The Erosion of the Calvinist Orthodoxy: Seceders and Subscription in Scottish Presbyterianism (Rutherford Studies in Historical Theology)

This work traces some aspects of the erosion of Westminster Calvinism among Scottish seceders during the years 1733 -1879. It is argued that although this process did not reach its peak until 1879, a significant departure from Westminster Cavinism occurred during the Atonement Controversy in the 1840s. The importance of the United Presbyterian Church Declaratory Act of 1879 lay in its giving de jure authority to ministers of the denomination to deviate from the teaching of the Westminster standards on matters which did not enter the substance of faith - a position which legalized the de facto authority which many had been exercising for a number of years.