Thesis (D.Min.)--Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, 2000. / Includes bibliographical refereces (leaves 123-139).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2002. / Title from title page screen (viewed Oct. 10, 2002). Thesis advisor: Lorri Glover. Document formatted into pages (v, 98 p.). Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-97).

This study covers the period from arrival of the first minister to union of most congregations in a Church unconnected with the Scottish parent Churches. My thesis is that reliance on the Scottish Churches was a necessary condition for establishment of the Presbyterian Church in the Colony but also the principal cause of failure to attempt to become a major religious force. Equality with the Church of England was conceded gradually and, initially, reluctantly and from the first State aid and religious rights derived from adherence to the Church of Scotland. Almost the entire ministry derived from Scotland or, to a lesser extent, Ulster, and both the Established and Free Churches of Scotland resisted recruitment of outsiders. Consequently, the ministry remained Scotland-oriented and imbued with all the passions of divided Scottish Presbyterianism. Control over State aid and recruitment assisted the Scottish Churches in forcing a disruption in 1846 and for a generation the Church remained weak, fragmented and in conflict over alleged erastianism in the Church of Scotland, indiscriminate aid and voluntaryism. These Churches involved themselves in local ecclesiastical contentions and were used against opponents by Colonial ministers with influence in Scotland. Colonial Presbyterianism was introverted, backward-looking, unassimilated holding to Scottish standards and to concepts inappropriate for the local environment. The Church appeared a sect for expatriate Scots and Ulstermen. Others, ministers and lay people, felt rejected. The native-born saw the Church as an exotic institution which did not relate to them. Some ministers espoused the Church ideal, but made little headway. Others were concerned only to retain the Established Church connection or the purity of 'Free Church principles' and some resisted accommodation of divergent viewpoints. Eventually compromise, unity, independence and assimilation were accepted as essential to progress.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2007. / Prepared for: School of Education. Bibliography: leaves 152-158. Also available online.

Proefschrift--Kampen. / "Propositions": [4] p. inserted. Bibliography: p. 247-256.

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The intention of this thesis is an examination of the conflict and interaction between the Presbyterian and Congregational church polities, as seen in the polemic and apologetic material published concerning the "New England way" between 1641 and 1662. No attempt is made to describe the historical influence of one polity on the development of the other, except by the way; the aim is rather to present a systematic view of the arguments actually used by each side in attack and defence. In the works under survey, the attack was largely made by the Presbyterian divines, the defence by the New Englanders; as a result, the emphasis is on the Congregational system under Presbyterian criticism, rather than vice versa. The New England writers, alone among contemporary Independents, spoke from the experience of an established Congregationalism; this, the Presbyterians could not afford to ignore. It is this which makes a study of the controversy between them especially interesting. Scottish and English Presbyterians had not only to prove that the New England way was theoretically wrong, but also that practically it was a failure. This gave added urgency to the debate. These works reveal not only the differences between the two sides, but many of their common presuppositions as well; and a knowledge of each of these things is important for those who have followed in their steps. For the spiritual descendents of these men often use arguments in defending the polities they have inherited, which have little or no relation to the principles used by their forefathers in establishing them. We can only benefit from a greater understanding of some of the forgotten principles which lie behind our systems and their differences. Absolute scriptural literalism, double predestination, covenant theology, millennialism, and the idea of the Roman Catholic Church as "Great Mysterie Babylon," are more or less foreign to the thought of most modern churchmen; and Ramism, repugnance for democracy, the philosophy of Social Contract, and "the duties of the Magistrate in the first table of the Law," are, for almost all, as relics of an age long dead. Yet this is the native soil of New England Congregationalism, and of Westminster Presbyterianism as well. One may hope that an increased understanding of some of the reasons behind their quarrel may be some help to us in making it up.

This thesis presents an alternative picture of Scottish historian William Robertson (172 1-1793). By examining Robertson's works and the contexts in which he wrote, I hope to show that the prevailing view of Robertson as a typically cosmopolitan eighteenth-centwy 'Enlightenment' figure, a devotee of post-Union 'British' values in histonography and outlook, and a practitioner of the progressive eighteenth-century type of historical writing, called conjectural or stadial histoiy, with its associated values, is misleading. These assumptions have given rise to the belief that Robertson was a wholehearted advocate of European expansion and the British Empire. This picture ignores evidence of Robertson's attachment to older Scottish Presbyterian Whig values such as militant Protestantism (generally seen as abandoned by the Moderate Presbyterian church party which Robertson led), defensive patriotism, martial virtue, and resistance to overbearing authority. These are present in his work and career although they are modified by Robertson's need to appeal to 'polite' English, or 'Enlightened' continental readerships in order to achieve distinction as well as by the Moderate political commitment to support govermnent in return for ecclesiastical autonomy. In many ways, these values are incompatible with those of a cosmopolitan figure influenced by French philosophes, or a confirmed advocate of 'British' values supposedly embraced by the Scots intelligentsia Particularly, the sense of defensiveness inherent in Scottish history makes it practically impossible for a Scot whose outlook remains rooted in the defensive patriotism of the Scottish past to be an unqualified supporter of empire. Robertson's work shows constant dubiety about conquest and empire, thus falling into a tradition of Scottish anti-empire writing as old as European expansion itself which is most noticeable in the work of Scots in whom defensive patriotism is highly developed, such as George Buchanan and Andrew fletcher. The Scottish experience of repeated attempted domination by foreign powers seems to cause a corresponding dislike for all such attempts at domination, and sympathy for their victims. The defensive traditions of Presbytei-iarnsm appear to add to this, the more so as attacks on Presbyterianism have historically had a strong foreign element. Most evidence for Robertson's position is found in his narrative history. As narrative makes up the greater part of Robertson's work, I believe that he must be considered primarily as a narrative, rather than a conjectural historian, practicing a form of historiography which Scots had been writing long before the eighteenth century. This thesis will illustrate its arguments by examining Robertson's narrative histories in chronological order, as well as correspondence and other contemporary evidence, and parallels will be drawn with earlier Scottish historians where relevant.

<p> The thesis is a critical examination of the social and cultural factors operative in the ecumenical movement of Canadian Presbyterianism that led to the formation of the United Church of Canada in 1925. Canadian ecumenicity is examined in the light of contemporary international research in the sociology of ecumenism. The thesis employs both historical materials and statistical records to discover the salient variables influencing support and opposition to church union.</p> <p> It is the central contention of the thesis that support and opposition to church union were motivated by a complex of variables relating to regionalism, nationalism and the social gospel movement. The issues that divided the Presbyterian Church in the ecumenical controversy were the same issues that divided English speaking Canada. It is our contention that the creation of a national united church was seen as a vehicle for the systematic redemption of Canadian society, that it was an attempt to dramatically reform and redefine confederation. It is our final contention that the vision of a new society or the hope of attaining a comparable ideal is an essential component for the accomplishment of an extensive inter-denominational church merger in an industrialized nation.</p> / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)