The problem of church government and emergent presbyterianism in the Long Parliament, 1640 – 1643

The early years of the Long Parliament saw MPs seized with the issue of church government. What began as an attack on the worst excesses of the Laudian church quickly escalated into a wholesale assault on episcopacy itself. Taking the opportunity to ‘reform the reformation’ MPs decided to abolish episcopacy, and in 1643 they called in the experts to advise them on what form of church government should take its place. Two years later the Westminster Assembly put forward a presbyterian system of church government which the following year parliament would set out to erect with the Erastian modifications parliament desired. The reasons why MPs chose presbyterianism have been little studied, many historians accepting the traditional view that it was as a result of pressure from the Scots. Through an examination of parliamentary debates in the years 1640 – 1643 this thesis will identify and trace an emerging English presbyterian position in the Long Parliament to demonstrate that the MPs’ choice was proactive rather than reactive and resulted from religious, political and social ideas distinctive to England.