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John Knox's Concept of Divine Providence and its Influence on His Thought*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 July 2014

Richard Kyle
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Extract

An important aspect of John Knox's thought is his concept of divine providence. Closely related to and partially dependent on his notion of providence are the reformer's ideas on God, history, politics, and predestination. Knox did not, however, write a specific tract on divine providence. In fact, he denied being a speculative “theologian” and regarded himself as a preacher, being called “to blow my master's trumpet,” rather than “to compose books for the age to come….” Consequently, he did not approach the subject systematically. For example, Knox did not, as John Calvin had done, logically relate the subjects of creation and providence. In fact, the Scottish reformer seldom spoke of God's act of creation. Despite this nonsystematic approach, Knox did have a doctrine of divine providence, even if at times it was implicit rather than explicit. As a result, his concept of providence must be derived piecemeal from his historical, polemical, and pastoral writings.

What then is the value of studying the concept of providence in the thought of a reformer who did not think systematically? First, such a study will demonstrate that a coherent conception of the nature of divine providence can be found in Knox's writings, though not expounded in a single treatise. Second, his thoughts on this subject have not been the object of an extensive scholarly investigation, either by historians or theologians. Third, Knox's concept of providence had a practical and motivational significance for both the reformer's thought and actions, thus revealing more about Knox the man, his mission, his motivation, and worldview. His great objective was the reformation of religion, particularly in his native Scotland.

Type
The 1985 Denis Bethell Prize Essay of the Charles Homer Haskins Society
Information
Albion , Volume 18 , Issue 3 , Fall 1986 , pp. 395 - 410
Copyright
Copyright © North American Conference on British Studies 1986

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Footnotes

*

This paper was presented in a modified form at the Missouri Valley History Conference in Omaha, Nebraska on March 8, 1985.

References

1 Knox, John, The Works of John Knox, ed. Laing, David, 6 vols., (Edinburgh, 1846–1864), 6:229 (hereafter cited as Works). Spelling has been modernizedGoogle Scholar.

2 Wendel, François, Calvin: The Origins and Development of His Religious Thought (New York, 1963), pp. 177, 178Google Scholar; Niesel, Wilhelm, The Theology of Calvin (Philadelphia, 1956), pp. 61–79Google Scholar; Manschreck, Clyde, Melanchthon: The Quiet Reformer (Nashville, 1963), pp. 84, 85, 113-121, 139, 293–302Google Scholar.

3 Works, 3:191, 247, 358Google ScholarPubMed; 4:399, 478; 5:26, 27, 33, 287, 315; 6:408; 3:171; 5:44-51; Knox, John, “Epistle to the Congregation of Berwick, 1552,” in John Knox and the Church of England, collected by Lorimer, Peter (London, 1875), pp. 254, 255Google Scholar. It would be difficult to exaggerate the emphasis that Knox placed on the doctrine of God's immutability. For a discussion regarding Knox's concept of God see Kyle, Richard, “The Divine Attributes in John Knox's Concept of God,” Westminster Theological Journal 48, no. 1 (1986): 161–172Google Scholar.

4 Works, 1:23Google ScholarPubMed; 3:5-8, 133, 390; 6:415; 2:283; 5:39, 103.

5 Janton, Pierre, Concept et Sentiment De L'église Chez John Knox: le reformateur écossais (Paris, 1972), pp. 190–193Google Scholar; Greaves, Richard, Theology and Revolution in the Scottish Reformation (Grand Rapids, 1980), pp. 217–224Google Scholar.

6 Calvin, John, The Institutes of Christian Religion, McNeill, John T., ed., 2 vols. (Philadelphia, 1960), 1:16(1-9)Google Scholar. Wendel, , Calvin, pp. 177–183Google Scholar; Niesel, , The Theology of Calvin, pp. 61–79Google Scholar.

7 Works, 5:35Google Scholar. For a discussion concerning Calvin's influence on Knox's lengthy predestination treatise see Kyle, Richard, “The Concept of Predestination in the Thought of John Knox,” Westminster Theological Journal 46, no. 1 (1984): 74–77Google Scholar; Greaves, , Theology and Revolution, pp. 28, 29Google Scholar.

