☩ Ecclesiology & Worship · Polity

Erastian

Civil magistrate is the ultimate ecclesiastical authority — Selden's and Lightfoot's Assembly position, rejected by WCF XXX.1.

This is a contested or rejected alternative.

The Westminster baseline on Polity is Presbyterian-Jure-Divino. Personas and schools listed below hold this alternative position instead — either because they argued for it at the Assembly (like the Erastians on polity) or because they represent a receiving tradition that departed from the Standards on this point.

Who holds this position

Schools (1)

The Erastians

Personas (4)

John Lightfoot 1602–1675 Thomas Coleman 1598–1646 John Selden 1584–1654 Bulstrode Whitelocke 1605–1675

Cruxes on this attribute

The Assembly navigated 2 cruxes that bear directly on Polity.

The Grand Debate over Polity October 1644 – January 1646 Presbyterian or Independent: who exercises the keys of the kingdom? The Erastian Question July 1645 – November 1645 Does ecclesiastical jurisdiction belong to the church or to the civil magistrate?

Other positions on Polity

Presbyterian-Jure-Divino WCF Christ has instituted a graded series of presbyterial assemblies (session, presbytery, synod, general assembly) by divine right (Form of Government 1645; WCF XXX–XXXI) — the Scottish reading. Independent-Congregational Christ has given the keys to the local congregation under its officers; synods are advisory — the Dissenting Brethren's reading, accommodated by but not affirmed in the Standards. Reformed-Episcopal Retains bishops over presbyters as a third order of ministry while affirming the Reformed doctrine — the Anglican settlement Westminster displaced.

Cite this position

Study Reformed, “Erastian” (Position), Westminster Standards Atlas, version 79a5f9880ac1, https://studyreformed.com/atlas/cite/position/ecclesiology_worship/polity/erastian/.

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Ontology version 79a5f9880ac1 — the state of the Atlas you are reading, so a citation stays checkable when the ontology is revised.