FEBRUARY 2020 - Submission to “The Powers That Be" by William Roberts

From the earliest days of the American Republic, the doctrine of passive obedience was pressed from many pulpits in the United States. Some taught that submission was due to whatever government happened to exist in the providence of God. In contrast, the Reformed Presbyterians, or Covenanters, taught that all civil governments had an obligation to conform themselves to the moral ordinance of…

JANUARY 2020 - Divine Government Applied to the British Constitution by The Reformed Presbyterian Synod

The Reformed Presbyterian Church has always stood as a witnessing body against defections in both church and state from those attainments of the Second Reformation. Beginning with the controversy between the Resolutioners and Protesters, the Reformed Church of Scotland was forced to confront those who did not believe that Reformation attainments were important in matters of…

December 2019 - Remarks On A Letter Addressed To Members Of The Old Church Of Scotland By JOHN DOW

In 1822, the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland changed her terms of communion. After a period of internal controversy, the Synod, without proper presbyterial procedure, reworked the fourth term of communion by eliminating reference to the Auchensaugh Renovation of the covenants, National and Solemn League, of 1712. In its place they put a more general statement regarding the obligation…

November 2019 - A Third Reformation Necessary By James Kerr

There is a need for the church to be reformed, including those churches denominated “Reformed.” The lessons and work of the Second Reformation are largely forgotten, and the foundational lessons and work of the First Reformation are woefully neglected. What is needed is a history lesson. The history of the Covenanters and their martyrs contain many helpful examples of firmness in belief and practice. Moreover…

October 2019 - The Christian Magistrate A Discourse With An Appendix By Rev. Thomas Houston

At a time when many churches remain silent on political matters lest they should offend part of their base of support, it is as imperative as ever to discuss why Reformed Presbyterians have chosen the path least traveled in civil relations. Many Christians fail to understand how much the Bible has to say about the relations believers have to civil magistracy. Too many seem to think that all the Bible…

September 2019 - Social Dancing Inconsistent With A Christian Profession And Baptismal Vows By B.M. Palmer

The history of the Christian church has marked off three things which have remained forbidden by the Church, both the early church and the Reformed churches—dicing, dancing and theatre. In his “Stone Lectures”, in 1898, Abraham Kuyper called these the Christian Rubicon which no genuine believer would dare cross. With the continual moral decline of the modern church, many of these things have not…

August 2019 - Remarks On The Duration Of Future Punishment By Samuel B. Wylie

The early part of the 19th century was rife with theological controversy. Perhaps none challenged the orthodox Presbyterian party more than the Hopkinsians. These were a group of Arminians masquerading as high Calvinists. They professed a kind of supralapsarian view of the decrees which was, by twists and turns, made to accommodate views of the atonement which took in the cause of all men…

July 2019 - An Overture Entitled “Testimony For Public Covenanting.”

From the moment Covenanters landed in North America, they faced questions regarding if and how they were bound by those covenants sworn in Britain. In 1839, an Overture for Public Covenanting was brought before the Synod which presumed that the church was bound by these covenants and also understood that the United States was bound by the Solemn League. This view, which had been…

It was a characteristic of the Covenanters to gather for private fellowship meetings during The Killing Times when they were denied access to regular ministry. These fellowship meetings were also vehicles for private social prayer amongst like-minded believers. The value and efficacy of the prayers of individuals is multiplied in the fellowship of others. Christ’s promise that where two or three gather in…

May 2019 - Look Beyond Luther (Where This Our Religion Was Before Luther’s Time?) By Richard Bernard

Between the First and Second Reformations, the English church experienced a period of foment between the Puritans and those who were not inclined to Puritanism. One of the subjects which gained a lot of attention was the position of the Church of England among the churches of Christendom. An ancient apostolic church, the Church of England had a prior claim to that of faith of Rome. Protestantism is as old as…

April 2019 - The Organ Question By W. Robertson

Every Lord’s day, in most “worship” services throughout the Western world, Protestant services employ musical instruments. Over the past decades, there have been discussions about the introduction of popular instruments of music and “contemporary” worship forms into the churches. Standing against this, there have been many “traditionalists” who have opposed these modern additions…

March 2019 - Sermon Preached To The Honourable House Of Commons By Samuel Rutherfurd

