FAITH
764
FAITH
repudiate the Catholic religion, and commission John
Knox and other preachers to compile a new creed.
Familiar with the Swiss Confessions, Knox performed
his task in four days. The document, amended by
the leaders, was submitted to Parliament and with
very little discussion and a mere handful of dissentient
votes, ratified by the estates, 17 Aug. Though repu-
diated by Queen Mary, who was at the time in France,
it was imposed upon the people as the reUgion of Scot-
land and the exercise of the ancient worship was for-
bidden under penalty of confiscation, exile, and death.
The "Confessio Scotica", or "Confession of the Faith and Doctrine belevet and professit be tlie Pro- testantis of Scotland", begins mth a brief preface, in which the WTiters " take God to recorde in our con- sciences, that fra our heartis we abhorre all sectis of heresie and all teachers of erroneous doctrine." They do not claim to be infallible. " Gif onie man sliall note in this our Confessioun onie Artickle or sentence re- pugnand to God's halie word" they "do promise unto him satisfactioun fra the mouth of God, that is, fra his haly scriptures, or else reformation of that quhilk he sal prove to be amisse." This hypothetical admission of fallibUity, so remarkable in a Calvinistic document, was practically harmless; for no one ever convinced John Knox that he was in error.
The Confession presents, in twenty-five articles, a summary of the Christian Faith as held by the Scot- tish Protestants. The articles follow broadly the lines of the Apostles' Creed. They are written m a vigor- ous, original, and, for a document proceeding from the pen of Knox, in an extremely motlerate style. The moderation was obviously due to the necessity of se- curing, if possible, for the sake of legalit}% the signa- ture of the Catholic sovereign. Althougli the ground tone of the Confession is CalvinLstic, yet the Calvinis- tic tenets are not set forward with prommence. It is only when treating of the " Kirk" and the Sacraments that the "Papistical Kirk" and the Catholic doctrine of the Holy ilass are denounced and misrepresented : "The notes, signes, and assiu-ed tokens whereby the immaculate Spouse of Christ Jesus is knawen fra the horril:)le harlot, the Kirk malignant, we atfirme, are nouther Antiquitie, Title usurpit, lineal Descence, Place appointed, nor multitude of men appro\-mg ane error." In addition to the usual Protestant notes of the true Church, viz. " the trew preaching of the Word of God" and "the right administration of the Sacra- ments", the Confession assigns a third element pecu- liar to the Scottish Kirk, i. e. " Ecclesiastical discipline uprightlie ministered, as Goddis ^yorde prescribes, whereby vice is repressed, and vertew nurished". The development of Presbj'terianism was a lucid com- mentarj' on the new principle herein tentatively pro- pounded. In Art. 24, " Of the Civile Magistrate", the Confession proclaims openly the duty of suppressing the Catholic religion. " To Kings, Princes, Rulers and Magistrates, wee affirme that most chieflie and most principallie the conservation and purgation of the Re- ligioun apperteinis; so that not onlie they are ap- pointed for Civil! policie, bot also for maintenance of the trew Religio\m, and for suppressing of Idolatrie and Superstioun whatsoever."
After the forced alidication of Queen Mary in 1567, Parliament again proclaimed the Confession as the creed of " the only true and holy Kirk of Jesus Christ within this realm"; and it remained the doctrinal standard of the Scots, until superseded by the West- minster Confession. In the estimation of the Presby- terian preachers, the Confession of Knox was sadly defective; it had failed to denounce with sufficient vigour the Roman Antichrist. This omission was deemed particularly unfortunate about l.'jSO, when the young King James \T had fallen under the spell of his French kinsman, Esm^ Stuart, upon whom the king had bestowed the earldom of Lennox, and who reigned supreme in his councils. It was probably at the sug-
gestion of this able and unscrupulous politician, that
James commissioned the preacher John Craig to draw
up the most violent condemnation of Papistry that
ever issued from a Calvinistic pen. It is known to
historians as the King's Confession, sometimes as the
"Scotica Secunda", later, when the religious conflicts
in Scotland turned on the question of prelacy in gen-
eral, as the "National Covenant". After endorsing
the Confession of Faith in 1500, it proceeds to " abhor
and detest all contrary Religion and Doctrine; but
chiefly afl kind of Papistry in general and particular
heads", among others, "the usurped tjTanny of the
Roman Antichrist upon the Scriptm-es of God, upon
the Kirk, the civil magistrate, and consciences of men;
all his tyrannous laws made upon indifferent things,
against our Christian liberty; . . . his five bastard
sacraments, with all his rites, ceremonies, and false
doctrme added to the ministration of the true sacra-
ments without the Word of God; his cruel judgment
against infants departing without the sacrament ; his
absolute necessity of baptism ; his blasphemous opmion
of transubstantiation; his devilish mass; his blas-
phemous priesthood; his profane sacrifice for sins of
the dead and the quick ; . . . his worldly monarchy
and wicked hierarchy; his three solemn vows; his er-
roneous and bloody decrees made at Trent, with all the
subscribers and approvers of that cruel and bloody
band conjured against the Kirk of God." This " Con-
fession" was subscribed by James and his Court at
Edinburgh, 28 Jan., 1581; afterwards by the Presby-
terian Assembly and by persons of all ranks. It re-
mained for generations the strong spiritual pabulum
which fortified the Scottish people against Papistry,
until men began to think for themselves.
The Westminster Confession. — In the Reformed Churches of English speech, all the earlier standards were practically supplanted by the "Westminster Confession of Faith " and the " Longer" and " Shorter Catechisms ". These documents, together with a " Director^' of Worship ", were the fruits of the long labours of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, con- vened in Westminster Abbey by authority of the Long Parliament at the opening of the Civil War. After the abolition of prelacy in September, 1642, the re- ligious condition of England was completely chaotic. In order to stem the evil. Parliament by an ordinance dated 12 June, 1042, "thought fit and necessary to call an Assembly of learned, godly and judicious divines, to consult and advise of such matters and things, touching the premises, as shall be proposed unto them by both or either of the Houses of Parliament, and to give their advice and counsel therein to both or either of the said Houses, when, and as often as they shall be thereimto required." Lest any of these invited "di- vines" should be tempted to dispute the omnipotence of Parliament, they are admonished that "this ordi- nance, or anii-thing therein contamed shall not give unto the persons aforesaid, or any of them, nor shall they in this Assembly assinne to exercise, any juris- diction, power, or authority ecclesiastical whatsoever, or any other power, than is herein particularly ex- pressed ". The ordinance provides that forty mem- bers shall constitute a quorum; "that William Twisse, Doctor in Divinity shall sit in the chair." Should he die, or be "letted. Parliament shall appoint" his successor." Furthermore, " in case any difference of opinion shall happen amongst the said persons so assembled, touching any of the matters that shall be proposed to them, as aforesaid, that they shall repre- sent the same, together with the reasons thereof, to both or either the said Houses respectively, to the end such further directions may be given therein as shall be requisite in that lichalf." The ordinance mentions by name one hundred and twenty-one "divines"; but, as if these were not sufficiently muzzled, it adds ten lords and twenty commoners as "lay assessors". On 22 June, King Charles, from Oxford, issued a de-
