not what ye say; for ye tell us what was done in Bologna; we are a
kingdom, and they are but a commonwealth."
"My Lord," said he, "my judgment is, that every kingdom is or, at
least, should be a commonwealth, albeit every commonwealth be not
a kingdom; and, therefore, I think that, in a kingdom no less than
in a commonwealth, diligence ought to be taken that laws be not
violated. The tyranny of princes who continually reign in a kingdom
is more hurtful to the subjects, than is the misgovernment of those
that from year to year are changed in free commonwealths. But yet,
my Lords, to assure you and all others further, that head was
disputed to the uttermost; and then, in the end, it was concluded,
that they spoke not of such things as were done in divers kingdoms
and nations by tyranny and negligence of people. 'But we conclude,'
said they, 'what ought to be done in all kingdoms and commonwealths,
according to the law of God, and the just laws of man. And if, by
the negligence of the people, or by the tyranny of princes, contrary
laws have been made, yet may that same people, or their posterity,
justly crave all things to be reformed, according to the original
institution of kings and commonwealths; and such as will not do so,
deserve to eat the fruit of their own foolishness.'"
Master James Macgill, then Clerk of Register, perceiving the votes
to be different, and hearing the bold plainness of the foresaid
servant of God, said, "I remember that this same question was long
debated once before this in my house, and there, by reason that we
were not all of one mind, it was concluded that Mr. Knox should,
in all our names, write to Mr. Calvin for his judgment in the
controversy."
"Nay," said Mr. Knox, "my Lord Secretary would not consent that I
should write, alleging that the greatest weight of the answer stood
in the narrative, and therefore promised that he would write, and I
should see it. But when, at divers times, I required him to remember
his promise, I found nothing but delay."
Thereto the Secretary did answer, "True it is, I promised to write,
and true it is, that divers times Mr. Knox required me so to do.
But, when I had more deeply considered the weight of the matter, I
began to find more doubts than I did before, and this one amongst
others, how durst I, being a subject, and the Queen's Majesty's
Secretary, take upon me, without her own knowledge and consent, to
seek resolution of controversies depending betwixt her Highness and
her subjects." Then was there an acclamation of the clawbacks of
the Court, as if Apollo had given his response. It was wisely and
faithfully done.
"Well," said John Knox, "let worldly men praise worldly wisdom as
highly as they please, I am assured that by such shifts idolatry
is maintained, and the truth of Jesus Christ is betrayed. God one
day will be revenged." At this and the like sharpness many were
offended, the voting ceased, and every faction began plainly to
speak as affection moved them. In the end John Knox was commanded
yet to write to Mr. Calvin, and to the learned in other Kirks, to
ascertain their judgments on that question. This he refused, stating
his reason. "I myself am not only fully resolved in conscience, but
also I have heard the judgments of the most godly and most learned
that be known in Europe, in this and all other things that I have
affirmed within this realm. I came not to this realm without their
resolution; and for my assurance I have the handwritings of many.
Therefore, if I should now move the same question again, what should
I do but either show my own ignorance and forgetfulness, or else
inconstancy? So may it please you to pardon me, albeit I write not.
But I will teach you the surer way, which is this, write ye and
complain upon me, that I teach publicly and affirm constantly such
doctrine as offends you, and so shall ye know their plain minds, and
whether I and they agree in judgment or not."
Divers said the offer was good; but no man was found that would
be the secretary. And so did the Assembly break up after long
reasoning. After that time, the ministers were holden of all the
courtiers as monsters.
In all that time the Earl of Moray was so fremmed[241] to John Knox,
that neither by word nor writing was there any communication betwixt
them.
[241] Strange; unfriendly.
THE END.
APPENDIX.
I. KNOX'S CONFESSION.
II. THE BOOK OF DISCIPLINE.
KNOX'S CONFESSION.[242]
[242] The Confession of Faith professed and believed by the
Protestants within the Realm of Scotland, published by them in
Parliament, and by the Estates thereof ratified and approved, as
wholesome and sound Doctrine, grounded upon the infallible Truth of
God's Word. (_Original Title._)
The Preface.
