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The Bulwark Magazine of the Scottish Society

JULY - SEPT 2017 // £2

July - September 2017 1 The Bulwark PROBLEMS CONFRONTING THE CHURCH Magazine of the Society The Magdalen Chapel 41 Cowgate, , EH1 1JR Tel: 0131 220 1450 9 Email: [email protected] www.scottishreformationsociety.org Registered charity: SC007755

Chairman Committee Members NEGLECT OF CHURCH HISTORY »» Rev Dr S James Millar »» Rev Maurice Roberts Vice-Chairman »» Rev Kenneth Macdonald AND FORGETFULNESS OF GOD’S »» Mr Allan McCulloch »» Rev Alasdair Macleod Secretary MERCIES IN THE PAST »» Rev Douglas Somerset »» Mr Matthew Vogan

Treasurer »» Rev Andrew Coghill John J Murray This is the final article in a series by Mr Murray on “Problems confronting the Church”. CO-OPERATION OBJECTS OF THE SOCIETY In pursuance of its objects, the Society may co- (a) To propagate the evangelical Protestant faith operate with Churches and with other Societies and those principles held in common by those Churches and organisations adhering to The Triune God is the ultimate and the the Church and of the world, regarded as whose objects are in harmony with its own. the Reformation; eternal reality. He is the Creator and a whole, is but the evolution of the eternal sustainer of the whole universe and all purpose of that God who ‘worketh all Magazine Editor: Rev Douglas Somerset (b) To diffuse sound and Scriptural teaching on things therein. He is an intelligent, personal things after the purpose of his own will’. All literary contributions, books for review and the distinctive tenets of and Being who has foreordained whatsoever Deep in the secrets of his own breast is hid papers, should be sent to: Roman Catholicism; comes to pass. The Westminster Shorter the united plan, from which the pattern is The Magdalen Chapel (c) To carry on missionary work among Catechism asks the question: “How gradually unfolded on the tangled web of 41 Cowgate, Edinburgh adherents of the latter faith with a view to does God execute his decrees?”, and human affairs. As that decree is one, so EH1 1JR winning them to the doctrines of grace and to the answer given is: “God executes his history is a unit.” [email protected] the fellowship of the true ; decrees in the works of creation and providence.” What about redemption? It is Although the (and history) begins with The views expressed in articles are those of (d) To produce and distribute evangelistic, included in the works of providence. The creation yet it is clear from the whole of the contributor and may not necessarily reflect religious and other literature in connection with Larger Catechism’s definition of providence Scripture that it is a Book about redemption. those of the Editor or the Committee of the the promotion of the Protestant religion; is: “God’s works of providence are his most This is brought out in the writings of the Society. Scriptural references are from the A.V. (e) To promote the associating together of men holy, wise, and powerful preserving and great New England theologian, Jonathan except where stated otherwise. and women, and especially young people, governing all his creatures; ordering them, Edwards. One of his greatest works, for systematic Bible Study and holding of and all their actions, to his own glory.” When A History of the Work of Redemption, Unattributed material is by the Editor. meetings for the above specified purposes. R.L. Dabney was installed as Professor of confirms this point. The grand purpose Ecclesiastical History in Virginia in 1854, he in all that God does is “His own glory”:

DESIGNED & PRINTED BY: said in his inaugural address on “Uses and “For of him, and through him, and to him, www.peppercollective.com Tel: 028 9851 2233 Results of Church History”: “The history of are all things: to whom be glory for ever.

2 The Bulwark July - September 2017 3 Amen” (Rom 11:36). Edwards says: “God “They forgat God their saviour, which had created the world to glorify himself; but it done great things in Egypt; wondrous was principally that he might glorify himself works in the land of Ham, and terrible in his disposal of the world, or in the use he things by the Red Sea” (Ps 106:21-22). intended to make of it, in his providence” (quoted from “Miscellanies” in God’s Grand When we come to the New Testament, we Design by S.M. Lucas). The work that God have the revelation of the great Redeemer intended to make of creation was the work that was promised so long before. He began of redemption. Redemption is the grand to manifest forth his glory by mighty acts design of God; creation is but the stage and deeds (Jn 2:11). After he ascended on on which that drama plays. This is the high and sent his Holy Spirit, such works golden thread that runs through and binds were continued by the apostles, as is made together the whole of history. clear by Luke, the author of the Acts of the Apostles: “The former treatise have I made, I. BIBLICAL HISTORY O Theophilus, of all that began both The revelation of that golden thread began to do and to teach” (Acts 1:1). It was Christ with the promise made after the Fall that the who continued to work through his inspired Robert Lewis Dabney Rev Hugh Cartwright Seed of the woman would bruise the head apostles. But the mighty works of God did of the serpent (Gen 3:15). The prospect not cease with Acts, chapter 28. And after of the reformers and martyrs began to be the emergence of Higher Criticism and of the coming of the promised Messiah the age of the apostles, the people of God recorded so that the mighty acts of God the Darwinian theory of Evolution, there governs the history of the Old Testament. still had the promise of the ascended Lord could be remembered. Leaders such as was a shift from a God-centredness to a God chooses an individual, Abraham, and that he would be with his Church to the end Luther and Calvin found their spiritual man-centredness. The new discoveries in then a nation, Israel, through whom his of the ages (Matt 28:20). They also had the and theological links with the writings science and medicine meant an increasing purposes are unfolded. God’s mighty acts record of the God’s mighty works in the of Augustine. They, as it were, stood on attitude of self-reliance. The spirit of the are declared and recorded. They are to be Old Testament. Paul told the believers in his shoulders and connected again with age entered the Church. The Bible was remembered by his chosen people. When Corinth to pay close attention to the various that golden thread that runs through no longer regarded as infallible. The liberal the Children of Israel were passing through historical incidents in the history of Israel: history. Accounts of God’s mighty acts in teaching that “ is a life, not a the Jordan on their way to the Promised “Now all these things happened unto them deliverance from darkness and superstition doctrine” took hold. By the end of the Land, they were instructed by Joshua to for examples; and they are written for our were recorded in biographies and diaries nineteenth century and the beginning of pick up twelve stones from the river and admonition, upon whom the ends of the and in composite works such as, in the twentieth, God’s mighty works were make them into a memorial. In later years, world are come” (1 Cor 10:11). England, The Acts and Monuments of John being forgotten. Church history became when children were to look at them and Foxe and, in Scotland, through ’s much neglected. What had happened to ask their fathers: “What mean ye by these II. CHURCH HISTORY History of the Reformation. The reformers the Church in the past seemed increasingly stones?” (Joshua 5:6), they were to be told By the end of the first century, Christianity and kept warning their hearers not irrelevant. Mankind was moving forward to what God did for his people. However, we had spread far from its starting point to forget God’s mercies in delivering them a new age of prosperity. find that the people of Israel were guilty in Jerusalem. In the centuries following from the darkness of Romanism, and to be of forgetting God’s mighty works. After we have little recorded history except thankful for such deliverances. Such was the lack of appreciation of our the generation of Joshua, we are told what comes through the various Church heritage that at the time of the First World that “there rose another generation after controversies and the writings related to III. HOW THE CHANGE OF ATTITUDE War, Puritan books were often thrown out for them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet them. There is not much on record about CAME ABOUT salvage. It has been said that £12 a ton was the works he had done for Israel” (Judges the true Church in what is known as “the Such an attitude continued, in varying the going price for such unwanted books. 2:10). Indeed we find throughout the Old Dark Ages”. However, when God turned the degrees, for the next almost three Dr Lloyd-Jones was wont to comment in Testament how Israel are being chided for captivity of the Church and light broke in at centuries, but a change came about in the his day that such was the ignorance of their forgetfulness of God and his mercies: the Protestant Reformation, the testimonies latter half of the nineteenth century. With Church history that evangelicals thought

