Old School–New School controversy: Difference between revisions

{{distinguishDistinguish|Old Side–New Side Controversycontroversy}}

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|Description = The P.C.U.S.A. split in 1837 to become '''New School Presbyterians''' and '''Old School Presbyterians.'''

The '''Old School–New School Controversycontroversy''' was a [[Schism (religion)|schism]] of the [[Presbyterian Church in the United States of America]] whichthat took place in 1837 and lasted for over 20 years. '''The Old School''', led by [[Charles Hodge]] of [[Princeton Theological Seminary]], was much more conservative theologically and wasdid not supportivesupport ofthe [[Revival meeting|revivalismrevival movement]]. It called for traditional Calvinist orthodoxy as outlined in the [[Westminster standards]]. '''The New School''' derived from the reconstructions of [[Calvinism]] by New England Puritans [[Jonathan Edwards (theologian)|Jonathan Edwards]], [[Samuel Hopkins (1721–1803)|Samuel Hopkins]] and [[Joseph Bellamy]] and wholly embraced revivalism. Though there was much diversity among them, the Edwardsian Calvinists commonly rejected what they called "Old Calvinism" in light of their understandings of God, the human person and the Bible.

During the 18th century, [[New England]] and [[Mid-Atlantic states|Mid-Atlantic]] churchmen formed the first presbyteries in American colonies that would later become the United States. Many Presbyterians were ethnic Scots or Scots-Irish.

After resolving the [[Old Side–New Side Controversycontroversy]] in 1758, many reformed presbyterians reconciled into the [[Synod of New York and Philadelphia]]. whichThis reorganized after the American Revolution to become the [[Presbyterian Church in the United States of America]] (P.C.U.S.A.). The first General Assembly of the P.C.U.S.A. met in Philadelphia in 1789.{{Sfn | Longfield | 2013 | pp = 50}} The new church was organized into four synods: New York and New Jersey, Philadelphia, Virginia, and the Carolinas. These synods included 16 presbyteries and an estimated membership of 18,000.,{{Sfn | Thompson | 1895 | pp = 63}}{{Sfn | Nevin | 1888 | pp =vii}} and used the [[Westminster Standards]] as the main doctrinal standards.

Collectively, the growth of [[Unitarianism]], Revivalismthe revival movement, and Abolitionabolitionism introduced tensions among Presbyterian leaders. whoThey questioned the continued intermingling with the Congregationalist influence.

Throughout the 18th century, [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] ideas of the power of reason and free will became widespread among [[Congregationalist#United States|Congregationalist]] ministers,. putting thoseThose ministers and their congregations in tensiondisagreed with more traditionalist, [[Calvinist]] parties.<ref name=Dorrien>{{cite book|last1=Dorrien|first1=Gary|title=The Making of American Liberal Theology|date=2001|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|location=Louisville, Ky.|isbn=9780664223540|page=195|edition=1st|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kbJzVH7DOc4C&printsecq=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Garyage+J.of+Dorrien%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiA16eTipfKAhVLFT4KHTvZDroQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=age%20of%20enlightenment&f=falseenlightenment|accessdateaccess-date=7 January 2016}}</ref>{{rp|1–4}}

When the [[Harvard Divinity School]] [[Hollis Chair of Divinity|Hollis Professor of Divinity]] [[David Tappan]] died in 1803 and the president of Harvard Joseph Willard died a year later, in 1804, theacting president [[Eliphalet Pearson]] and overseer of the college [[Jedidiah Morse]] demanded that orthodox men be elected.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Balmer|first1=Randall|title=The Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism|date=2001|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|location=Louisville, KY|isbn=9780664224097|page=393|edition=1st|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=syUupeVJOz4C&pg=PA393&lpg=PA393&dq=jedidiah+morse+and+harvard&sourcepg=bl&ots=AKKCdW7umf&sig=FcsTWPQ9J6mkjqXOKw4qsz4_L0M&hl=en&ei=wftdTdaAIcv2gAen9qTVDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CDwQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q&f=falsePA393|accessdateaccess-date=7 January 2016}}</ref> NeverthelessBut, after much struggle the Unitarian [[Henry Ware (Unitarian)|Henry Ware]] was elected in 1805,. whichThis signaledmarked the changingshift ofat the tideHarvard from the dominance of traditional, [[Calvinist]] ideas at Harvard to the dominance, of liberal, [[Arminianism|Arminian]] ideas (defined by traditionalists as [[Unitarian-Universalism|Unitarian]] ideas).<ref name=Dorrien/>{{rp|4–5}}<ref>{{cite book|last1=Field|first1=Peter S.|title=Ralph Waldo Emerson: The Making of a Democratic Intellectual|date=2003|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|location=Lewiston, NY|isbn=9780847688425|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HXHbEWJacwwC|accessdateaccess-date=7 January 2016|language=en}}</ref>{{rp|24}} TheAfter the appointment of Ware, withand the election of the liberal [[Samuel Webber]] to the presidency of Harvard two years later, ledEliphalet Jedidiah MorsePearson and other conservatives to foundfounded the [[Andover Theological Seminary]] as an orthodox, trinitarian alternative to the Harvard Divinity School.<ref name=Dorrien/>{{rp|4–5}}