The Estates of Scotland with the inhabitants of the same
professing the Holy Evangel of Christ Jesus, to their natural
countrymen, and to all other realms and nations, professing the
same Lord Jesus with them, wish grace, peace, and mercy from
God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, with the Spirit of
righteous judgment, for salutation.
Long have we thirsted, dear brethren, to have notified unto the
world the sum of that doctrine which we profess, and for the which
we have sustained infamy and danger. But such has been the rage of
Satan against us, and against the eternal verity of Christ Jesus
lately born amongst us, that to this day no time has been granted
unto us to clear our consciences, as most gladly we would have
done; for how we have been tossed for a whole year past, the most
part of Europe, as we suppose, does understand. But seeing that,
of the infinite goodness, above expectation, of our God, who never
suffers His afflicted to be utterly confounded, we have obtained
some rest and liberty, we could not but set forth this brief and
plain confession of such doctrine as is proponed unto us, and as
we believe and profess. We do so, partly for satisfaction of our
brethren, whose hearts we doubt not have been and yet are wounded
by the despiteful railing of such as yet have not learned to speak
well, and partly for stopping of the mouths of impudent blasphemers,
who boldly condemn that which they have neither heard nor yet
understand. Not that we judge that the cankered malice of such is
able to be cured by this simple Confession. No, we know that the
sweet savour of the Evangel is, and shall be, death to the sons
of perdition. But we have chief respect to our weak and infirm
brethren, to whom we would communicate the bottom of our hearts,
lest that they be troubled or carried away by the diversity of
rumours which Satan spreads abroad against us, to the defecting of
this our most godly enterprise. If any man will note in this our
Confession any article or sentence repugnant to God's holy Word, and
it please him of his gentleness and for Christian charity's sake to
admonish us of the same in writing, we of our honour and fidelity
do promise unto him satisfaction from the mouth of God, that is,
from His holy Scriptures, or else reformation of that which he
shall prove to be amiss. We take God to record in our consciences,
that from our hearts we abhor all sects of heresy, and all teachers
of erroneous doctrine; and that with all humility we embrace the
purity of Christ's Evangel, which is the only food of our souls;
and therefore so precious unto us, that we are determined to suffer
the extremity of worldly danger, rather than that we will suffer
ourselves to be defrauded of the same. For we are most certainly
persuaded that whosoever denies Christ Jesus, or is ashamed of Him,
in presence of men, shall be denied before the Father, and before
His holy angels. And therefore, by the assistance of the mighty
Spirit of our Lord Jesus, we firmly promise to abide to the end in
the Confession of this our Faith.
Of God.--Cap. I.
We confess and acknowledge one only God, to whom only we must
cleave, [whom only we must serve],[243] whom only we must worship,
and in whom only we must put our trust; who is eternal, infinite,
unmeasurable, incomprehensible, omnipotent, invisible: one in
substance, and yet distinct in three persons, the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost: By whom we confess and believe all things in
heaven and in earth, as well visible as invisible, to have been
created, to be retained in their being, and to be ruled and guided
by His inscrutable Providence, to such end as His eternal wisdom,
goodness, and justice has appointed them, to the manifestation of
His own glory.
[243] Words in square brackets are not in MSS. but are found in old
printed copies of the Confession.--ED.
Of the Creation of Man.--Cap. II.
We confess and acknowledge this our God to have created man, to
wit, our first father Adam, of whom also God formed the woman to
His own image and similitude; to whom He gave wisdom, lordship,
justice, free-will, and clear knowledge of Himself; so that in the
whole nature of man there could be noted no imperfection. From which
honour and perfection man and woman did both fall; the woman being
deceived by the serpent, and man obeying to the voice of the woman,
both conspiring against the Sovereign Majesty of God, who before, in
expressed words, had threatened death, if they presumed to eat of
the forbidden tree.
