John Knox, Pastor Of Souls

By W. Stanford Reid

University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada

John Knox has been called everything from a “trumpeter of God” to a “nasty old man” since his death in 1572. While some have held him In deep reverence, as in his own day, believing that he was the man who brought about the Reformation in Scotland, others have declared him to be vain, inconsistent, uxorious, and a jackal.[1] It is not, therefore, easy to sum up his character or his achievements in a few well chosen words which everyone will accept. One side of his personality, however, has been frequently overlooked by both his admirers and his detractors, that is, his role as a pastor of souls. It is to this aspect of the man that this article would draw attention.

As one reads his letters, whether to individuals or to congregations and nations, one gains the impression that he had a very great interest in the spiritual welfare of those who were facing problems either spiritual or political. He genuinely sought to understand and enter into the doubts and difficulties of those whom he was seeking to assist. At the same time, he sought to bring to bear on their questions and situations the teachings of the Scriptures from a Reformed perspective in order that they might find help, consolation, and encouragement which would enable them to deal with their problems. His approach was not, however, what might be called a purely “spiritual” one, for in much of what he said one finds a hard-headed Lowland Scottish common sense, often tinged with humor and irony, which went right to the point of the matter at hand. By these means he was able to offer help when it was needed.

Yet, while one may speak in this way of Knox, very little direct information concerning his pastoral activities is available from the reformer himself. He sometimes complains that he cannot do all that he would because of physical weakness or lack of time, but that is as far as he goes.[2] Nor do we have much direct information from others, with perhaps the exception of James Melville, who in his memoirs tells its something of Knox’s dealings with the students at St. Andrews when he was in exile there from Edinburgh during the last year or so of his life. To understand his interest in and performance of his pastoral work one must look elsewhere and hope to find indirect evidence which will give some indication of his attitudes and endeavors.

Fortunately, we do have a source which gives this indirect information concerning his pastoral activity: a considerable collection of letters which he wrote in response to specific questions submitted to him by various people. We also have letters which he wrote to former congregations and to Protestant groups under persecution. Then too, we have a few passing comments of his own which give some indication of how he showed pastoral concern and of the contacts which he had with people who were looking for help, In this way, from his side, we can build tip something of a picture.

From the side of those who were the sheep of his flock we may likewise gain some understanding of how he acted as a shepherd. The fact that questions were put to him, questions of many different sorts, indicates that he was seen as one who had a real interest in people’s problems. He was recognized by many as being ready and willing to give aid and assistance in whatever way he could. This comes out especially clearly in his letters to Mrs. Bowes, but undoubtedly characterized his dealings with many others as well.

His care was first and foremost for individuals. Moreover, while he was called upon by men for help at times, those who sought his counsel most frequently were women. The majority of his extant letters are directed to Mrs. Richard Bowes, Mrs. Anna Locke, and his “Sisters in Edinburgh.” They seem to have kept in constant contact with him, seeking his advice and depending upon him for consolation and guidance. Eventually both Mrs. Bowes and Mrs. Locke went to Geneva during his pastorate in the English congregation there, during the reign of Mary Tudor.[3]

Because of his female consultants Knox has been criticized and lampooned, for did he not write The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women? If he was in reality a misogynist, why did he have all these female admirers? This is the question asked by Robert Louis Stevenson in one of his essays.[4] But Stevenson and others of Knox’s detractors have not understood the situation. With the abolition of the confessional many women felt a need for spiritual help and guidance. As a result they turned to the reformers for instruction and assistance. We find, therefore, that Calvin, Bullinger, Luther, and many of the English reformers were constantly being consulted by pious women who had nowhere else to turn for instruction and advice. Collinson brings this out very clearly in his article on Mrs. Locke. Knox, for his part, was no exception, and as far as we can see there was nothing sexual involved but simply his desire to help meet the needs of women who, although faced with spiritual problems, were deeply committed to the Protestant cause.[5]

In Knox’s case this comes out most clearly in his writing to Mrs. Bowes. She was the daughter of Sir Roger Aske of Aske and wife of Richard Bowes, Captain of Norham Castle. While Knox was the minister of the Protestant congregation in Berwick, after his release from the French galley in 1549, Mrs. Bowes seems to have become a Protestant, presumably against her husband’s and most of her family’s wishes. This may account in part for her lack of assurance and her tendency towards melancholy, which is apparent in the letters which she wrote to Knox. Marjory, her fifth daughter, seems to have been the only member of the family who went with Mrs. Bowes, and eventually, again contrary to the wishes of the family, she became Mrs. Knox.[6] Thus Mrs. Bowes, who was originally addressed in his letters as “Belovit Sister,” became his “Deirlie Belovit Mother,” and as his mother-in-law she had an even greater right to call on him for help.

