The church governed by elders, reformed by the Word.
Calvinism with a constitution: congregations governed by councils of elders rising through presbyteries to general assemblies. Knox's Scotland gave it a nation — and it gave representative government a rehearsal.
DeitiesOne God in three persons
Founded1560 CE · Scotland
FounderJohn Knox
AfterlifeResurrection and judgment
TextsBible · Westminster Confession
The map
Presbyterianism’s corner of it — solid lines are descent; dotted lines are resemblance only, ideas held in common across unrelated faiths. Click a node to recenter; ✕ returns here. All 171 faiths →
c. 1000 BCE Judaism 30 CE Christianity 1517 CE Protestantism 1536 CE Calvinism (the Reformed tradition) 1560 CE Presbyterianism
The church is ruled by councils of elders.
Neither bishop nor pure congregational vote: teaching and ruling elders in graded courts — order as a mark of the church.
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The Westminster standards confess the faith.
The 1646 Confession and its catechisms: Reformed doctrine written down for the long haul.
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God's sovereignty orders all things.
The Calvinist inheritance held firm — election, providence, and the comfort both give.
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Ordination of elders.
Hands laid on lay elders as well as ministers — governance itself made a rite.
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