Of Original Sin.--Cap. III.
By which transgression, commonly called Original Sin, was the
image of God utterly defaced in man; and he and his posterity of
nature became enemies to God, slaves to Satan, and servants to sin;
insomuch that death everlasting has had, and shall have, power and
dominion over all that have not been, are not, or shall not be
regenerate from above: which regeneration is wrought by the power of
the Holy Ghost, working in the hearts of the elect of God an assured
faith in the promise of God, revealed to us in His word; by which
faith they apprehend Christ Jesus, with the graces and benefits
promised in Him.
Of the Revelation of the Promise.--Cap. IV.
For this we constantly believe, that God, after the fearful and
horrible defection of man from His obedience, did seek Adam again,
call upon him, rebuke his sin, convict him of the same, and in the
end made unto him a most joyful promise, to wit, that the seed of
the woman should break down the serpent's head; that is, he should
destroy the works of the Devil. Which promise, as it was repeated
and made more clear from time to time, was embraced with joy, and
most constantly retained by all the faithful, from Adam to Noah,
from Noah to Abraham, from Abraham to David, and so forth to the
incarnation of Christ Jesus: who all, we mean the faithful fathers
under the law, did see the joyful days of Christ Jesus, and did
rejoice.
The Continuance, Increase, and Preservation of the Kirk.--Cap. V.
We most constantly believe, that God preserved, instructed,
multiplied, honoured, decorated, and from death called to life
His Kirk in all ages, from Adam until the coming of Christ Jesus
in the flesh: Abraham He called from his father's country, him
He instructed, his seed He multiplied, the same He marvellously
preserved and more marvellously delivered from the bondage [and
tyranny] of Pharaoh; to them He gave His laws, constitutions, and
ceremonies; them He possessed in the land of Canaan; to them, after
judges, and after Saul, He gave David to be King, to whom He made
promise, that of the fruit of his loins should one sit for ever upon
his regal seat. To this same people, from time to time, He sent
prophets to lead them back to the right way of their God, from the
which oftentimes they declined by idolatry, and albeit, for their
stubborn contempt of justice, He was compelled to give them into the
hands of their enemies, as before was threatened by the mouth of
Moses, insomuch that the holy city was destroyed, the temple burned
with fire, and the whole land left desolate the space of seventy
years; yet of mercy did He lead them back again to Jerusalem, where
the city and temple were rebuilt, and they, against all temptations
and assaults of Satan, did abide until the Messias came, according
to the promise.
Of the Incarnation of Christ Jesus.--Cap. VI.
When the fulness of time came, God sent His Son, His Eternal Wisdom,
the substance of His own glory, into this world, who took the nature
of Manhood of the substance of a woman, to wit, of a virgin, and
that by the operation of the Holy Ghost: And so was born the just
seed of David, the Angel of the great counsel of God; the very
Messias promised, whom we acknowledge and confess Emmanuel; very
God and very man, two perfect natures united and joined in one
person. By this our Confession we condemn the damnable and pestilent
heresies of Arius, Marcion, Eutyches, Nestorius, and such others as
either deny the eternity of His Godhead or the verity of His human
nature, confound them, or divide them.
Why it behoved the Mediator to be very God and very Man.--Cap. VII.
We acknowledge and confess that this most wondrous conjunction
betwixt the Godhead and the Manhood in Christ Jesus did proceed from
the eternal and immutable decree of God, whence also our salvation
springs and depends.
Election.--Cap. VIII.
For that same Eternal God, and Father, who of mere mercy elected
us in Christ Jesus, His Son, before the foundation of the world
was laid, appointed Him to be our Head, our Brother, our Pastor,
and great Bishop of our souls. But because that the enmity betwixt
the justice of God and our sins was such that no flesh by itself
could or might have attained unto God, it behoved that the Son of
God should descend unto us, and take Himself a body of our body,
flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bones, and so become the perfect
Mediator betwixt God and man; giving power to so many as believe in
Him to be the sons of God, as He Himself does witness: "I pass up
to my Father and unto your Father, to my God and unto your God."
