One of the questions I often get when someone is interested in Vanguard Presbytery is this: Why did you not join such and such a denomination? Great question. Here is the short answer. To my knowledge, Vanguard Presbytery is the only Presbyterian denomination in America that is New Side, Old School; requires full subscription; is non-hierarchical; and, holds to the six 24 hour days of creation. Those positions are important to us.
Having written the above, though, I also realize that there are some people who still do not quite understand why Vanguard emphasizes New Side Presbyterianism as her heritage. In fact, there are more than a few people who claim to be confessional and conservative Presbyterians who also claim to be Old Side-Old School. They wrongly believe that the Old Side Presbyterians in the 1700’s were the ones who held most strictly to subscriptions to the Westminster Standards. A British reviewer of my biography on Samuel Davies: Apostle to Virginia wrote the following words: “This isn’t a mere biography, nor just a good biography, this is a must have biography that will thrill, inform and enrich your life kind of biography.” Kind words. But later in his review he also wrote: “In defense of the ‘Old Lights’, they were strict subscriptionists to the Westminster Confession. . . Maybe someone somewhere might put the record straight.” Well, I intend to put the record straight in this article today, but it won’t be to the liking of that reviewer.
From my study of the Old Side (or, Old Light)-New Side (or, New Light) controversy I always knew that the Old Side ministers were not strict subscriptionists. All you have to do is read their writings and sermons and you are driven to that conclusion. But I did a little more research on the matter today with some interesting results. The Old Side ministers are wrongly given credit for the Adopting Act of 1729 because John Thomson brought the matter to the floor of the Synod for adoption. That act required ministers to adopt the Westminster Standards as their profession of faith. Yet, it did not require strict subscription or total subscription or even full subscription. In fact, when the Adopting Act was passed, it was stated by the Synod:
And in case any minister of this Synod, or any candidate for the ministry, shall have any scruple with respect to any article or articles of said Confession or Catechisms, he shall, at the time of his making said declaration, declare his sentiments to the Presbytery or Synod, who shall, notwithstanding, admit him to the exercise of the ministry within our bounds, and to ministerial communion with them. But if the Synod or Presbytery shall judge such ministers or candidates erroneous in essential or necessary articles of faith, the Synod or Presbytery shall declare them uncapable of communion with them. (E. H. Gillett, History of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, Philadelphia: Presbyterian Publications Committee, 1864, 1:56).
That quote concerning the action taken by the Synod of 1729 clearly shows that there was no such thing as “strict subscription” that was passed or even envisioned by the Committee of Synod that presented the overture or the body of the Synod in adopting it. John Thomson gets credit for the overture only because he was elected as chairman of the Ad-Interim Committee that drew up the overture. That Committee was composed of men who wanted the adoption of the Confession to be stronger and others who did not want to have any confessional standards at all. The resulting overture was a compromise that permitted loose subscription and allowed ministers to take any exception to any part of the Westminster Standards as long as their court agreed that their views were acceptable. There was not and never has been any valid definition of what “the necessary articles of faith” are. It was a phrase that could be interpreted differently by any court of the denomination. Thus, there was essentially no common standard for the whole denomination. I can testify to you from having read documents in the special collections at Princeton Theological Seminary Library that the Old Side ministers most certainly were not strict subscriptionists. Indeed, many of them seem to have not understood the gospel. The result was that there grew up an idea that it was not necessary for a minister to be converted in order to do some good. Gilbert Tennent is often chastised for his Nottingham sermon in which he accused some of them of being unconverted, but he was probably correct in that judgment. Conversion, justification by faith alone, and the new birth were doctrines that simply were not important to many of the Old Side ministers from my detailed search of their writings and sermons.
Yet, the case against the Old Side ministers is even stronger once another fact is considered. The Adopting Act arose out of New Castle Presbytery which had started requiring ministers to subscribe to the Westminster Standards in 1724, five years before the action of Synod. New Castle Presbytery was composed primarily of men who were warm supporters of vital religion (or, heart religion) and later supported the Great Awakening which broke out in 1739. New Castle Presbytery was the presbytery to which Samuel Davies later belonged and to which body he preached his sermon on preaching and which he addressed it to: The Reverend Presbytery of New Castle. New Castle Presbytery became a New Side presbytery when that division took place in 1741. Thus, the Adopting Act really was the product of ministers who became New Side ministers and when it was acted upon by the Synod it was received in a watered down form through the machinations of men who were Old Side ministers. Just the facts, ladies and gentlemen. The strict subscriptionists were men like Gilbert Tennent, William Tennent, Sr., Samuel Blair, Charles Tennent, John Rowland, James Davenport and many others who sided with their sentiments.
