John Calvin (1509-64)

Calvin was a French Protestant theologian who fled religious persecution in France and settled in Geneva in 1536.

Instituted a Presbyterian form of Church government in Geneva.

Insisted on reforms including:

1.        The congregational singing of the Psalms as part of church worship.

2.        The teaching of a catechism and confession of faith to children.

3.        The enforcement of a strict moral discipline in the community by the pastors and members of the church.

4.        The excommunication of egregious sinners.

Geneva was, under Calvin, essentially a theocracy. Household conduct was rigidly inspected. Dress and behavior were subject to minute details of regulation. Forbidden activities included: Dancing, Card playing, and Dicing. Less innocuous activities such as blasphemy were subjected to the most severe punishments. Nonconformists were persecuted and even put to death. All citizens were provided with at least an elementary education so that they might read and understand the Bible.

James I (1566-1625)

"No Bishop, No King." James ties the Episcopal form of church government directly to the power of kingship. This statement would serve ironically as a kind of rallying cry for the anti-prelatical and anti-Charles I forces during the English Revolution.

Charles I (1600-1649)

1637--Attempts, under the influence of Archbishop William Laud, to impose the Anglican liturgy in Scotland leading to rioting by Presbyterian Scots.

Protestant Church Government (or Polity) in this period can be broken down roughly into two camps: Episcopacy, and Presbyterianism.

The churches of Lutheran Germany and those of Anglican England are primarily Episcopal in their polity, while those of the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Scotland are Presbyterian.

Episcopal vs. Presbyterian: Bishops vs. Presbyters

What exactly is the difference between an Episcopal church organization and a Presbyterian church organization? The essential difference is that between the offices of Bishop and Presbyter. In the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican churches, a Bishop is an ecclesiastical official who, through sacramental consecration, holds special powers in the ministry, and has special administrative powers. (Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican churches claim apostolic succession for their bishops, while Lutheran churches do not.) The English word "bishop" is a translation of the Greek word episkopos, which means "overseer." A presbyter does not hold such special office nor have such special powers (nor is any claim of apostolic succession made). Presbyterian churches are less hierarchical in their organization than are Episcopal churches: the Presbyterian Church takes literally Luther's idea (developed and systematized by Calvin) of a "priesthood of all believers." The Presbyterian Minister is conceived of as a servant to the congregation rather than as a leader of the congregation. The English word "presbyter" is a translation of the Greek presbuteros, which means "elder."

The argument made by Calvin and later Calvinist supporters (such as the Milton of the anti-prelatical tracts of the early 1640s) of a Presbyterian church government runs as follows:

Presbyterianism is a "rediscovery" of the apostolic model found in the Greek Scriptures. (Many supporters of a Presbyterian arrangement hold it to be the only permissible form of ecclesiastical government.) This claim is based on such texts as Acts 11:30 and 15:22, which describe a church government that closely resembles that of the Jewish synagogues of the time, each of which was governed by a group of "elders" (presbuteroi, or "presbyters"). Acts 14:23, describes Paul appointing these presbuteroi in Churches he founded during his ministry. In these early congregations, the terms for presbyter and bishop (presbuteros and episkopos) were used interchangeably, and did not serve to distinguish any necessary or Biblically-prescribed hierarchical distinctions (see Acts 20:17 and 20:28). Episcopacy establishes distinctions between believers that cannot be justified by Scripture, and bishops are spiritual and temporal usurpers who are dangerous to both their flocks and to their civil rulers.