4 The Bulwark July - September 2017 5 is not so discernible in the flow of history. again.” To survey Church history is to see The thread seems to almost disappear, or the development of the understanding of “snap”, as Dr Packer said about the period the truth and the rejection of errors and of history between C.H. Spurgeon and heresies that arose down the centuries. D.M. Lloyd-Jones. But the over-all purpose Present day errors are seldom original. of God moves on continuously. There is nothing new under the sun. Earlier generations wrestled with the problems. 2. The study of Church history gives us There is no need to reinvent the wheel. fuel for praising and worshipping God. “Next to the Bible,” historian Philip Schaff “He hath made his wonderful works to be said, “history is our surest guide.” Rev. remembered” (Ps 111:4). God has been Hugh Cartwright commented in an address: working in the past, not only for the people “History is an attempt to see the principles of that time but for all future generations. and promises and judgments of the Word There is a contemporaneous aspect to of God reflected in the mirror of the past in Alexander Solzhenitsyn all God’s work. We see this illustrated in a way that assists us to estimate our own Psalm 66, where we are exhorted “to come position and know what we ought to do.” and see the works of God”, and then we that evangelism in the UK began with the IV. BENEFITS FROM STUDYING and the Psalmist are regarded as going 4. The study of Church history should campaigns of Moody and Sankey. Dr J.I. CHURCH HISTORY with the multitude who crossed the Red encourage us in dark days. Church history It is time that the Church woke up to a Packer said of Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones: “It Sea: “He turned the sea into dry land: gives us the long perspective. If our focus is discovery of its past and began to learn was given him in the post-war years to they went through the flood on foot: there on the low state of the Church today and the from it. Even those who are most unaware see the quality of evangelical teaching in did we rejoice in him” (Ps 66:6). There are darkness of the present age then we can of that past daily reap its benefits. Let us England change for the better through his so many wonders and mighty works to be tempted to despair. However, a look at consider some of these benefits: own weaving back into it the binding thread explore in history. It helps to expand the the broad sweep of Church history shows of Reformed theology – a thread which mind and stir the heart. Iain Murray says: the highs and lows in the progress of the snapped after Spurgeon was defeated in 1. The study of Church history is necessary to see the over-all plan and purpose of “The study of history is vital to the health of gospel. It gives us a sense of proportion. the Downgrade controversy, and Keswick the Church.” He goes on to quote Thomas We learn a measure of respect for the teaching swamped Anglican , and God. History is not cyclical, as the world thinks, but working towards a goal. God Fuller: “History maketh a young man to be achievements of our spiritual ancestors. liberalism and the social gospel captured does not exist for man, as many professing old, without either wrinkles or grey hairs; We take encouragement from the labours the of Wales” (quoted in Catch the evangelicals imply in their teaching today. privileges him with the experience of age, of others: when we consider the lone Vision, John J. Murray). That golden thread Man exists for the glory of God, and we without the infirmities or inconveniences battle fought, in very dark times, by men became traceable once again. However, are to grasp hold of his grand design in thereof. Without history a man’s soul is like and Wycliffe; when we think of outside the Reformed constituency, there order to see everything in its true light. The purblind, seeing only the things which overcoming such formidable still remains much ignorance of Church golden thread that runs through history almost touch his eyes.” (Heroes, p. xiii). opposition in the form of the Papacy. We history and a lack of appreciation of the is God redeeming human beings through Christians today need to be delivered from are moved to consider , the past. In the professing Church today, Jesus Christ to the end that Christ will be all parochialism and to became spectators of first man to translate the New Testament people are obsessed with the idea that in all. It is God who is at work. The Psalmist the wonders of God. into English out of the original Greek, doing the latest thing is always the best. It is for in Psalm 44 traces the hand of God in the so as a hunted fugitive. By studying Church them the Church of the “here and now”. victories of Israel: “For they got not the land 3. The study of Church history should history we take a walk with giants. It There is the idea that technologically in possession by their own sword, neither help us to face the challenges of the hour. inspires us to think that there is no situation sophisticated twenty-first-century people did their own arm save them, but thy right Alexander Solzhenitsyn said: “He who so bleak but God can overturn it. It teaches have little to learn from the inhabitants of hand and thine arm, and the light of thy forgets his own history is condemned to us to go back and dig again the wells that less enlightened ages, This attitude is often countenance, because thou had a favour repeat it. If we don’t know our own history, the Philistines of liberalism and unbelief second cousin to what C.S. Lewis called unto them” (Ps 44:3). There are periods, we will simply have to endure all the same have choked up (Gen 26:18). Geraint “chronological snobbery”. like “the Dark Ages”, when the work of God mistakes, sacrifices and absurdities all over Fielder speaks of the way this happened

6 The Bulwark July - September 2017 7 with the recovery of the Reformed truths Reformers, the Puritans, the Calvinistic in the twentieth century: “R.B. Jones and Methodist Fathers, to Spurgeon and to the others derived much of their inspiration Princeton Presbyterians” (Excuse me, Mr The from nineteenth-century Keswick teaching Davies – Hallelujah!, 1983, p. 48). and the apologetic spirit of current Future Conversion of American fundamentalism. Dr Lloyd-Jones May many be constrained to do likewise for was to reopen deeper wells and to return the recovery of the health of the Church! to a more robust Biblical heritage – to the ISRAEL

