In 2008 my wife and I were in England visiting our son and daughter-in-law, who were living and working in London while on their OE. While there we took the opportunity of travelling by bus on a ten day tour of England, Scotland and Wales. About half way through the tour we were in the town of St Andrews in Scotland, which is known for its four golf courses, the most famous being the Old Course. The Royal and Ancient Golf Club in the town was founded in 1754 and is one of the world’s oldest and most influential golf organizations. Most of the people on our tour spent the day at the gold club and on the green, but Harriet I are not golfers and were more interested in exploring the architecture and history of St Andrews.
While walking we came across a memorial to four Scottish martyrs – Patrick Hamilton, Henry Forest, George Wishart and Walter Mills – who were each burnt at the stake between 1528 and 1558. The inscription on the memorial read, “The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance.” The monument displayed information about these martyrs of the Reformation. It was profoundly moving for us to read this as we knew nothing about these men. We then went further and came to the old ruined castle of St Andrew’s, which was where John Knox lived for a time, who is Scotland’s most well known and influential Protestant reformer. Let me tell you more about Patrick Hamilton, George Wishart and John Knox.
Patrick Hamilton was a native of Scotland, part of the nobility and closely connected with the royal family. He was a very able young man and was preparing for service in the church. During his studies he heard about the protestant doctrines. To gain more information he visited Luther in Wittenberg and studied in Marburg, another university in Germany.i Having come to Lutheran and Reformed convictions he wanted to return to Scotland to preach and teach the truth of the Bible. His friends, knowing this would place him in great danger, tried to dissuade him. But he returned to Scotland, which was strongly Roman Catholic, full of superstition and ignorant of the Bible. He fervently condemned the corruption and false teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. His clear arguments, piety, and good manners made a great impression on those who heard him.
The Roman Catholic archbishop of St Andrews was James Beaton, who was a cruel and crafty man. Being aware of how popular Patrick was he wanted to remove him quietly, so he invited him to St Andrew’s on the pretext of having a friendly discussion with him about his doctrine. Patrick willingly agreed to this and spoke openly about his convictions regarding the Bible. Then, in the middle of the night he was dragged from his bed, taken to the castle, questioned by the archbishop, and condemned to be burned at the stake as a heretic. His execution took place on the afternoon of Friday the 28th of February 1528. When he was bound to the stake he showed no sign of fear but put his trust in the Lord and looked up to heaven. The Roman Catholic friars stood around him and condemned him as a heretic and urged him to repent and to “call upon our Lady”. Patrick refused to do this, so the fire was lit. His last words were, “How long, O Lord, shall darkness cover this realm? How long wilt thou suffer this tyranny of men? Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
George Wishart was another Scottish reformer who was put to death two decades later. James Beaton, the archbishop of St Andrews, and the murderer of Patrick Hamilton, had died and was succeeded by his nephew, Cardinal David Beaton, who was also hostile to the Reformed faith, deceitful and cruel.
Wishart was a pious and godly man, humble and courteous, and would spend entire nights and days in prayer and meditation. He was very learned and a capable preacher and many were converted under his ministry. He was also very kind and generous to the poor. The town of Dundee was the first of the Scottish burghs to accept the Reformation, but was taken over by a severe plague in 1544.ii As soon as Wishart heard this he hurried to the town, with as much haste as others were fleeing from it. He brought comfort to the people there by the preaching of the Scriptures and urged them to trust in the Lord in these trying times.
But his life was in greater danger from his persecutors than from the pestilence. Cardinal Beaton sent a Roman Catholic priest to Wishart to assassinate him, but the priest was discovered before he could do any harm. On another occasion the cardinal forged a letter, supposedly from a friend of Wishart, inviting him to visit, and then laid an ambush of 60 horsemen to murder him. The Lord gave Wishart a premonition of danger and he turned back from this journey.
Shortly after this Wishart was betrayed and was taken to St Andrews where he was given a mock trial, insulted, spat on and condemned to death as an obstinate heretic. The Cardinal and his clergy arranged themselves on comfortable chairs in front of the palace so they might enjoy the spectacle of Wishart being burnt to death; such was the depravity of his enemies! As the flame was lit Wishart said, “This flame has scorched my body but it has not daunted my spirit.” This learned, godly and gracious reformer died at the hands of his evil persecutors on the 1st of May 1546.
