Westminster Assembly

Westminster Assembly

Westminster Assembly of Theologians ( English Westminster Assembly of Divines ) - a meeting of English theologians and clergy, convened in 1643 by a long parliament to reform the English Church. The dogmas and rituals developed by the Westminster Assembly formed the basis of the Presbyterian religion.

Practically from the very beginning of the English revolution of the 17th century , the Puritan leaders sought to reorganize the Anglican Church, eliminating elements of Catholicism from it. Opportunities for this, however, opened up only after the beginning of the civil war , when the power of the king, who opposed parliamentary reforms in the church, was minimized. In June 1643 , the Parliament approved the act on convening an assembly of theologians in Westminster without the sanction of the king.

The Assembly consisted of 20 representatives of the House of Commons, 10 representatives of the House of Lords and 121 priests and theologians. The priests were selected in such a way that they represented the mainstream in English Protestantism :

• “ Episcopalists ” - supporters of the preservation of the episcopal organization of the Anglican Church and loyal to the king (almost did not participate in the meetings of the Assembly, because there was no king’s sanction on her work)
• " Presbyterians " - supporters of the elimination of the episcopate and the introduction of the Presbyterian system of church administration (the largest group supported by the parliamentary majority);
• " Independents " - supporters of the complete decentralization of church management and the elimination of priesthood as such (a small but very active group, with the support of the English army led by Oliver Cromwell );
• The “ Erastians ” are supporters of the subordination of the church to state power.

The first meeting of the Westminster Assembly was held on July 1, 1643. In total, during the Assembly’s work from 1643 to 1649. 1163 meetings were held. The Assembly was actually subordinate to the English Parliament, which determined its personal composition, put forward questions for discussion and financed its work. After the execution of King Charles I, the work of the assembly was reduced to the attestation of priests and recommendations for the replacement of vacant church chairs.

The first task before the Westminster Assembly was to revise the “ Thirty-Nine Articles ” of the Anglican Creed . However, the situation in the country became more complicated: the parliamentary armies began to suffer defeats from the royalists in the civil war . The leaders of the Long Parliament appealed for help to Scotland . In September 1643, on the initiative of the Scots, a military-religious union " Solemn League and Covenant " was concluded between the two British states. Accordingly, the main task of the Westminster Assembly was to develop a common religious basis for both states. Six Scottish delegates (including Alexander Henderson , the most authoritative Scottish theologian) arrived to attend the Assembly in Westminster.

For four years, the Westminster Assembly has been working on developing the founding documents of the reformed church. As a result, Westminster Confession , and , " " and " " were submitted for approval by the Parliament of England. In the process of working on these documents, violent theological disputes unfolded at meetings of the Assembly between Presbyterians, Independents, and Erastians. Especially sharp objections were raised by the Presbyterian system of church government , which envisages the transfer of power to parish congregations and regional presbytery .

However, due to the fact that Presbyterians in the Long Parliament constituted the majority, the documents developed by the Westminster Assembly were approved by the English Parliament. However, in general, public opinion in England remained negatively disposed towards Presbyterian reforms, the implementation of which would have increased the influence of the priests and the fall in the importance of parliament. After Oliver Cromwell came to power in 1648 and the Independents, the Presbyterian transformations in the English church were frozen, and the Restoration of the Stuarts in 1660 buried the hopes of the Presbyterians in reforming the Anglican Church.

In Scotland, however, documents produced by the Westminster Assembly were incorporated into church practice and became fundamental acts of Presbyterian doctrine, ritual systems, and church management. With the spread of Presbyterianism in other European countries, as well as in America, the "Westminster Confession" and other Assembly documents were adopted as doctrinal sources in many Reformed churches .