If you were to travel to the Reformation Wall in Geneva, Switzerland, or to the Huguenot Memorial in Franschhoek, South Africa, you would likely happen across that famous Latin phrase, “Post Tenebras Lux.” Taken from the Latin Vulgate translation of Job 17:12, “After darkness, I hope for light,” this phrase was first chosen by the Calvinists of Geneva to represent the recovery of the gospel after a period of theological darkness, wherein the true gospel had been shrouded in a mysterious and shadowy darkness of superstitious beliefs and salvation by works.
Eventually, “Post Tenebras Lux” became the motto for the whole of the Protestant Reformation, the impact of which during the sixteenth century had an incredible far-reach on the entirety of the world. One nation that was greatly changed through the efforts of the magisterial reformers was Scotland herself. The nation, through the concentrated efforts of men like John Knox, became thoroughly Protestant, warring against the remnants of Roman Catholicism that continued to cling throughout the land, arguing for a gospel of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
The Scots, in 1638, would sign into effect The National Covenant, which would bind the nation through a covenant to worship the Triune God, placing their faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, and to faithfully serve and worship God—in the home, the Kirk, and the nation—as God had prescribed within His Word.
However, before one can understand why the National Covenant was written as it was, yet another document must be examined first: The Scots Confession of 1560.
The Theology of John Knox and the Scots Confession of 1560
As the Protestant Church developed her doctrines and polity, the Scots had a vested interest in making sure the Protestant cause of reformation would continue. Thus, in 1560, Scottish Parliament did something quite remarkable: They covenanted around the idea that the Kirk (the Protestant Christian Church in Scotland) was to be the sole form of religion in Scotland. No other religions or practices would be tolerated.
Codifying this into law further, Scottish Parliament requested that John Knox himself advise five other men (each named John) to construct a Confession of Faith for the whole of the Scottish nation to subscribe to. Though there were six men involved closely in its writing over a four-day-period, it is customarily ascribed to Knox himself. This is unsurprising as he is both the most well-known of the various men that were assembled, and it is his theology that is clearly stamped throughout the document.
In fact, over the course of twenty-five chapters, the Scots Confession of 1560 outlines what men like John Knox, and the rest of the Magisterial Reformers, would have seen as the true Christian faith. To see some of Knox’s theological footprints, one need look no further than the very straightforward teaching on the Confession’s Calvinistic doctrine of election. (Knox himself was a “Calvinist,” having been trained by John Calvin himself):
For that same Eternal God and Father, who of mere mercy elected us in Christ Jesus his Son, before the foundation of the world was laid, appointed him to be our Head, our Brother, our Pastor, and great Bishop of our Souls. But because that the enmity betwix the justice of God and our sins was such, that no flesh by itself could or might have attained unto God, it behoved that the Son of God should descend unto us, and take himself a body of our body, flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bones, and so become the perfect Mediator betwix God and man; giving power to so many as believe in Him to be the sons of God, as Himself does witness – “I pass up to my Father and unto your Father, to my God and unto your God.”[1]
While Calvinism is obviously prevalent throughout, it ought to be noted that the document is thoroughly Catholic in its sensibilities. It wholeheartedly embraces the idea that the Church of Rome is in serious error (lost in darkness, as it were), and that the Kirk must live in light of God’s Word. Nonetheless, it clearly affirms belief in an eternal Church of Jesus that is composed of all elect Christians throughout all ages, which God sovereignly and supernaturally preserves, even in times of deep darkness:
As we believe in one God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, so do we most earnestly believe that from the beginning there has been, now is, and to the end of the world shall be a Church; that is to say, a company and multitude of men chosen of God, who rightly worship and embrace Him, by true faith in Christ Jesus, who is the only Head of the same Kirk, which also is the body and spouse of Christ Jesus; which Kirk is Catholic, that is, universal, because it contains the Elect of all ages, of all realms, nations, and tongues, be they of the Jews, or be they of the Gentiles, who have communion and society with God the Father, and with his Son Christ Jesus, through the sanctification of his Holy Spirit; and therefore it is called the communion, not of profane persons but of saints, who, as citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, have the fruition of the most inestimable benefits, to wit, of one God, one Lord Jesus, one faith, and of one baptism; out of the which Kirk there is neither life, nor eternal felicity.[2]
Like Knox himself, the Confession is able to affirm Catholicity, while simultaneously rejecting the errors of Roman Catholicism—as well as the Anabaptist movement—by affirming a strong Covenantal (and Presbyterian) belief in its polity:
We acknowledge and confess that we now, in the time of the Evangel, have two Sacraments only, instituted by the Lord Jesus, and commanded to be used of all those that will be reputed members of his body, to wit, Baptism and the Supper, or Table of the Lord Jesus, called The Communion of his body and blood. And these sacraments (as well of the Old as of the New Testament) were instituted of God, not only to make a visible difference betwix his people, and those that were without his league; but also to exercise the faith of his children; and by participation of the same sacraments, to seal in their hearts the assurance of his promise, and of that most blessed conjunction, union, and society, which the Elect have with their head, Christ Jesus. And thus we utterly damn the vanity of those that affirm sacraments to be nothing else but naked and bare signs. No, we assuredly believe that by Baptism we are ingrafted in Christ Jesus to be made partakers of his justice, by the which our sins are covered and remitted; and also, that in the Supper, rightly used, Christ Jesus is so joined with us, that he becomes the very nourishment and food of our souls.[3]
This “Covenantal” approach to theology and practice is perhaps clearest as the Confession affirms infants of “the faithful” as being the rightful recipients of baptism:
We Confess and acknowledge that Baptism appertaineth as well to the infants of the faithful, as to those that be of age and discretion. And so we damn the error of the Anabaptists, who deny baptism to appertain to children, before that they have faith and understanding. But the Supper of the Lord, we confess to appertain only to such as have been of the household of faith, and can try and examine themselves, as well in their faith, as in their duty towards their neighbours.[4]
While Rome also practiced infant baptism, the Scots differed from them in their fuller understanding and practice of the sacraments. Perhaps the clearest way in which the Confession wars against the theological darkness of Roman Catholicism is in its eighteenth chapter, “Of the Notes by Which the True Kirk Is Discerned From the False and Who Shall Be Judge of the Doctrine”:
For this is a thing universally granted, that the Spirit of God, which is the Spirit of unity, is in nothing contrarious unto Himself. If then the interpretation, determination, or sentence of any doctor, kirk, or council, repugn to the plain word of God written in any other place of the Scripture, it is a thing most certain, that theirs is not the true understanding and meaning of the Holy Ghost, supposing that Councils, Realms, and Nations have approved and received the same: For we dare not receive and admit any interpretation which directly repugneth to any principal point of our faith, or to any other plain text of Scripture, or yet unto the rule of charity.[5]
Again, the influence of John Knox is obvious. He understood that the Protestant Reformation had taken the candle of the gospel and had wielded it in such a way to dispel the darkness of Rome. Now, the goal of the Confession was to shine that light even brighter and further than it had done previously. The goal was, in effect, to solidify the Protestant Kirk in Scotland as the religion of the State, intertwining the two in such a way that Scotland would be a Protestant Christian nation, and the Kirk would be preserved forever.
