How did biblical criticism create controversy in late-19th- and early-20th-century Presbyterian churches?

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, biblical criticism became a primary source of tension within the Presbyterian Church as it pitted theological modernists against conservatives who viewed such methods as a threat to biblical authority.12

The controversy manifested in several ways:

• Heresy Trials: Conservative leaders utilized church authority to discipline ministers who embraced critical approaches to scripture. A notable example was the 1893 conviction and suspension of Charles A. Briggs, a professor who challenged the doctrine of verbal inspiration. Similar pressures led other scholars, such as Henry Preserved Smith and A.C. McGiffert, to leave the denomination.1
• Fundamentalist Reaction: In response to modernist theories, conservatives reasserted traditional doctrines, including the inerrant inspiration of the Bible, the Virgin Birth, and Christ’s miracle-working power. This movement was bolstered by the publication of The Fundamentals, which explicitly attacked modernist biblical criticism.1
• Institutional Schism: The conflict intensified in the 1920s, leading to the forced departure of ministers like Harry Emerson Fosdick and eventually resulting in the formation of separate denominations, such as the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, by those who rejected modernist influence.12