During the time of the Westminster Assembly, sermons were preached continually before both houses of the English parliament by a mixture of those divines convened in that venerable Assembly as well as other noteworthy ministers throughout the land. The topics varied but were often parts of the theological polemics which drove the debates in the Assembly. Because of the English civil…

February 2019 - Prize Catechism On The Principles And Position Of The Reformed Presbyterian Church By The Rev. Samuel Simms

Simms’ “Prize Catechism” employs an approved method of teaching and catechizing upon the principles of the Reformed Presbyterian Church. While quite useful in setting forth the distinctive principles of the RP church, Simms is especially careful to press the practical claims of religious principles. While many bodies may profess adherence to a number of points held by Reformed Presbyterians…

January 2019 - The Judgment And Justice Of God Exemplified By John Howie

Amongst the various chronicles and memoirs of the martyrs of the Christian church, there are found edifying accounts of the events surrounding their deaths on behalf of their faith. Very often, these accounts set forth details of the confession for which they died and the sufferings they endured. These martyr accounts have been popular among Christians since the earliest days of the church. At the time of the…

December 2018 - De Triplici Episcopatu, Or The Three-fold Order Of Bishops By Theodore Beza

The Reformation, among other things, led to a complete reevaluation of church office and its relation to the magistrate. Rome had corrupted the government of the church and this, in turn, had a deleterious effect on the civil governments prior to the Reformation. As the Reformers labored to reform and remove corruptions in the church, they necessarily had to address those who held office…

November 2018 - TRUTH. A SERMON ON STEADFAST ADHERENCE TO THE DISTINCTIVE DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH BY REV. SAMUEL M. WILLSON

Leading up to the Synod of 1833, the Reformed Presbyterian Church, in America, had been embroiled in a series of controversies regarding the application of the Testimony of the church to the U.S. Constitution. Since the publication of the “American” Testimony, in 1806, two bodies had struggled to be born in the RP church. There were those who were amenable to the Covenanter…

October 2018 - Sermon On The Glory And Security Of The Church Of God By James R. Willson

There was a time when communion seasons in the Presbyterian churches were bracketed with days of fasting and days of thanksgiving. The days of fasting were days of preparation for the right reception of the sacrament of the Lord’s supper on days preceding the sacramental Lord’s day. During these seasons, the Mondays following the administration of the Lord’s supper were days of…

September 2018 - The Sabbath’s Sanctification By William Gouge

The first catechism contained in this booklet is William Gouge’s work on the Sabbath. In this, he defends the change of day, the time that is to be kept and many other points they have been a matter of controversy. Perhaps of greatest value…

August 2018 - Testimony And Warning Against Socinian And Unitarian Errors By The Reformed Presbytery

Throughout the 18th century, the evangelical and Reformed Church of Scotland found herself under assault from within and without. Within many were corrupted by the spirit of worldly compromise and the thoughts of latitudinarianism prevailed over popular sentiments. This soft theological and confessional stance permitted the infiltration of various strands of Enlightenment theology, including many…

July 2018 - Short vindication of our covenanted reformation by committee of the reformed presbytery

In 1871, after decades of debate, the Synod of the RPCNA decided to frame a bond, or covenant, designed to take in what they deemed the peculiar circumstances of Reformed Presbyterians in North America. In doing so, the membership was assured that covenanting is what Reformed Presbyterians do; hence, they are called Covenanters. The problem was that so-called…

June 2018 - Hephzibah Beulah by Rev. James W. Shaw

At the beginning of the 19th century, the Reformed Presbyterians in Scotland, Ireland and North America, having spent the previous century debating the Seceders over the civil dimensions espoused in the Covenants, National and Solemn League, turned inward. As each nation saw rising numbers of members, they formed synods and these synods began to reflect upon what it meant to be Covenanters. Gradually, each ecclesiastical body..

