Spirituality of the Church

The Spirituality of the Church is a doctrine in Protestant theology, particularly in American Presbyterianism. It states that the church is a spiritual entity rather than a civil one, and so its primary task is to proclaim a spiritual message rather than engage in political activity.^[1]

The roots of the concept are found in Scottish Presbyterianism in the sixteenth century: the Second Book of Discipline (1578) explained how the magistrate and the minister exercise jurisdiction over different spheres.^[2] The phrase itself was first used in the 1850s in the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America.^[3] Southern Presbyterians such as James Henley Thornwell argued on the basis of this doctrine that the Church should say nothing in condemnation of slavery.^[1][4] Charles Hodge, on the other hand, rejected this implication, but still used the doctrine to argue against the Gardiner Spring Resolutions.^[5]