A Sermon preached at the Installation 
 of Rev. Melton Clark as Pastor of the 
 First Presbyterian Church, Greensboro, 
 North Carolina, April 7, 1907, by Rev. 
 E. C. Murray, D. D., Graham. N. C. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2013 
 
 http://archive.org/details/presbyterianismhOOmurr 
 
PRESBYTERIANISM : A HISTORI- 
 CAL Sketch. 
 
 By Rev. E. C. Murray, D. D. 
 
 Text : "The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more 
 than all the dwellings of Jacob. 
 
 "Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of 
 God. Selah." 
 
 "And of Zlon it shall be said, This and that man 
 was born in her : and the Highest himself shall es- 
 tablish her. 
 
 The Lord shall count, when he writeth up the peo- 
 ple, that this man was born there. Selah. 
 
 "As well the singers as the players on instruments, 
 shall he there : all my springs are in thee." 
 
 he Lord delights in his church;: 
 He loveth the gates of Zion 
 more than all the dwellings of 
 Jacob.'' To be a member of the church 
 is an exalted privilege : Glorious things 
 
 are spoken of thee, City of God of 
 
 Zion it shall be said, This and that man 
 was born in her; and the Highest Him- 
 self shall establish her. The Lord shall 
 count, when he writeth up the people^ 
 that this man was born there. They that 
 sing shall say, All my fountains are in 
 thee." And especially may we feel a 
 glow of worthy pride in the thought that 
 we belong to the church that exemplifies 
 the orignal principles of government and 
 worship, and most faithfully conserves^ 
 the ancient traditions. 
 ^ Presbyterianism is that system which 
 ci regards the church as a spiritual com- 
 
wealth composed of the families of be- 
 lievers. Its only Head and Lord is 
 Christ. He governs his church through 
 courts composed of presbyters (elders) 
 or bishops. These presbyter-bishops are 
 all of one order and of equal authority. 
 The temporal affairs of the church are 
 administered by deacons. All officers are 
 elected by the members and ordained by 
 the courts. Each congregation is govern- 
 ed by its session, composed of several 
 elders. The organic unity of the whole 
 church is realized through an ascending 
 series of courts of jurisdiction — Session, 
 Presbyterv, Synod, and General Assem- 
 bly* 
 
 Now let us trace the origin and his- 
 torical development of these principles. 
 The church as an organized society dates 
 back to the time when God called Abra- 
 ham out of heathendom, set apart his 
 family as a peculiar people unto the 
 Lord, made a special covenant with them 
 and appointed circumcision as the seal 
 of the covenant to be administered to 
 the faithful and their offspring. The 
 government of this primitive church was 
 patriarchal, the head of the family, or 
 elder, combining in himself all the func- 
 tions of government, discipline and wor- 
 ship. 
 
 As this one family grew into many, 
 governmental authority was vested not 
 only in the various heads of households 
 individually, but in the heads of families 
 and tribes collectively. Through these 
 representatives God dealt with his peo- 
 
 4 
 
pie (Ex. 3:16). They administered gov- 
 ernment (Deut. 22 :15-19, 25 :7) ; and dis- 
 cipline (Deut. 21:18-19); and lead in 
 worship (Lev. 4:15, Deut. 31:9-12. And 
 finally Moses was directed to organize a 
 Piipreme court of elders to exercise ju- 
 risdiction over the whole nation — the 
 first Presbyterian General Assembly 
 (Num. 11:16-17). Here we find already 
 aii ascending series of courts, composed 
 of elders of households, of families, of 
 tribes and of the iiaiii)n 
 
 After the Babylonish captivity we 
 note a further development of this Pres- 
 byterian system, preparatory to the 
 Christian dispensation. Synagogues 
 were organized, each governed by a 
 court of at least three elders, called 
 '^rulers of the synagogue,'' (Mark 5:22, 
 etc.) Jesus warned his disciples: ^^They 
 will deliver you up to their sessions, and 
 they will scourge you in their syna- 
 gogues,'' (Matt. 10:17). Each syna- 
 gogue had also its board of deacons. And 
 there was established at Jerusalem a su- 
 preme court of elders. ^^The Presbytery 
 came together and led him into their 
 session," (Luke 22:66). Paul appealed 
 to ^'the high priest and the whole Pres- 
 •bytery" (Acts 22:5). In all these pas- 
 sages I translate the Greek literally. 
 
