Thread: question concerning church polity...

I know the difference in theory between Erasmianism, Episcopalianism, Presbyterianism and Congregationalism yet sometimes there is a bit of overlap in my mind. Would a church that is ELDER RULLED (not Elder Lead) but is not apart of any denomination be considered presbyterian or congregationalist? Also what is a church that is in a presbyterian denomination that in practice puts forward the church budget to the congregation to vote upon and the elders give the congregation final authority? Thank you for historical and confessional references!

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You will get some detailed answers here.

I think that presbyterianism, historically, is both local rulership by a plurality of elders (more than one) and some connectional authority in a synod or presbytery. While I don't think of presbyterianism as hierarchical, it is somewhere between congregation only and hierarchical.

Originally Posted by jogri17

I know the difference in theory between Erasmianism, Episcopalianism, Presbyterianism and Congregationalism yet sometimes there is a bit of overlap in my mind. Would a church that is ELDER RULLED (not Elder Lead) but is not apart of any denomination be considered presbyterian or congregationalist? Also what is a church that is in a presbyterian denomination that in practice puts forward the church budget to the congregation to vote upon and the elders give the congregation final authority? Thank you for historical and confessional references!

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Our church is Reformed Baptist and ruled by elders. I have high appreciation for Samuel Miller's The Ruling Elder.

Originally Posted by Scott1

You will get some detailed answers here.

I think that presbyterianism, historically, is both local rulership by a plurality of elders (more than one) and some connectional authority in a synod or presbytery. While I don't think of presbyterianism as hierarchical, it is somewhere between congregation only and hierarchical.

So scott would you consider a reformed baptist church (maybe or maybe not in an association like ARBCA) presbyterian or congregationalist? The autonomy of the local church is maintained but still has rulling and teaching elders and the final authority rests with them.

And I know get the fact that the the Westminster Divines would probably not all agree on this which is why Westminster Presbyterianism is a bit more compromised than that Dutch version (and that's a good thing I think).

From my understanding (not formally theologically trained), presbyterianism requires also the connectional authority to a presbytery or synod, something like the ruling counsel in Jerusalem in the book of Acts.

Something strong in presbyterian polity is that absolute power corrupts absolutely, that's why there is both plurality of local leadership and real connectional authority beyond it.

What you describe sounds like a hybrid, but presbyterianism is not a hybrid, it is a distinct polity that has more than one aspect.

Did you mean Erastianism for Erasmianism, or is Erasmianism and actual polity?

Originally Posted by Joshua

Did you mean Erastianism for Erasmianism, or is Erasmianism and actual polity?

Erastianism

Thomas Erastus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Thomas Erastus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


both is a link to the same page.

Originally Posted by jogri17

Would a church that is ELDER RULLED (not Elder Lead) but is not apart of any denomination be considered presbyterian or congregationalist?

It wouldn't be presbyterian.

Also what is a church that is in a presbyterian denomination that in practice puts forward the church budget to the congregation to vote upon and the elders give the congregation final authority?

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That sounds like it would fit within the presbyterian ambit.

And since you want some historical authority, you might start here:

The Form of Presbyterial Church-Government

from 1645