Although we do not have the letters which she wrote to Knox, she apparently kept those which he wrote to her and used them as a kind of work of spiritual counsel, with the result that they are still extant today. Reading between the lines of Knox’s replies, one is able to see that she missed the opportunity to consult a father confessor for spiritual guidance, and so turned to him. Although at times he displays a certain amount of impatience with her questions, nevertheless he shows a very different side of his character from that usually attributed to him, in the gentleness and sympathy with which he deals with her. As he put it in writing to her from Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1553:

Think not Sister, that I esteme it any trubill to comfort yow; be sa bold upon me in godliness, as ye wald be upon any flesche, and na uther labouris save onlie the blawing of my Maisteris trumpet sall impeid me to do the uttermaist of my power.[7]

Shortly afterwards, writing from London, he tells her that he never prays without mentioning her in his prayers, and confides that when helping three other “honest pure wemen” he told them of her problems, which were similar to theirs, they all wept together, praying for her.[8] Here is a John Knox somewhat different from the usual picture.

Mrs. Bowes’ basic problem seems to have been that of an uncertainty and lack of assurance of her salvation. It may have been that under constant pressure from her family, especially her husband, to return to the Roman Catholic fold, she was worried lest she had made a wrong decision in accepting the Protestant doctrine of justification by faith alone. In reply to her worries, Knox points out that her very anxiety on this score indicates that she is a Christian, and then he adds:

To embrace Chryst, to refus idolatrie, to confess the truth, to love the memberis of Chrystis body, are the giftis of God: therfoir he can not repent that he hath maid yow partaker thairof.[9]

He also assures her that Christ’s words “many are called but few are chosen,” do not apply to Christians. When she is worried that she does not worrv enough over her sins, he points out that the soul needs a rest the same as the body, and he repeatedly assures her that he is praying that she will receive the comfort and peace of the Holy Spirit.[10]

Such letters, however, did not entirely satisfy Mrs. Bowes, for in November or December of 1552 she wrote him about God’s having repented for having chosen Saul to rule over Israel. Obviously she feared that God had repented of his calling of her. To this query he wrote two replies. The first letter, dealing principally with his difficulties in Newcastle, ends with a short statement that God’s repenting of having made Satil king (foes not refer to Saul’s salvation. In a later letter, written in March 1553, he takes tip the question of anthropornorphisms in the Bible, and then goes on to say that since Saul was always reprobate, this matter of God’s repentance does not apply to Christians, so she need not worry.[11]

Another problem of Mrs. Bowes was that she was tempted to sin. Did this mean that she was not a Christian? To this Knox replied that all these temptations are of the devil whom she should “Jauch ... to skorne and mock ... in your hart…” The Devil tries all Christians. “He is a roaring ]yon selking whome he may devotir; whonie he has devourit alreadie, he seikis na mair.” Although she may feel, as she does, that she has not repented enough of her sins she must remember that her salvation depends not on any perfection in herself, but in Christ alone. In another letter he tells her that to be tempted is not to sin, and even if we do but repent we are forgiven. In one of his longest letters he even goes so far as to tell her of his own temptation to pride, and how God has weaned him from it.[12] It is abundantly clear that when Knox is speaking of temptation he knows whereof he speaks.

One is also cheered by the fact that Mrs. Bowes also had difficulties with the matter of the unpardonable sin, as do many today who are young in the faith. She wrote to Knox in great perplexity as to whether she had committed it or not. To this query he replied that the unpardonable sin is

to blaspheme the word of lyfe whilk anis we haif professit, and to fall back (not of fragilitie, but of hatred and contempt) to sic ydolatrie and abominatiouns as the wickit mantenis; whairof I am maist surelie persuadit in the Lord Jesus that your hart shall never do.

He believed that she was certainly grafted into the body of Christ, and although she might have to suffer for this, she would never be lost.[13]

Mrs. Bowes’ problems, however, were not always of her own concoction. With a husband and family largely opposed to her new religious beliefs she was constantly being pressured to attend mass. Knox, on the other hand, was constantly urging her to stand firm against the persuasions of those who would have her return to the Roman Church. He repeatedly reminds her of God’s sovereignty over all her troubles, which he is using for her perfection. At the same time, while consoling her he tells her of his own “dolors” but ends with the encouraging words, “ and thus rest in Christ : for the heid of the Serpent is alreadie brokin doun, and he is stinging ins upon the heill .”[14]

Yet Knox also acknowledged that the help was not all from one side. He confessed that he had his own weaknesses and failed on various occasions to do as he should. Moreover, he also recognized that many of his problems were similar to hers, and confessed that his contacts with her had helped to strengthen him.- As he pointed out in his exposition of Psalm Six, God had called her to be one of his own and had given her the courage to fight the enemy: the Devil, her own flesh, those who were the enemies of Christianity, even some of her natural friends. Her boldness in the cause of Christ had often strengthened him when he had been faint in the cause. The Spirit of God had given her such strength that she was able to reason and speak, and to give comfort and consolation to those in trouble. “And theirfoir, Mothher, be not moveit with any wind, but stick to Chryst Jesus in the day of this his battell.”[15]

