254 EEFOKMED CHURCH a more Biblical and historical method; and 8, the Cartesian type, which made use of the principles of the philosophy of Descartes to expound and vindicate the Christian system, and rendered good service in giving a more systematic form to natural theology as the logical basis of revealed theology, and in the attempt to harmonize the rights of reason with the demands of faith. The Reformed theology of the Palatinate found its best expression in the Heidelberg catechism (1563) drawn up by Ursinus and Olevianus, and adopted as a symbol by the German Reformed and Dutch churches. In England, Scotland, and America this sys- tem of faith is expressed in the "Westminster confession of faith and catechisms, adopted by the long parliament in 1646, by the kirk of Scotland in 1647, by the Cambridge synod of New England in 1648, and by the Presbyterian church of America in 1729. The subsequent divisions in the Scotch church were chiefly upon the question of the relation of the church to the civil power (Associate presbytery, 1783 ; Covenanters, 1743 ; Burghers and Anti-Burgh- ers, 1747; Relief Secession, 1761). In the " marrow controversy " (Fisher's " Marrow of Modern Divinity ") five propositions were con- demned in 1720, which were supposed to have an Antinomian tendency. The Scottish ortho- doxy was upheld in the last half of the 18th century by Erskine, Hill, and others ; though somewhat enfeebled by the lukewarmness of the Robertson administration, 1758-'82. It has been revived in the present century, chiefly through the zealous advocacy of Chalmers. In the Anglican church there have always re- mained some able advocates of the fundamen- tal principles of the Reformed system, as Da- venant, Leighton, Ezekicl Hopkins, and John Edwards ; but it has chiefly flourished among the nonconformists of England, represented by such men as Thomas Watson, Baxter, Owen, Howe, Ridgeley, Matthew Henry, and Isaac "Watts, not to name men of later date. In the writings of Tobias Crisp it is Antinoraian in its tendency. Nearly contemporaneous with the decline of the Calvinistic system in its pro- ductive vigor upon the continent of Europe, was the rise of its most elaborate and philo- sophical defender in our own land, in the per- son of the elder Edwards. (See EDWABDS, JONATHAN.) He stands at the head of a school, that of the so-called New England theology, which may well vie with any European type of this system in ingenuity, comprehensiveness, and moral vigor. Denying a limited atone- ment, insisting upon the distinction between natural ability and moral inability, making the essence of virtue to consist in holy love, and opposing the dogma of immediate imputation, it has exerted a prevailing influence upon the tone of theological speculation, and borne per- manent fruits in the writings of Bellamy, Hop- kins, Smalley, the younger Edwards, and Em- mons. The later representatives of the Re- formed dogmatics upon the continent of Eu- REFORMED (DUTCH) CHURCH rope, as Schleiermacher, Ebrard, Schnecker- burger, Schweizer, and Vinet, have advocated it in a historical and philosophical, rather than a traditional and scholastic spirit. In estima- ting the influence of this system, we ought not to pass unnoticed the fact that a large portion of the denominations and sects of modern Christendom have sprung into being from its impulse, or in opposition to it. This was the case with the Arminians; in part also with the Unitarians of Poland, Transylvania, Eng- land, and New England ; with the Baptists in their various ramifications ; and with the Wes- leyans or Methodists of England and Ameri- ca. The Reformed church has been fruitful in sects. The Lutheran church of Europe has always been under bonds to the state ; the Re- formed churches have more frequently claimed their own rights, and demanded a relative in- dependence. The presbyterian polity was es- sentially a representative system ; its lay elders (chosen for life in Scotland and Geneva, and for a limited period in Holland, France, and Germany) gave it vitality. Its presbyterial and synodal constitution, aristocratic in France and Geneva, and more democratic in Holland and Scotland, has made it efficient. It has also been zealous in administering discipline. The power of the laity was still further en- hanced in the congregational or independent form of polity, so largely adopted in England by the nonconformists, including the Baptists, and prevalent in New England. Thus fitted to be a working church, it has in most of its branches been zealous in domestic and foreign missions, and has led the way to the progres- sive reforms that characterize modern society. REFORMED (1)11(11) CHURCH IN AMERICA (for- merly REFORMED PROTESTANT DCTOH CHURCH), a religious body which arose in the Nether- lands early in the 16th century, and attained its form and organization during the struggle against Philip II. under the leadership of the princes of Orange. For a long time those who embraced the evangelical doctrines could wor- ship only with the utmost privacy, and they denominated their assemblies "the churches of the Netherlands under the cross." In 1561 a confession of faith was published by Guido de Bres, called the Belgic confession, modelled after that of the Calvinistic church of France. It was adopted by the first synod held in 1568 at Wesel on the Rhine. Public field preach- ing was introduced about the same time, and also singing in the native language. Church- es were formed after the Genevan presbyte- rian model, and at the synod of "Wesel rules of church order were adopted, and the scattered churches were organized as one body. Soon afterward the yoke of Spain was formally thrown off by the provinces, and the Protes- tant faith became the religion of the state. In the early part of the 17th century the famous Arminian controversy distracted the church. Arminius, professor of theology in the univer- sity of Leyden, advanced sentiments which
