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The Two John Knoxes and the Justification of Non-Revolution: A Response to Dawson's Argument from Covenant

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 May 2004

SCOTT DOLFF
SCOTT DOLFF
Affiliation:
194 Mansfield Street, New Haven, Connecticut 06511, USA; e-mail: scott.dolff@yale.edu
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Abstract

In her influential article, ‘The two John Knoxes: England, Scotland and the 1558 tracts’, Jane Dawson proposes a new understanding of John Knox's (1558) doctrine of resistance. Knox, she contends, argues for political insurrection in England but only clerical reform in Scotland on the basis of a theological distinction: England is a covenanted nation, while Scotland is not. Yet a close reading of Knox's Appellation seems to suggest that he considers both England and Scotland to be covenanted nations at this time. As such the difference in Knox's advice regarding rebellion seems best explained by his distinction between various categories of covenant obligation, as well as among different political spheres and pragmatic conditions in which these obligations obtain.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Ecclesiastical History , Volume 55 , Issue 1 , January 2004 , pp. 58 - 74
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

I would like to thank Carlos Eire, Diarmaid MacCulloch and an anonymous reviewer for helpful suggestions on an earlier draft of this paper.