May 2018 - Truth No Enemy to Peace by John Reid

Throughout the eighteenth century, the Seceders and Covenanters conducted a war of words mainly over the proper understanding of the relation of what it means to uphold our Covenanted Reformation with reference to civil governments. The Seceders took the position that, as a dissenting body, they were only responsible to press those principles of the Covenanted Reformation which pertained to the reformation of the church…

April 2018 - A Short Account of Mr. Thomas Nairn by Thomas Nairn

With their renewal of the covenants, in 1743, the Associate Presbytery (the Secession) saw the departure of Rev. Thomas Nairn, who disagreed with their views on the manner accommodating this renewal to the times. In their act for renewing the Covenants, the Seceders condemned the views of the Old Dissenters (i.e., Covenanters) over their views regarding the use of arms in resisting uncovenanted governments…

March 2018 - Causes of the Lord’s Wrath Against Scotland by James Guthrie

In 1651, the Church of Scotland was rent asunder by what became known as the Protester/Resolutioner controversy. The Protesters were the minority party; the Resolutioners controlled most of the higher assemblies of the church. Both parties agreed to keep covenant breakers and those who refused to own the obligations of the sworn covenants out of church office but the Protesters, understanding that the covenants had…

February 2018 - Letter Second to the Reverend William Fletcher by William Steven

In his Second Letter, Mr. Steven once more takes up the cause of the Reformed Presbytery against the accusations of the Secession church on the matter of civil magistracy. His first concern is to vindicate the position of Reformed Presbyterians on matter of paying of tribute, or taxations. In the first section, Mr. Steven discusses the nature of taxations distinguishing between those with which it is inherently sinful to comply…

January 2018 - An Informatory Vindication

In 1687, the struggle for the cause of covenanting had entered a critical phase. Since the Restoration of Charles II., in 1660, those who had held firmly to the cause of Covenanted Reformation had come under increasing pressure to conform and submit to the demands of the king which sought to “harmonize” Scottish polity with that found in England. This result was the gradual attrition of those remaining faithful to the Covenants…

December 2017 - An Overture on the Magistrate’s Power Circe Sacra by Reformed Presbyterian Synod

The 1830s were a time of turbulence in the Reformed Presbyterian church, in America. After the split, in 1833, into “New Lights” and “Old Lights,” the “Old Light” Synod began to give renewed thought to the concept of testimony bearing, especially in the context of the North American ecclesiastical potpourri. Few could have anticipated the flood of errors and heresies that would erupt into the vacuum…

November 2017 - The Revolution Settlement of the Church of Scotland by John Graham

What makes the Reformed Presbyterian Church different from all other Presbyterian churches? Genealogy. All other Presbyterian churches descend from the Revolution Settlement with its Erastian moorings in the Restoration rather than the Second Reformation. The Reformed Presbyterian Church, alone among Presbyterians, traces its roots back to the Second Reformation of Scotland and its attainments. While pedigree is not enough…

October 2017 - Two Lectures on Reformation Principles by Andrew Symington

What are the principles of the Second Reformation and why are they of importance today? The Second Reformation represents a high water mark of reform; it is a litmus test for Presbyterian orthodoxy; it was an achievement of grand proportions in the nation of Scotland. Its breadth means it effectively touched many doctrines while pushing its reforms in church and nation. If any principle stands at the center of the agenda…

September 2017 - Strictures on Occasional Hearing by James Douglas

The disease that is denominationalism is often hidden by the laxity of modern church discipline. Lack of confessional integrity, encouraged by a mindless ecumenism, has made the prospect of fellowship an easy choice in our decadent age—simply attend the church of your choice or worship with the purest body near you. Such advice flows from a complete failure to grasp the nature of the visible church (cf. WCF XXV.1) or the nature…

August 2017 - Answers to the Twelve Queries by William Stevenson

Written toward the end of the eighteenth century, Mr. Steven takes up the cause of the Reformed Presbytery against the accusations of the Secession church on the matter of civil magistracy. He seeks to right several wrongs done against the Reformed Presbytery by authors of the Associate Presbytery (Seceders), including vindicating the Rev. John M’Millan’s “Letter on Civil Magistracy” from several…

July 2017 - The Ecclesiastical Catechism by Alexander McLeod

There was a time when the average Christian knew or wanted to know why he believed and practiced as he did. It was a time when churches taught doctrine and enforced genuine Christian practice. In America, one of the most hotly contested controversies surrounded the matter of church government. These controversies raged in the early part of the 19th century when each professing believer sought…