While our attention is directed principally to Knox’s letters to Mrs. Bowes, who was, as he once explained, one of the crosses he had to bear, others also wrote to him. One could only wish that they had been as careful to preserve his letters as was she. One of these other consultants was a man, Thomas Upcher, an Englishman living in Basel in 1556 and 1557. He apparently complained that he felt deserted by God. To this Knox replied that this was no uncommon experience, for God does at times leave us to our own devices in order that we may realize that our whole strength must be in him alone. He forces us back to trust in him and to seek his blessing more fully and completely.[16] To the queries of his “Sisters in Edinburgh” the answers were not nearly so simple, for they faced him with two very practical and dangerous questions. The first related to women’s wearing apparel. He began to reply to this question by saying that women should not dress for ostentation, but he would not prescribe dress for either man or woman, since individuals differ. He insisted, however, that the rule against women carrying men’s arms or clothes was based upon the difference in their functions. If men give up their place of rule and

gif wemen, forgetting thair awn weakness and inabilitie to rule, do presume to tak upon thame to beir and use the vesteinentis and weaponis of men, that is the offices whilk God hath assignit to mankynd onlie, thay Sall not eschaip the maledictioun of Him wha must declair himself enemy, and a seveir punisser of all thois that be malicious perverteris of the order establissit be his wisdome.[17]

Here we hear echoes of The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women.

The other question concerned the eating of meat offered to idols. Apparently the good ladies felt that eating in a Roman Catholic friend’s home might bring them under the condemnation of committing this sin, which was so prevalent in Corinth in apostolic days. Knox, however, makes a distinction between worship and meeting together in a home for social purposes. Christians should flee the mass, which would be eating meats offered to idols, but for social gatherings in homes he saw no problem. The only question he raised was whether their so doing would lead a weaker brother into error. He also insisted that Protestants must be prepared, even in social gatherings to give their witness if the Romanists attempted to defend their errors.[18] In this advice he seems to have shown balance and judgment.

It may also have been in answer to questions by some individuals that Knox wrote a statement concerning baptism, the Lord’s Supper, the eating of blood, and the giving of tithes. No indication appears on the document either as to the questioners’ identity or as to the date, although from its location in the M’Crie collection it would seem to have been written around 1556. In dealing with these questions, Knox shows first of all his knowledge of both Scripture and theology and secondly his common sense. He rejects the idea of the need for another baptism if one has already received Roman Catholic baptism in the name of the Triune God. The sign was received in ignorance, but it is one’s faith, not the sign which is important. Furthermore, even if one has fallen away from the Gospel second baptism is not required, but a proper use of the Lord’s Supper. With regard to the eating of blood, he points out that that was an Old Testament regulation, but that such ceremonial laws are now abrogated by Christ. And finally he rejects the idea of paying tithes to priests, for they are now done away with in the New Testament dispensation.[19]

Knox, however, did not feel that his pastoral duties ended with the writing of letters to individuals who raised questions with him. He was the pastor, during his life, of a number of congregations, and he always seems to have had a deep consciousness of his responsibility to meet their corporate needs.

Furthermore, he felt, as one who was called to “blaw his maister’s trumpet” faithfully in all circumstances, that in a sense he was pastor to all those who believed the Gospel. He was interested in the congregations as a whole and sought to give leadership wherever and whenever the opportunity arose. Consequently, his pastoring was carried on over a very wide area, and throughout his life.

One may divide Knox’s congregational pastorates into two parts, one in the British Isles and the other on the Continent. Fie began his ministry in St. Andrews while in the castle where the murderers of Cardinal Beaton had found refuge. His second congregation was that in Berwick-on-Tweed, to which he was appointed by the Duke of Somerset on his release from the French galley Notre Dame. Because a good many Scottish Protestants began to move into Berwick, apparently attracted by Knox, he was moved to Newcastle-on-Tyne for a short time. But as he was proving to be an overly influential figure in the north, the Duke of Northumberland decided to move him to London where he was offered first a bishopric, which he turned down, and then a London parish, to which he gave the same response. He then spent the last few months of the reign of Edward VI (1547–1553) as a royal chaplain travelling through south east England seeking to refute the teachings of a growing group of Anabaptists.

