The Auchterarder Creed was the pejorative term given to a declaration formulated by the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

presbytery in

Auchterarder Auchterarder (; gd, Uachdar Àrdair, meaning Upper Highland) is a small town located north of the Ochil Hills in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, and home to the Gleneagles Hotel. The High Street of Auchterarder gave the town its popular name of "Th ...

in 1717. The declaration argued that it was unorthodox to teach that one must repent prior to coming to Christ, meaning that the Auchterarder Presbytery saw repentance as a result of being in Christ instead of an instrumental requirement for salvation. The creed was condemned by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1717, saying that one could only be saved after a person had gotten rid of their sins through repentance. The condemnation was opposed by

Thomas Boston Thomas Boston (17 March 167620 May 1732) was a Scottish Presbyterian church leader, theologian and philosopher. Boston was successively schoolmaster at Glencairn, and minister of Simprin in Berwickshire, and Ettrick in Selkirkshire. In additio ...

, who in response recommended the reading of the

Marrow of Modern Divinity The Marrow of Modern Divinity was a book written in 1645 by Edward Fisher and later reprinted with the notes of Thomas Boston, the book ignited the Marrow controversy The Marrow Controversy was a Scottish ecclesiastical dispute occasioned by ...

, having similar doctrines to the Auchterarder. This then resulted in the Marrow being reprinted in Scotland and igniting the Marrow Controversy.{{Cite web , title=Chapter 6: The Marrow Controversy , url=http://www.prca.org/current/Free%20Offer/chapter6.htm , access-date=2022-11-13 , website=www.prca.org

References

18th century in Scotland 18th-century controversies History of Christianity in Scotland Protestantism-related controversies Church of Scotland