Rediscovery of Maurice Roberts Historic Documents

The Edinburgh Hammermen, who were the owners of the Magdalen Chapel until 1859, had a collection of title-deeds and other important documents which were carefully preserved in a chest, and were taken out and aired from time to time. An inventory of these writs, dated sometime after 1726, The Wailing Wall, Jerusalem still survives, but most of them have been missing for well over a hundred years. With emotion and love in his heart the Jewish nation according to the flesh. How apostle Paul could write: “my heart’s desire great is the debt of love and respect which Two students who are working in the Great Seal of James IV (obverse) and prayer to God for Israel is, that they we owe to Israel! Magdalen Chapel over the summer might be saved” (Rom. 10:1). He says this are helping, among other things, with as a Jew himself, but also as a Christian Sadly, through ignorance of God’s Word, in connection with the Hammermen’s cataloguing the records of the Scottish in St Giles’ church. The seal is apparently who longs for the blessing and conversion there is a great deal of anti-Jewish feeling Reformation Society and the Protestant the Great Seal of James IV, who reigned of God’s people, Israel. in the world today. At the heart of this anti- Institute; and while doing this, one of them, from his father’s death in 1488 until his own Semitism is a culpable ignorance of God’s Mairi Campbell, opened a metal box in death at the battle of Flodden in 1513. The I. A DESIRE FOR ISRAEL eternal purpose for both Jew and Gentile which she found bundles of old documents, standard work on Scottish seals, written The prayer of Paul for Israel’s conversion nations. At the root of this ignorance is a some with seals attached. According to a by Walter Birch in 1905, knew of only two should be echoed in the heart of every sinful failure on the part of educators and note in the box, the documents had been surviving examples of James IV’s Great believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. We Church leaders to study the Bible. The delivered to James Begg at the purchase Seal (on documents dated 1495 and 1506 should, as believers, have a deep love for Bible is God’s infallible Word and it makes of the Chapel in 1859. respectively), but perhaps other examples the Jews. There are very good reasons very clear, especially in Romans 9-11, that have appeared since then. why we should have a special desire for God has a plan in the future to bless both It is apparent that the re-discovered their salvation and eternal welfare. Israel Jews and Gentiles with gospel light and documents are some, at least, of the long- Miss Campbell is to be congratulated on is God’s ancient people. They were in the saving grace. lost Hammermen’s writs; but how complete her most interesting discovery. It is quite Covenant of Grace before the Gentiles the collection is, it is too early to say. The something to find a document drawn were brought in. The Bible was written by II. A DISTINCT ORDER document with the largest seal turns out up eighteen months before Christopher Jewish hands. Above all, the Lord Jesus The salvation purchased by Christ is the to be a charter from 28th February 1490 Columbus discovered the New World. Christ, God’s blessed Son, was born of the supreme blessing which the great God of

8 The Bulwark July - September 2017 9 heaven has eventually prepared for our [Israel] shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall sinful world. In His wisdom God has seen be taken away” (2 Cor. 3:16). When the fit to bestow the blessings of salvation on vail is removed the Jews as a nation will mankind in a special way and in a distinct recognise Christ as their own Messiah. order. The blessing of salvation by Christ, as God has ordained, comes to the world in What a blessed day that will be! The prophet three phases. From Abraham to Christ God Zechariah describes how the Jewish nation offered salvation to Israel only. There were will react when God’s grace opens their very few Gentiles saved in Old Testament eyes to see who Jesus really is: “And it times. shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come But then, after , the Jews were against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the hardened. It was now the Gentiles who were house of David, and upon the inhabitants saved. Very few Jews joined the Church of of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of Christ. This period, from Pentecost to the supplications: and they shall look upon me present day, is referred to in the Bible as [Christ] whom they have pierced and they of the Rock, Jerusalem “the times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24). shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for Sadly, the leaders of the Jewish people his only son, and shall be in bitterness for will be fulfilled the words: “And so all Israel saved. The gospel in this period of history have, for the past two thousand years, him, as one is in bitterness for his firstborn” shall be saved: as it is written, There shall goes out to the whole Gentile world. failed to recognise that Jesus is their (Zech. 12:9-10). come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall Messiah, whom their fathers crucified. turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this 3. When in the future the Spirit is poured The prophet here vividly describes the is my covenant unto them when I shall take out on the Jews they will come into the However, it is very clear from the writings day when the Holy Spirit will be poured away their sins” (Rom. 11:26). Church of Christ along with Gentile of the Apostle Paul in Romans 11 that at upon Israel. They will then see what their believers. This will be a blessed day – a some time in the future Israel as a nation forefathers did not see – that Jesus, whom Happy and blessed will our dear Jewish day for which we Gentiles should pray will come to believe in Christ: “God is able they crucified, is the eternal Son of God friends be when, after so many long years and yearn continually. to graft them in again” (Romans 11:28). and promised Messiah. Their grief and and after such sorrows as their forefathers sorrow as a nation will be one of “great experienced in the Holocaust, they came III. SIGNS OF THE INGATHERING OF This illustration of a tree is very helpful. Paul mourning” (v. 11). It will be a profound at last to place their faith in the glorious ISRAEL argues that some branches of the Jewish shock when they come to see that the Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ. The question which now faces us as Gentile tree have been cut out so as to graft in One whom their ancestors crucified is their Christians is this: are there any indications Gentile branches. But Israel as a whole is promised Messiah! Their national sorrow In his sublime wisdom God has ordered in the world today that the day of Israel’s not to be thought of as forever cast off by will be so great that the prophet tells us that, in His providence, there should be an ingathering into Christ’s Church is drawing God. “God is able to graft them in again” “the land shall mourn every family apart… order in the salvation of mankind. It seems near? It is the conviction of the present means that there is a day coming when God and their wives apart” (Zech. 12:11-14). clear that there is a threefold order to the writer that there are significant events taking will open the eyes of the Jewish people as There will be a happy outcome to this gathering of His elect unto glory: place which should give us hope to believe a whole so that they may recognise Jesus sorrow and repentance. Christ’s blood, that the blessed day of Israel’s ingathering Christ as their Messiah. which is a “fountain opened” (12:1) will 1. From Abraham to Christ, those again into the Church is drawing nigh. cleanse them from their sin after so many saved were Hebrews, with whom very For nearly two thousand years the Jews There is, Paul explains, a vail over the years of ignorance and unbelief. Jewish few Gentiles were believers in Old were scattered over the whole world. They face of the Jewish nation (2 Cor. 3:14-15). people will now come to believe in the Testament Times. were unable for those many centuries to They are unable to see that Jesus is that Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. It will be the return to their ancestral land because it long-promised Messiah and Lord. But this happy day of Israel’s enlightenment after 2. From the Day of Pentecost to the future was governed and controlled by political blindness is not to last forever. “When it so many years of spiritual blindness. Then of Israel there are few Jews powers which were hostile to Israel.

