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23-591: The Adopting Act of 1729 was an act of the Synod of Philadelphia that made the Westminster Standards , particularly the Westminster Confession of Faith , the official confessional statements for Presbyterian churches in colonial America . Presbyterian ministers were required to believe or " subscribe " to the "essential and necessary" parts of the standards, but defining what was essential and necessary

46-554: A portion of eastern Ohio were joined to the synod and the name was changed to the Synod of the Trinity. The Presbyterian Historical Society shows 81 Presbyterian/Reformed historic sites registered within the bounds of the synod. There are sixteen presbyteries in the synod. 40°14′26″N 76°55′59″W  /  40.24043°N 76.93311°W  / 40.24043; -76.93311 Synod of Ulster The ( General ) Synod of Ulster

69-593: The Great Awakening , Dickinson founded a seminary that later became Princeton University . The synod was reunited as the Synod of New York and Philadelphia in 1758. By 1851, the synod, then known as the Synod of Philadelphia, was "one of the largest and most influential Synods in the Presbyterian Church, embracing the entire States of Delaware, Maryland, and the greater part of the State of Pennsylvania." By 1881,

92-456: The Westminster Confession of Faith had preoccupied Presbyterians in Scotland, Ireland and England for some time. In America, the Synod of Philadelphia initially had no official confessional statement, as American leaders tried to maintain unity and avoid division. By the 1720s, however, a number of factors forced the synod to consider codifying its theology and polity. The question of subscription

115-667: The Adopting Act became "a kind of Magna Charta [ sic ] in the Church's theological history", while also formally tying that theology to the Westminster Standards. Nevertheless, the ambiguity surrounding the meaning of "essential and necessary articles" would lead to further controversy in later years as the range of alternative interpretations continued to expand. When the Philadelphia Synod re-organized itself into

138-512: The Bible in matters of faith and life and effectively elevate a human interpretation of scripture to the same level of scripture. Dickinson preferred that the Bible be affirmed as the common standard for faith and practice. Rather than scrutinizing the beliefs of ministerial candidates, Dickinson thought it would be more helpful to examine their personal religious experience. Ethnic and cultural tensions fed

161-458: The Old World, that refusal to subscribe tended to be the first step toward Arminianism and other beliefs that were incompatible with Calvinism . They believed strict adherence to the Westminster Standards was the best way to prevent such deviation. Presbyterians from New England, led by Jonathan Dickinson , opposed the idea on the grounds that requiring subscription would deny the sufficiency of

184-587: The Westminster Confession as the Confession of my faith." A synod-wide requirement to subscribe to the Westminster Standards was first proposed in 1727 by John Thomson of New Castle Presbytery and was supported by Presbyterians with Scotch-Irish and Scottish backgrounds. Thomson argued that the theology contained in the Westminster Standards, though not the document itself, had scriptural authority. The Scotch-Irish were convinced, based on their experience in

207-520: The controversy because New Englanders also felt that the Scottish and Scotch-Irish clergy were attempting a takeover of the synod. The Scotch-Irish party outnumbered the New Englanders, and the number of Scotch-Irish ministers and churches only increased over time as immigration continued. Some New Englanders accused their opponents of using subscription to purge the synod of English Puritanism . In 1729,

230-669: The development of Presbyterianism in the United States . Continued controversy over the meaning of subscription and interpretation of the Westminster Standards led first to the Old Side–New Side Controversy and later the Old School–New School Controversy . In the 19th and 20th centuries, the language of the Adopting Act would be used to justify increasingly broad interpretations of the standards. A controversy over whether ministers must subscribe (affirm)

253-419: The essential and nonessential parts of the standards. A minister who did not accept any particular part of the confession or catechisms could declare any scruples to his presbytery or the synod, which would then decide if the minister's scruples involved "essential and necessary articles of faith". The synod also clarified its understanding of chapters 20 and 23 of the Westminster Confession, which dealt with

