The Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland derives its name and its liberal and tolerant identity from early 18th century Presbyterian ministers who refused to subscribe at their ordination to the Westminster Confession, a standard Reformed (Calvinist) statement of faith; and who formed, in 1725, the Presbytery of Antrim. A similar phenomenon led to the creation of the Remonstrant Synod of Ulster in 1830. The two bodies created the Non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland (NSPCI) in 1910.[1] The Synod of Munster became part of the NSPCI in 1935.
Many Non-subscribing Presbyterians keep close contact with the Unitarians and are sometimes identified as such, though they are distinct bodies. The Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland has associations with the IARF but not with the ICUU.[2] The IARF does not believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ:
“Unitarians believe that Jesus was a man, unequivocally human. It has long been our view that to talk of him as God is unfaithful to his own understanding of himself.”[3]
Today, the denomination has thirty-one congregations in Northern Ireland and two congregations in the Republic of Ireland, with a total of about four thousand members. They are served by fewer than twenty ministers; both women and men serve as ministers. The NSCPI is a member of the Irish Council of Churches, the European Liberal Protestant Network and the International Association for Religious Freedom.
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References
- ^ The Encyclopædia Britannica 1926 “In 1910 the Antrim Presbytery, Remonstrant Synod and Synod of Munster were united as the General Synod of the non-subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland. They have 38 congregations and some mission stations.”
- ^ Erwin Fahlbusch The encyclopedia of Christianity v5 p605 – 2008 “Eventually the particular needs of the specific Unitarian and Universalist and Unitarian-Universalist IARF … Thus, for example, the Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland has associations with the IARF but not with the ICUU …”
- ^ Unitarian website, Retrieved 11 October 2012.
- A Short History of the Non- Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland by John Campbell (Belfast, 1914).
See also
Other Presbyterian denominations in Ireland
- Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster
- Presbyterian Church of Ireland
- Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland
- Evangelical Presbyterian Church
External links
Categories: Monotheism