10 The Bulwark July - September 2017 11 Garden of Gethsemane

But there came a change after the Second The present writer has been informed by a World War. In 1948 Jews were given their Christian worker among the Jewish people ancestral land back to them. In spite of the that there are groups of Christians now fierce opposition of Arab nations, Israel in most of the towns and villages of the John Knox got back home. Then, a few years later in modern State of Israel. Jewish eyes surely 1967, Israel won a significant victory over are being opened to recognise the identity hostile enemies. They got back home after of Jesus Christ to be that of their God-sent two thousand years of wandering! Messiah and Saviour. The Dun Band The prophecy of Christ was to the effect: It was the great hope and prayer of our “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Puritan forefathers that the Jewish people Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles would come to see that Jesus is the Christ. 1556 be fulfilled” (Luke 21:24). This prophecy This Puritan hope stirred them to pray and surely was fulfilled in 1967. Since that date long for the happy Day of Israel’s conversion Jews have been returning to their ancestral to faith in Christ. homeland from all over the world. The population of the modern state of Israel Jeffrey Stephen has been rising steadily. Nations hostile O that the day may soon come when to Israel have attempted to harass them Jewish eyes will be open to see that the in all manner of ways. But Israel is getting Lord Jesus is their true Messiah! When I. KNOX RETURNS TO SCOTLAND “exhort secretly”. As his presence in the stronger. that happy day dawns we shall see why the Apostle Paul ends his exposition of In “the end of the harvest” 1555, probably town became known to Protestants, many Still more significant is the fact that the the restoration of Israel with those sublime around the end of September, John Knox visited Syme’s house in order to hear Knox number of Jewish converts to this Christian words: “O the depth of the riches both of arrived back in Scotland from , preach and exhort, among whom was John faith has been steadily increasing. Jews the wisdom and knowledge of God! How via . In Edinburgh he stayed in the Erskine, Laird of Dun, and a woman called are coming to see that Jesus is the Christ unsearchable are his judgments, and his house of “that notable man of God, James Elizabeth Adamsoun the wife of James whom their forefathers tragically crucified. ways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33). Syme” and in Syme’s house he began to Barron, a burgess of Edinburgh.

12 The Bulwark July - September 2017 13 According to Knox, Adamsoun had a II. KNOX AND THE LORDS OF THE troubled conscience and enjoyed his CONGREGATION preaching because he opened up more At a conference called by the Laird of Dun, fully the “fountain of God’s mercies” in Knox began by insisting, “That no-wyise the word than any of the teachers which it was lauchfull to a Christiane to present she had heard previously, all of whom himself to that idol.” He spent the time had been . Knox recorded that as expounding his position from Scripture and she approached death she expressed the answering all of their queries and destroying fruit of what she had heard, to the great their excuses, after which William Maitland comfort of all who visited her. To the priests of Lethington was obliged to acknowledge, who visited in order to urge upon her their “I see perfytlye, that our schiftis will serve superstitious ceremonies, she offered a nothing befoir God, seing that thei stand us word of condemnation, “Depart from me in so small stead befoir man.” ye sergeantis of Sathan; for I have refused and in your awin presence do refuise all Knox left Edinburgh and spent a month with your abominationis. Of the ”, she the Laird of Dun at his house in Forfarshire. added, “That which ye call your Sacrament Here Knox taught daily and was visited and Christes body...is nothing but ane by the principal men of the Mearns. From idole, and hes nothing to do with the rycht there he moved to Calder House near Mid- institutioun of Jesus Christ, and therefore in Calder in West Lothian, the home of Sir House of Dun Goddis name I command yow nott to truble James Sandilands. Here Knox was visited me.” Knox recorded the testimony of “this by men such as John, fifth Lord Erskine, “Gif I had not sene it with my eyis in my awn instructing them in its “rycht use” he put wourthy woman”, for posterity because governor of ; Archibald contrey, I culd not have beleivit it.” in place an alternative observance that he she gave such a notable confession Campbell, Lord Lorne and later fourth Earl believed had solid scriptural foundations. before, “the great lycht of Goddis word did of Argyle; and Lord James Stewart, later the III. THE DUN BAND universallie schyne throwght this realm”. Earl of Moray. These men approved of the During the winter months of 1555-6, A second trip was undertaken to the doctrine Knox taught and expressed the Knox taught in and around Edinburgh, Mearns and the house of the Laird of One of the most pleasing aspects of her wish that it could be publicly proclaimed. and travelled to Kyle, Ayr, and Kilmalcolm, Dun. Knox taught with greater liberty than testimony, and possibly the main reason before returning to Calder. People from previously and the gentlemen of the Mearns for recording it, was Adamsoun’s attitude Importantly, Knox’s ministry at this time Edinburgh and the surrounding country pressed him to administer unto them “the to the Mass, which she regarded as served to confirm the doctrine and repaired to Calder to hear Knox preach, to Table of the Lord Jesus”. It was here that ; and in doing so she had clearly strengthen the faith and resolve of a group be instructed in doctrine, and, importantly, “thei refuissed all societie with idolatrie, and been persuaded by Knox’s teaching on of men who would soon band together “for the rycht use of the Lordis Table, band thame selfis, to the uttermost of thare the subject. In contrast to this “wourthy in defence of the reformed faith under which befoir thei had never practised.” A poweris, to manteane the trew preaching woman”, Knox found that many of the the title of Lords of the Congregation. central element of the doctrine that Knox of the Evangell of Jesus Christ, as God Protestant community, including those that Their leadership of the Protestant cause was preaching was that the Mass was should offer unto thame preachearis and would have been regarded as its leading was crucial to its success in the period idolatry and was unlawful for Christians opportunitie.” These words refer to what figures, had less clear views on the matter leading up to the summer of 1560. Just as to attend. However, his ministry was not has become known as the Dun Band and had no apparent problems in attending important from Knox’s perspective was that just about rooting out, pulling down, and or Covenant; the first of many religious Mass and communicating with the “abused his visit revealed to him just how strong the destroying. He also answered the obvious covenants subscribed in Scotland. There sacramentis”, possibly because of fashion Protestant interest was in Scotland; a fact question posed by his hearers. If the Mass does not appear to have been a formal text and also out of fear. Knox made a point of of which he had been unaware because was idolatry, and attendance upon it was to which they would have subscribed but demonstrating the impiety of the Mass and of his long absence. He expressed his unlawful, how may we lawfully observe there can be no doubt that the principles the dangers of participating in idolatry. astonishment to his mother-in-law thus, the sacrament of the Lord’s Table? By of a solemn engagement are apparent.