8 Works, 5:32Google ScholarPubMed.

9 Ibid. 5:35. In his predestination treatise, Knox attempted to refute an anonymous Anabaptist. This Anabaptist opponent called divine providence and predestination “Stoical Necessity.” But even Melanchthon objected to determinism as “Stoic fatalism.” See Manschreck, , Melanchthon, p. 293Google Scholar.

10 Works, 5:172Google ScholarPubMed.

11 Ibid. 5:169-177. See also Ibid. 5:21, 86; 4:112; 6:362. God even preserved the angels.

12 Ibid. 5:367, 368.

13 Ibid. 5:332.

14 Ibid. 5:334.

15 Ibid. 5:314, 315.

16 Ibid. 2:98, 99.

17 Ibid. 4:112, 5:504; 6:251.

18 Ibid. 3:190-194; 5:46, 47, 263, 265, 279, 343-345; Knox, , “Epistle to the Congregation,” pp. 251–265Google Scholar; Greaves, Richard, “John Knox and the Covenant Tradition,” Journal of Ecclesiastical History 24 (January 1973):23–32CrossRefGoogle Scholar. See also Kyle, Richard, The Mind of John Knox (Lawrence, 1984), pp. 153–157Google Scholar; McGiffert, Michael, “Grace and Works: The Rise and Division of Covenant Divinity in Elizabethan Puritanism,” Harvard Theological Review 75, no. 1 (1982):468–475Google Scholar; Baker, J. Wayne, Heinrich Bullinger and the Covenant: The Other Reformed Tradition (Athens, 1980), pp. xxiii-xxv, 1–5Google Scholar; Hoekema, Anthony A., “The Covenant of Grace in Calvin's Teaching”, Calvin Theological Journal 2 (1967): 148–153Google Scholar.

19 Knox's handling of the problem of evil and his concept of history are but appendages of his doctrine of providence. The same might be said about his doctrine of predestination. Knox's political theory, his ideas regarding social classes and the punishment of sin are also related to his ideas regarding divine providence.

20 Works. 5:170, 174, 175, 182, 339Google ScholarPubMed. Knox consistently stated that God is not the author of sin.

21 Ibid. 5:90, 110, 113, 188.

22 Ibid. 5:338.

23 Ibid. 5:339, 182.

24 Ibid. 5:143.

25 Ibid. 5:441, 170, 343.

26 Ibid. 3:234, 5:503-07; McEwen, James, The Faith of John Knox (Richmond, 1961), p. 87Google Scholar.

27 Knox, , “Epistle to the Congregation,” p. 258Google Scholar.

28 Some examples include the following: Works, 3:293, 338, 339, 341, 342, 345, 349-351, 353, 358, 360, 362, 363, 371, 374, 377, 384, 393Google ScholarPubMed; 4:123-125.

29 Ibid. 5:31, 32; Assonville, V. E. D', John Knox and the Institutes of Calvin: A Few Points ofContact in Their Theology (Durban, 1968), pp. 43, 44Google Scholar; Locher, Gottfried W., Zwingli's Thought: New Perspectives (Leiden, 1981), p. 124Google Scholar.

30 Works, 5:36Google Scholar.

31 Ibid. 5:25.

32 Ibid. 2:293, 299; 6:249-251; Janton, , Concept et Sentiment, pp. 97, 102Google Scholar. Though Knox regarded predestination as a particular application of providence, it needs to be the object of a specialized study. For information on Knox's concept of predestination see Kyle, , “Predestination in the Thought of Knox,” pp. 53–77Google Scholar; Greaves, , Theology and Revolution, pp. 25–46Google Scholar.

33 Works, 6:80Google Scholar; Lee, Maurice, “John Knox and His History,” Scottish Historical Review 14 (April 1966):80, 81Google Scholar.

34 For a discussion on Knox's concept of history see Kyle, Richard, “John Knox's Concept of History: A Focus on the Providential and Apocalyptic Aspects of His Religious Faith,” Fides et Historia 18, no. 2 (1986): 5–19Google Scholar.

