Seeking a Better Country: 300 Years of American Presbyterianism. By D. G. Hart and John Muether. P&R Publishing Company, 2007. 304 pp. $24.99.
The year 2006 marked the 300th anniversary of Presbyterianism in America. In honor of this tercentenary, D. G. Hart and John Muether have written a critical history of American Presbyterianism titled Seeking a Better Country (P&R Publishing, 2007). The authors are both well-qualified to complete such a task. Darryl Hart was a professor of church history at Westminster Theological Seminary in California and is presently a Director at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute and the author of several books including The Lost Soul of American Protestantism and John Williamson Nevin: High Church Calvinist. John Muether is librarian and associate professor of church history at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, FL. He is also the historian of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. He and Hart have collaborated on two previous works: Fighting the Good Fight: A Brief History of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and With Reverence and Awe: Returning to the Basics of Reformed Worship.
 Hart and Muether explain that their purpose is "to cure the amnesia from which all Presbyterians suffer who trace their origins to the first presbytery founded in 1706 in Philadelphia" (pp. vii-viii). The authors realize that an understanding of our past is necessary to an understanding of our present. Such sentiments are not widespread, and there are likely many for whom a volume on the history of American Presbyterianism seems about as appealing as a visit to the dentist. I would turn the metaphor around, however, and suggest that learning about history is akin to regular brushing and flossing. It helps prevent cavities of the mind. Of course it helps when the authors of historical works are able to write in an engaging manner. Thankfully, Hart and Muether succeed on this point.
It would be somewhat tedious and beside the point to summarize the contents of the various chapters of a historical work such as this because this would be doing little more than offering an abridged Reader's Digest version of the book. Instead, I will simply note that the authors divide the work into three basic chronological periods: 1706-1789; 1789-1869; and 1869-2006, and tell the story of the Church as it developed through these centuries. The reader will notice that the transitions roughly coincide with the American Revolution and the Civil War. There is a reason for this, as the authors demonstrate repeatedly the ways in which nationalistic concerns shaped Presbyterian thought and practice.
For those (like myself) who have come into the Presbyterian Church from other denominations, it should be observed that the authors do a fine job of explaining some historical details that are confusing to many converts. They explain, for example, the significant differences between Presbyterians and Puritans. In addition, because the book focuses on the Presbyterian denominations that grew out of the 1706 Philadelphia presbytery meeting, it does not deal at any length with those Presbyterian churches that were transplants from Scotland: the Covenanters (Reformed Presbyterians) and the Seceders (Associate Reformed Presbyterians). This distinction is helpful because many people who are new to Presbyterianism are confused by the number of Presbyterian denominations, and it is helpful to have a starting point for sorting them out.
Following the first chapter, which provides some historical background and context to American Presbyterianism, the authors begin the story, touching upon every major event of significance in the history of American Presbyterianism, from the Old Side, New Side split in the 18th century to the Old School, New School split of the 19th century. They look at the numerous divisions and mergers and the causes underlying each. They discuss the ways in which factors ranging from revivalism to ecumenicism to nationalism shaped the Presbyterian Church. This history, as the authors admit, is not always pretty, but it is instructive. And it is relevant. Many of the controversies of the present have grown out of controversies of the past, and an understanding of these past controversies sheds much light of those of the present.
I would recommend this book first and foremost to every student at a Presbyterian Seminary and to every pastor and elder of a Presbyterian Church. I would also strongly recommend it to any person who is a member of a Presbyterian Church. Whether one always agrees with the authors' interpretation of Presbyterian history, its controversies and causes, or not, the book is well worth reading. Our history is our shared memory. In the same way that an amnesiac is a man without an identity, so too a church without a memory is a church without an identity.
Tolle Lege
*****
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