14 The Bulwark July - September 2017 15 Calder House

teaching had reached the Church hierarchy Lord and drew strength from the testimony and he was summoned to appear before a of the many believers he had met. He was body of clergy in order to explain himself. satisfied that the Band sworn in the Mearns, The was due to take place at being a solemn engagement, demonstrated the Black Friars church on 15th May 1556. a determination for reform, and for the Determined to attend, Knox arrived early, overthrow of , equal to his own. The Regent Mar, John Erskine, 5th Lord Erskine Regent Moray, Lord James Stewart accompanied and supported by Erskine Band may have been sworn by a few but of Dun and a group of gentlemen. This it represented the spiritual sentiments of Strengthened by Knox’s preaching and trial, and condemnation as a heretic, with unexpected arrival proved too much for many; hence Knox’s confidence in a letter doctrine they bound themselves as one to the loss of goods and of life itself; of this those who had issued the summons, and to his mother-in-law, “Rejose, mother; the renounce idolatry and the Church of Rome they were no doubt aware. Their covenant they promptly withdrew it and themselves tyme of our deliverance approacheth; for that promoted it; also, to do everything in was characterised by courage, clarity, from Edinburgh. The reformers had the as Sathan rageth, sa dois the grace of the their power, as individuals and as a body, and simplicity and held within it so much freedom of the town and on the day of Hailie Spreit abound, and daylie geveth to maintain and promote true doctrine and potential; it was a call for reformation the proposed hearing, Knox preached to new testimonyis of the everlasting love of a large congregation in the residence of oure mercifull Father.” the preaching of the Gospel, as opportunity and separation, and while not specifically the Bishop of Dunkeld, and indeed, for a arose. It was a clear and unambiguous stated, their Band implied a high ambition further ten days. call for liberty of conscience and worship. to create a true and reformed church to At that time to make such a call was replace the corrupt Church of Rome. IV. KNOX’S RETURN TO GENEVA to invite the attention of the Church – a Knox returned to Geneva in July 1556 but persecuting Church – and as such to Their resolve was soon put to the test. it was no retreat; he was confident in his invite the prospect of arrest, accusation, Complaints about Knox’s activities and

16 The Bulwark July - September 2017 17 and his importance in the European Reformation

Samuel Simms

This is the winning entry for the 2016-17 Competition.

Martin Bucer (c. 1491-1551), one of of due to its Latin ’s key figures during the school, and it was here that Bucer probably Reformation, has been all but omitted from received his education. Having excelled history. Martin Greschat writes that “most at school, he left at fifteen years old and people know little or nothing about the man entered the town’s Dominican monastery, who during his lifetime was one of the most one of many religious houses in the town. important and influential figures not only Not much is known for certain about of German but also of European church Bucer’s life during his monastic years, but history”. This essay will seek to redress the he visited in 1515 and was general unfamiliarity clouding this man of ordained as a priest in the following stature. The main events of his remarkable year; having then been released from his life will firstly be outlined. This will be Dominican way of life he spent some time followed by a discussion of his relationship at the Court of Louis V, Elector Palatine, as with Martin Luther (1483-1546); his chaplain to Louis’ brother, Frederick the passion for diplomacy, reconciliation and Wise. unity; Church discipline and love; the role of Scripture in his thought; the “Kingdom Bucer then took charges at churches of Christ”, as conceived by Bucer; and in Landstuhl and , before finally the influence which he bore on his arriving at Strasbourg – where his parents associate (1509-1564) will be now lived – in 1523, immediately becoming evaluated. embroiled in modifying the liturgy of the Mass. Martin Greschat, in his biography I. THE EVENTS OF HIS LIFE of Bucer, writes that in spite of Bucer’s Martin Bucer was born on 11th November minor family connections to the city, he Martin Bucer by Boissard - the Feast of St Martin - around the year arrived in poverty and was initially treated 1491, in the north-eastern French town of with a measure of caution by its citizens. Sélestat. Sélestat was renowned as a hub Despite his lack of means, Bucer soon put

18 The Bulwark July - September 2017 19 his proficiency at “climbing the social and forced to flee Strasbourg. Had he remained, economic ladder” to use. However, the the terms of the Interim stated that he could people of Strasbourg soon accepted him as certainly expect to be defrocked and exiled one of their own with the Gardeners’ Guild anyway, if not incarcerated or executed electing him pastor of St Aurelia’s Church, given his prominent status. one of Strasbourg’s oldest churches, in March 1524. Bucer voyaged to England, where Archbishop had offered Throughout the 1520s, Bucer, along with his him the post of Regius Professor of fellow Reformer (c. 1478- Theology at the University of . 1541), introduced measures to reform the Bucer would remain in Cambridge from his liturgy and life of Strasbourg; in 1530 they arrival in April 1549 until his death. These drafted the together. two last years of his life were not happy Much of Bucer’s subsequent life was spent ones: he had no grasp of this foreign land’s dousing the fires of the Sacramentarian native language; he kept ill health partly Controversy, and debating the Real due to the cold English climate, only slightly Presence of the . Although the mitigated by the two stoves gifted to him Wittenburg Concord, which recognised as by King Edward VI; he was short of money; valid varying practices of the Lord’s Supper, and he was desperately homesick for his was signed in 1536 (the same year in Strasbourg home. St Aurelia’s Church, Strasbourg which Bucer published his ground-breaking commentary on the Epistle to the Romans), Martin Bucer departed this life during the remains, along with the books they had II. HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH LUTHER Bucer took part in many colloquies from night of 28th February/1st March 1551. His authored, were publicly burned. Bucer seems to have experienced a largely the late 1530s in numerous cities such funeral service at Cambridge’s Church of St mixed relationship with Martin Luther and as Augsburg, Worms, and Regensburg, Mary the Great, where he was later buried, Bucer’s reputation was formally received other Lutherans. During his early years in in an effort to reach meaningful resolution was unusually attended by a multitude of back into respectability in 1560, during Strasbourg Bucer administered the Lord’s on the merit of other tenets such as Martin Cambridge townsfolk – a testament to ’s . In the words of David Supper to his congregation grouped in a Luther’s teaching on justification. Bucer the Christian concern he held for ordinary Wright, circle around the table, copying the rubrics gained strength during this time from his people. Bucer’s staunchly Protestant of Luther’s German Mass, published in partnership with John Calvin, whom he and patron, King Edward VI, died two years Bucer the churchman, Reformer and 1526. This practice is notable in light of Capito had invited to Strasbourg in 1538; later, aged just fifteen years old. His elder theologian was tailor-made to tutor the the wider Sacramentarian Controversy: Calvin would be connected with the city for half-sister succeeded him as Queen Mary post-Edwardian, post-Marian English “for Bucer, as for Luther, Zwingli and the the succeeding four years. I, an uncompromising and zealous Roman Church as it worked out its patterns of other Reformers, any argument about Catholic perhaps known better as “Bloody Protestantism amid earnest demands Eucharistic sacrifice was inextricably bound Bucer’s fortunes turned with the outbreak Mary”. As part of her wider mission to rid for purer Reformation. Bucer would of the in 1546, as England of Protestantism and restore its become the posthumous spokesman up with an argument about the nature of tensions between Lutheran states and the Roman Catholic heritage, in 1556 she for England’s , which lay not, the Church’s history and its tradition”. From came to a head. As had Bucer’s remains, along with those of between Romanism and Protestantism the early 1530s, Bucer was involved in Bucer was heavily involved in advancing , a university lecturer in Biblical as nineteenth-century apologists would shepherding southern German cities from the , his own fate lay Hebrew, exhumed and posthumously claim, but between conservative and Zwinglianism to , as these in the balance. Following the defeat of the put on trial for heresy. Their coffins were radical varieties of Protestantism. cities were required to harbour Lutheran Lutheran alliance the following year, and chained to a stake which had been erected sympathies in order to join the newly- the introduction of the retributory Augsburg in Cambridge’s Market Square (adjoining A floor plaque in Great St Mary’s now formed Schmalkaldic League. Interim by the victors in 1548, Bucer was the east end of Great St Mary’s); their marks his former resting place.

