Presbyterians - An Introduction
Presbyterians
emphasize the distinctive theme of the absolute sovereignty of God and
the importance of living an austere life. Presbyterians believe that in
Protestant Holy Communion the consecrated
bread and wine must be regarded as symbols, or "representations,"
of the Lord's body and blood. The Presbyterian and reform churches comprise
the second largest and second oldest Protestant churches. (Lutherans,
on the other hand, believe that in Holy Communion, Christ is "really
present" in the bread and wine in a mystical and miraculous way,
although not in the literal sense of the Catholic doctrine
of transubstantiation.)
Presbyterians (and members of reformed churches) are Protestants who trace their church to a reformer from France, John Calvin, thus the term Calvinism. In  Institutes of the Christian Religion, Calvin outlined a comprehensive system of Protestant doctrine. He moved to Geneva, Switzerland, where he preached his beliefs, which spread rapidly through Europe. One of his disciples, the Scottish reformer John Knox, brought Calvin's ideas to the British Isles. Calvinism then spread to America and the rest of the world. Presbyterian comes from the Greek word presbuteros, meaning "elder."
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