In the U.S. the [[Second Great Awakening]] (1800–30s1800–1830s) was the second great religious revival in United States history and consisted of renewed personal salvation experienced in revival meetings. Presbyterian Rev. [[Charles Finney]] (1792–1875) was a key leader of the evangelical revival movement in America. From 1821 onwards he conducted revival meetings across many north-eastern states and won many converts. For him, a revival was not a miracle but a change of mindset that was ultimately a matter for the individual's free will. His revival meetings created anxiety in a penitent's mind that one could only save his or her soul by submission to the will of God, as illustrated by Finney's quotations from the Bible. In the West (now Upper South) especially—at [[Cane Ridge, Kentucky]] and in [[Tennessee]]—the revival strengthened the [[Methodism|Methodists]] and [[Baptists]]. The [[Churches of Christ]] and [[Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)]] arose from the [[Restoration Movement|Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement]]. It also introduced into America a new form of religious expression—the Scottish [[camp meeting]].

In the 1820s, [[Nathaniel William Taylor]], (appointed Professor of Didactic Theology at [[Yale Divinity School]] in 1822), was the leading figure behind a smaller strand of Edwardsian Calvinism which came to be called [[New England theology|"the New Haven theology"]]. Taylor developed Edwardsian Calvinism further, interpreting regeneration in ways he thought consistent with Edwards and his New England followers and appropriate for the work of revivalism, and used his influence to publicly support the revivalist movement and defend its beliefs and practices against opponents. The Old School rejected this idea as heresy, suspicious as they were of all New School revivalism.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Samuel S. Hill|author2=Charles H. Lippy|author3=Charles Reagan Wilson|title=Encyclopedia Of Religion In The South|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yx2EarrpKGUC&pg=PA573|date=30 October 2005|publisher=Mercer University Press|page=573|isbn=9780865547582}}</ref>

In [[New England]], the renewed interest in religion inspired a wave of social activism, including [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionism]]. In 1834, students at Cincinnati's [[Lane Theological Seminary]] (a presbyterianPresbyterian institution) famously debated "abolition versus Colonialization[[American Colonization Society|colonialization]]" and voted overwhelmingly for immediate, rather than gradual, abolition. After being censored by the seminary's board and then its president [[Lyman Beecher]], many theological students (known as the [[Lane Rebels]]) left Lane to join [[Oberlin College]], a congregationalistCongregationalist institution in northern Ohio founded in 1833, basedwhich onaccepted antislaverytheir abolitionist principles and became an [[ArthurUnderground TappanRailroad]] moneystop.

The controversy reached a climax at a meeting of the [[Presbyterian general assembly|general assembly]] in Philadelphia in 1836 when the Old School party found themselves in the majority and voted to annul the Plan of Union as unconstitutionally adopted. They then voted to expel the [[Presbyterian synod|synod]]s of [[Western Reserve]] (which included Oberlin as a part of [[Lorain County, Ohio]]), Utica, Geneva, and Genesee, because they were formed on the basis of the Plan of Union. At the General Assembly of 1837, these synods were refused recognition as lawfully part of the meeting. These and others who sympathized with them departed and formed their own general assembly meeting in another church building nearby, setting the stage for a court dispute about which of the two general assemblies constituted the true continuing Presbyterian church.<ref>{{Cite thesis|title="The Bond of Union"|last=Wallace|first=Peter|year=2004|chapter=Catholicity and Conscience|chapter-url=http://www.peterwallace.org/dissertation/1division.htm}}</ref> The [[Supreme Court of Pennsylvania]] decided that the Old School Assembly was the true representative of the Presbyterian church and their decisions would govern.<ref>Commonwealth v. Green, 4 Wharton 531, 1839 Pa. LEXIS 238 (1839).</ref>

