The Presbyterian Creed: A Confessional Tradition in America, 1729-1870

The American Presbyterian creed up until the second half of the twentieth century has been the confessional tradition of the Westminster Assembly (1643-48). Presbyterians in America adopted the Westminster Confession and Catechisms in 1729 through a compromise measure that produced ongoing debate for the next hundred years. Differences over the meaning of confessional subscription were a continuing cause of the Presbyterian schisms of 1741 and 1837. The Presbyterian Creed is a study of the factors that led to the ninteenth-century Old School/New School schism and the Presbyterian reunions of 1864 and 1870. In these reunions, American Presbyterians finally reached consensus on the meaning of confessional subscription that had previously been so elusive.

S. Donald Fortson III is Associate Professor of Church History and Practical Theology at Reformed Theological Seminary, Charlotte, North Carolina. He earned his BA at Covenant College and his MDiv and DMin at Columbia Theological Seminary. He lives in Charlotte with his wife Nancy and children Caroline and Samuel and is an ordained minister in the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.