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2ndcommandment abrakel ambrose ames aquinas augustine barker bavinck beale beeke berkhof bernard beza bierma bolton boston brakel bucey burgess calvin carpenter carson casselli charnock cho christ clark confessionalism davis dennison dickson dolezal duguid dunnam durham farrel ferguson flavel fortunato frame gaffin gamble garcia garner gatiss gerstner giles gonzalez goodwin gootjes gouge guthrie henry hiestand history hperkins jacomb jones jue kevan klauber kline knox letham lewis lillback lindberg luther mackay marriage mcgrath mcgraw mcwilliams muller murray oberman oliphint opc owen packer pentecost perkins phillips poythress predestination ralphdavis rcross resurrection roberts sadams salazar shannon shedd sibbes silva spiritualgifts sproul strange svisser theodorevanraalte theonomy tipton trueman tuckney turretin vanasselt vandixhoorn vantil versteeg vos waddington warfield watson white whitman woolsey { timeline }

French Church Anti-Hierarchy

Chapter 8, Of Provincial Synods, canon 13, states, “The authority of provincial synods is subordinate to that of national synods.”87 What we do not read is that consistories are subject to colloquies just as congregations are subject to consistories. The idea of the authority here is that of jurisdiction. The broader the assembly, the greater was the number of churches it concerned, thus the broader its jurisdiction or authority. For instance, no colloquy or provincial synod had the authority to change an article of the confession or the church order. They could propose such a change, but only the national synod had the authority to make such changes, since they affected all the churches in common. To call this hierarchical is misleading.

 

Theodore G. Van Raalte, "The French Reformed Synods of the Seventeenth Century" in "The Theology of the French Reformed Churches: From Henry IV to the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes", Martin Klauber, ed., (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2014), 77


2ndcommandment abrakel ambrose ames aquinas augustine barker bavinck beale beeke berkhof bernard beza bierma bolton boston brakel bucey burgess calvin carpenter carson casselli charnock cho christ clark confessionalism davis dennison dickson dolezal duguid dunnam durham farrel ferguson flavel fortunato frame gaffin gamble garcia garner gatiss gerstner giles gonzalez goodwin gootjes gouge guthrie henry hiestand history hperkins jacomb jones jue kevan klauber kline knox letham lewis lillback lindberg luther mackay marriage mcgrath mcgraw mcwilliams muller murray oberman oliphint opc owen packer pentecost perkins phillips poythress predestination ralphdavis rcross resurrection roberts sadams salazar shannon shedd sibbes silva spiritualgifts sproul strange svisser theodorevanraalte theonomy tipton trueman tuckney turretin vanasselt vandixhoorn vantil versteeg vos waddington warfield watson white whitman woolsey { timeline }