Book Reviews

The History of the Presbyterian Church in America

By Frank J. Smith,
(Lawrenceville, Ga.: Presbyterian Scholars Press, 1999, 607 pp., $29.95)

Reviewed by Robert P. Mills
July/August 2000
History of the PCA
Why should members of the Presbyterian Church (USA) be interested in 600 pages of detailed history about a denomination that diverged from its Southern stream in 1973? Two reasons come quickly to mind.

First is Santayna’s dictum “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) arose from circumstances very similar to those now facing the PCUSA. This impressive volume surveys the theological and political situations and chronicles major and minor players involved in the birth and first 25 years of the PCA. It is a labor of love by Smith, who in addition to having been the PCA’s first ministerial candidate holds a Ph.D. in American and religious history and is the founding editor of Presbyterian International News Service. It offers the PCUSA a chance to remember, not repeat, a painful part of its history.

Second, if we in the PCUSA are truly committed to ecumenism, if we believe our own rhetoric about “unity in diversity,” should we not be willing to relate to, and even learn from, more conservative brothers and sisters at various points of faith and practice?
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