The 1843 Disruption and the Free Church: Chalmers, Cunningham, Bannerman, Candlish

1. Lectures Listen to the lectures in order. Those marked supplementary are optional.

   • The History of the Church in Scotland (includes the 1843 Disruption) Iver Martin 48 min 17 s Open source Doctrinal Affinity / Edinburgh Theological Seminary
   • Christ's Kirk (Acts 20:28) Prof. Donald Macleod (Free Church of Scotland) 1 h 29 min 40 s Open source Doctrinal Free Church of Scotland (Free Church Legacy audio archive)
   • Thomas Chalmers: sermons and lectures read aloud (speaker index) Thomas Chalmers (readings) Open source Primary text SermonAudio

   Total: 2.3 hours

2. Reading Read in the order given. Public-domain and free texts are linked; purchases are optional and never required.

   • The Claim, Declaration and Protest (1842) Church of Scotland (Non-intrusion party) Open source Primary text 1842. Public domain
   • The Protest of the Free Church of Scotland (1843) Free Church founders Open source Primary text 1843. Public domain
   • The Ten Years' Conflict, vols. 1-2 Robert Buchanan (Free Church) 516 + 684 scanned pages (archive.org imagecount) Open source Doctrinal 1849. Public domain
   • Annals of the Disruption Thomas Brown (Free Church) 902 scanned pages (archive.org imagecount) Open source Doctrinal 1884. Public domain
   • Chapters from the History of the Free Church of Scotland Norman L. Walker (Free Church) 396 scanned pages (archive.org imagecount) Open source Supplementary 1895. Public domain
   • The Church of Christ (2 vols.) James Bannerman (Free Church) 510 + 490 scanned pages (archive.org imagecount) Open source Doctrinal 1868. Public domain
   • Discussions on Church Principles: Popish, Erastian, and Presbyterian William Cunningham (Free Church) 602 scanned pages (archive.org imagecount) Open source Doctrinal 1863. Public domain
   • Historical Theology, vol. 1 William Cunningham 688 scanned pages (archive.org imagecount; vol. 1) Open source Supplementary 1960 reprint. Free online
   • The Free Church Principle: its Character and History Sir Henry Wellwood Moncreiff (Free Church) Open source Supplementary 1884. Public domain

3. Assignment Write a research paper of 30 pages on a topic drawn from the lectures and readings of this course. Argue from Scripture, the Westminster Standards (1647 text) and the Three Forms of Unity, cite the primary sources you read, and state the points on which the sources differ.

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4. Paired unit: The Magistrate and the Church

5. Lectures Listen to the lectures in order. Those marked supplementary are optional.

   • 1843 Disruption 3: What the church achieved Dr John D. Nicolls 1:25:16 Open source History Free Church Legacy audio archive (Free Church of Scotland) Neither host page states ordination or church standing; both narrate the establishment principle and the Disruption in the Free Church line. Role history. The Side A doctrine is carried by Cunningham, Bannerman, Chalmers and Macleod (FP Church), so neither is the sole source.
   • 1843 Disruption 1: Why the church divided Dr John D. Nicolls 1:33:37 Open source History Free Church Legacy audio archive (Free Church of Scotland) Neither host page states ordination or church standing; both narrate the establishment principle and the Disruption in the Free Church line. Role history. The Side A doctrine is carried by Cunningham, Bannerman, Chalmers and Macleod (FP Church), so neither is the sole source.
   • The Life and Ministry of Thomas Chalmers (Christ the Center 728) Sandy Finlayson (director of library services and professor of theological bibliography, Westminster Theological Seminary, Glenside) at least 1:07:48 (last chapter marker; total not printed) Open source History Reformed Forum Neither host page states ordination or church standing; both narrate the establishment principle and the Disruption in the Free Church line. Role history. The Side A doctrine is carried by Cunningham, Bannerman, Chalmers and Macleod (FP Church), so neither is the sole source.
   • The Covenants and Covenanters Rev. David Silversides 1:14:10 Open source Doctrinal Loughbrickland Reformed Presbyterian Church (RPC of Ireland), SermonAudio
   • Westminster and Theonomy Rev. David Silversides 1:16:16 Open source Supplementary Loughbrickland Reformed Presbyterian Church (RPC of Ireland), SermonAudio
   • Minister's Ejection (350th anniversary of the Covenanter ministers' ejection, 1662; SRS label 'The Kingship of Christ') Rev. Gavin Beers 1:09:42 Open source Supplementary Partick Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), SermonAudio

