The Scottish Covenanters are not nearly as well remembered as they ought to be these days. If it wasn’t for the Scots, and the Covenanters in particular, there is good reason to believe that Western Civilization would look far, far different than it currently does. Their particular brand of Presbyterianism, Puritanism, and nonconformist beliefs made them quite influential on subsequent generations. Their thought and policies became a meaningful model for the formation of the United States of America. They demonstrated what it meant to commit oneself fully unto the Scriptures in such a way that, believing, “To live is Christ and to die is gain,” (Phil. 1:21) they were more than willing to lay down their lives in service to Christ and His Kirk (Church).
Before we can understand the individuals who would become remembered as the Covenanters, and before we can meaningfully gleam from their lives, we must consider what they are most well-remembered for: The formation and signing of both the National Covenant of Scotland, and later the Solemn League and Covenant of England, Scotland, and Ireland. But even before we can get into these documents, we must understand the historical conflicts that led them to ultimately embrace two of the most important documents of the Scottish Reformation.
In this article, we will trace the history of the Covenanters and what led to the formation of both documents. Part two will focus on examining the National Covenant, while part three will focus on the Solemn League and Covenant. Following these initial articles will be a series of biographical sketches of various Covenanters.
War Abounding
The Protestant Reformation was, objectively, one of the most important historical events of the 16th century. Though it was begun five centuries ago with a German Monk, a Castle Church door, a hammer and nail, and his Ninety-Five Theses, the reverberations of the Reformation continue to echo throughout all of Western modernity. In many respects, the flames of the Reformation spread swiftly throughout the whole of the West, soon making its way from Germany to places as varied as England, Switzerland, Scotland, and—eventually by way of the Puritans—the Americas.
One must remember, however, that the reclamation of the Five Solas for Christianity was an unprecedented move in medieval Europe that, in the view of the monolithic Roman Catholic Church, had the potential of not only upsetting the proverbial apple cart, but setting the whole thing—cart, apples, horses, people, passersby, etc.—ablaze.
As the Reforming Protestants pressed the Crown rights of Jesus Christ into all spheres of life, insisting that “Scripture alone is our authority,” and “Faith alone is the instrument by which we are justified,” and that “Christ alone is Lord,” the Roman Catholic Church as an institution found its authority slipping. Of course, their power only ever existed in a vacuum like this because when Jesus is not given His proper place as King of kings and Lord of lords, something else will try to take His place. If the family is elevated over Christ, then a “Mafia” is eventually formed. When the state is elevated over Christ, a tyrannical state is formed. And, when the Church itself is elevated over Christ’s authority, the result is Papacy.
Thus, as the true gospel spread through the work of the Reformers, and as the Five Solas helped Christians to break free from the monolithic grip of the Church of Rome, Rome fought back. Wars broke out. Soon, almost the entirety of the West seemed to be engaged in a variety of conflicts, schisms, and excommunications.
In 1534, King Henry VIII of England renounced the Roman Catholic Church. The reasons he did so are varied; some view his prerogatives as being less than holy (he desired to divorce his then wife and remarry, against the law of the church), while some believe he was motivated by a desire to reform the church and purify it of its corruptions. The result of this renunciation of Rome was his own excommunication from the Church of Rome on December 17th, 1538, but the origin of the Church of England and his own installation as her head.
Fast forward a few decades, and King James VI finds himself now the King of Scotland. By 1567, he would be known as King James I in both England and Ireland, through what is remembered as the “Union of the Crowns.” While he did a great deal during his lifetime, like forming the committee that would publish the King James Bible, perhaps one of his most important works was the writing of The True Law of Free Monarchies, in which he theologically argued for the divine right of kings to rule. This would become known as the “royal prerogative” of the king to rule, reign, and do as he wished as an absolute monarch.
King James intended for his firstborn son, Henry Fredrick, Prince of Wales, to inherit the throne after his own death, but the throne would instead transfer to his second born, King Charles I, when Henry died. Charles I, however, immediately encountered hostility from the Puritans, who were themselves the inheritors of the Reformation and its doctrines. As an “absolutist”, the Protestants found themselves distrustful of him. Could they really trust a sovereign king to obey the sovereign God of the cosmos?
Charles I did himself no favors in earning Puritan trust. Very early on, after taking the throne in 1625, the Puritans found that he had levied taxes against the people without the approval of Parliament, married a Roman Catholic, and seemed to support a “high church” Anglicanism, which the Puritans believed veered too closely to Roman Catholicism.
Thus, the seeds for the English Civil War were sown. From 1641-1652, several civil wars would be fought between King Charles I, Parliament, and the Puritans. The New Model Army, led by Puritan Oliver Cromwell and formed by Parliament, would successfully defeat the Royalist army in 1646, as King Charles I was taken into custody. Confusion would spread afterward, as Parliament had not aimed to destroy the monarchy, but simply assert its own right to exist and to balance the power of the monarchy.
