for one thing, demanded and provided for popular education. The first two European countries to establish free schools were Calvinistic Scotland and Holland, and the first organizers of the public school system in the United States were Calvin ists, as they were also the founders of Har vard, Yale, and Princeton Universities. Further, Baptists and Presbyterians, laboring together, aided greatly in securing the absolute separation of Church and State, and that untrammeled re ligious liberty which is the peculiar glory of American institutions.