With the accession of Mary Tudor to the throne on the death of Edward VI he found it necessary to leave for the Continent where he planned to spend some time in Geneva studying. Other English refugees, however, soon appeared in Frankfort-am-Main and lacking a minister called Knox to fill that position. Unwillingly he took up the duties, but was probably quite happy to lay them down when a group of refugees who had come from Strasbourg succeeded in having him forced out of Frankfort because he would not use the second Edwardian Book of Common Prayer. He then retired to Geneva once again, only to be followed by over two hundred of the Frankfort congregation who elected him to be their pastor. There he served from 1556 until Elizabeth came to the English throne and his congregation left for home. With no more congregation to which to minister, he then departed for Scotland to become one of the leaders in the Reformation there, eventually taking over the pastorate of St. Giles Kirk in Edinburgh.[20]

Knox’s first congregational pastoral writing was to the group which had been with him in St. Andrew’s Castle. It consisted of an introduction to, and summary of, a “Treatise of justification” written by Henry Balnaves, one of those who had been in St. Andrews Castle and who was imprisoned in the tower at Rouen. The treatise was smuggled to Knox, who was at that time in the galley Notre Dame. How he had the opportunity to write anything we do not know, but he did and the document was then smuggled out and sent to Scotland. Who read it is also not known; but it was eventually found, after Knox’s death, by his secretary in the papers of the Laird of Ormiston, who had been one of Knox’s major supporters among the gentry of Lothian.[21] It is possible, however. that it was circulated in manuscript within Protestant circles for it would have been too dangerous at that time to have it printed.

Balnaves’ treatise was very clearly a Lutheran document setting forth the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Knox declared in his introduction that this was also the position he held: “The substance of justification is, to cleave fast unto God by Jesus Christ, and not by our selfe, nor yet by our workes.”[22] Yet, while approving of the doctrine of justification by faith alone, Knox also stresses the necessity of the Christian’s performing good works, as a proof of his faith. He does this by fulfilling the calling to w1hich God has appointed him, but above all by his faithful testimony to the grace of God. In his introduction Knox points out that such a testimony may well lead to persecution and even death; nevertheless, he seeks to encourage the congregation by dwelling on the fact that as God in his grace already has obtained the victory in and through Jesus Christ, he will give them the ultimate victory over all opposition. This was to be his dominant theme throughout the whole of his ministry.[23]

The next pastoral epistle which Knox wrote was sent from London in 1552 to his former congregation in Berwick. He was at the moment in controversy with Archbishop Cranmer and some of the government officials over the subject of kneeling at the Lord’s Supper. In this letter, although he spends considerable time and space urging on the congregation the necessity of living godly and sober lives, his real objective seems to have been to give them guidance with regard to the use of the 1552 Book of Common Prayer. He explains that while he was not in favor of the Prayer Book in many respects, particularly in its demand that the recipients of the elements in the Lord’s Supper should kneel, yet he feels that since they and the magistrates agree on basic doctrinal matters they should conform. At the same time he says that they should constantly pray that God would touch the magistrates’ hearts to the end that they would be willing to remove this and some other matters from the liturgy. He then concludes by calling upon them to show mutual charity to each other by taking care of the poor in their number, “not stoutt, stubborn and idill vagabonds, I meane, but orphanes, widowes and others impotent .”[24] These were two principles to which he returned on other occasions.

In 1553 Edward VI died to be succeeded by his sister Mary, daughter of Catherine of Aragon and a devoted Roman Catholic. It was not long before persecution of Protestants began and Knox on the advice of some of his friends left for the Continent, whence he addressed a letter “to the Faithful in London, Newcastle and Berwick.” His principal theme in this communication was to call them to repentance for the faithlessness of so many of the professed Protestants and to warn of impending divine judgments if they fa’ led to maintain their witness. He rehearsed the number of times that he and others such as Grindal, Haddon, and Lever had warned the Protestants, particularly those in the court, but they had replied: “They wald heir no mo of their sermonis: they were but Indifferent fellois (yea and sum of tharne eschamit not to call thame prating knaves) .”[25] He denies that they should take into their own hands the work of removing idolators, for that is the responsibility of the magistrate; but he urges them to stay away from the mass, and if necessary to suffer exile or even death for their faith. He had often admonished his congregations that “the last Trumpet was then in blawing within the Realme of England, thairfoir aucht everie man to prepair himself for the battell.”[26]

Such was the tenor of his thought in later letters which he sent to his former congregations. In May of 1554 he dispatched from Dieppe “Two Comfortable Epistles to his Afflicted Brethren in England” in which he sought to encourage them by pointing out that the time of reckoning for their persecutors was approaching and urging them to stand firm. Then in July, when the Roman Catholics in England were exerting great pressure on the Protestants, he sent “A Faithful Admonition to the Confessors of God’s Truth in England.” In this writing he not only warned the Protestants not to compromise with Romanism since it was the work of the devil, but also made a very outspoken attack on the Roman Catholics, including Mary and her husband, Philip II of Spain, for their persecution of the Protestants. His violence and outspokenness were to cause him considerable trouble later on in Frankfort, but one can see that he was very much wrought up over the news which he had recently received from England.[27] But even in his most depressed moods he still held out hope of ultimate victory.