John Knox is the most well known figure in the Scottish Reformation. He was a close friend and supporter of George Wishart. At Dundee an attempt was made to assassinate Wishart. From that time on Knox constantly carried a two handed sword in order to defend his friend. When Wishart was arrested Knox wanted to go with him to the trial but Wishart sent him away saying, “One is sufficient for a sacrifice.”
After this Knox retreated to the castle at St Andrews where many Protestants took refuge to be safe from the attacks of the Roman Catholics. There he preached and ministered to his fellow reformers until eventually the castle was compelled to surrender to French soldiers in 1547. It was subsequently destroyed. Knox and others who were taken prisoner were sent to cruel work on the galleys as slaves and rowers. After nineteen months he was released.
He then went to England where a Protestant government was ruling under Edward VI and became a royal chaplain. When Mary ascended the throne in 1554 he had to flee to Frankfurt, and then went on to Geneva where he learned much from John Calvin.
On the 2nd of May 1559 he returned to Scotland. In the providence of God he arrived at just the right time to further the cause of the Scottish Reformation. In his sermons and writings he fearlessly and forthrightly condemned the Pope, the Roman Catholic Mass and the idolatry of the Roman Catholic Church. He was opposed by the Catholic Mary Queen of Scots. Her mother, the Guise, Mary of Lorriane, had become regent of Scotland in 1554. She was supported by French troops in battles with the Protestants during 1559. In January 1560 the English helped the Protestant forces. The Regent died on the 11th of June 1560 and in July the French soldiers were withdrawn from Scotland.
Knox consolidated the Reformation in Scotland by drawing up a Confession of Faith in 1560. On the 17th of August that year the Scottish Parliament adopted this as the creed of the realm. A week later the Parliament abolished the authority of the pope and prohibited the celebration of the Roman Catholic mass.
In January 1561 Knox presented to the Parliament a Book of Discipline. It proposed a system of church government where ministers, elders and deacons held office with the agreement of members of the church. The elders and deacons made up the session. The elders had the authority to discipline members and to excommunicate them from the church. Later on presbyteries developed and meetings of a General Assembly (which we know as a Synod).
He also wrote a new liturgy titled the Book of Common Order, which was sometimes called ‘Knox’s Liturgy’. This was approved by the General Assembly in 1564 as a pattern for public worship. It was based on the liturgy of the English congregation in Geneva, which followed the liturgy written by John Calvin. He also translated Calvin’s Catechism from French into English.
After much conflict between the Catholic Mary and the Scottish Protestants she was forced to abdicate her throne on 24th July 1567. On the 29th of July James VI was crowned the king of Scotland and Knox preached the sermon at his coronation.
For a time Knox was the only minister of Edinburgh. He preached in St Giles, which could accommodate 3000 worshippers. Later on he had the help of another minister, John Craig. Knox suffered a stroke of apoplexy and after this he was unable to make himself heard in the large space of St Giles.
Knowing that he was dying, he asked that someone would read to him every day John 17, Isaiah 53, and passages from Ephesians. When the elders and deacons were gathered in his room he said, “The day approaches for which I have long and vehemently thirsted, when I shall be released from my great labours and sorrows, and shall be with Christ. I know that many have complained of my too great severity; but God knows that my mind was always void of hatred to the persons against whom I thundered the severest judgments.” A little while after this he said, “I commend my soul, spirit, and body into thy hand, O Lord.”
With these words he died at the age of 67 on the 24th of November 1572. He had influenced the religion and character of Scotland more than any other person in the history of the nation.
Patrick Hamilton, George Wishart and John Knox were bold and fearless defenders and promoters of the biblical Reformed faith. Thankfully their godliness and testimony is recorded on the monument in St Andrews. They were faithful, even to death. Their faith and witness are an example and inspiration to us, living in our day and age of spiritual decline and departure from the Christian faith in New Zealand and the wider western world. In the face of ridicule, opposition and persecution we too need to be faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the truth of the Bible.
Reference works:
Thomas McCrie, “The Story of the Scottish Church”, London; Blackie & Son; 1875; p. 1-62
Williston Walker, “A History of the Christian Church”, Edinburgh;T & T Clark Ltd; 1970; p. 368-374
Footnotes:
The formal date of the beginning of the Protestant Reformation is the 31st of October 1517. On that day the German monk Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg. He was a lecturer of the Bible in the town’s university. His theses objected to the practice of selling indulgences. Luther’s theses were copied and printed and spread rapidly through Europe.
i A burgh is a town possessing special privileges to run its affairs.
Mr John Haverland is a minister in the Pukekohe Reformed Church.
Image by John Haverland