By this most holy fraternity, whatsoever we have lost in Adam
is restored to us again. And for this cause are we not afraid to
call God our Father, not so much because He hath created us, which
we have in common with the reprobate, as for that He has given
to us His only Son to be our Brother, and given unto us grace to
[acknowledge and] embrace Him for our only Mediator, as before is
said. It behoved further, the Messias and Redeemer to be very God
and very man, because He was to underlie the punishment due for
our transgressions, and to present Himself in the presence of His
Father's judgment, as in our person to suffer for our transgression
and inobedience, by death to overcome him that was author of death.
But because the only Godhead could not suffer death, neither could
the only Manhood overcome the same; He joined both together in one
person, that the imbecility of the one should suffer, and be subject
to death, which we had deserved, and the infinite and invincible
power of the other, to wit, of the Godhead, should triumph and
procure for us life, liberty, and perpetual victory. And so we
confess, and most undoubtedly believe.
Christ's Death, Passion, Burial, etc.--Cap. IX.
That our Lord Jesus Christ offered Himself a voluntary sacrifice
unto His Father for us; that He suffered contradiction of sinners;
that He was wounded and plagued for our transgressions; that He,
being the clean and innocent Lamb of God, was condemned in the
presence of an earthly judge, that we might be absolved before
the tribunal seat of our God; that He suffered not only the cruel
death of the Cross, which was accursed by the sentence of God, but
also that He suffered for a season the wrath of His Father, which
sinners had deserved. But yet we avow that He remained the only and
well-beloved and blessed Son of His Father, even in the midst of His
anguish and torment, which He suffered in body and soul, to make the
full satisfaction for the sins of His people. We confess and avow,
that there remains no other sacrifice for sins; which if any affirm,
we nothing doubt to avow that they are blasphemers against Christ's
death, and the everlasting purgation and satisfaction procured for
us by the same.
Resurrection.--Cap. X.
We undoubtedly believe that, insomuch as it was impossible that
the dolours of death should retain in bondage the Author of life,
our Lord Jesus Christ, crucified, dead, and buried, descended into
hell, did rise again for our justification, and the destruction
of him who was the author of death, and brought life again to us
that were subject to death and to its bondage. We know that His
resurrection was confirmed by the testimony of His very enemies; by
the resurrection of the dead, whose sepulchres did open, and who
did arise and appear to many within the city of Jerusalem. It was
also confirmed by the testimony of His angels, and by the senses and
judgments of His apostles, and of others who had conversation, and
did eat and drink with Him after His resurrection.
Ascension.--Cap. XI.
We nothing doubt but that the self-same body, which was born of
the Virgin, was crucified, dead, and buried, and rose again, did
ascend into the heavens for the accomplishment of all things; where,
in our names and for our comfort, He has received all power in
heaven and in earth; where He sits at the right hand of the Father,
inaugurate in His kingdom, Advocate and only Mediator for us;
which glory, honour, and prerogative He alone amongst the brethren
shall possess, until all His enemies be made His footstool, as we
undoubtedly believe they shall be in the final judgment; to the
execution whereof we certainly believe that our Lord Jesus shall
visibly return as we believe that He was seen to ascend. And then we
firmly believe, that the time of refreshing and restitution of all
things shall come, insomuch that they that from the beginning have
suffered violence, injury, and wrong for righteousness' sake, shall
inherit that blessed immortality promised from the beginning: but
contrariwise, the stubborn, inobedient, cruel, oppressors, filthy
persons, adulterers, and all sorts of unfaithful men shall be cast
into the dungeon of outer darkness, where their worm shall not die,
neither yet their fire be extinguished. The remembrance of which
day, and of the judgment to be executed in the same, is not only to
us a bridle whereby our carnal lusts are refrained; but also such
inestimable comfort, that neither may the threatening of worldly
princes, nor yet the fear of temporal death and present danger, move
us to renounce and forsake that blessed society which we the members
have with our Head and only Mediator, Christ Jesus, whom we confess
and avow to be the Messias promised, the only Head of His Kirk,
our just Lawgiver, our only High Priest, Advocate, and Mediator.
