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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1968 (SND Vol. VII).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

PRESBYTERIAN, adj. Sc. usage: as in Eng. descriptive of a system of church government in which the highest order is that of presbyter or Elder, q.v., all elders being appointed to rule (see Rule), the clergy being specially trained to preach also. This form of government, instituted by Calvin in Geneva in 1541, was introduced into Scotland by John Knox in the First Book of Discipline (1560) and reaffirmed by Andrew Melville in the Second Book of Discipline (1578), and after various vicissitudes was established as the official policy of the Church of Scotland in 1690 and confirmed by the Act of Union in 1707 and by the accession oath of all subsequent British sovereigns (see quots.). As a result of schisms in the Church during the last three centuries Presbyterianism has split into several denominations, as the Secession, the Relief, the Old Scots Presbyterian, the United Presbyterian, the Reformed Presbyterian, the Free, the Free Presbyterian, the United Free Churches, the last four of which still exist as separate bodies outside the Church of Scotland. See also Establish, General Assembly, Presbytery, Session, Synod. Comb. Presbyterian supper, Sunday supper (Edb. c.1796 H. MacNeill Poems (1801) 50).Sc. 1707 Acts Parl. Scot. XI. 454:
[Article 25 of Treaty of Union]. The foresaid True Protestant Religion contained in the above mencioned Confession of Faith with the form and purity of Worship presently in use within this Church and its Presbyterian Church Government and Discipline that is to say the Government of the Church by Kirk Sessions Presbyteries Provincial Synods and General Assemblies all established by the foresaid Acts of Parliament pursuant to the Claim of Right shall Remain and Continue unalterable and that the said Presbyterian Government shall be the onely Government of the Church within the Kingdom of Scotland.
Sc. 1885 A. Edgar Old Church Life 189:
In the Church of Scotland, elders and presbyters mean the same thing . . . A Presbyterian Church accordingly means a Church that is governed exclusively by presbyters or elders, and in which there is no prelacy or prelation or precedence of one presbyter over another of the same kind.
Sc. 1947 Scotland (Meikle) 123:
The Scottish Parliament finally established Presbyterianism in 1690 by ratifying the Westminster Confession of Faith as the national standard of belief in Scotland.

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"Presbyterian adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 28 Mar 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/presbyterian>

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