THE DECLARATORY ACT AND THE
FREE
The FCC has a helpful article at http://www.freechurchseminary.org/Christian%20Unity%202.html that says this about the Declaratory Act:
"The majority of the Original Seceders
and the Reformed Presbyterians joined the Free Church (FC). Two others of the
Secession churches formed the United Presbyterians (UPs). Then at the end of
the 19th Century there was a move for the UPs to join the FC. But the UPs were
weaker in their Calvinism and wanted no contact with state while the FC
believed in the Establishment Principle. Liberalism had weakened both churches.
To facilitate union a Declaratory Act was passed in the FC in 1892.
This allowed freedom for the individual minister in subscription to Confession
of Faith. It demanded adherence only in the matters which entered into the
“substance of the faith” and this was not defined. Basically ministers and
elders could believe what they liked. The
idea was that coming together as churches is good whatever people believe. Church
leaders must find forms of words that suit everyone. They saw strength in
numbers and in their pride viewed themselves as competing numerically with the
Church of Scotland. So at last the union took place in 1900. Truth was
downplayed. The Free Presbyterian Church was formed in protest against the
Declaratory Act (1892) in1893 and a minority stayed out of the
My view of church affiliation, found at http://www.puritans.net/news/biblicalrealism021207.htm , is this:
"So long as there is full
subscription to the Biblical standards outlined in the original
When the FC passed the Declaratory Act (see article at http://www.puritans.net/bookreviewseconddisruption.htm
for fuller detail on the passing of the Declaratory Act), it ceased fully
to subscribe to the Biblical doctrines outlined in the original Westminster
Standards, so it was correct not to be joined to her. It is not enough simply to have the
Westminster Standards as one’s constitution but without full subscription,
because it leaves the door wide open to church officers who disagree with the Westminster
Standards, who are not qualified to be church officers, and thus thoroughly
undermines the Church's proper role as "pillar of truth" in the world
(I Timothy 3:15). Indeed, having the
Westminster Standards as one’s constitution but with a loose form of
subscription to those standards can be as meaningless as not having the
Westminster Standards at all. A
confession without full subscription is quite inadequate; both full
subscription and true confessional standards must be factors in determining
proper church affiliation.
Therefore, it was right and proper
for the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland (FPCS) to be formed in protest of
the Declaratory Act, and to maintain the separate existence of a body fully
subscribed to the original Westminster Standards. Once justifiably formed, Christians have had
a duty since then to be joined with the FPCS, and not to create separate
denominations when the FPCS already existed.
That goes for the WPCUS, Presbyterian Reformed,
and Free Church Continuing (FCC) denominations, as well as other
denominations. The reality in all too
many cases is that these other denominations were formed because they did not
like the strictness of the FPCS on such issues as Sabbath public transport,
modesty of attire, movie entertainment, etc.
But those are not valid substantive grounds for the creation of separate
denominations. Indeed, the FPCS’s strict
posture on these issues is generally correct (indeed, the FPCS would ideally go
further in its strictness on a number of matters), making the creation of
separate denominations doubly unjustified.
The unjustifiable basis of
creation, and the weak foundation which underlay it, keeps coming back to haunt
denominations subsequently created. We
are witnessing this very thing in the structural weaknesses of Puritan Reformed
Theological Seminary and its participating denominations, where various erroneous
views (critical text view, denial of literal 6-day creation, etc.) are
tolerated among the professors at PRTS (see http://www.puritans.net/news/prts111909.htm
.)
It is important that churches and
seminaries not succumb to the Declaratory Act siren song.