 The Christian Church retained the fa- 
 miliar organization and worship of the 
 syangogue. Archbishop Whateley says: 
 
 ^^The apostles did not so much form 
 a Christian church, as make an existing 
 congregation Christian, leaving the ma- 
 
 5 
 
ehinery of government unchanged. And 
 Bishop Lightfoot, the most learned of ail 
 the English bishops, says: ^^They would 
 naturally adopt the normal government 
 of the synagogue, and a body of elders 
 would be chosen to direct religious wor- 
 ship.'' 
 
 The Apostle James applied the very 
 name ^ ^ synagogue ' ' to the Christian 
 church (Jas. 2:2). We find the same old 
 officers, elders and deacons, in the new 
 organization (1 Tim. 3, Tit. 1); The 
 terms elder and bishop were applied in- 
 terchangeably to the same office (Acts 
 20:17, 28. Tit. 1:5, 7). These officers 
 performed the same duties as formerly, 
 the elders ^'ruling and laboring in word 
 and doctrine'' (1 Tim. 5:17), and the 
 deacons carng for the material welfare 
 of the church (Acts 6:1-6). The pres- 
 byters were organized in the same as- 
 cending series of courts: each congrega- 
 tion was governed by its sessioii, the 
 apostles having elders elected in every 
 church" (Acts 14:23); Timothy was 
 ordained by ^Hhe laying on of the hands 
 of Presbytery" (1 Tim. 4:14; and a dis- 
 pute in the Presbytery of Antioch was 
 settled by an appeal to the Synod of Je- 
 rusalem (Acts 15:2, 16:4). The worship 
 also of the Christian church contained 
 the same simple spiritual elements as 
 that of the synagogue. The Apostolic 
 Church therefore was certainly neither 
 congregational nor prelatical, but Pres- 
 byterian. 
 
 It is evident now why we do not con- 
 
 6 
 
cern ourselves about the question of 
 apostolic succession. The Presbj'terian 
 church was 2,000 years old before the 
 apostles were born; they were reared in 
 it and served it; and one of the greatest 
 of them gloried in the fact that he was 
 one of its presbyters. ''The elders I 
 exhort, who also am an elder: feed the 
 flock of God, taking the oversight there- 
 of, not as being lords of God^s heritage, 
 but bring ensamples to the flock (1 Pet. 
 5:1-3). So spoke the apostle whom the 
 Church of Rome claims as its first pri- 
 mate. 
 
 As to the post-apostolic period, the 
 scholarly Bishop of Salisbury declares 
 that throughout the esirlj church, even 
 at Rome and Alexandria, down to the 
 third century, its government was Pres 
 byterian. Deans Stanley and Milman 
 are of the opinion that ''nothing like 
 modern episcopacy existed before the 
 second century.'' And Bishop Light- 
 foot testifies that "Presbytery is not a 
 later growth out of Epscopacy, but Epis- 
 copacy is a later growth out of Presby- 
 tery. ' ' 
 
 What then were the causes of the de- 
 cline of Presbyterianism ? The preach- 
 ing elder ^became gradually regarded as 
 superior to the others, and those of large 
 city churches as superior to the country 
 ministers. Ambitious presbyters usurp- 
 ed more and more authority, and became 
 "lords over God's heritage." By-and-by 
 they assumed episcopal authority over 
 
 7 
 
the whole neighborhood, and thus arose 
 the diocesan Bishop. 
 
 Again, the church began to imitate in 
 its worship the rites and ceremonies of 
 the Jewish and heathen temples, and 
 we hear of priests and altars and sacri- 
 fices. The deacon became a levito, the 
 presbyter a priest, and the bishop a high 
 priest. And so sacerdotalism became the 
 dominant idea of the ministry, and a 
 tide of ritualism and clericalism swept 
 over the church. 
 
 The union of Church and State under 
 Constantine in the fourth century re- 
 sulted in a conformity in civil and eccles- 
 iastical government. A regular grada- 
 tion of church officers was instituted, 
 bishops over dioceses, archbishops over 
 districts, metropolitan bishops over pro- 
 vinces, exarchs over several provinces, 
 and patriarchs over empire. Of the lat- 
 ter the patriarchs of Constantinople and 
 Rome became preeminent; and thus 
 arose the two ecclesiastical empires, the 
 Greek and the Roman Catholic churches. 
 