By these and similar writings, Knox sought to strengthen and encourage the Protestants with whom he had had dealings to be strong enough to resist the temptation to fall away from the faith. No doubt, under the stress of Mary’s attempts to bring England back to Rome, many had a tendency to conform, while at the same time saying in their hearts that they did not believe all that was being said and done. This was undoubtedly the position taken by Sir William Cecil, whom Knox later excoriated for his compromising. To this end he constantly pointed to the fact of the faith which they had professed and called upon them to resist all efforts to make them compromise by even an outward conformity. At the same time he constantly sought to encourage them by pointing to the fact that God was sovereign and had already gained the victory through his Son, Jesus Christ. There is little doubt that he was in this way able to strengthen and fortify the many Protestants who were then undergoing persecution.

Knox’s energies, however, were not devoted solely to encouraging persecuted Protestants. As a pastor he believed that he must give positive teaching to his people. In 1550 he had been faced with the necessity of debating and defending his doctrine of the Lord’s Supper before the Council of the North. This he had done with considerable 6clat, setting forth the principle that no man has any right or authority to add to or “statue anything to the honour of God not commanded by his own word.” In his “Vindication of the Doctrine that the Mass is Idolatry” he set forth very clearly the position that in matters pertaining to worship the Scriptures are the only authority. Although his debate took place in 1550 it was not until 1553 that his account was published. At the same time he attached to this document another, which set forth a positive statement of the nature of the Lord’s Supper. In this he insisted that Christ gives himself

to be receavit with faith and not with mouth, nor yit by transfusioun of substance …. For in the Sacrament we receave Jesus Christ spirituallie, as did the Fathers of the Old Testament according to St. Paulis saying.

To this spiritual feast one must come in unfeigned repentance and faith, knowing that not it, but Christ alone saves.[28]

Probably a short time after landing in Dieppe, at the same time that he was writing to the faithful in London, Newcastle, and Berwick, he also had published “A Confession and Declaration of Prayer.” Some believe that this had been written around 1550 and perhaps published then, but the only extant copy is dated 1554 and historically seems to fit in well with the difficulties under which the English Protestants were living and worshipping at the time. He defines prayer as “ane earnest and familiar talking with God,” to whom we declare our miseries and from whom we ask help and to whom we give praise and thanksgiving. He insists that Christians must pray with concentration, in the Spirit and for the glory of God. Troubles are often a spur to prayer, both private and public., Private prayer should be made where there is little chance of distraction, and public prayer in the gathered congregation at appointed times and places.

But mark weill the word ‘gartherit’; I mean not to heir pyping. singing, or playing; nor to patter upon beidis, or bukis whairof thai haif no understanding; nor to commit idolatrie, honoring that for God whilk is no God in deid.

He then goes on to state what public prayer, or common prayer, should be like, giving a short order of service and of the Lord’s Supper, finally ending with a warning as to what will happen to England unless the people repent.[29]

When we think of Knox’s views on public worship which he outlined in his declaration on prayer, it naturally brings us to his views on public worship as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer (1552) and also in the Form of Prayers and Administration of the Sacraments (1555), which was the directory for public worship of his congregation in Geneva. Numerous attempts have been made to prove that he favored the Edwardian second Prayer Book, but the facts do not bear out this contention. When the revision of the 1549 book was being prepared, he took a very strong stand against some of its provisions, such as kneeling to receive the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. True, he advised his congregation in Berwick to follow it for “charity’s sake” but from his description of the service he had usually held, it would seem that his form of liturgy was rather far from that envisaged in the Prayer Book. Furthermore, when pastor of the refugee congregation in Frankfort, he had taken a very strong stand against the use of it as being unbiblical; and later on he had some very drastic criticisms to make of it when writing to Mrs. Locke. Although some have attempted to pass off his criticisms voiced to Mrs. Locke as those of one frustrated by Queen Elizabeth’s attitude towards him, his earlier statements show that he had always had very grave doubts about it.[30]

Therefore, after his dispute over the use of the Prayer Book and his consequent expulsion from Frankfort, the form of service adopted in his congregation in Geneva was of a very different order. He (lid not actually prepare it, but it seems to have met his requirements for he used it without question, and also had a similar service book adopted in Scotland after the Reformation was consummated there. Fundamentally, the Form of Prayers was based on Calvin’s Forme des Prires, although it was no slavish imitation or mere translation. Rather than an obligatory liturgy, it was a directory, which sought to simplify the service and to make it as biblical as possible. The service consisted of a confession of sin, a psalm, an invocation, Scripture reading and sermon, the pastoral prayer, a psalm and benediction. Undoubtedly Knox and those who were with him hoped that this would be the order of service adopted in England when “Bloody” Mary was succeeded by her Protestant sister, Elizabeth.[31]

