X. Das Ringen um die presbyterial-synodale Kirchenordnung im preußischen Westen und die Relevanz demokratischer Gedanken.

In Jülich-Cleve-Berg-Mark, the Reformed and Lutheran churches had been governed almost independently by synods since the 17^th century. With the establishment of the Prussian western provinces in 1815, however, consistories were installed alongside, whose legal claims competed with those of the existing synods; these, however, tried tenaciously to preserve their traditional rights. Considerations that this ecclesiastical demand correlated with contemporary democratic thought and its demand for a state constitution were vehemently rejected in the Prussian West for theological reasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]