June 2017 - A Testimony and Warning Against Some Prevailing Sins… by The Reformed Presbytery

For well over a century after the Second Reformation, the Reformed Presbytery had, in matters of practical religion, shared a common Christian view of culture and society. However, toward the end of the eighteenth century, with the rise of Deism and the establishing of Enlightenment ideals in Revolutionary France, the tide was turning against a Christian ethos throughout Europe and America. Practices which would…

May 2017 - A Plea for the Covenanted Reformation of the National Covenant and Solemn League and Covenant

The question of what is the Reformation cause is one that must be answered before people claiming to be Reformed and Presbyterian can make their claims legitimate. Names imply continuity of identity and identity has references that are rooted in history. The Scottish Reformation, from which all Presbyterianism claims to have some pedigree, was and is of a peculiar character amongst the various…

April 2017 - A Short Directory for Religious Societies

Few things were more consistent for Covenanters, especially during the Killing Times, than to maintain Fellowship, of Society, meetings for the mutual comfort and benefit of the people of God. In these meetings, the warmth of experimental religion was kept alive and the bond of communion among the saints was reinforced. These were not meetings designed only for prayer, though they prayed, they were…

March 2017 - The Auchensaugh Renovation of the National Covenant and Solemn League and Covenant

In 1689, shortly before his defection to the Revolution Church of Scotland (constituted after the “Glorious Revolution” of William and Mary, in 1689), Mr. Alexander Shields presided over an act of covenant renewal, at Borland Hill. In this, the Covenanters joined hoping to influence the newly formed civil and ecclesiastical governments of Britain. With Shields’ departure, they were left without ministry…

February 2017 - Discourses on Scripture Psalmody in Praising God by Rev. Hugh Brown

There was a time when to be Presbyterian meant to be concerned for purity of worship. Presbyterians were opposed to liturgical modes of worship, operatic modes of singing, and observance of a church calendar. The concern for purity was not merely negative, it had some very notable positive aspects as well. In a previous time, to be Presbyterian was synonymous with being a Psalm…

January 2017 - An Useful Case of Conscience Discussed and Resolved by George Gillespie

In the United States, and many other countries, it has become a common feature for conservative Christians to serve in the military and positions of public trust under governments that are not even remotely Christian. For many years, the Reformed Presbyterians bore testimony against this practice and all other voluntary associations with the ungodly. The first work, by George Gillespie, explains which kinds of alliances are forbidden…

December 2016 - A Letter on the Civil Magistrate by John M’Millan Junior

Today, many people think that the only requirement for legitimacy in civil magistracy is that it exists by the providence of God. This view is especially prevalent among conservative Christian groups which view it to be their duty to submit to anyone who occupies the office of ruler. This view is often part of a worldview that calls them into closer and closer proximity to political activism. After all, the thinking…

November 2016 - Considerations on Lots by John M. Mason

In his “Lectures on Calvinism,” (1898), Dutch Reformed theologian Abraham Kuyper listed dancing, theater attendance and card playing (and dicing) as the three diversions no serious Christian, especially the Calvinist, would dare to engage to participate. Undoubtedly, many professing Christians today view various card games and board games as innocent diversions. Many very likely will find any suggestion that they are not only…

October 2016 - Church and State: Three Lectures by James Kerr D.D.,

There are many theories about the proper relation between Church and State. There is one, in particular, that is held up for scorn not only by the ungodly but also by many professing Christians—that the Church and State should be in alliance. The belief in national establishments of religion is not very popular amongst the churches throughout Western societies. It is often accounted both outdated and incompatible with the tenets…

September 2016 - Jesus “Crowned with Glory and Honor" by Thomas Martin

Today, many people associate Reformed Presbyterians with the practice of acapella Psalm singing. This is due to the decline of Psalm singing amongst professing Presbyterians. However, prior to the twentieth century, Reformed Presbyterians were known for a very different distinctive principle and practice. That principle revolves around the Headship of Christ and his Mediatorial reign over the nations…

August 2016 - The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women by John Knox

The egalitarian notion that men and women are equal is accepted as axiomatically true by most people today. As a result, feminism has made increasing advances in modern churches. But, does Christianity provide a basis for dismissing the natural order between the sexes? “The First Blast of the Trumpet” is Knox’s first attack on the rising class of female sovereigns. In the course of explaining why women should…