 Thus republican Presbyterianism grad- 
 ually degenerated into aristocratic Epis- 
 copacy, and finally into despotic Papacy. 
 
 This, however, was not accomplished 
 without opposition. Ambrose, in the 
 fourth century, protested: ^^The syna- 
 gogue, and afterwards the church, had 
 elders, without whose counsel nothing 
 was to be done; which grew into disuse, 
 by what negligence I know not, unless 
 by the cloth, or rather the pride, of the 
 teachers (preachers) while they alone 
 
 8 
 
wished to appear something/' So also 
 Jerome: Little by little the presbyters 
 were defrauded out of their original 
 rights. A presbyter is the same as a 
 bishop; and before these were, by the 
 devil's instigation, parties in religion 
 . . . . the churches were governed 
 by the common counsel of the presbyters. 
 But afterwards it was determined that 
 one presbyter should be set above the 
 rest, to whom all the care of the churches 
 should belong. So let the bishops know 
 that they are above the presbyters more 
 by the esteem of the church than by the 
 true dispensation of Christ." 
 
 The church was never without faithful 
 witnesses against prelatical government, 
 ritualistic worship and heretical doc- 
 trines. There were from the beginning 
 of the Middle Ages down to the Refor- 
 mation large exceptions from the prin- 
 ciples of episcopal government which 
 can be called by no other name than 
 presbyterian, ' ' (Bishop Lightfoot). In 
 the mountains of Northwestern Italy and 
 Southeastern France the Waldensees 
 from very early times resisted the en- 
 croachments of Papacy in the face of fu- 
 rious persecutions and inhuman tortures 
 that make one of the darkest bloodiest 
 chapters in history. In 1880, their rep- 
 resentative to our alliance of Reformed 
 Churches holding the Presbyterian sys- 
 tem, said: ^^We cannot call ourselves a 
 reformed church because we have never 
 been deformed.'' Here are tv/o articles 
 in their constitution, written several 
 
 9 
 
hunclred years before the ,Reformati m; 
 '^TLe duties of our pastor^ are to preach 
 tbo word, administer the skcraments, and 
 watch over the people, together with the 
 elders and deacons, according to the 
 practice of the primitive churches.'' 
 ^* 0.ir pastors do call as:semb.li«-s once ev- 
 ery ^ ear, to determine of all affairs in 
 a general Synod.'' 
 
 The Church of Scotland was another 
 witness to the truth in the Dark Ages. 
 Do you know that Saint Patrick, whom 
 the Irish Catholics worship as their pa- 
 tron saint, was really a Scotch Presbyte- 
 rian missionary*? In the fifth century 
 he evengelized Ireland, organizing 365 
 churches and ordaining over them 365 
 bishops or pastors and 3,000 elders. In 
 563 A. D., Columba established on the 
 island of lona, off the west coast of Scot- 
 land, a mission station and college. This 
 became the great missonary organization 
 of those times, sending evangelists 
 through Scotland, Britain, France, Ger- 
 many and Switzerland, and spreading 
 the pure gospel for 300 years. These 
 Christians were called Culdees, because 
 they were governed by Culdei or elders. 
 Their preachers were ordained by elders 
 and all called bishops. For 500 years 
 tbey struggled with Rome. English wri- 
 ters of the eighth century testify to the 
 rejection of Romish ceremonies, doc- 
 trines and traditions, their simple forms 
 cf worship, and their republican govern- 
 ment. These principles were never erad- 
 icated in 'Scotland, and when John Knox 
 
 10 
 
preached a revival of Presbyterianism it 
 was accepted readily. 
 
 This brings us to the Reformation of 
 the sixteenth century. Nearly all of the 
 great reformers affirmed the original gov 
 ernment of the church by presbyters; 
 and the reformed churches of Switzer- 
 land, Hungary, Moravia, Germany, 
 France, Holland and Scotland embodied 
 the Presbyterian church that adopted 
 the prelatical system was that of Eng- 
 land; because the reformation there was 
 under the auspices of the kings; and as 
 the astute James I. observed, ^'Mon- 
 archy doth agree with presbytery as God 
 doth agree with the devil. 
 