That really should not be a surprise to anyone. There never can be an effective division of head and heart. Orthodoxy of doctrine must be joined with orthodoxy of heart or orthopraxy. Faith and life cannot be separated. Bad doctrine always leads to bad practice. And bad practice leads to bad doctrine.
As I have written before, the New Side ministers of the 18th century were essentially agreed with the Old School ministers of the 19th century. The New Side ministers emphasized the revival and experiential religion first and then doctrine. The Old School ministers emphasized doctrine first and then revival and experiential religion. Otherwise, they were exactly the same. The sermons of the Log College graduates (who were New Side ministers) reveal how they preached the great doctrines of the faith, but they preached those doctrines from hearts that were on fire with the gospel. Yet, I have never found a sermon by the Old Side ministers on those doctrines. Maybe the Old Side ministers did preach them, but I have not fund them.
Here is a very important question. What difference in American Presbyterianism would it have made if the Old Side ministers had never existed? First, most people reading this article today probably could not tell me the name of a single Old Side minister. You have heard of Gilbert Tennent, Samuel Blair, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, Samuel Davies, William Robinson and others. Have you ever heard of Robert Cross? Or, John Thomson—other than his name being associated with the Adopting Act? I could list many names for you, but you would only scratch your heads.
To answer the question, it would have made a huge difference if the Old Side ministers had never existed. That difference is wholly negative though. The followers of the Old Side Presbyterians are primarily responsible for Presbyterians becoming known as the “frozen chosen.” They were ministers who assented to the doctrines formally but did not have warm hearts that glowed with the gospel and the love of Christ. On the other hand, the great doctrinal foundation of evangelical Presbyterianism was laid by New Side ministers. The great emphasis on evangelism, revivals, and preaching the gospel was laid by New Side ministers. The heritage of spiritual and true Presbyterianism was laid by New Side ministers. For my part, I wish Presbyterianism had never become defined by the ministerial ideas and practices of the Old Side ministers. They have been the bane of Presbyterianism for too many centuries already. If the Old Side ministers had never existed, not a single point of evangelical Christianity in America would have been lost. In fact, Christianity would have been stronger without their dead and formal Christianity.
Now, I realize, as I said in the beginning of this article, that there are ministers today who wrongly think that the true position is to be Old Side-Old School. Those ministers may very well be well-meaning, but they are sadly mistaken and uninformed. Both the New Side ministers of the 18th century and the Old School ministers of the 19th century had a happy combination of heart and head that is essential to the gospel ministry. When either the head or the heart is compromised concerning the faith, it leads to deadness and, ultimately, to heresy. Vanguard Presbyterian Church is New Side and Old School because both positions are Scriptural and must be joined together.
The reviewer of my book on Davies certainly believes in the importance of strict subscriptionism and I applaud him for that. And he appreciates what I wrote about the Great Awakening. Either he does not really know the true history and beliefs of the Old Side Presbyterians or else he is confusing the Old Side ministers of the 18th century with the Old School ministers of the 19th century (who were indeed strict subscriptionists). That is an easy mistake to make. Thus, the conclusion is that the Old Side ministers definitely were not strict subscriptionists to the Westminster Standards. The New Side ministers were, though.
NOTE: I appreciate any prayers the readers of these article have lifted for me and my wife. Without saying too much, my wife has some health issues that she is dealing with at present and we do not know the extent of those issues or when they will be resolved. I simply do not know how often I will be able to continue these articles, but I will do my best. Jane comes first, though. I am sure you understand.
Dewey Roberts, Pastor of Cornerstone Presbyterian Church in Destin, FL
www.vanguardpresbyterianchurch.com
Please send any donations to: Vanguard Presbytery, PO Box 1862, Destin, FL 32540.