   Total: 7.7 hours

6. Reading Read in the order given. Public-domain and free texts are linked; purchases are optional and never required.

   • Discussions on Church Principles: Popish, Erastian, and Presbyterian, ch. 7 'Relation between Church and State' and ch. 8 'The Westminster Confession on the Relation between Church and State' William Cunningham (Free Church of Scotland) pp. 196-234 Open source Primary text 1863. Public domain
   • The Church of Christ, vol. 1, Part 1 ch. 8 'The Church in its relation to the State', secs. 1-7 (incl. sec. 7 'Doctrine of the Westminster Confession on Church and State') James Bannerman (Free Church of Scotland) pp. 97-186 Open source Primary text 1868. Public domain
   • Lectures on the Establishment and Extension of National Churches (London, 1838) Thomas Chalmers Open source Primary text 1838. Public domain
   • The Establishment Principle, Part 3: A Historical Perspective 1638-2000 Rev. J. Macleod (Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland) Open source Doctrinal 2001. Free online
   • A Hind Let Loose, or an Historical Representation of the Testimonies of the Church of Scotland (Part 3: 'The Present Testimony stated and vindicated in its principal heads') Alexander Shields (Shiels) Open source Primary text 1687. Public domain
   • An Informatory Vindication of a Poor, Wasted, Misrepresented Remnant of the Suffering ... Presbyterian Church of Christ in Scotland (1687; by James Renwick and Alexander Shields) James Renwick and Alexander Shields Open source Primary text 1687. Public domain
   • Reformation Principles Exhibited: Declaration and Testimony of the RPCNA, ch. 29 'Of Civil Government' and ch. 30 'Of the Right of Dissent from a Constitution of Civil Government' Reformed Presbyterian Church in North America (General Synod) pp. 112-122 Open source Primary text 1871. Public domain
   • Testimony of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Scotland: Historical and Doctrinal (1842) Reformed Presbyterian Church (Scotland) Open source Primary text 1842. Public domain Both sides are present by real advocates, but Side B is uneven: Clark argues for inspired canonical songs only (nearer Dort art. 69, which also excludes 'all other hymns'), the OPC majority report argues for songs not confined to Scripture's words but is American, and the only continental hymn-permitting text is the...
   • Lex, Rex: The Law and the Prince Samuel Rutherford Open source Primary text 1644. Public domain
   • A Cloud of Witnesses for the Royal Prerogatives of Jesus Christ (last speeches and testimonies of those who suffered 1680-88) Various martyrs; ed. 1842 Open source Primary text 1842. Public domain
   • Claim, Declaration and Protest (1842) and The Protest of the Free Church of Scotland (1843) General Assembly of the Church of Scotland / Free Church Open source Primary text 1842-1843. Public domain Both sides are present by real advocates, but Side B is uneven: Clark argues for inspired canonical songs only (nearer Dort art. 69, which also excludes 'all other hymns'), the OPC majority report argues for songs not confined to Scripture's words but is American, and the only continental hymn-permitting text is the...

   Total: 140 pages

7. Assignment Side A, the establishment principle (Cunningham, with Bannerman and the 1843 Free Church); side B, Covenanter dissent (Shields and Renwick, with the Reformed Presbyterian Testimony). Write two cases of 500 words, each in its advocate's own voice, then 200 words on the 1647 and 1788 texts of WCF 23.3.

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Every lecture and reading carries its role. "Under review" means the teacher's subscription to the Westminster Standards or the Three Forms of Unity is not yet established; "Read as comparison" means the material teaches the 1788 American text of WCF 20.4, 23 or 31 or of Larger Catechism Q.109, which the school reads beside the 1647 text. Nothing has been removed.