'Enemies to the peace both of Church and Kingdom': the force of Conformity and the Jacobean Church of Scotland

One of the accusations historians often make of those who defended episcopal conformity in the 17th century Church of Scotland is that their case lacked force. Moderation and eirenicism, we are told, could not hold against the passion and conviction of Covenanters. There are good grounds for doubting this in the latter part of the century. (Indeed, the victory of the Covenanter tradition was the chiefly the result of contingent political circumstances, not force of argument.) And, in his 1621 account of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland held at Perth in 1618, David Lindsay - Bishop of Brechin (1619-34 and Bishop of Edinburgh 1634-38) - demonstrates that this also was not the case in the Jacobean Church of Scotland.

Addressing those who rejected the authority of the Articles of Perth, as accepted by the General Assembly at the request of James VI/I, Lindsay has no hesitation in directly addressing how they disorder both Church and State:

And if any will still oppose themelues thereto, we doubt not to cal them troublers of the Estate, seditious Persons, Schismatickes, louers of Diuision, and direct Enemies to the Weale, and peace both of the Church, and Kingdome.

What is more, those invoke their solemn duty to stand before Christ on the Day of Judgement as justification for their actions in disrupting Church and State, were, Lindsay insisted, merely using that Day as a pretext for their subversion of the good order of church and polity, failing to recognise that these actions will be judged on that Day:

That ye would bee called such men, ye might well prophesie, seeing ye be priuy to your owne intentions; but where ye adiect [i.e. add] that account must be made one day of such contumelies and reproches, I would but aske you, whether yee doe thinke to passe free in the Day of that account, and not be brought to your answere, for calling the Seruants of Christ, mercenarie men, and thereby implying his Maiestie, your Souereigne to be another Balak in giuing the wages of iniquitie, to hirelings: for condemning all, that are obedient to the voyce of the Church in these matters, as men periured, and without all conscience, and diuers others your malicious speeches, vttered in this Pamphlet: or if you thinke it no fault to make a rent in the body of Christ, which is his Church, which it appeares euidently ye are only about ...

It was not, in other words, mere Erastianism that defined those supporting Conformity in the Jacobean Church of Scotland: it was an understanding that, at the end of the ages, standing before the Judgement Seat of Christ, answer would have to be given for rending the peace of Christ's Kirk. An obstinate refusal to conform in things indifferent, duly required by ecclesiastical authority and the magistrate, was not - as the Reformed confessions demonstrated - a small matter which would be overlooked on that Day.

Lindsay also returns to the reality that the Articles of Perth were indeed adiaphora. As he prepares to give a more in-depth defence of each of the provisions of the Articles, he reminds his readers that such adiaphora do not and cannot alter the state of the Church of Scotland as Reformed kirk, and therefore do not in any way mark a departure from the Scots Confession:

The answeres following will cleere to all men, that the estate of our Church is no way preiudged by any Act concluded in the Assembly at Perth, and that the obedience thereof, will not inferre a defection from our former profession.

(The picture is of a late 17th century drawing of Brechin, Lindsay's See.)

Why I support the ordination of women: a High Church reflection

A number of commenters on this blog have asked about my occasional expressions of support for the ordination of women to all three orders. With some hesitation, I have decided to post a summary of my own views on this matter. The hesitation is because I have sought on this blog to focus on issues and themes which can unify those who identify with or have respect (grudging or otherwise!) for what we might term 'classical' Anglicanism (the Anglicanism of the Formularies and - yes - of the Old High Church tradition). Some oppose the ordination of women (and I have friends and colleagues who do so, Anglo-Catholic, High Church, and Reformed Evangelical). Some of us support it (again, friends and colleagues covering a wide range of theological traditions). Below, I have organised my thinking around 5 points (needless to say, no reference to Dort is implied). 1. The Declaration for Subscription required of clergy in the Church of Ireland states: (6) I promise to submit ...

How the Old High tradition continued

Charles Gore's 1914 letter to the clergy of his diocese, ' The Basis of Anglican Fellowship ', can be regarded as a classical expression of the Prayer Book Catholic tradition. A key part of the letter - entitled 'Romanizing in the Church of England' - addressed the "Catholic movement", questioning beliefs and practices within it which tended to "a position which makes it very difficult for its extremer representatives to give an intelligible reason why they are not Roman Catholics". Gore provides the outlines of an alternative account and experience of catholicity within Anglicanism, defined by three characteristics. What is particularly interesting about these characteristics is their continuity with the older High Church tradition. Indeed, the central characteristic as set out by Gore was integral to High Church claims over centuries: To accept the Anglican position as valid, in any sense, is to appeal behind the Pope and the authority of t...

Pride, progressive sectarianism, and TEC on Facebook

Let me begin this post with an assumption that will be rejected by some readers of laudable Practice , but affirmed by other readers. Observing Pride is an understandable aspect of the public ministry of TEC. On previous occasions , I have rather robustly called for TEC to be much more aware and respectful of the social conservatism of the Red states and regions in which it ministers. A failure to do so risks TEC declining yet further into the irrelevance of progressive sectarianism. At the same time, TEC also obviously ministers in deep Blue states and metropolitan areas - and is the only Mainline Protestant tradition in which a majority of its members vote Democrat .* With Pride now an established civic commemoration, particularly in such contexts, there is a case for TEC affirming those aspects of Pride - the dignity of gay men and lesbian women, their contribution to civic life, and their place in the church's life - which cohere with a Christian moral vision. (I will n...

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