Over the next few years, the Royalists would suffer more defeats at the hands of the Parliamentarians until, eventually, King Charles I was executed in 1649. But it was in between all of this political upheaval and warring factions that Parliament, in an attempt to reform and purify the Church of England, called together the Westminster Assembly in 1644 during that two-decade period remembered today as the “Long Parliament.” Over the next several years, the Westminster Divines would strive to create a serviceable form of church government (Presbyterianism, or rule by elders), the Westminster Confession, the Shorter and Larger Catechisms, the Directory of Public Worship (a liturgical manual), and even the Solemn League and Covenant.
King Charles II and National Presbyterianism
The Westminster Divines had busied themselves for the better part of the decade working on establishing the core tenets of the Reformed and Presbyterian system of theology. It was their core belief that, in order to retain the benefits of the Protestant Reformation and to also keep reforming the church as a whole, it was essential to codify their beliefs in a succinct statement of faith. Thus, the Westminster Confession and Catechisms were born and took shape from the deliberations of over a hundred theologians and pastors.
Several of these Divines (theologians) were, in fact, Scottish. It had been agreed upon by Parliament that, with Scottish forces aiding the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War, the Church of England would become more and more like the Church of Scotland. Thus, as the Scots would embrace the Westminster doctrinal standards within the Church of Scotland, so too would these standards spread across both the Church of England and various Presbyterian churches in Ireland, as well. The goal was nothing less than an adoption of a united Presbyterianism across the three nations.
At the same time, having borne witness to a terrible abuse of power at the hands of King Charles I, the Divines set about creating a Solemn League and Covenant for the three kingdoms (England, Scotland, and Ireland) to embrace before the Lord Jesus. In order for King Charles II to sit upon the throne, and to ease concerns regarding an abuse of monarchial power, it was agreed that he, likewise, would need to enter the covenant before God, Parliament, and the nations. While England was rather concerned with creating a “league of nations” of sorts, wherein Scots, English, and Irish would be joined together in union, Scotland wanted a religious covenant to bind the three nations in such a way that their forms of church government, doctrine, and worship would be united. The key here was the National Covenant with which Scotland had previously bound itself.
The Covenanters Cometh
Primarily, the author of the Solemn League and Covenant was Alexander Henderson, then minister in Leuchars. Henderson was himself a fine selection for such a lofty task, as he had aided in the drafting of Scotland’s own National Covenant a few years prior in 1638.
Throughout the reign of King Charles I, the Scots learned from the trials and travails of having a monarch pushing both Anglicanism and Episcopalians upon their Presbyterian sensibilities. Increasing suspicion of Charles I was the fact that he seemed to support Richard Montagu, who was known for controversy and for opposing Calvinism. In fact, Montagu seemed to embrace a more Arminian soteriology, which made him a target for the Calvinistic Parliamentarians. Though King James had also supported Montagu and his anti-Calvinist publications, it was Charles I who would appoint him as Royal Chaplain, thereby circumnavigating any potential pushback from Calvinists in Parliament.
On top of his seeming approval, or at least tolerance, of Arminianism, Charles I also seemed incapable of supporting the cause of the English Reformation, whether at home or abroad. Instead, he seemed to countersignal the Puritans at each juncture. Even when he appointed William Laud as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1633, he appeared to be targeting and attacking the Puritan cause itself. Under Laud, the nonconformist preachers were to be silenced, the Book of Common Prayer was to be instituted in the Scottish Church, liturgical elements of worship were to stray close to Rome, and King James’ Declaration of Sports would reissued, which made room for activities on the Sabbath, rather than prescribing a day of solemn rest as the Puritans desired.
Though Charles I was Scottish, he bore little similarities to his Scottish brethren. Thus, even as he tried to bring about peace by instituting a Scottish prayer book written by Scottish bishops, the Scottish church resisted. They saw it all as a ploy to introduce Anglicanism into their Scottish Kirk. On July 23, 1637, as Charles I attempted to incorporate the new prayer books into Scottish Church liturgies, he was met with strong resistance. Riots began, first inside of the kirks which would then spread outside and across the country.
By 1638, the Scottish Kirk would formally reject Episcopalianism in favor of Presbyterianism, the prayer book in favor of extemporaneous prayers, and all other innovations that the crown had attempted to introduce in favor of strict obedience to Scripture. In place of all Laud’s “reforms,” they would commit themselves to the truly Reformed Christian faith and to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Thus, the National Covenant would be born. Perceiving this as an open rebellion, King Charles I would march an army of his own making against the Covenanters, but stopped short of attacking them when he realized that his forces were outnumbered.
Hoping to regain control of Scotland, he would call for Parliament to form in 1640, believing this was an essential route to take to secure the funds necessary to build an army strong enough to crush the Covenanters. Instead, he would mistakenly form the Long Parliament which, together with the Scots, would defeat him and his forces.
The importance of the Scot’s National Covenant in 1638 cannot be stressed enough. Itmust first be considered before we can undertake a review of the Solemn League and Covenant, as it serves as an important precursor for what the Divines would fashion, and also demonstrates the all-encompassing Christianity of the Scots, which they viewed as impacting every area and facet of life. This we will do in part two.