July 2016 - Instrumental Music in Public Worship by Rev. Robert Johnson

It was not until the middle of the nineteenth century that most Protestants, especially Presbyterians, had to face what would often be known as “the organ question.” Prior to this, most of these congregations had worshipped a cappella. This had been their practice since the Reformation, a practice they shared with the early church. With the advent of revivalism, and the “new measures” proposed by Charles…

June 2016 - Messiah, Governor of the Nations of the Earth by Alexander McLeod & The Written Law, Or The Law Of God Revealed In The Scriptures, By Christ As Mediator; by James R. Willson

The doctrine of the Mediatorial reign of Christ has formed the subject of those principles accounted distinctive to the Reformed Presbyterian Church. Christ’s kingship over the nations and the implications of this doctrine will not be popular amongst a people deeply compromised with the spirit of the age. The prescription may seem tough but the results of centuries of ignoring this doctrine have left the church…

May 2016 - Sermon on the Baptizing of Infants by Stephen Marshall

Many people today consider the topic of baptism a matter of lesser moment, a non-fundamental about which too many have placed too much emphasis in times past. Yet, it is also forgotten that baptism was highly controverted not only because of the errors of Rome regarding sacraments but because of the dangers posed by the rise of the Anabaptist movement. If Rome attributed too much to the power of baptism (e.g., its washing away of original…

April 2016 - “A Sermon on The Vow" by J. R. Willson

What is the relationship between covenanting, or vowing, and the reception of the Lord’s supper? Today, it is to be feared that few people take seriously the nature of the oath and vow implied in the sacramental reception of the Lord’s supper. The practice of close communion is rarely enforced in Reformed churches and, with its abandonment, the enforcing of terms of communion is all but non-existent. The Lord’s supper has become…

March 2016 - Advantage Of National Establishments Of Religion By William White

Many people living in “post-Christian” Western societies have probably never given serious thought to the proposition of national religion and its establishment. For many, their faith in the Enlightenment doctrine of separation of church and state seems to preclude any possibility of any such arrangement. Disestablishment and rejection of national religion is, after all, the basis for our modern secular utopias in the…

February 2016 - Observations on the Public Covenants Betwixt God and the Church  by Archibald Mason

What happens when a nation professes the true religion and makes this profession explicit by publicly swearing to uphold and practice that faith? Clearly this happened in Israel under the Old Testament administration of Moses. However, is this practice advisable or even lawful for nations under the New Testament? After all, what do New Testament Christians have to do with Old Testament practices? These are questions which challenge…

January 2016 - The Obligation of the Covenants by Samuel B. Wylie together with The Duty of Social Covenanting by Thomas Sproull

Many Presbyterian and Reformed Christians today are familiar with covenant theology and they have often heard about the Covenant of Grace. Few have considered some of the implications of this doctrine or one of its practical consequences for the church—social covenanting. Fewer yet are aware that the Westminster Standards are one of the results of social covenanting. There was a time when the Reformed Presbyterian…

December 2015 - Amusements and The Christian Life by L. C. Vass

When the Christian life and the idea of separation from the world was taken more seriously, all evangelical churches (and even many that were not evangelical) believed and taught that professing Christians should abstain from worldly amusements. The first pamphlet contained in this book was written during the moral decline that followed the devastating “civil” war between the Northern and Southern states. Upon reading…

November 2015 - Letters on the Constitution, Government, and Discipline of the Christian Church by John Brown

In purer days, Presbyterians were interested in, and thought much upon, the subject of church government. There were broad debates over whether or not God had established any particular form of government in the church, or if it was allowed to adopt that form most convenient. There were more narrow debates wherein different parties asserted their’s to be the only form of government existing by divine authority and…

October 2015 - Popery, The Mystery of Iniquity by William Symington

There was a time when being Protestant entailed the declaration and belief that popery was the mystery of iniquity and the pope was that man of sin seated in the church. Protestantism was predicated upon a rejection of popery in its doctrine and practice. In the evolving conceptions of what it means to be a Christian today, thanks in large part to evangelicals holding hands…

