BrantleyRider: Created page with "In the Scottish church of the 18th and 19th centuries, a '''burgher''' was a person who upheld the lawfulness of the Burgher Oath. The Burgher Oath was the oath that a town burgess was required to swear on taking office.[https://www.biblicalcyclopedia.com/O/oath-burgess.html Biblical Cyclopedia website] The Burghers' position was in opposition to the Seceders and Anti-Burghers. ==Background== The Rescissory Act..."

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Created page with "In the Scottish church of the 18th and 19th centuries, a '''burgher''' was a person who upheld the lawfulness of the Burgher Oath. The Burgher Oath was the oath that a town burgess was required to swear on taking office.<ref>[https://www.biblicalcyclopedia.com/O/oath-burgess.html Biblical Cyclopedia website]</ref> The Burghers' position was in opposition to the Seceders and Anti-Burghers. ==Background== The Rescissory Act..."

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In the Scottish church of the 18th and 19th centuries, a '''burgher''' was a person who upheld the lawfulness of the Burgher Oath.

The Burgher Oath was the oath that a town [[burgess (title)|burgess]] was required to swear on taking office.<ref>[https://www.biblicalcyclopedia.com/O/oath-burgess.html Biblical Cyclopedia website]</ref>

The Burghers' position was in opposition to the [[First Secession|Seceders]] and [[Anti-Burghers]].

==Background==
The [[Rescissory Act 1661]] stated that all ministers and preachers in [[Scotland]] needed to acquire a [[patron]] (usually a local [[laird]] who would choose which minister would preach in their area). A quarter of the clergy refused to hand over authority to a person outside the church and consequently lost their jobs. They continued to preach independently and illegally, which led to armed rebellion and to [[The Killing Time]] in the 1680s. Patronage in Scotland was halted in the 1690s.<ref>[https://scotsarchivesearch.co.uk/short-history-secession-churches-scotland/ Scots Archive Search website]</ref>

A new [[Church Patronage (Scotland) Act 1711| Patronage Act]] was legislated in 1711. According to Dale Jorgenson, "The Patronage Act, enacted under the reign of [[Anne, Queen of Great Britain|Queen Anne]] (1702-1714), gave lay patrons the right to present ministers to parishes. This act of patronage was an affront to classic [[Presbyterianism]], and resulted in a division between Burghers who accepted the Burghers' Oath and its consequent patronage, and the Anti-Burghers who would not accept the oath".

==Church splits==
The [[First Secession]] occurred in 1733 and was triggered by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland giving priority in the appointment of minister to the parish's patron. Dissenting attendees to the General Assembly stated that church ministers should be chosen by church elders. That led to the creation of the Associate Congregation in 1740, commonly called the "Secession Church".

The "Secession Church" then split in 1747 into the Burghers and the Anti-Burghers over the lawfulness of the forms of the civil oath expected of Burgesses of Perth, Edinburgh and Glasgow. The contentious clause required the burgess, or oathgiver, to profess that the true religion was the one professed within the realm.

The Burghers continued to meet as the Associate Synod, and the Anti-Burghers created the General Associate Synod.

Both groups later had internal splits, with the Burghers splitting in 1798 into the "Auld Licht" [[Calvinist]] group, which held to the [[Covenanters| Solemn League and Covenant]], and the "New Licht", which was more liberal and influential. The Auld Lichts created the Original Associate Synod.

==Legacy==
In 1820, many of the Burgher and Anti-Burgher congregations united into one denominations. Some churches did not wish to unite and went on to form a separate church denomination.

In 1842, the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland wrote to the newly-crowned [[Queen Victoria]] and urged the end of patronage. That did not happen and several ministers went on to form the [[Free Church of Scotland (1843-1900)| Free Kirk]].<ref>[https://scotsarchivesearch.co.uk/short-history-secession-churches-scotland/ Scots Archive Search website]</ref>

Patronage was finally abolished by Parliament in 1874, after 300 years.

==Notable Burghers==
*[[Robert Balmer]] ('New Licht' - subsequently Professor of Theology of the [[United Secession Church]])
*[[John Brown of Haddington]] (ordained after the 1747 'Breach' and died before the 'Auld Licht'/'New Licht' division), Professor of Theology of the [[Associate Presbytery]]
*[[John Dick (minister)|John Dick]], 'New Licht' Professor of Theology of the [[Associate Presbytery]]
*[[Ebenezer Erskine]] (one of the 1733 seceeders) (died before the 'Auld Licht'/'New Licht' division)
*[[Ralph Erskine (minister)|Ralph Erskine]] (seceded 1737) (died before the 'Auld Licht'/'New Licht' division)
*[[James Fisher (Secession minister)|James Fisher]] (one of the 1733 seceeders) (died before the 'Auld Licht'/'New Licht' division)
*[[George Lawson (Scottish minister)|George Lawson]] (1749-1820), 'New Licht' Professor of Theology of the [[Associate Presbytery]].<ref name="DNB">{{cite DNB |wstitle= Lawson, George (1749-1820) |volume= 32 |last= Paton |first= Henry |author-link= |pages = 289-290 |short=1}}</ref>
*[[Alexander Moncrieff (Secession minister)|Alexander Moncrieff]] (one of the 1733 seceeders) (died before the 'Auld Licht'/'New Licht' division)
*[[Michael Willis (minister)|Michael Willis]] 'Auld Licht' Professor of Theology, son of the next
*[[William Willis (minister)|William Willis]], 'Auld Licht' Professor of Theology, father of the previous
*[[William Wilson (Secession minister)|William Wilson]] (one of the 1733 seceeders)

==Theological Professors==
=== Before the 'Auld Licht'/'New Licht' division (1736-1800) ===

1. [[William Wilson (Secession minister)|William Wilson]] (1736-1741)

2. [[Alexander Moncrieff (Secession minister)|Alexander Moncrieff]] (1741-1761)

2. John Swanston (1764-1767)

3. [[John Brown of Haddington]] (1768-1787)

4. [[George Lawson (Scottish minister)|George Lawson]] (1787-1800).<ref name="DNB"/>

=== New Light (1800-1820) ===

1. [[George Lawson (Scottish minister)|George Lawson]] (1787-1800).<ref name="DNB"/>

2. [[John Dick (minister)|John Dick]] (1820)
=== Old Light (1800-1839) ===

1. [[William Willis (minister)|William Willis]] (1800-1803)<ref>[https://archive.org/details/annalsstatistics00scot/page/610/mode/2up?view=theater Annals and statistics of the original Secession church: till its disruption and union with the Free church of Scotland in 1852, page 611]</ref>

2. George Hill (1803-1819)

3. William Taylor (appointed interim Professor, 1818) (1819-1833) (died 1836)

4. [[Michael Willis (minister)|Michael Willis]] (1835-1839)

==See also==
* [[Old and New Lights]]

==Citations/Sources==
'''Citations'''

'''Sources'''

==References==

[[Category:Presbyterianism in Scotland]]
[[Category:Schisms in Christianity]]
[[Category:History of the Church of Scotland]]
[[Category:18th century in Scotland]]
[[Category:19th century in Scotland]]
[[Category:18th-century Reformed Christianity]]
[[Category:19th-century Reformed Christianity]]
[[Category:Church of Scotland]]

Burgher (Church history) - Revision history