 John Calvin devoted his illustrious 
 talents to organizing a church in Geneva, 
 Switzerland, on strictly biblical piinci- 
 ples, in doctrine, government and wor- 
 ship. Geneva with its schools, theolog- 
 ical semnary and printing establishments 
 became a center of religious influence, 
 the inspiration of protestantism, and a 
 model for other churches. And the re- 
 publican principles there taught and ex- 
 emplified became-' also the great forma- 
 tion influence in modern political com- 
 monwealths. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church of France 
 (Huguenots) was for a time the greatest 
 protestant church of Europe. At the 
 massacre of Saint Bartholomew 75,000 
 were butchered in Paris and elsewhere; 
 and within thirty years nearly one rail- 
 lion were martyred. After the rv^voea- 
 
 11 
 
tion of the Edict of Nantes the devoted 
 church was almost annihilated. 
 
 One of the most glorious chapters in 
 Presbyterian history was the struggle of 
 the sturdy Hollanders against the bloody 
 Duke of Alva and the Catholic power 
 of Spain, and- their final achievement of 
 civil and religious liberty 
 
 Among the students who flocked to 
 Geneva was John Knox, of Scotland. He 
 afterwards led in a strenuous fight 
 against papacy in Scotland, and succeed- 
 ed in having it abolished and Presbyte- 
 rian: sm established. Then cam.e another 
 contest for Christ ^s crown and covenant 
 against the English hierarchy and Mon- 
 archy; and so for a cenutry and a half 
 this church had to ^^wade through bloody 
 seas.'' 
 
 Since the Reformation these Presbyte- 
 rian principles have been disseminated 
 throughout the world by emigration and 
 evangelization. Their adherents now 
 number, in the United States and Cana- 
 da, seven million; in Great Britain, five 
 million; in Europe, eleven and a half 
 million; and in other countries, one and 
 a half million; a total of twenty-five mil- 
 lion — the largest evangelical denomina- 
 tion in the world. 
 
 Our Presbyterian system is the herit- 
 age of 4,000 years of glorious history. 
 This was the government of 'Hhe 
 Church in the Wilderness,'' and of the 
 Hebrew Spiritual Commonwealth; after 
 the Babylonish captivity it was provi- 
 dentially modified so as to be admirably 
 
 12 
 
adapted to the conditions of the Chris- 
 tian Church, and the apostles adopted 
 and applied its principles; during the 
 Dark Ages it was the conservator of ev- 
 ery vital truth^ and its adherents were 
 in the vanguard of the reforming forces; 
 and they have ever since been leaders in 
 the evangelization of the world. Thus 
 it has been transplanted from Egypt to 
 Canaan and from Canaan to Babylon; 
 has been established in cultured i^reece 
 and Barbarian Britain; has crossed one 
 ocean to America and another to the 
 Orient; and has been found adapted to 
 every people and to all conditions. 
 
 It has borne the shock of war and the 
 rack and flame of persecution; has been 
 baptized with the blood of martyrs, and 
 nourished with the tears and prayers 
 and labors of the most illustrious saints; 
 has trained the noblest men and the 
 grandest churches, and been the foster 
 mother of modern republican liberties 
 and institutions. '^It can never die; it 
 will never see the decrepitude of old 
 age; but will live in the unfading fresh- 
 ness of self -renewing youth and the un- 
 broken vigor of manhood to the end of 
 time, and will outlive time itself.'' Yes, 
 for round about the eternal throne sit 
 four and twenty elders as the represen- 
 tatives of the glorified church, and they 
 ^^fall down before him that sitteth on 
 the throne, and worship him that liveth 
 for ever and ever, and cast their crowns 
 before the throne, saying. Thou are wor- 
 thy, Lord, and receive glory and hon- 
 
 13 
 
or and power, for thou hast created all 
 things, and for thy pleasure they art and 
 wert created'' (Rev. 4:10-11). There 
 in heaven itself our immortal church still 
 fulfills her mission in hymning the 
 praises and exalting the sovereignty and 
 majesty of her Lord and Saviour. 
 
 Let us study the doctrines and history 
 of this grand old church, glory in the 
 record of her past and pray for the suc- 
 cess of her future, delight ourselves in 
 her worship and consecrate ourselves to 
 her service. ^^They that sing shall say, 
 all my fountains are in thee.'' 
 
 14