Welcome to Ulster Worldly, a blog about the history of Presbyterianism. Many of these stories come from my own family, many others come from my own denomination.
My friend Matthew Ezzell and I taught a Sunday school class on American Presbyterian History at Shiloh Presbyterian Church.
Here was the overview we wrote for the course:
This class provides an understanding of the historical foundations of modern presbyterianism in America. We cover the breadth of the streams contributing to the presbyterian churches and denominations of our country. In the course, we learn about the controversies and conflicts and also spread of the gospel and the propagation churches throughout the United States. We specially emphasize the origin and development of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the establishment of presbyterianism in central North Carolina.
The Orthodox Presbyterian Church's first tumultuous decade (1936-1946), including internal conflicts over fundamentalism, Machen's death, and the 1937 split that formed the Bible Presbyterian Church.
The events from 1923 to 1936 that led to the formation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, including the Auburn Affirmation, Princeton Seminary reorganization, and Machen's trial.
The life and theology of J. Gresham Machen, author of Christianity and Liberalism, and his role in the fundamentalist-modernist controversy of the 1920s.
B.B. Warfield, Charles Briggs, and the controversy over revising the Westminster Confession that led to the 1903 changes and set the stage for the formation of the OPC.
The Presbyterian Church during the Civil War and Reconstruction era, including denominational fracturing, wartime ministry, and the reunions that shaped modern Presbyterianism.
How Presbyterianism came to North Carolina through Ulster Scots and Scottish Highlanders, from the early 1700s through the founding of First Presbyterian Church of Raleigh.
The Presbyterian Church's division over slavery from the Old School-New School split through the Civil War, examining the debates that fractured American Presbyterianism.
Understanding the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America (RPCNA) and the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church (ARP), their tangled histories, and how they relate to modern Presbyterianism.
