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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Presbyterians
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Originally those in the English and Scottish *Reformation who wished to follow the example of *Calvin in Geneva. In a presbyterian system authority resides in elected pastors and lay elders, rather than in the bishops of the episcopal *Church of England (presbyter and episcopus are Latin for an elder and a bishop). The Presbyterians were thus the original *Puritans, until they themselves were opposed by more radical reformers, the *Congregationalists. Parliament was Presbyterian in the *English Civil War. Presbyterians were persecuted in the Restoration as *Nonconformists, but it was they who in 1690 became the established *Church of Scotland. In England they have been part of the *United Reformed Church since 1972.
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