20 The Bulwark July - September 2017 21 Bucer and Luther largely agreed on the Bucer began to wonder if Christ’s physical III. BUCER AS A DIPLOMAT apparent concessions had been made doctrine of justification, albeit with some presence in the Eucharistic elements was Martin Bucer was an unashamed diplomat, to prevent the Catholics from exploiting nuances: while “the dismissal by Luther of necessary. Bucer’s behaviour during the managing the affairs of places far beyond divisions on the Protestant side. the entirety of medieval as lacking 1520s has been described by Thomas the walls of his treasured Strasbourg. Elsewhere Matheson suggests that: any apprehension of the genuine sense Kaufmann as alarmingly subversive: “Bucer When his commentary on the Book of ‘on occasion, [Bucer] could offer far- of scripture is probably more revealing of and Capito professed irenic intentions Psalms was first published in 1529, it bore reaching concessions which he never Luther than of the history of interpretation”, while minimizing the divisions between the pseudonym Aretius Felinus: Bucer meant to accede to, but pinned them to Bucer’s more works-based understanding the Southwestern German/Swiss and explained to Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) by conditions he knew the other side could of justification, heavily influenced by the sacramental theologies in order letter that this unsuspecting alias would not fulfil either, in order to put them on writings of Augustine, has been described to portray Luther and his supporters as ensure wider circulation of the work in the defensive’. by David Fink as “much closer to the world truculent intransigents and thereby isolate France and the , where the of late medieval Catholic theology than to them from potential support.” Such an name of Bucer would have attracted the Furthermore in 1549 Bucer received a letter the brave new world of Luther”. assertion, however, can be dismissed: as attention of censors seeking to quash any from Robert Lokhart, an Ayrshire laird, who we have seen, Bucer in the 1520s and early dissent. asked Bucer to comment on potential Disagreements between them increased; 1530s was actively promoting Lutheran arising complexities should Mary, Queen of Bucer had started in Strasbourg by thought. For the assertion to be true, Bucer It was characteristic of Bucer to show Scots honour her betrothal to the French copying Luther’s Eucharistic practice would have needed to have been deceiving concern for the course of the French Dauphin. Although no response from Bucer but gradually grew in sympathy with several of his co-workers simultaneously Reformation, given Strasbourg’s status as a survives, the fact that Bucer’s reputation as the Swiss model in its denial of Luther’s to a degree unimaginable for a significant destination for French Protestant refugees a diplomat had reached the British Isles almost transubstantiatory stance; indeed Protestant Reformer. – Bucer’s aforementioned commentary before he was banished there is quite on the Book of Psalms was moreover remarkable. Bucer’s diplomacy, although at dedicated to the French Dauphin, given the times quite risky to wider relations, like any apparent curiosity his father, King Francis I, kind of diplomacy, was only ever aimed at was rumoured to show in the Reformation. preserving the interests of the Reformation Thomas Brady for example does not in a spirit of consensus and unity. see the 1536 Wittenburg Concord’s ratification, which Bucer achieved with Bucer was distinguished in his time as the help of Strasbourg nobleman Jacob a “fanatic for unity” seeking to achieve Sturm (1489-1553), in purely religious consensus at any cost, in a contrast to terms, but describes it as “the greatest the majority of other . accomplishment of the Sturm-Bucer He relentlessly persevered in his attempts team in foreign policy”. He goes on to to find resolutions to conflict and say that “by 1536 Bucer had become the disagreement, even when the prospects of leading Protestant churchman in southern success seemed bleak. Naturally, Bucer’s ”. Nicholas Thompson affirms labours did not win him many allies; many Brady’s approach, reinforcing his statement were suspicious of his zeal for unity and with the findings of Peter Matheson: believed him to be “seeking unity at any cost” by trivialising fundamental differences There does seem to have been an and spinning words to make reconciliation element of diplomatic gamesmanship seem like a palatable option. One example in at least some of Bucer’s ecumenical of this can be found in the dedication to one activity ... Peter Matheson draws of his commentaries where, in the light of attention to Bucer’s admission that in the ongoing Sacramentarian Controversy, Burning of Bodies of Bucer and Fagius the religious colloquies some merely he writes that this dispute should not end