35 Christianson, Paul, Reformer's and Babylon: English Apocalyptic Visions from the Reformation to the Eve of the Civil War (Toronto, 1978), pp. 5–7CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Firth, Katharine, The Apocalyptic Tradition in Reformation Britain, 1530-1645 (Oxford, 1979), pp. 67, 68Google Scholar.

36 Works, 1:192, 194Google ScholarPubMed; 3:231, 241-244, 288; 4:262, 303-305; 6:494, 495. For a discussion on Knox's apocalyptic thought see Kyle, Richard, “John Knox and Apocalyptic Thought,” The Sixteenth Century Journal 14, no. 4 (1984):449–469CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

37 Works, 5:103Google Scholar.

38 Some examples of Knox's polemical use of history in the 1550s include the following: Works, 3:165, 167-170, 173, 187-191, 209, 237, 241, 273-289, 332Google Scholar; 4:95, 102, 103, 106, 112, 241, 249, 262, 322, 342, 366, 373, 374, 382.

39 Ibid. 5:61, 62.

40 Ibid. 5:62, 407, 413.

41 Lee, , “Knox and History,” pp. 80, 87, 88Google Scholar.

42 Works, 1:4Google ScholarPubMed, Dickinson, William Croft, The Scottish Reformation and its Influence upon Scottish Life and Character (Edinburgh, 1960), p. 19Google Scholar.

43 Works, 1:119Google Scholar.

44 Ibid. 1:131, 132.

45 Ibid. 1:351.

46 Ibid. 1:223.

47 Ibid. 1:270-272; 2:417.

48 Ibid. 1:89.

49 Ibid. 1:220.

50 Some writers have attempted to categorize Knox and attach his thought to a particular school. R. H. Murray calls Knox a contract theorist. G. Harkness and J. W. Allen suggest that Knox had a consistent and coherent theory of the right of rebellion. J. N. Figgis tries to force Knox into the class of church state theorists. See Gray, John R., “The Political Theory of John Knox,” Church History 8 (June 1939): 133CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Allen, J. W., A History of Political Thought in the Sixteenth Century (London, 1928), pp. 106–116Google Scholar; Figgis, J. N., Political Thought from Gerson to Grotius: 1414-1625 (New York, 1960), p. 146Google Scholar.

51 Works, 2:283Google ScholarPubMed; Gray, , “The Political Theory of Knox,” pp. 142–145Google Scholar. Knox was very favorable to the godly Jewish kings. Had he found a Scottish sovereign like them his search may have ended.

52 Such statements are located in A Godly Letter (1554). Works, 3:239, 244, 245, 247Google Scholar. Similar ideas are found elsewhere. See Ibid. 4:95, 102, 103, 106, 112.

53 Ibid. 4:433, 435.

54 Ibid. 4:478, 479, 512.

55 Some examples include the following: Ibid. 4:435, 336, 399, 441, 445, 452, 458, 459, 539, 540; 2:233; 6:236-238.

56 Ibid. 2:436, 437. In a 1559 letter to the nobility, Knox made the same contention (Ibid. 1:332).

57 Ibid. 1:272; 4:481.

58 Ibid. 4:527-532.

59 Ibid. 3:189, 190; 4:536.

60 Ibid. 6:393ff.

61 Ibid. 5:235, 237.

62 Ibid. 3:234.

63 Ibid. 3:208.

64 Ibid. 3:234; 5:490; 4:159.

65 Ibid. 2:188, 227-237; 6:408, 449-552.

66 Thomas, Keith, Religion and the Decline of Magic (New York, 1971) pp. 78–81Google Scholar.

67 Works, 5:32, 119Google ScholarPubMed.

68 See Beard, Thomas, The Theatre of God's Judgements: Or, a Collection of Histories Out of Sacred Ecclesiastical, and Profane Authors concerning the admirable Judgements of God upon the transgressours of His commandments, (London, 1597)Google Scholar; Molen, Ronald J. Vander, “Providence as Mystery, Providence as Revelation: Puritan and Anglican Modifications of John Calvin's Doctrine of Providence” Church History 47, no. 1 (1978):27–47, esp. 40Google Scholar.