This brings out one other matter of importance. The service of worship is entitled “the interpretation of Scripture.” Knox believed that the center or climax of the service was the exposition of Holy Writ, a belief which explains his insistence on the importance of his own preaching. He constantly refers to his preaching as “blawing my Maister’s trumpet,” a term that was very accurate in describing his proclamation, for apparently it was frequently a sounding of an alarm or the summoning to battle. Although we do not have many examples of his preaching while in England or on the Continent, he was undoubtedly a very vigorous and convincing prophet of the Gospel. In fact, one of the reasons for the Duke of Northumberland’s removal of him from Berwick and Newcastle to London was that he was gaining too much influence through his preaching in the north. But his preaching was no less vigorous when he was in London. He was extremely active, first of all in preaching throughout the country, attempting to counteract the influence of the Anabaptists who were beginning to filter into Kent and East Anglia. He also had to preach, however, before the king and the court, which seems to have led to considerable conflict with the courtiers, who were frequently at the best compromisers and at the worst hypocrites. Knox and the English preachers such as Haddon, Grindal, Lever, and others spoke very bluntly to their audl ences with relatively little effect. Nevertheless, he continued to preach whenever he could for, as he said in his exhortation to England speedily to accept the Gospel:

it is not, nor wil not be, the chanting or mumbling over of certeyne Psalms, the reading of chapters for Mattens and Even-song, or of Homelies onely, be they never so godly, that fede the soules of the hungrie shepe. Christ Jesus, himself, his holy Apostles, and that elected vessel, Paul, do teach us another lesson, all commanding us to preach, to preach and that to preach Christ Jesus crucified, &c. What efficacie bath the lyvinge voice above the bare letter red, the hungry and thirstie do feele to their comfort.

Even before he left England, preaching had become the great means by which Knox felt the Reformation must be propagated and which was the one most efficient way in which the sheep should be fed.[32]

On the Continent, while writing his various letters of exhortation to his former congregations or to the Scottish nobles and commons, preaching was still his great interest as the one way of feeding “the hongrie shepe.” There is almost a Miltonian touch in his view of the proclaimed word. At Frankfort, Geneva, and finally at Dieppe he was constantly blowing his Master’s trumpet. In fact, he was so successful at Dieppe that a number of the local gentry and their wives joined the Reformed church.[33] But even more important, in 1555 just after his return from Frankfort to Geneva, he was called to return to Scotland to help with the reform movement which was developing at that time. There he spent his time preaching and consulting with the leaders of the movement, but his preaching seems to have been his most important occupation, for he travelled throughout the country holding services in the houses of various prominent Scottish Protestants, and finally concluded his campaign by holding services for ten days in “The Bishop of Dunkeld’s Great Lodging,” an inn situated in the heat of Edinburgh across the High Street from the salt trone.[34] le wrote to Mrs. Bowes saying that he had never expected to have such a response to his preaching in Scotland, and that the country seemed well on the way to a true reformation of religion.[35]

During his stay in Scotland, Knox preached one sermon which seems to have been particularly effective. It was on the subject of the first temptation of Christ, and he was requested by those who heard it to write it up for their perusal, particularly as many of them were faced with very serious trials and temptations in the face of the persecution which was being mounted against those of the Reformed faith. How far the written sermon is a complete demonstration of his sermonic method, it is hard to say; but, from our point of view, the pastoral tone which he uses throughout indicates clearly that he regarded his sermons as a means of pastoral leading and instruction of the congregations. As he explains at the end:

Thus are we taucht, I say, by Chryst Jesus, to repulse Satan and his assaltis by the Word of God, and to apply the exempellis of his mercies, whilk he bath schewit to utheris befoir us, to oure awn souls in the hour of tentation, and in the tyme of oure trubillis. For what God doith to ane at any tyme, the same aperteaneth to all that hang and depend upon God and his promissis; and thairfoir, how that ever we be assalait by Satan, oure adversarie, within the Word of God is armour and weaponis sufficient.[36]

The period from his settling in Geneva in 1556 until his final return to Scotland in 1559 was a time of intense activity for Knox in his refugee congregation. However, he continued to have a great interest in and concern for the supporters of the Reformation in both England and Scotland, particularly the congregations in Newcastle and Berwick and the leaders of the Scots who were in danger of compromising with the Roman Catholic forces led by the Queen mother, Mary of Guise. The outcome of this interest was a series of letters written to the English congregations and to the Scots, containing warnings against apostasy and falling away to the idolatry of the mass. At the same time he sought to encourage them by expressing his confidence that the victory would ultimately be theirs. Probably more important, however, were two letters which he sent to Scotland in 1558, one to the nobles, telling them that as the born counsellors of the realm they were duty bound to reform the church if Mary of Guise failed to take the necessary action, and the other to the commonalty of Scotland, urging them to take the necessary action if the nobles failed to fulfill their obligations. He felt that as a pastor it was his duty to insist that not merely the leaders, but also the common people had the duty to bring about reform. This was their responsibility to God of which he was reminding them.[37]