September 2015 - View of the Rights of God and Man by James McKinney

While still in Ireland, in the early 1790s, James McKinney began to preach a series of sermons designed to encourage men to advance the cause of revealed religion in the realm of politics. So far from seeking to set the Covenanter testimony on a new footing in the New World, these sermons, on the Rights of God and Man, were first delivered in the Old World in the midst of Irish political…

August 2015 - Antipharmacum Saluberrimum by John Flavel

Imagine living in a country once professedly Christian, but now overtaken by increasingly secularizing political forces. Through various steps of defection, the church had ceded its authority and its message to gain favor with the world. In this climate, there are ever increasingly hostile parties opposed to biblical Christianity, and the Reformed faith in particular. This political and cultural…

July 2015 - Church Fellowship by John Black

The early 19th century was a time when American sensibilities sought to overtake Christian sensibilities. The Enlightenment dogmas of equality and a boundless liberty of conscience in matters of faith were blazing through historically Reformed churches and normalizing the idea of denominationalism. In this climate, when a false characterization of the principle of Christian charity…

June 2015 - The God of Paul's Fathers by Andrew Symington

Questions and confusion about the doctrine of the Trinity is nothing new. From her earliest days, the Christian church has had to combat various misunderstandings many of which grew into damnable heresies. One of the earliest and most subversive heresies was called Sabellianism, the belief the God was one person perceived by believers under three different aspects. Sabellius was a third…

May 2015 - The Mystery of Magistracy Unvailed

As Western societies become increasingly secular and tolerant of every kind of belief and practice contrary to Scripture, they are confronted with the lack of cohesion that the Christian religion used to provide. In the wake of its absence, the state has assumed the duties that used to pertain to the church, especially when nations had national establishments of religion. Where the…

April 2015 - The Doctrine of the Atonement by Alexander Mcleod

In the early part of the 19th century, the Reformed churches were greatly troubled over the matter of Hopkinsianism. It was a theological system which arose out of certain speculative notions found in the writings of Jonathan Edwards and systematized by Samuel Hopkins, hence its name. Besides tampering with and modifying many views of the traditional New England Puritans, it became…

March 2015 - A Short Account Of The Old Presbyterian Dissenters by Authority Of The Reformed Presbytery In Scotland

In 1806, the Reformed Presbytery of Scotland, the Covenanters, were desirous of giving an account among themselves and to the world for, what seemed to many, their peculiar emphasis on testimony bearing. The testimony bearing of the Covenanting societies had become more and more pronounced in the early 18th century and reached its height of confessionalization in 1761. Due to…

February 2015 - Observations Doctrinal and Practical, on Saving Faith by Archibald Mason

What is the nature of saving faith? What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul? These are questions that remain pertinent to all who are concerned with the nature of true religion. In a relatively short compass, Archibald Mason seeks to answer these questions and more. Mason’s treatment is brief and easy enough for believers of average intelligence…

January 2015 - Explanation and Defence of the Terms of Communion by The Reformed Presbytery

In 1801, the Reformed Presbytery of Scotland, the Covenanters, were poised between two centuries and a situation not unfamiliar to church officers. Should they remain true to the historical interpretation (i.e., confession) and implementation (i.e., practice) of the church’s standards? or, Should they seek a more congenial relation to changing society through some alteration…

December 2014 - Creeds and Confessions Defended by John Paul

In a time and place where sloganeering often carries the weight of theological argument, we are often treated to the chant, “No creed but Christ” or “No creed but the Bible.” For Protestants, professing the doctrine of sola Scriptura, this might seem like an obvious and, more importantly, Biblical position. The problem with this view is that Protestants, particularly Lutheran and Reformed, never…

November 2014 - An Essay Upon the Sacred Use of Organs in Christian Assemblies

In a day, and amongst a culture steeped in entertainment, the premise of this pamphlet will meet with some resistance. Fallen men are hostile to the things of the Spirit of God. Increasingly, worship conducted in the simplicity of the Gospel is eschewed in favor of a sensual atmosphere that attempts to be bigger and louder than ever. More and more numerous instruments, orchestras, and choirs fill the more…

