John Knox on The Church, The Sabbath and Worship

(This is part of a work that I am researching on the life and work of John Knox)

It was the supreme authority of the Scriptures that ruled and shaped the distinctive of Knox’s theology. Like all the Reformers, the true test of the theology of authentic biblical faith was in the practice of the Church. It was in the doctrine of ecclesiology, that is a biblical view of the Church that Knox was so devoted to bring back in line to Apostolic practice. As he saw in Calvin, he believed that the church had to be in accord with the Bible. The Church could not properly exist, as a true spiritual body of believers without certain identifying marks. Calvin suggested, “Wherever we see the word of God sincerely preached and heard, wherever we see the sacraments administered according to the institution of Christ, there we cannot have any doubt that the church of God has some existence. (Institutes, 4:1:9). Knox would add to this a third mark, more in line with Martin Bucer, requiring the practice of church discipline, “rightly administered.” There are other characteristics of the church in the Scots Confession which parallel Calvin own teaching; one finds the view that the church is catholic or universal, containing the elect of all the ages, and the essential teaching of the visible and the invisible church. The latter category is that true church, “known only to God, who alone knoweth whom he has chosen.” With these commonly held beliefs and similarities, it is important to note the different historical circumstances in Scotland compared to Geneva. Scotland was a more rural and rugged land, and centuries of oppression, ignorance (a high rate of illiteracy even among the clergy) and immorality. Knox’s Book of Discipline, published in 1560 touched not only the religious life of Scotland, but required the establishment a school in every parish – hence one of the first national systems of education – so that by the end of the eighteenth century Scotland moved from being the most backward nation in Europe to the most literate and educated.(Herman, pg. 23) This achievement can without argument be traced to the contribution of Knox and his ability to adapt the principles of the Reformation to the particular needs of Scotland. The town council of Dundee enacted a Sabbath law in 1559 stating that, “the Sunday be kept in the meditation of God’s Word, and that no merchants, craftsmen, nor hucksters, open their booths nor use any manner of traffic..that no taverns, nor baxters (female bakers) open their booths (stores) no sell of bread, wine nor ale during the time of the preaching upon the Sunday, and whoever is caught doing the contrary shall pay eight shillings” (Greaves, pg. 62) The Scots Confession did not require a strict view of the Sabbath, only the worship of God, based on the fourth commandment and his Book of Discipline only outlined the need to provide a service of worship at least twice a week and the prohibition of work during the Sunday. We don’t find in Knox a strict prohibition against all kinds of recreation, a similar position similar to Calvin. In 1566, the Kirk of Scotland affirmed the practice of the Swiss Protestants in The Second Helvetic Confession, with the exception of some Christian festivals, because in Scotland only the Sabbath day was kept, albeit not in a superstitious way. Presbyterians still argue today over the proper observance of the Sabbath, but we have surely departed from the high regard Knox had for the public worship of God. We are spiritually impoverished for our “it’s my weekend” attitude towards a day that belongs to the Lord.
If Knox is judged to be severe and dogmatic, it was because the times he lived in demanded it. While some could afford to snip away at the branches, Knox was compelled by necessity to whack at the root of all bounds of superstition and false religion that kept Scotland under the tyranny of Rome and England. In this sense, we can reckon Knox among those revolutionaries that stand at important transitional moments in history. Subsequent history in Scotland whether in the culture of Sabbath observance, national identity and political independence bears the mark of Knox’s influence. Presbyterianism and Scottish life would be forever intermingled. Robert “ Burns, the national poet of Scotland, immortalized the scene of Saturday night family worship in his poem, The Cotter’s Saturday Night.

The cheerfu' supper done, wi' serious face,
They, round the ingle, form a circle wide;
The sire turns o'er, wi' patriarchal grace,
The big ha'-bible, ance his father's pride;
His bonnet rev'rently is laid aside,
His lyart haffets wearing thin an' bare;
Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide,
He wales a portion with judicious care;
And Let us worship God! he says, with solemn air.

Reflected here is the sense of the role of the father to lead family worship at home, that became the basis of providing the model for connecting home life to Sunday worship; a central theme in Presbyterian practice.
Burns himself did not reflect in his life the beliefs of Knox nor of biblical faith, but the indelible mark of Knox upon the Scottish imagination is undeniable.