Early Presbyterianism in Canada

Susan McKnight is an administrator of the Courts Technology Integrated Justice Project at the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General.

Attempts at compiling histories of Presbyterianism in Canada have met
with mixed success. One of the more successful attempts was John S.
Moir’s Enduring Witness, published in 1975. Supplements subtitled
“Profiles of Canadian Presbyterians” have been added to this work
over the years.

Early Presbyterianism in Canada, edited by Paul Laverdure, is the
second book in a proposed trilogy of historical Presbyterian papers. The
first volume, Religion in Canada: Historical Essays by John S. Moir,
examined the state of the church up to 1925, before the formation of the
United Church of Canada. The third book is expected to contain papers on
the Presbyterian Church after 1925. The volume under review contains
more selected essays by John S. Moir. The most prominent historian in
this field, Moir is professor emeritus at the University of Toronto and
founder of the Canadian Society of Presbyterian History.

The book’s introduction provides a brief overview of Canadian
Presbyterian history. The 12 essays that follow explore topics ranging
from “Canada and the Huguenot Connection, 1577–1627” to “The
Presbyterian Contribution to Biblical Studies in Canada.”

The bibliography in Moir’s engagingly written book is divided into 17
subject categories, such as “General Works,” “Migration and
Settlement,” and “Women and Religion.”