The Erastians
Westminster Assembly, 1645–1646
John Selden (the jurist and lay assessor), John Lightfoot and Thomas Coleman (the two ministerial Erastians), and Bulstrode Whitelocke. They argued that ecclesiastical jurisdiction belongs ultimately to the civil magistrate, not to a distinct church court. The Assembly rejected the position decisively — Gillespie's Aaron's Rod Blossoming (1646) is the canonical refutation — and WCF XXX.1 secured the church's independent jurisdiction. But the Erastians forced the Assembly to articulate the church-state distinction with more precision than any previous Reformed confession had managed.
Anchor personas
Departures from the Westminster baseline
The Erastians departs from the Westminster baseline on 2 of the 35 attributes.
VII · Ecclesiology & Worship · Polity
Erastian override vs WCF: Presbyterian-Jure-Divino
VIII · Civil & Last Things · Magistrate's Role
Erastian-Magistrate-Over-Church override vs WCF: Custos-Utriusque-Tabulae (1646)
Connected cruxes 2
Cruxes where this school's anchor personas were active parties, or where this tradition is mentioned in the legacy narrative.