In which honours and offices, if man or angel presume to intrude
themselves, we utterly detest and abhor them, as blasphemous to our
Sovereign and Supreme Governor, Christ Jesus.
Faith in the Holy Ghost.--Cap. XII.
This our faith, and the assurance of the same, proceeds not from
flesh and blood, that is to say, from no natural powers within us,
but is the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Him we confess God, equal
with the Father and with the Son; who sanctifieth us, and bringeth
us into all truth by His own operation; without Him we should remain
for ever enemies to God, and ignorant of His Son, Christ Jesus. For
of nature we are so dead, so blind, and so perverse, that neither
can we feel when we are pricked, see the light when it shines, nor
assent to the will of God when it is revealed; only the Spirit of
the Lord Jesus quickeneth that which is dead, removeth the darkness
from our minds, and boweth our stubborn hearts to the obedience of
His blessed will. As we confess that God the Father created us when
we were not, and as His Son, our Lord Jesus, redeemed us when we
were enemies to Him, so also do we confess that the Holy Ghost does
sanctify and regenerate us, altogether without respect to any merit
proceeding from us, be it before, or be it after our regeneration.
In more plain words, as we willingly spoil ourselves of all honour
and glory of our own creation and redemption, so do we also of
our regeneration and sanctification: for of ourselves we are not
sufficient to think one good thought; but He who has begun the good
work in us is only He that continueth us in the same, to the praise
and glory of His undeserved grace.
The Cause of Good Works.--Cap. XIII.
The cause of good works we therefore confess to be, not our
freewill, but the Spirit of the Lord Jesus; who, dwelling in our
hearts by true faith, brings forth such good works as God hath
prepared for us to walk in: for we most boldly affirm, that it is
blasphemy to say that Christ Jesus abides in the hearts of such
as in whom there is no Spirit of sanctification. And therefore we
fear not to affirm, that murderers, oppressors, cruel persecutors,
adulterers, whoremongers, filthy persons, idolaters, drunkards,
thieves, and all workers of iniquity, have neither true faith,
nor any portion of the Spirit of sanctification, which proceedeth
from the Lord Jesus, so long as they obstinately continue in their
wickedness. For how soon that ever the Spirit of the Lord Jesus,
which God's elect children receive by true faith, takes possession
in the heart of any man, so soon does He regenerate and renew the
same man; so that he begins to hate that which before he loved, and
begins to love that which before he hated; and from thence comes
that continual battle which is betwixt the flesh and the Spirit
in God's children; while the flesh and natural man, according to
its own corruption, lusts for things pleasing and delectable unto
itself, grudges in adversity, is lifted up in prosperity, and at
every moment is prone and ready to offend the Majesty of God. But
the Spirit of God, which giveth witness to our spirit that we are
the sons of God, makes us to resist the Devil, to abhor filthy
pleasures, to groan in God's presence for deliverance from this
bondage of corruption; and finally, so to triumph over sin that
it reign not in our mortal bodies. Carnal men, being destitute of
God's Spirit, have not this battle; these do follow and obey sin
with greediness, and without repentance, even as the Devil and
their corrupt lusts do prick them. But the sons of God, as before
is said, do fight against sin, do sob and mourn, when they perceive
themselves tempted to iniquity: and, if they fall, they rise again
with earnest and unfeigned repentance. And these things they do not
by their own power; but the power of the Lord Jesus, without whom
they were able to do nothing, worketh in them all that is good.
What Works are reputed good before God.--Cap. XIV.