Young people
Presbyterianism and our history
(page 1)
The Church of Scotland is a presbyterian
church. Presbyterianism is the name given to those
church denominations that are organised and governed through
courts of the Church,
involving both elders and ministers (as opposed to government
involving bishops - episcopacy).
It emerged in the Reformation of the 15th and 16th centuries
as an effort by some Protestant reformers to recapture
the form as well as the message of the church described
in the New Testament.
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They noted that in the New Testament
elders had been
appointed to rule the early churches (Acts chapter
14, verse 23) and that the term elder had been
used interchangeably with the word bishop, Greek
episcopos (Acts chapter 20, verses 17 and 28;
Titus chapter 1, verses 5 to 7). |
These reformers argued that although a hierarchy among
elders could be observed in New Testament times (1 Timothy
chapter 5, verse 17), it was not the sharp division between
bishop and priest ('priest'
is a contraction of the older word 'presbyter')
that characterised the Roman Catholic church.
Approximately 50 million Protestant Christians around
the world practise presbyterian church government. Substantial
numbers of presbyterians are found in Scotland, Northern
Ireland, England and its former colonies, the Netherlands,
Switzerland, Hungary, France, South Africa, Indonesia,
Korea and the United States. The older name Reformed
Churches remains prevalent among groups of continental
European origin; Presbyterian
is generally used by churches of British origin.
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