Sean Michael Lucas’s Presbyterianism is a brief and solid introduction that isn’t quite what it says on the tin. Lucas makes the case for the biblical faithfulness of Presbyterianism while also emphasising its benefits: “[M]y goal is to persuade you that Presbyterianism is good for you, for your soul, for your family, and ultimately for God’s church and the world” (p. 16). It is a good book, with many interesting contemporary and historical examples along the way, even if it extends questionably beyond the narrow topic of church government and reflects a peculiarly American Presbyterianism.
Presbyterianism is part of P&R’s Blessings of the Faith series on Reformed doctrine and practice. The series as a whole looks very useful for thoughtful church members, leaders-in-training and even Christians from other denominations seeking better understanding. As Kevin DeYoung writes in the foreword: “We need short, accessible books written by thoughtful, seasoned pastors for regular church members on the foundational elements of church life and ministry” (p. 10).
Presbyterianism
Presbyterianism is good for you! This short introduction shows the value of Presbyterianism to your spiritual well-being as a layperson in the church. An extensive Q&A section answers practical questions.
Trinitarian Structure
The first of three central chapters, ‘How God’s Sovereign Rule Shapes Our World’ discusses the comfort that comes from the doctrine of predestination. “Big God theology” (p. 40) gives us a different view of all things: “Our entire relationship to God and his world is shaped by knowing that God is the King” (p. 46).
‘How Christ’s Kingly Rule Shapes Our Church’ argues that the lordship of Christ bars any pastor, bishop or earthly ruler from being the priest or king of the church (pp. 49–50). Lucas shows how the Regulative Principle of Worship is a consequence of Christ’s rule over the church by his word (pp. 54–55). So also, the delegated ministerial authority of elders is constrained and shaped by Christ’s loving rule (pp. 55–62). Lucas spells out the biblical case for a plurality of elders, elders’ connectional leadership over multiple congregations, and the duties of church courts in doctrine, worship and discipline. This form of leadership is good for us:
Christ cares for us not only by his Spirit but by his Spirit’s activity in real human beings whom we can see and know, with whom we pray and weep and laugh. Christ’s rule over us is not disembodied but profoundly embodied through the men he calls as elders. This is the way Christ protects his sheep and ensures that they get to heaven safely. (p. 70)
Thirdly, ‘How the Holy Spirit Uses the Ordinary to Shape Our Lives’ contrasts the wholesomeness of ordinary ministry, people and means of grace with fascination for extraordinary people, places, rituals and experiences. Presbyterians have always taught that the Holy Spirit is powerfully at work through the ordinary means of grace (pp. 75–6, 88). Growth in assurance of salvation “doesn’t require some extraordinary thing—a mighty pilgrimage or a harsh penance” (p. 90).
After these three central chapters comes a chapter of question and answer, where further detail of Presbyterian polity is explained. Questions that are covered include “How do pastors relate to elders? Do pastors have more, or less, authority than elders?” (p. 98) and “What’s required to become a member of a Presbyterian church? Do I have to subscribe to a doctrinal statement or affirm a church covenant?” (p. 104).
Scope Creep
Lucas has published a longer book on Presbyterian identity that explicitly shapes his approach in this smaller work.[1] In general, he is right to say “Presbyterianism is more than a way to talk about church government” (p. 93). However, the topic ought to take on a narrower meaning as the subject of one volume in a series on Reformed theology and practice. A whole chapter on the sovereignty of God is unnecessary when the Blessings of the Faith series includes a volume on Reformed Theology. A reader would expect this book to be focused on church polity. Instead, this narrow topic is primarily covered in chapter two on Christ’s rule, and the final (and longest) chapter devoted to question and answer.
A narrower scope would have produced a more balanced book. Broader Reformed theology themes could have been removed or abbreviated, allowing space for a more systematic exploration of Presbyterian church government and so integrating much of the question and answer chapter. Questions in the final chapter that are covered in other volumes also could have been excluded (for e.g.: “Why must Presbyterian elders and deacons subscribe to an extrabiblical doctrinal statement? What does it mean to ‘subscribe’?” (p. 100); “Why do you baptize babies? What is their status in a Presbyterian church?” (p. 107)).
American Context
Lucas admits that his entire ministry has been within the Presbyterian Church of America (PCA), even as he has tried “to represent the breadth of evangelical Presbyterianism as … [he is] aware of it” (p. 93). The book reflects its American and specifically PCA context, not only with many of its specific illustrations, but also with some of its emphases. For example, Lucas reminds us that
the gospel advances in God’s world not simply through extraordinary leaders … but through ordinary people who take the gospel with them … As with the New Testament, Presbyterianism recognizes that God’s mission advances as ordinary people make disciples as they go and carry out God’s mission to his world (p. 84).
While this exciting passage reflects Presbyterian theology in theory and many Presbyterian churches in practice, I am not convinced it is distinctively Presbyterian, let alone true of Presbyterianism universally. Many strands of Presbyterianism have a very high view of ordained ministry—often also holding to a sharp distinction between the minister and the elders.
Presbyterianism is a rich but easy read with many stirring passages and helpful summaries of doctrine and church practice. Those chapters that do focus on Presbyterian church government cover a lot of ground with brevity and clarity, showing the biblical rationale, practical function and spiritual benefits of this approach to church order.
[1] On Being Presbyterian: Our Beliefs, Practices, and Stories (P&R Publishing, 2006).
