http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_Confession_of_Faith
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Confession_of_Faith_Ratification_Act_1690
1698, when the newly established Synod began to regularize its proceedings subscription was made compulsory in Ulster
1705 Imprisonment of Thomas Emlyn, a Dublin Dissenting minister who had published a refutation of the doctrine of the Trinity. In the meeting-houses of the capital the clergy maintained their opposition to the use of creeds and confessions, but in the north the Emlyn scandal produced an immediate reaction, and a second act requiring candidates for the ministry to subscribe to the Westminster Confession was passed, apparently without opposition
1705 formation of the Belfast Society, a coterie of clergymen, theological students, and laymen, led by John Abernethy, and dedicated to the advancement of religious knowledge.6 It was through their inquiries that a new theological vocabulary was made available to Ulster Presbyterians. soon dubbed the 'New Light'. At their meetings sermons were preached on such subjects as 'the nature, and Scriptural Terms, of the unity of the Christian Church; the nature, and mischief of Schism; the Rights of conscience, and of private judgement; the sole dominion of Christ in his own kingdom; the nature, power, and effects of excommunication'. Problematic passages of the Scriptures were read and various interpretations discussed. Recent publications were swapped and their merits debated. Members delivered dissertations demonstrating the excellence of the Christian religion, attacking superstition and enthusiasm, and carefully avoiding all 'curious and Unscriptural Speculations'. The objections of infidels of all kinds were considered, as were the customs of the different Christian denominations.7 It is hardly surprising, then, that over the next few years these clergymen exhibited a profound interest in debates taking place elsewhere on the nature of Christian liberty.
1712 ngland, too, the Presbyterian clergy had been shaken by the appearance of Samuel Clarke The Scripture-Doctrine of the Trinity ( 1712). Though its heretical tendencies were much exaggerated, the controversy surrounding Clarke's book led directly to the great Salter's Hall debates (feb 1719)oposal for subscription to the doctrine of the Trinity was narrowly defeated.
1714 losest to home was the trial of John Simson, professor of divinity at Glasgow, on a charge of Arminianism. Unfrtunately, the current boom in Scottish intellectual history has so far overlooked Simson, and the exact nature of his teachings is far from clear. Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that the general tendency of his work was to emphasize the extent to which the doctrines of Christianity were in accord with the conclusions of rational inquiry, and to elevate reason at the expense of revelation.
1719 ention then turned to the relationship between temporal and spiritual authority, following the defence of the rights of conscience against both Church and State made by Benjamin Hoadly, the Bishop of Bangor
1719
These accusations eventually acquired some substance with the appearance of John Abernethy Religious Obedience Founded on Personal Persuasion in 1719,a sermon preached on the text, 'Let every man be persuaded in his own mind'. In that year a Toleration Act had been passed, protecting Dissenters from the penalties of the Acts of Uniformity.
1720's Non-subscribers to the Westminster Confession (dubbed 'New Lights') plague the General Synod of Ulster with controversy. WC is contrary to the principle of private judgement and has no foundation in scripture they argue. The resulting fissure, which cut through the Synod, the sub-synods, the presbyteries, and even individual congregations, led eventually to the expulsion of those ministers and elders who had openly espoused the cause of the New Light. Ulster Presbyterianism thus suffered its first schism as the non-subscribing Presbytery of Antrim went its own way
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cameronian
