Alright, I'm trying to find where I stand in the religious realm of things and so far it has not been easy. I've always been "Christian" but I don't really ever go to church and I pray every night. Well for about a month I've been adding my bible to my routine. That's when it all started. I was entroduced to Mormonism and after much research decided ehh not for me. So I started new research and came across Prebyterianism.
So basically I've only learned a little bit about it and I saw there are "elders" and a "book of order" I want to make sure that before I look into this too much more that the elders and priesthood thing is different from the mormon elders and priesthood, also that the book of order is not considered a gospel as the the book of mormon is. any ways any other information you have that is NOT found in wikipedia (as I have already read all that) would be great.
2007-09-28 03:49:37 · 4 answers · asked by Jaroo 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The Presbyterian church is arranged in a political hierarchy of several tiers of structure. Many of their ideas were incorporated into the USA constitution. The church is divided in a very similar manner as the US which has a Federal level, State, County, City, District, etc type structure. The elders are somewhat equivalent to City Council members and make decisions at the church level dealing with budget, maintenance of the church, hiring and firing of the ministers, etc. The Book of Order is not "gospel" it is more like a constitution, laying out structure and basic rules of worship and discipline.
2007-09-28 04:06:31 · answer #1 · answered by Murazor 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Yes, Presbyterians are Calvinists, so they really aren't like Methodists as an above contributer wrote. However, this is only technical. In practice the two denominations appear VERY similiar.
There are even different denominations of Presbyterianism, my dear. Cumberland Presbyterians, Second Presbyterians, Presbyterian Church (USA)
The Presbyterian Church is the most liberal, and the one I am a member of myOWNself. We tend to not take The Bible literally and are open to gays and have female ministers.
We also accept new members. You do need to have been baptized to be a member, but it needn't be by a Pres. Minister.
2007-09-30 06:23:56 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The elders in a Presbyterian Church make the minor policies for a particular church. The higher 'orders'/policies/laws come from the regional Presbytery and ultimately the Synod.
Presbyterians are very much like the Dutch Reformed, Methodists, etc. in their style of sermons and 'beliefs.'
2007-09-28 10:56:21 · answer #3 · answered by Michael K 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Presbyterians are Calvinists. They believe that God has pre-destined some people to go to hell.
I think.
2007-09-30 01:52:08 · answer #4 · answered by mormon_4_jesus 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