In 1559 on the accession of Elizabeth to the English throne, Knox’s position changed radically. His congregation in Geneva, made up almost entirely of English members, quickly disappeared as they all packed up and went home, some to regain possession of their properties and others to find positions in the re-established Church of England. He, therefore, returned to Scotland where he assumed an important role as the spiritual leader of the Reformation movement. Sir James Croft. the English official in Berwick, reported that Knox had returned and had become the center of the reform movement.[38] Henceforth, Knox was to be the principal propagandist of the reform movement, but more by voice than by pen. Shortly after he had landed in Scotland early in May of 1559 he wrote to Mrs. Locke in London:

The longe thrist of my wretched heart is satisfied in abundance, that is above my expectatioun for now, fortie days and moe, hath my God used my tongue in my native countrie, to the manifestatioun of his glorie …. The thrist of the poore people, als, well as of the nobilitie hier, is woundrous great, which putteth me in comfort, that Christ Jesus Sall triumphe for a space heir, in the North and extreme parts of the earth.[39]

From this time on, particularly after he was installed as the minister of St. Giles Kirk, Edinburgh, preaching became Knox’s great means of pastoral guidance and direction. On one occasion he preached a sermon which annoyed Henry Darnley, Mar), Queen of Scots’ husband, for which he was accused of treason. In reply he wrote out the sermon, making some interesting statements in his preface regarding his view of the pastoral aspects of preaching. He explains that he had not sought to set forth in writing expositions of Scripture

for considering myselfe rather cald of my God to instruct the ignorant, comfort the sorowfull, confirme the weake, and rebuke the proud, by tong and lively voyce in these most corrupt dayes, than to compose bokes for the age to come, seeing that so much is written (and that by men of most singular condition), and yet so little observed; I decreed to containe my selfe within the bondes of that vocation, whereunto I founde my selfe especially called.[40]

As Knox’s writings amount to six rather portly volumes, one hates to think what he might have produced had he felt himself called to be a writer! It is clear, however, that he felt called to act as a shepherd of the sheep primarily by his preaching.

This becomes quite clear when, on one occasion, he was summoned to appear before the queen to answer for some remarks made in a sermon concerning her. She told him that if he had anything to say about her he should come to her privately and let her know his opinion. To this he replied that this was not the work to which he was called, but that if she wished to know what he thought about her and her actions she should attend public service where she would hear him expound the Word of God for both her and her subjects.[41]

Yet while preaching was his primary concern he also had to deal with the problems of individuals. We find him, for instance, writing to Calvin in Geneva at the end of August 1559, asking about the propriety of baptizing the bastards of Roman Catholics or excommunicated persons unless one of the parents had submitted to discipline or the children were of an age to ask for baptism themselves. Apparently he was having his problems in this matter, as Reformed ministers have had from that time onward. Calvin replied by advising that they should be baptized as they may have had Christians in their forebears and the covenant was made for many generations. But he added that they must have sponsors who would be prepared to ensure that they would have a proper training in the faith as they grew up.[42]

Another problem concerning which he was consulted related to the matter of conforming to the English church’s form of worship and government. Probably in the year 1566, he had received a letter from a group in England complaining about the necessity of conforming to Anglican ceremonies and the like. He had advised them to conform, however, since the Church of England’s basic doctrine was acceptable, although in certain external matters they did not see eye to eye with the bishops. They replied that they did not wish to follow this advice and planned to set up their own churches on a separate Reformed basis. Knox has been attacked for his advice to these people, being accused of inconsistency and also of submitting to Elizabeth, although earlier he had condemned the Anglican Prayer Book. This does not seem to be fair, however, for we must remember that he gave the same advice to the congregation in Berwick in 1552. It may be, of course, that since the Thirty-Nine Articles had been made the doctrinal standard of the church, he had even more hope that the English church would be brought into greater conformity with “the best Reformed Churches.” But certainly he was not inconsistent with his earlier position.[43]

He has also been accused of inconsistency in advising the Protestants in Dieppe not to compromise with Roman Catholicism by agreeing that mass should be carried on there. Some of the Protestants in Dieppe had apparently written him in 1565 to say that they had reached some sort of agreement with the Roman Catholics in this regard. To this Knox replied that what they had done was sinful. For this he has been attacked by writers such as jasper Ridley, who accuse him of not following the same advice he had given to the English Puritans. It is true that he did not give them the same advice, but his position was quite consistent with the advice which he had given earlier to the English congregations under Mary Tudor. To recommend toleration of Anglican ceremonies, since there was basic agreement on doctrinal matters, was very different from giving the same advice where Romanism was concerned.[44]

That Knox was a pastor of souls with a deep interest in the spiritual welfare of those who came under his care can hardly be doubted. Some have accused him of arrogance in his statements and in his attitudes. He tended to lay down the law to his congregations and to his consultants as though he were divinely inspired. It is true also that when he spoke in the pulpit he felt that he was being guided by the Holy Spirit.[45] He, therefore, tended to be dogmatic and sometimes rather drastic in the application of his exposition of Scripture. On the other hand, we nitist keep in mind the situation in which he found himself both in England and in Scotland, where he was dealing with people who knew little of the Gospel or its application and people who were always willing to compromise some of the most basic doctrines of the Christian faith if the threat of persecution or trouble should be made against them. Those were difficult times, and the need was for leadership which was firm and at times perhaps even drastic. Yet, we can also see that while he could indeed blow his master’s trumpet with a very loud noise, at other times, when dealing with doubting and uncertain souls, he could sound a much softer and sweeter note. It was undoubtedly this capacity to play two different roles in his pastoral work that enabled him to wield a wide influence upon the Reformation, both in his own countrv and in other lands.

