Presbyterian Feudalism

The property policies of the Presbyterian Church (USA) are not based on biblical standards, or sound doctrine, there is no mention of property in any of the Reformed Confessions, but a form of ecclesiastical feudalism.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, its holdings fell into the hands of those who had the military power to claim it. That included ecclesiastical structures. This power vacuum  gave rise of certain Collectors of privilege, royal families and noblemen. How did they gain the authority to claim vast areas of lands formerly owned by families? Well, they just took it by force or intimidation. Sometimes this intimidation came in the form of theological claims to the land. When you believed the Church controlled your soul's eternal destiny, you dare not question its authority to claim your land. If you couple that with a gang of armed men, it is easy to see how land owners submitted to the property claims of the Church and the State.

Historians have labeled this system of land ownership, feudalism. From a functionalist perspective, it proved to create an orderly society. The farmers and herdsmen were free to work the land and gain the benefits of its bounty. The true owners merely wanted their fair share of the "wealth" produced by the land the supposedly owned.

After several generations any farmer would say, "I work this land but it is not mine, I have been entrusted this land for use and benefit of my lord." That is a system that is mutually satisfying.

One of the unintended consequences of the Protestant Reformation was the eventual end of feudalism. The priesthood of all believers became basis for the human rights of every person to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. No government, civil or churchly, could take property owned by another without a due process of law. Governments existed of and for the people of the society. Under feudalism, governments kept the powerful in power and protected their "lords" right to take the wealth produced by the labor of others.

We find remnants of this antiquated mindset in various places. In the system of "strong men" found in Latin America a single leader will hold claim to the land through an oligarchy of families who may have economic ties to international corporations. If you ask any tyrant or benevolent dictator if they favor democracy they would say, “Naturally.” If you press him further he would say I do everything with the interests of my people in mind.” Should anyone demand autonomy and self-sufficiency or truly free markets and unfettered private ownership of land and property, they would be considered “traitors of the people” not traitors of the dictator or its oligarchy.

The property clause of the Presbyterian Church (USA) states that all property (both real and personal), paid for and maintained by congregations, is, in fact only held “it trust” for “the use and benefit” of the collective “Presbyterian Church (USA).” Here is how it is described. Notice how it negates freedom in its first line. The “organic body” is the artificial self servicing construct to justify the denial of the human right of a group of Christians to determine how they can best be faithful to God. This through the stewardship of property own solely by God.

The church is not a voluntary association of those who share the same opinions and experiences, but is an organic body called into existence by God that celebrates and transmits through the ages the name and knowledge of Jesus Christ. The constitutional provisions under which congregations hold property for the benefit of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) arise out of and reflect our theological conviction that this denomination constitutes one indivisible body, which itself is part of the body of Christ, and which encompasses not only the visible church today but our forebears and heirs in the one holy, catholic, and apostolic church (F-1.0302). (This is from the office of the General Assembly's Advisory Opinion 19 at opa.pcusa.org)

Defenders of this form of feudalism will claim that this system of collective ownership creates and maintains the unity of the Church. As you read above, they will use theological and religious terms to justify their confiscation of lands they never owned and the wealth they never worked a single day to earn. If you carry out the logic of this paragraph, all Property is held in trust for God's Church - that is, "one holy, catholic, and apostolic church." So the Presbyterian Church (USA) does not own our property, God does.