Editing History of Scotland (section)

===Religious schism and revival===
{{Main|History of Christianity in Scotland}}
[[File:Thomas Chalmers statue, George Street Edinburgh.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Thomas Chalmers]] statue in George Street, Edinburgh]]
After prolonged years of struggle, in 1834 the Evangelicals gained control of the [[General Assembly of the Church of Scotland|General Assembly]] and passed the Veto Act, which allowed congregations to reject unwanted "intrusive" presentations to livings by patrons. The following "Ten Years' Conflict" of legal and political wrangling ended in defeat for the non-intrusionists in the civil courts. The result was a schism from the church by some of the non-intrusionists led by Dr [[Thomas Chalmers]] known as the Great [[Disruption of 1843]]. Roughly a third of the clergy, mainly from the North and Highlands, formed the separate [[Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900)|Free Church of Scotland]]. The evangelical Free Churches, which were more accepting of Gaelic language and culture, grew rapidly in the Highlands and Islands, appealing much more strongly than did the established church.<ref name=Robb1990/> Chalmers's ideas shaped the breakaway group. He stressed a social vision that revived and preserved Scotland's communal traditions at a time of strain on the social fabric of the country. Chalmers's idealised small equalitarian, kirk-based, self-contained communities that recognised the individuality of their members and the need for co-operation.<ref>J. Brown Stewart, ''Thomas Chalmers and the godly Commonwealth in Scotland'' (1982)</ref> That vision also affected the mainstream Presbyterian churches, and by the 1870s it had been assimilated by the established Church of Scotland. Chalmers's ideals demonstrated that the church was concerned with the problems of urban society, and they represented a real attempt to overcome the social fragmentation that took place in industrial towns and cities.<ref>S. Mechie, ''The Church and Scottish social development, 1780–1870'' (1960).</ref>

In the late 19th century the major debates were between fundamentalist Calvinists and theological liberals, who rejected a literal interpretation of the Bible. This resulted in a further split in the Free Church as the rigid Calvinists broke away to form the [[Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland|Free Presbyterian Church]] in 1893.<ref name=Koch2006p416-7/> There were, however, also moves towards reunion, beginning with the unification of some secessionist churches into the [[United Secession Church]] in 1820, which united with the Relief Church in 1847 to form the [[United Presbyterian Church of Scotland|United Presbyterian Church]], which in turn joined with the Free Church in 1900 to form the [[United Free Church of Scotland]]. The removal of legislation on lay patronage would allow the majority of the Free Church to rejoin Church of Scotland in 1929. The schisms left small denominations including the [[Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland|Free Presbyterians]] and a remnant that had not merged in 1900 as the [[Free Church of Scotland (post 1900)|Free Church]].<ref name=Koch2006p416-7/>

[[Catholic Emancipation]] in 1829 and the influx of large numbers of Irish immigrants, particularly after the famine years of the late 1840s, principally to the growing lowland centres like Glasgow, led to a transformation in the fortunes of Catholicism. In 1878, despite opposition, a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical hierarchy was restored to the country, and Catholicism became a significant denomination within Scotland.<ref name=Koch2006p416-7/> Episcopalianism also revived in the 19th century as the issue of succession receded, becoming established as the [[Episcopal Church in Scotland]] in 1804, as an autonomous organisation in communion with the [[Church of England]].<ref name=Koch2006p416-7/> [[Baptist Union of Scotland|Baptist]], [[Congregational Union of Scotland|Congregationalist]] and [[Methodist]] churches had appeared in Scotland in the 18th century, but did not begin significant growth until the 19th century,<ref name=Koch2006p416-7/> partly because more radical and evangelical traditions already existed within the Church of Scotland and the free churches. From 1879 they were joined by the evangelical revivalism of the [[Salvation Army]], which attempted to make major inroads in the growing urban centres.<ref name=Ditchfield1998p91/>