Knox was a true pastor according to the precepts of Paul to Timothy. He preached the word, was instant in season and out of season, reproved, rebuked, exhorted with all longsuffering and doctrine (2 Tim. 4:2). He was a man for his time, called of God to his work. He might do less well in our day; but, on the other hand, it might be that a few more John Knoxes are what we need to give the proper guidance and strength to the contemporary church.

Notes

1. For two expressions of the different views, cf. W. S. Reid, Trumpeter of God (New York: Scribner’s Sons, 1974) and G. Donaldson, “Knox the Man,” in John Knox: A Quartercentenary Reappraisal, ed. Duncan Shaw (Edinburgh: St. Andrews Press), pp. 18ff.
2. John Knox, Works, ed. D. Laing (Edinburgh: Stevenson, 1864), 111, 390f.
3. P. Lorimer, John Knox and the Church of England (London, 1875), p. 147; P. Collinson, “The Role of Women in the English Reformation illustrated by the life and friendships of Mrs. Anne Locke,” Studies in Church History, II (1956), 261ff.
4. R. L. Stevenson, “John Knox and his Relations to Women,” Familiar Studies of Men and Books (London: Collins, 1936), pp. 299ff.
5. However, Professor Trevor-Roper feels that Knox should be analyzed from a Freudian perspective in order to show how his dealings with Mrs. Bowes had sexual overtones (“John Knox,” The Listener, 80 [1968], 745f). Collinson also declares that Mrs. Locke was the only woman whom Knox ever loved (Loc. cit.). The evidence for both these positions is, however, somewhat difficult to identify!
6. Knox, Works, III, pp. 333f., pp. 374f.
7. Ibid., III, pp. 368f.; cf. Lorimer, op. cit., p. 43.
8. Knox, op. cit., III, pp. 379f.
9. Ibid., 111, pp. 348ff.
10. Ibid., 111, pp. 350f., 373ff., 386f.
11. Ibid., 111, pp. 356ff., 362ff.
12. Ibid., III, pp. 365 ff ., 380, 386f.
13. Ibid., III, p. 369.
14. Ibid., III, pp. 361f., 355f., 352f.
15. Ibid., III, pp. 142, 153
16. Ibid., IV, pp. 241ff
17. Ibid., IV, pp. 225ff.
18. Ibid., IV, p. 230.
19. Ibid., IV, pp. 119f.
20. For a more detailed account, cf. Reid, op. cit., chaps. VI-VIII.
21. Knox, op. cit., III, pp. 3ff.; Jas. MacKinnon, A History of Modern Liberty (London, 1906), II, p. 400.
22. Knox, op. cit., III, p. 15.
23. Ibid., III, pp. 17ff.
24. Lorimer, op. cit., pp. 261 ff.
25. Knox, op. cit., III, p. 176.
26. Ibid., III, p. 205.
27. Ibid., III, pp. 229ff., 259ff.
28. Ibid., III, pp. 33ff., 73ff.; Lorimer, op. cit., pp. 51ff,, 29iff.
29. Ibid., p. 23; Knox, op. cit., 111, pp. 83ff.
30. Cf. W. S. Reid, “John Knox’s Attitude to the English Reformation,” Westminster Theological Journal, XXVI (1963), 1ff.
31. Knox, op. cit., IV, pp. 160ff.
32. Ibid., V, p. 519.
33. G. and J. Daval, Histoire de La Reforme a Dieppe (ed. E. Lesens, Rouen, 1878), 1, pp. 9ff.
34. John Knox, History of the Reformation in Scotland, ed. W. C. Dickinson (Edinburgh: Nelson, 1949), 1, p. 122.
35. Works, III, p. 218.
36. Ibid., IV, p. 113.
37. Ibid., IV, passim.
38. Ibid., VI, pp. 28f.
39. Ibid., VI, pp. 26f.
40. Ibid., VI, p. 229.
41. Knox, History, II, pp. 44f.
42. Knox, Works, VI, pp. 75f, 94ff.
43. Lorimer, op. cit., pp. 298ff; J. Ridley, John Knox (London: Oxford, 1968), p. 463.
44. Ibid., pp. 461f.
45. Knox, Works, V1, p. 230.