The Scots Confession is Finally Confessed
On August 27th, 1560, the Scots signed the Confession, offering this Preface to both the nation and the watching world:
The Estates Of Scotland, with the inhabitants of the same, professing Christ Jesus his Holy Evangel, To their natural countrymen, and to all other Realms and Nations, professing the same Lord Jesus with them, wish grace, peace, and mercy from God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, with the spirit of righteous judgment, for Salutation.
LONG have we thirsted, dear Brethren, to have notified unto the world the sum of that doctrine which we profess, and for the which we have sustained infamy and danger.
The Confession was not officially approved, however, until 1567 by King James VI. Mary, Queen of the Scots, had been ruling in 1560, but her Roman Catholic sensibilities obviously prevented her from being willing to sign off on such a Confession. But, by 1567, she was overthrown.
For the next several decades, this Confession basically served the Scots as their very own national Confession of Faith. It would eventually be superseded by the Westminster Confession of Faith in 1644, though there is some credence to give to the idea that Scotland is still bound by this first Confession, for their Scottish ancestors opened the document by covenanting around this statement:
The Confession Of Faith Professed And Believed By The Protestants Within The Realm Of Scotland, Published By Them In Parliament, And By The Estates Thereof Ratified And Approved, As Wholesome And Sound Doctrine, Grounded Upon The Infallible Truth Of God’s Word.[6]
“The Protestants within the realm of Scotland” not only approved and submitted to this Confession, but dd so upon the basis of being “Grounded upon the infallible truth of God’s Word.” It would seem, then, that this Confession of Faith is still binding upon the Scots to some degree—and, indeed, some Scots genuinely believe it still binds their nation today.
The Laudian Reforms of King Charles I and the Need for a Stronger National Covenant
Regardless of how binding the Scots Confession of 1560 is considered by one today, it was considered incredibly important by the Covenanters of the seventeenth century. It outlined for them a pure and sincere gospel faith which was to be practiced by the whole of the Scottish Kirk and nation. The Scottish National Kirk would, by decree of the Confession and the Covenanters, be committed to the Reformation.
Problems soon arose, however, when King Charles I would attempt to work a reformation of his own in the church. After appointing William Laud as Archbishop of the Church of England in 1633, the “Laudian Reforms” began in earnest. The idea behind them was to “save” the English church from the extremes of both Roman Catholicism on one side, and Protestant Puritanism on the other side. This meant that Laud attempted to find a middle ground of sorts for the church—a middle ground that rejected Calvinism (especially the doctrines of predestination, reprobation, and election), while also placing a greater emphasis on the efficacy of the sacraments to save sinners.
The Laudian Reforms of the early seventeenth century put the Puritans and Covenanters on a crash course with Archbishop Laud and his supporters, as he viewed the nonconformists as not merely “erring brethren,” but as direct threats to the English Church. Some of the fighting between the groups can be viewed in a slightly humorous light today—for example, when Archbishop Laud ordered that all ministers cut their hair short in 1636, various Puritans rebelled by specifically growing their hair long. But not all of it can be looked back on in humor—this was a period of fighting, warring, and even bloodshed.
The Covenanters recognized, by 1638, that King Charles I and his Laudian reforms would need to be opposed on a national level. A few individual kirks could not withstand this theological onslaught on their own, but the whole of Scotland could; if she would unite together.
Thus, building upon the Scots of Confession of 1560, various Scots joined together once more to make sure the light of the Reformation would not be extinguished by Archbishop Laud or King Charles I. They would, instead, stand together, locked arm-in-arm, to withstand the proposed changes to the Kirk. They would, by the grace of God, remain Calvinists. They would remain Covenantal Presbyterians. And, if the Lord would permit it, they would continue to stand for justification by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, with Scripture alone as their sole authority, all to the glory of God alone.
Thus, the National Covenant was born. In our next piece on the Covenanters, we will examine the specific details of the National Covenant and how it was constructed by the Scots to preserve the light of the gospel in their nation.
[1] John Knox, Scots Confession of Faith 1560, chapter 8. https://www.fpchurch.org.uk/about-us/important-documents/the-scots-confession-1560/
[2] Ibid., Chapter 16.
[3] Ibid., Chapter 21.
[4] Ibid., Chapter 23.
[5] Ibid,, Chapter 18.
[6] Ibid.