== Schism into "Old School" and New School" Presbyterians (1837-18571837–1857) ==

This 1837 event left two separate organizations, the Old School Presbyterians, and the New School Presbyterians. Generally speaking, the Old School was attractive to the more recent [[Scotch-Irish American|Scotch Irish]] element, while the New School appealed to more established [[Yankee]]s (who by agreement became Presbyterians instead of Congregationalists when they left New England).<ref>{{cite book|author1=Randall Herbert Balmer|author2=John R. Fitzmier|title=The Presbyterians|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BQpN_G2h4TEC&pg=PA66|year=1993|publisher=Greenwood|pages=66–67|isbn=9780313260841}}</ref>

Schools associated with the Old School included [[Princeton DivinityTheological SchoolSeminary]] and [[Andover Theological Seminary]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Dorrien|first1=Gary|title=The Making of American Liberal Theology: Imagining Progressive Religion 1805 - 1900 Volume 1|publisher=WesminsterWestminster John Knox Press|location=Louisville & London|isbn=0-664-22354-0|pages=114–118|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L50mveyi6WoC&lpg=PA114&ots=mtWIt8LAyX&dq=New%20Divinity%20+Divinity+%22new%20school+school%22&pg=PA114#v=onepage&q=New%20Divinity%20%22new%20school%22&f=false|accessdateaccess-date=6 October 2016|year=2001}}</ref>

Theologically, '''The New School''' derived from the reconstructions of [[Calvinism]] by New England Puritans [[Jonathan Edwards (theologian)|Jonathan Edwards]], [[Samuel Hopkins (1721–1803)|Samuel Hopkins]] and [[Joseph Bellamy]] and wholly embraced revivalism. Though there was much diversity among them, the Edwardsian Calvinists commonly rejected what they called "Old Calvinism" in light of their understandings of God, the human person and the Bible.

Prominent members of the New School included [[Nathaniel William Taylor]], [[Eleazar Thompson Fitch|Eleazar T. Fitch]], [[Chauncey A. Goodrich|Chauncey Goodrich]], [[Albert Barnes (theologian)|Albert Barnes]], [[Lyman Beecher]] (the father of [[Harriet Beecher Stowe]] and [[Henry Ward Beecher]]), [[Henry Boynton Smith]], Erskine Mason, [[George Duffield (Presbyterianminister, born 1794)|George Duffield]], [[Nathan S.S. Beman|Nathan Beman]], [[Charles Finney]], George Cheever, [[Samuel Fisher (clergyman)|Samuel Fisher]],<ref>{{Cite book | last=Kimball | first=Alfred R. | yearurl=chttp://archive. 1908org/details/samuelfisherddac00kimb | title=Samuel Fisher, D.D. : an account of his life and services |date=1908 |publisher= n[S.pl.}} ''Available: [https://archives.n.org/details/samuelfisherddac00kimb via|others=New InternetYork Archive].''Public Library}}</ref> and Thomas McAuley.

== Two become Four: Internal divisions over Slaveryslavery (1857-18611857–1861)==

As the debate over Slaveryslavery and abolition ratcheted up in the 1840s and 1850s, both the New School and the Old School began to experience internal tensions, largely along North-South (abolitionism vs. pro-slavery) lines. As the [[ABCFM]] and [[American Home Missionary Society|AHMS]] refused to take positions on slavery, some Presbyterian churches joined the abolitionist [[American Missionary Association]] instead, and even became CongregationlistsCongregationalists or [[Free Presbyterian Church Synod of the United States|Free Presbyterians]]. African -American Presbyterian pastor [[Theodore S. Wright]] helped to form anti-slavery societies, such as the [[American Anti-Slavery Society]] and the [[American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society]]. New School Presbyterian Rev. [[Henry Ward Beecher]], advocated for rifles ("[[Beecher's Bibles]]") to be sent through the [[New England Emigrant Aid Company]] to address the [[Bleeding Kansas|pro-slavery violence in Kansas]]. While [[Harriet Beecher Stowe]]'s ''[[Uncle Tom's Cabin]]'' made the case against slavery, her husband continued to teach at [[Andover Theological Seminary]].