October 2014 - Regnum Lapidus, or the Kingdom of the Stone by Archibald Johnston

The doctrines advocated in this essay contained too much Old Light, even in 1817, to find ready acceptance amongst the contending parties developing in the American Reformed Presbyterian church. Commissioned by the Synod of 1817, this essay was submitted for review to a leader of the emerging "New Light" faction and never returned for publication. Only the fact that a copy remained in the hands of Archibald…

September 2014 - The Government and Order of the Church of Scotland by Alexander Henderson

When the Assembly of Divines, meeting at Westminster, turned their attention to the matter of uniformity in the matter of church government, they sought advice from the Scottish church. In order the reform the government of the English church, according to the “example of the best Reformed churches,” (Solemn League, art. I) there was no church closer, or more noted for being Reformed, than the Church of Scotland…

August 2014 - The Social Position of Reformed Presbyterians or Cameronians by William Sommerville

In a day when many are at ease in Zion, this small book will present a challenge. Covenanter minister William Sommerville traces the lines of historical Covenanters and shows that many, who may claim to be faithful to Covenanter principles, are not standing in their line. The nineteenth century saw many branches of Presbyterianism making claims to be descendants of the Cameronians, or Covenanters. In fact, many…

July 2014 - The Two Witnesses by David Steele

One great fact separated the claims of the Romish party from those of Protestants. In defense of which doctrines were biblical and which were not, the early Protestants confidently asserted that not one controverted truth between them had been sealed by the blood of the martyrs. Papal supremacy, purgatory, transubstantiation, the cult of the saints, and other corruptions of doctrine and practice…

June 2014 - The Only Songs of Zion by Donald C. McLaren

The practice of Psalm singing, though not common today amongst Presbyterian churches, was the standard practice of Reformed churches from the time of the Reformation. In this small book, Donald C. McLaren presents the reader with a concise overview of the excellence of the Psalms and their inherent suitableness for praising God, under the New Testament. Writing at a time when Reformed churches…

May 2014 - Principles of Church Fellowship by John T. Pressly

In the age of NAPARC (North American Presbyterian and Reformed Council), it might seem as though the Reformed churches were closer to achieving some kind of working unity amongst various bodies with sometimes conflicting confessional standards. An Inquiry into the Principles of Church Fellowship represents a concise and tightly reasoned primer dealing with several topics of related to present ecclesiastical concerns. The spirit of the age is one seeking unity…

April 2014 - The Superfluity of Naughtiness by Thomas Wall

Head coverings on women are not ceremonially significant and, therefore, not matters pertaining only to the worship of God. Yet, head coverings and long hair on women, as well as men donning short hair, are customs which found place in the Church (cf. 1 Cor. 11:13, 14). These are customs founded in nature (i.e., customs according to nature), as Paul notes; but fallen men have found out other customs which are vain (i.e., they are habits against nature; cf. Jer. 10:3)…

March 2014 - The Duty of Nations by Gilbert McMaster

In her earlier and purer days, the Reformed Presbyterian church, like many other Presbyterian and Reformed churches, appointed annual days of fasting in the Spring and thanksgiving in the Fall. On May, 24, 1809, the Reformed Presbyterian church constituted her supreme governing body a synod. When the first Thursday of November, 1809, was appointed as the day of thanksgiving to be observed in all the congregations of the Reformed Presbyterian church, the matter of ecclesiastical…

February 2014 - True and Visible Markes of the Catholic Church by Theodore Beza

Since the beginning of the Reformation, Rome has laid the charge of schism at the feet of the Protestant reformers. Rome asserts that she alone is that catholic church to which all men must resort if they would be saved. In order to sustain her claim against Protestants, she has maintained that the true church had always been visible and, furthermore, that its visibility was centered in the Romish papacy. Outside of this institution, Rome asserted, there is no ordinary possibility of salvation...

January 2014 - The Two Sons of Oil by Samuel B. Wylie

In 1802, at the “Forks of the Yough,” a place well situated for such an occasion, Samuel Wylie and John Black, his brother-in-law, officiated over what was very likely the first communion season to be held by Covenanters in the frontier that was the western part of Pennsylvania, since the re-organizing of the Reformed Presbyter, in 1798. The sacramental observance was a five day event, which began with fasting and ended with a day of thanksgiving. It was also a time of spiritual reflection featuring numerous sermons and…