Springfield Presbytery - History

History

The immediate cause of withdrawal was that the Synod of Kentucky had censured the Washington Presbytery appointing one minister, Richard McNemar, after having previously examining his doctrine and condemning it as "dangerous to the souls of men, and hostile to the interests of all religion", for refusing a petition to examine the doctrine of a second minister, John Thompson, and for refusing to reexamine the doctrine of McNemar. Both ministers had expressed views at odds with the Westminster Confession. These two ministers and three others (Robert Marshall, John Dunlavy, and Barton W. Stone) protested the proceedings and withdrew from the jurisdiction of the Synod. Their signed protest was dated September 10, 1803. They gave the following reasons for withdrawing from the jurisdiction of the Synod:

• They believed that the resolution condemning McNemar's teachings (which they all shared) gave "a distorted and false representation of Mr. McNemar's sentiments" and was "calculated to prevent the influence of truth of the most interesting nature";

• They asserted the privilege of interpreting scripture independently of the Presbyterian Confession of Faith, appealing to section in that confession that said "that the Supreme Judge, by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men and private spirits, are to be examined, an in whose sentence we are to rest, can be no other than the Holy Spirit speaking in the Scriptures";

• They argued that some of the doctrines of grace were "in a measure darkened by some expressions in the Confession of Faith, which are used as a means of strengthening sinners in their unbelief, and subjecting many of the pious to a spirit of bondage" and said that when they tried to address those difficulties they were accused of departing from the faith.

Based on those reasons, they said that they chose to withdraw from the jurisdiction of the (Ky) Synod rather than be prosecuted under the authority of the Confession of Faith, which they could not acknowledge. They said, however, that they did not desire to break from communion with the members of the Synod. They formed the Springfield Presbytery two days later. The Springfield Presbytery (SpfP) was a loose association of the dissenting ministers and their congregations. A sixth minister joined the Presbytery when it ordained David Purviance, whom the West Lexington Presbytery had refused to ordain.

On January 31, 1804, they published a 141-page defense of their actions, in which they opposed the use of creeds to determine who is a Christian. The defense was entitled An Apology for Renouncing the Jurisdiction of the Synod of Kentucky. To Which Is Added a Compendious View of the Gospel and a Few Remarks on the Confession of Faith. The Apology was written by Robert Marshall. It argued that the examination of McNemar in 1802 had been conducted without due process, which would have justified an appeal of the decision to the General Assembly. It went on to argue, though, that they had no reasonable hope of redress within the Presbyterian church as long as "human opinions", rather than scripture, were the standard of orthodoxy. The Compendious View of the Scripture was written by Stone. Systematically laying out the doctrines that the Washington Presbytry condemned, it represents the first theological statement from the Restoration Movement. The Remarks on the Confession was written by Thompson, and argued that since creeds served to divide the church, even if a perfect creed could be found, it should be rejected as the standard for Christian fellowship. The unstated implication being, congregational division is less preferred than orthodoxy, even in consideration to a perfect creed.

By 1804 the (SpfP) Presbytery had attracted 15 congregations in Ohio and Kentucky. The leaders of this newer presbytery became concerned by its growth, because they did not want to create a new denomination or "party". Ultimately convinced that their newer (SpfP) Presbytery was sectarian, the six ministers dissolved it on June 28, 1804. To publicize the dissolution, they signed a document entitled The Last Will and Testament of the Springfield Presbytery. This tract willed that “this body die, be dissolved, and sink into union with the Body of Christ at large.” It expressed the desire for Christian union and identified the Bible as the only standard of Christian faith and practice. In addition to signing the Last Will and Testament, they agreed to take "no other name than christians" on the basis that it was "the name first given by divine authority to the disciples of Christ." Soon, they adopted the name "Christian" to identify their group. Thus, remnants from the Springfield Presbytery eventually became known as the Christian Church. It is estimated that the Christian Church numbered about 12,000 by 1830.