22 The Bulwark July - September 2017 23 in schism as the disagreement was only combined with the oversight of morals Although Bucer’s ideas were initially not an inward transformation, was at the core semantic. by pastors and lay elders; and the accepted in Strasbourg, they took hold of his faith. Bucer’s conviction that love to imposition of public penance and, if in Hesse and would later come to be God and neighbour was at the heart of The emotive, pleading language employed necessary, , in cases regarded as an important and influential the Christian faith stemmed from Paul’s by Bucer demonstrated that he would of grave public sin. instrument of ecclesiastical discipline. recognition in 1 Timothy 1:5 that “the end leave no stone unturned in his search for Discipline was needed for the faithful of the commandment is charity out of a agreement with Lutherans. At the first In addressing Church discipline generally, because while unbelievers lived only for pure heart, and of a good conscience, and Colloquy of Regensburg in 1541, Bucer Bucer displayed the same selfless fervour their own ends, the faithful lived for God, of faith unfeigned”. inexplicably even confessed to the Papal he showed when attempting to create and this was demonstrated by living for Nuncio that he was “ready to ‘admit’ the unity – Marijn de Kroon speaks of Church others, specifically demonstrating love This revelation was consolidated by Roman Canon” – after having already discipline as “a realm in which Bucer’s towards fellow humanity. Thompson writes Augustine’s notion of iustitia, expressing forsaken it upon leaving his Dominican ethics assumed a leaden earnestness”. that “the point of fixity or what Bucer a proper, loving relationship with God Order. Matters of religion in Strasbourg, This is because for Bucer, Church discipline would call the ‘essentials’ of his theology and one’s neighbour. Bucer applied these and therefore of or was not about punishing or oppressing the remained a belief in justification by faith in principles to his practice: he expressed intolerance, were controlled by civil Christian, but about nurturing and spurring Christ made effective in the works of love. grief in his contact with persecuted authorities; thus issues of religion and of him on in his faith; caring for the Christian’s This, for Bucer, was the foundation of both Hessian Anabaptists who had detached law and order were often intermingled. soul in this way reinvigorated the Church Christian doctrine and the true church”. themselves from the community, viewing “Bucer was a theologian in a leading free community and initiated the transformation Burnett concurs, observing that “the such divisions as a “sin against love”. city and was, therefore, in the service of the of society for which Bucer so yearned. Strasbourg reformer was an ardent disciple Bucer was however a realist: he was aware government”; in dealing with Anabaptists, Bucer’s approach to Church discipline is of when he first heard Luther’s that sometimes the course of love ran for instance, this was understood as a nicely illustrated by his 1533 evangelical teachings, and throughout his awry. Despite his biblical and Augustinian life he retained an Erasmian concern for ideals he accepted that nominal faith and civil matter of public order and so both with Augsburg’s magistrates in the city’s inner and outward acts consistent lukewarm love – shortcomings which Roman Catholic and Protestant hierarchies St Catherine’s Convent, when he quoted with Christian faith and love.” would not be perfected in this life – had were able to unite in welcoming censures Augustine: “a fair punishment is pure dogged the Church since the time of the against Anabaptists. Of all the Protestant mercy”. For Bucer, everything – all of his diplomatic Apostles, and would continue to do so. His Reformers, only Bucer really appreciated work, yearning towards unity, and focus on pragmatic stance on the challenges of love the value of civil authorities’ involvement When Bucer wrote about Church Church discipline – worked towards love; extended to his exceptionally lax approach in religious troubles; in both civil and discipline, the word he most frequently love, as the only real visible manifestation of to divorce, frequently supporting divorces ecclesiastical spheres, authority sustained used was ‘besserung’, meaning reform or unity through discipline. amendment: Bucer held that “belief should influence behaviour”. Bucer’s method IV. BUCER AND CHURCH DISCIPLINE of Church discipline eventually failed, Amy Nelson Burnett identifies four key however – its rulings “had not been tried areas of Church discipline which had and found wanting, but were unwanted Bucer’s particular attention: and left untried”. Bucer took this failing very much to heart; he identified the defeat of The religious instruction of children the Schmalkaldic League in 1548 as divine and adults through catechization and retribution for the faithful’s dismissal of private confession or individual meetings disciplined repentance; when Bucer fled between pastor and parishioner; a to England after the introduction of the public profession of faith and obedience , he urged the English to the Church and its ministers, ideally Church to avoid the same fate which had made when a child was confirmed; the befallen that of central Europe through its Brass Plaque to Martin Bucer in St Mary’s, Cambridge practice of mutual fraternal admonition rejection of Church discipline.

24 The Bulwark July - September 2017 25 VI. BUCER AND THE KINGDOM OF it, while wider society forms an outer ring CHRIST around the congregation. The boundaries Perhaps Martin Bucer’s conception of of these rings are permeable – fellowship the Kingdom of Christ, as laid out in his works inwards from society towards De Regno Christi, provided his most the centre, while the Gospel pervades lasting legacy. The foundations for Bucer’s outwards from the Church into society. formation of this idea can be seen in his Laws surrounding Church membership, 1536 commentary on Romans, especially doctrine, and discipline are set by the his exposition of Romans 13. With this congregation, while civil laws are governed “classic biblical proof text for obedience by the Word of God (probably administered to the state”, Bucer convincingly by the Church, in practice). Despite Bucer’s refuted any feasible argument as to why eagerness to implement this model, later ecclesiastical and judicial authority should scholars have dismissed it as a “utopia”. not be combined. Not everyone shared However, Bucer’s logic makes sense: “if Bucer’s enthusiasm, though; Strasbourg’s Christ is truly King, where does he not reign magistrates were concerned that the supreme?” As was discussed earlier, this city-state should find itself in the grip of a amalgamation of Church and society was theocracy and so “opposed every form of another aspect in which Bucer yearned for compulsory religious discipline, for, having unity – another perfectly logical outlook, if all Geneva rid Strasbourg of one , they were not are “one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). about to establish others”. and remarriages in Strasbourg. In this Book of Isaiah; Bucer held that the Holy Although Bucer’s manifesto was largely respect, his importance was arguably very Spirit would confront Jewish readers at the It genuinely pained Bucer that at Strasbourg maligned in his own time, it enjoyed a small indeed; his views were considered to appointed time. he was not able to implement this dream of profound and lasting influence, as explained be so intolerable that almost none of his his, which he set out in his 1544 Von der by Thomas Brady: written work was translated until several Bucer’s commentary on Romans emitted Waren Seelsorge (‘On True Care’). centuries after his death. a similar startling sense of originality; it “The optimism with which he had foreseen Most of his last days were devoted to can therefore be concluded that when the transformation of society when the giving shape to his dream of the world as V. BUCER AND SCRIPTURE Bucer unfolded Scripture, his reverence for evangelical Gospel was first announced had the kingdom of Christ. This dream went One of Bucer’s works, his commentary on it was such that he made sure to render turned to bitter disappointment at the laity’s far beyond the context of Strasbourg’s the Book of Psalms, shows his approach it impeccably. During his disputes with lack of interest in such transformation”. reformation, far beyond that of the to Scripture. Bucer was a learned Hebraist; Anabaptists, Bucer defended the Church’s Bucer gradually became almost consumed German reformation. But it did not die, his commentary was therefore a point of right to introduce ordinances – such as that by his understanding of the Kingdom of and for generations to come some departure: the first to have translated and of infant baptism – which had no explicit Christ, especially after he was exiled to Protestants would dream of marshalling interpreted the original Masoretic Hebrew Scriptural basis. These new practices were England; he even presented a copy of De the world into the kingdom of Christ. text in preference to the Septuagint version. prohibited from contradicting Scripture; Regno Christi to King Edward VI, with the They would not be German-speakers, For Bucer, this conveyed an important point: however, if they complemented Scripture express implication that England was ripe however, and they would not be called Jewish readers would have understood only this was to be accepted as evidence of the for this parallel reformation of Church and “Bucerians” but “Calvinists”. the historical significance of this text, but a Holy Spirit’s guidance. Additionally, Bucer’s radical renewal of society. Christian audience should gain a deeper close examination of Scripture led him to VII. HIS INFLUENCE ON CALVIN understanding by recognising Christ within believe that the structure of the Church was The content of De Regno Christi, one of Martin Bucer influenced the thought of the text, to whom the text points – this outlined in the Word of God; as such, the Bucer’s late works, is essentially this: the John Calvin enormously, not least during was however not an attempt at converting structure of the Church must comply with Church stands in the centre of society; its Calvin’s four-year stay in Strasbourg – it is Jews, unlike Zwingli’s commentary on the God’s Word if Christ was to reign over all. congregation forms a sort of ring around at this time under Bucer’s guidance that

