Christian Pure
Denominations Compared92 articles

Presbyterian vs Protestant: Presbyterians Are Protestants Governed by Elders

Christian Pure Team

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Summary

  • Presbyterians are Protestants of the Reformed family. Their name comes from the Greek presbyteros, “elder”, because elders govern their churches, as in the New Testament where Paul and Barnabas “ordained them elders in every church” (Acts 14:23).
  • John Knox came home from Geneva to Scotland in 1559, and in 1560 the Scottish Parliament adopted the Scots Confession, written mostly by Knox.
  • The Westminster Confession of 1646 and its catechisms, adopted by the Church of Scotland in 1647, have been “the primary standard for the Presbyterian branch of the Reformed family.”
  • Presbyterians baptize believers and their infants, as Lutherans and Anglicans do, and teach that Christ is “spiritually, present to the faith of believers” in the Lord’s Supper.
  • In Germany evangelisch means Protestant, and across Latin America “Protestant” and “evangelical” are often used for the same churches, so Presbyterian churches count as evangelical there.
  • In the English Revolution the Presbyterians wanted a national church and a settlement with Charles I; the Independents, backed by the army, won after Pride’s Purge on 6 December 1648, and the king was beheaded on 30 January 1649.
  • The largest Presbyterian churches include the Presbyterian Church of Korea (Tonghap), with 2,140,910 members, and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), with 1,019,003, both at the end of 2025.

Presbyterians are Protestant Christians whose churches are governed by elders. Their tradition took shape in Scotland in the 1500s under John Knox, a student of John Calvin, and today it has large churches in South Korea and the United States as well as Scotland. So yes, Presbyterians are Protestants, of the Reformed family. The name tells you most of what is different. It comes from the Greek word presbyteros, “elder”. Elders chosen by the members lead each congregation, and they…

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Bibliography (Click to show)
  • Scripture quotations from the King James Version: Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5; 1 Peter 5:1; Acts 15:6. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+14%3A23&version=KJV
  • The Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), chapters 1.10, 3.3, 27.4, 28.4, 29.7, 30.1 and 31.1. Orthodox Presbyterian Church. https://www.opc.org/wcf.html
  • Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Book of Confessions (2016): introductions to the confessions, the Scots Confession and the Westminster Standards; the Declaratory Statement of 1903 (6.191–6.193). https://pcusa.org/sites/default/files/boc2016.pdf
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  • The Royal Family. “Charles I (r. 1625–1649).” https://www.royal.uk/charles-i

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