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276-488: The first decades of the 19th century, positions hardened with New Light ministers adopting a Unitarian or Arian scepticism regarding the doctrine of the Trinity . In 1829, when the leading conservative evangelical, Henry Cooke , succeeded in pressing the General Synod for a firm declaration of Trinitarian belief they withdrew to form their own Remonstrant Synod . The departure of the latitudinarian party made possible

299-409: The national Presbyterian Church in the United States of America in 1789, it adopted a new formula for ordination. Ministerial candidates were asked, "Do you sincerely receive and adopt, the confession of faith of this church, as containing the system of doctrine taught in the holy Scriptures?" The phrase "system of doctrine" was widely interpreted in the spirit of the Adopting Act. Therefore, a minister

322-429: The relationship between church and state . The synod affirmed their belief in religious liberty and the independence of the church from government interference, declaring that it did "not receive those articles in any such sense as to suppose the civil magistrate hath a controlling power over Synods with respect to the exercise of their ministerial authority; or power to persecute any for their religion". The Adopting Act

345-522: The synod consisted of nineteen Pennsylvania counties, the City of Philadelphia, and a portion of western Africa. In 1882, the name was changed to the Synod of Pennsylvania. When the General Assembly decided in 1973 to create regional judicatories, the synod was merged with the Synod of West Virginia to form the Synod of Pennsylvania-West Virginia. Finally, when church reunion occurred in 1983, presbyteries in

368-459: The synod reached a compromise with passage of the Adopting Act, which was likely composed by Dickinson and modeled on the Synod of Ulster 's Pacific Act of 1720 . The act required all ministers to declare "agreement in and approbation of" the Westminster Confession and Larger and Shorter Catechisms as being "in all the essential and necessary articles, good forms of sound words and systems of Christian doctrine." This language distinguished between

391-586: Was a further secession by those who, insisting on the sole kingship of Christ, rejected the Confession. In 1763 they organised a distinct Reformed Presbyterian Church , and in 1811 established their own provincial synod . In 1746, some of the more doctrinaire Calvinists withdrew, forming the Secession Synod . Within the mainline Synod there was a continuing distinction between ' Old Light' supporters of theological orthodoxy and ' New Light ' elements more inclined to defer to conscience rather than doctrine. In

414-475: Was founded as the Synod of Philadelphia in 1717 following the division of the Presbytery of Philadelphia into three presbyteries (Philadelphia, New Castle , and Long Island ), with the synod as a superior body. After the Presbytery of New Brunswick was expelled from the synod in 1741 during a major division in the church, Jonathan Dickinson left the synod in 1745 to form the Synod of New York . An advocate of

437-463: Was initially raised in reaction to the synod's lenient treatment of Robert Cross, a young pastor from New Castle Presbytery found guilty of fornication in 1720. Other issues included instances of clerical sleeping during worship and disputes between ministers and their congregations in New York. In 1724, New Castle Presbytery began requiring its ministerial candidates to affirm the statement, "I do own

460-520: Was left to individual presbyteries to determine. The act was a compromise between Scotch-Irish ministers, who preferred unqualified subscription to the confessions in order to maintain Reformed theology , and the New Englanders , who preferred less hierarchical church government and believed that requiring subscription violated the principle of sola scriptura . The Adopting Act is significant to

483-404: Was required to accept only those parts of the Westminster Confession that are "essential and necessary" to the system of Reformed theology . In the 19th and 20th centuries, ministers began to interpret the confession in increasingly broad ways. Synod of Philadelphia The Presbyterian Church in the United States of America has its roots in the territory of the Synod of the Trinity, which

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506-604: Was the forerunner of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland . It comprised all the clergy of the church elected by their respective local presbyteries (or church elders) and a section of the laity. Official records of its proceedings exist from 1691. In 1726, the Synod expelled ministers, grouped together as the Presbytery of Antrim, who refused to subscribe to the Westminster Confession of Faith . Later there

529-466: Was unanimously approved on September 19, 1729. After passage, the act was put into effect, and ministers were invited to state scruples. No one offered any disqualifying objection. While imperfect, this compromise held American Presbyterianism together until the First Great Awakening revived old disputes in the Old Side–New Side Controversy . According to church historian Lefferts A. Loetscher,

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