26 The Bulwark July - September 2017 27 Calvin outlined his four Scriptural offices much needed. His eagerness to enact of Christian ministry: pastor, teacher, elder Church discipline did not have authoritarian and . Calvin made no secret of motives; rather, he knew that discipline his respect for Bucer; while Calvin was would best encourage his flocks to flourish compiling his own commentary on Romans, in their faith. he wrote to Simon Grynaeus describing Bucer’s commentary on the same book as All of his actions stem from one common 2016-2017 the “last word” on Romans – high praise denominator: love. His love of God and man indeed, although it is worth mentioning that was the driving force behind everything he WRITING & PROJECT on several other Pauline writings, Bucer’s accomplished; at a time when it would have understanding diverges quite considerably been all too easy to perceive conformists from Calvin’s. as enemies, his vigorous, overflowing love COMPETITION for all whom he encountered was both Furthermore, this respect was undoubtedly an impressive and a conciliatory trait. His WINNERS mutual: both men had a strong appreciation esteem for the Scriptures ran deep, which of each other’s scriptural knowledge and had called him from his life as a Dominican theological ability. Bucer and Capito, for to a fuller life as a prominent pastor- example, both confidently signed the politician. Having felt their intense power in Confessio Fidei de Eucharistia, which Calvin his own life, his urgent zeal was so much had written. Bucer’s idea of the Kingdom the stronger. His vision of the Kingdom of of Christ was implemented by Calvin in his Christ is one that has not diminished as has small French refugee congregation, despite Bucer’s wider reputation; his vision inspired MONARCHY PROJECT Bucer’s failure to realise it in Strasbourg; many, including Calvin, and even today it Winner: Caleb Clarke (Newtonabbey) Calvin at one point informed continues to spur on those who desire to (1489-1565) that he had administered the see Christ’s Kingdom on earth. HAMILTON MEMORIAL ESSAY Lord’s Supper according to the Strasbourg Winner: Phebe Brown (Newtonabbey) rite. At its simplest, both Bucer and Calvin John Calvin’s debt to Bucer was one of Runner up: Daniel Edwards (Lisburn) “desired to be students of Holy Scripture. major importance to the wider Reformation, Their exegetical work, however, was placed and still continues to bear fruit. Bucer’s MAGDALEN CHAPEL ESSAY in service of the Church. And it is on this influence did much to ensure that Winner: Claudia Jeffers (Portadown) point that Calvin and Bucer understood “Calvinism” became a significant strand of Runner up: James Campbell (Auckland) and appreciated each other ... Both have Protestant practice. The central section of rightfully been called theologians of the Geneva’s Reformation Wall incorporates KNOX PRIZE ESSAY Holy Spirit”. four gigantic figures: William Farel, John Winner: Claudia Campbell (Auckland) Runner-up: Joanna Gillies (Stornoway) Calvin, (1519–1605) and VIII. CONCLUSION John Knox (c.1513–1572). Bucer is not MELVILLE ESSAY In conclusion, it cannot be denied that included: history has largely forgotten his Winner: Samuel Simms (Rosemarkie) Martin Bucer led an eventful and influential contribution. It can safely be said, however, Runner-up: Stuart Fallows (Ballymoney) life. Although he disagreed with several that Bucer’s presence is certainly implied; other Reformers on various issues, his Bucer can be found – intellectually, at importance lies in his untiring efforts to least – standing behind Calvin, imbuing the Congratulations to all who took part, and especially to reach cordial agreement and unity with Christian love and sense of unity for which the prize-winners. We are grateful, too, to the Society’s Branches all; a rare and remarkable characteristic, he was so renowned to all of his fellow which have once again helped to fund the prizes. and one which at that turbulent time was Reformers there represented.

28 The Bulwark July - September 2017 29 SCOTTISH REFORMATION SOCIETY 2017 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

SATURDAY 9th SEPTEMBER 2017 DV, Society News MAGDALEN CHAPEL, REPORT ON MARTIN LUTHER Perth which were enacted by the General EDINBURGH CONFERENCE Assembly four hundred years ago in 1618. The conference on “Scotland’s Debt to Martin The articles enforced kneeling at communion, AGM: 12.30 pm Luther” was held, as planned, in the Macdonald confirmation, the keeping of and th th Holyrood Hotel on 7 and 8 April. About a Easter, and other practices which had been Public Meeting: 1.45 pm hundred people attended over the two days, rejected by the since the and the feedback received has been generally Speaker: Reformation. The conference venue is the favourable. The papers from the conference Rev. John Keddie, parish church, St John’s , which is where are now being prepared for publication. the General Assembly met in 1618, and is Kiltarlity CONFERENCE ON THE FIVE also where John Knox preached his famous Subject: sermon on 11th May 1559 which initiated the ARTICLES OF PERTH OF 1618 Martin Luther and the The Society is organising a day-conference Reformation uprising in Scotland. Further in Perth on Saturday 14th April 2018 to details of the conference will be announced significance of the 95 Theses consider the notorious Five Articles of later, DV. Martin Luther, Frauenkirche, Germany

30 The Bulwark July - September 2017 31 CONTENTS

Problems Confronting the Church: 3 Neglect of Church History and Forgetfulness of God’s Mercies in the Past John J Murray

Rediscovery of Historic Documents 8

The Future Conversion of Israel 9 Maurice Roberts

The Dun Band, 1556 13 Jeffrey Stephen

Martin Bucer and his importance in 18 the European Reformation Samuel Simms

2016-2017 Writing & Project Competition Winners 29

Society News 30

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Front cover: Great Seal of James IV 32 The Bulwark