In 1857, the New School Presbyterians wound up dividingdivided over slavery, with the Southern New School Presbyterians forming the [[United Synod]] of the Presbyterian Church.<ref>D.G. Hart & John Meuther, ''Seeking a Better Country: 300 Years of American Presbyterianism'' [P&R Publishing 2007 ], pg. 153</ref>

Despite the tensions, the Old School Presbyterians managed to stay united for several more years. However, in the summer of 1861, the Old School General Assembly, in a vote of 156 to 66, passed the [[Gardiner Spring Resolutions]] which called for the Old School Presbyterians to support the Federal Government. In order to attempt to alleviate the situation, the Assembly added language which clarified that the term "Federal Government" referred to "not any particular administration, or the peculiar opinions of any particular party," but to "the central administration....appointed and inaugurated according to the forms prescribed in the Constitution of the United States..." Inevitably, though, the Southern Old School Presbyterians wound upstill departingdeparted, and on December 4, 1861, the first General Assembly of the new [[Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America|Presbyterian Church of the Confederate States of America (PCCS)]] was held in Augusta, Georgia.<ref>Hart & Meuther, pg. 150</ref> Thus at the beginning of the Civil War there were four related branches of American Presbyterians: The Northern New School, the Northern Old School, the Southern New School, and the Southern Old School.

Eventually, in 1867, the Plan of Union was presented to the General Synods of both the Old School and New School Presbyterians in the North. With some Presbyterians on the border states having left the PC-USA in favor of the PCUS, opposition wound up beingwas reduced to a small faction of Old School holdovers such as [[Charles Hodge]] (raising concerns over the New School's fairly loose stance regarding [[confessional subscription]]), who, while preventing as much of a decisive victory in favor of reunion at the 1868 General Assembly, nevertheless failed to prevent the Old School General Assembly from approving the motion that the Plan of Union be sent to the presbyteries for their approval. The Plan of Union was eventually approved, and in 1869, the Old and New Schools reunited.

Amongst Northern Presbyterians, the effect of the reunion was felt soon after. The PC-USA eventually found itself becoming increasingly ecumenical and supporting various social causes. At the same time, the PC-USA also became increasingly lax in doctrinal subscription, and New School attempts to modify Calvinism would become embodied in the 1903 revision of the Westminster Standards. In time, the PC-USA would eventually welcome the Arminian [[Cumberland Presbyterians]] into their fold (1906), and incidencesincidents such as the [[Charles Augustus Briggs|Charles A. Briggs]] trial of 1893 would become simply a precursor of the [[Fundamentalist–Modernistfundamentalist–modernist Controversycontroversy]] of the 1920s.

*Parker, Harold M., Jr. ''The United Synod of the South: The Southern New School Presbyterian Church'' (1988)

* {{Citation|last= Longfield |first= Bradley J. | title = Presbyterians and American Culture: A History | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=wDdybyrOc-IC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false |year= 2013 | publisher= Westminster Johh Knox Press | location = Louisville, Kentucky | accessdateaccess-date = 2015-11-04|isbn= 9780664231569 }}.

* {{Citation| last = Nevin | first = Alfred | title = History of the Presbytery of Philadelphia, and of the Philadelphia Central |url= https://archive.org/stream/historyofpresb00nevi#page/n0/mode/2up | year = 1888 | publisher = W. S. Fortescue & Co. | location = Philadelphia | accessdateaccess-date = 2015-11-04}}

* {{Citation| last = Thompson | first = Robert Ellis | title = A History of the Presbyterian Churches in the United States |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Bas8AAAAYAAJ&dqq=A+History+of+the+Presbyterian+Churches+in+the+United+States&source=gbs_navlinks_s | year = 1895 | publisher = The Christian Literature Company | location =}}.

[[Category:19th-century ProtestantismReformed Christianity]]