“John Knox,” A Closer Look by Reggie Koop

Knox’s Early Years In Scotland

• 1514 – born in Haddington
• 1536 – graduates from St. Andrew’s University; ordained as a priest
• 1540 – becomes a notary (a legal official) and a tutor
• 1543 – converted to Christ and embraces the Reformed faith
• 1545 – becomes follower of and bodyguard to George Wishart
• 1546 – Wishart martyred in St. Andrew’s; Cardinal Beaton murdered; Protestants besieged in St. Andrew’s Castle
• 1547 – takes refuge in the castle; preaches first sermon; castle falls; Knox becomes galley slave in France for 19 months

Knox Ministers In England

• 1549 – Berwick, England; preaches with much power and success
• 1550 – meets Mrs. Elizabeth Bowes and her Daughter Marjory
• 1552 – London; disputes practice of kneeling at Communion; refuses Bishopric of Rochester
• 1553 – forced into hiding when Catholic Mary Tudor is crowned

Knox Flees Persecution and Ministers in Europe

• 1554 – flees France, then Zurich and Calvin’s Geneva; pastors an English congregation in Frankfurt
• 1555 – liturgical dispute forces him out; goes back to Geneva and pastors an English congregation there; returns to Scotland secretly; marries Marjory Bowes and preaches idely
• 1556 – condemned for heresy in Scotland; returns to Geneva with wife and mother-in-law
• 1558 – writes The First Blast of The Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women (advocates rebellion against ungodly rulers)

Knox’s Last Years In Scotland

• 1559 – returns to Scotland; preaches sermon condemning idolatry; leads rebellion
• 1560 – Reformation Parliament adopts Protestant Scots Confession; Marjory Dies
• 1561 – Knox helps write First Book Of Discipline; Catholic Mary, Queen of Scots returns; Knox preaches at St. Gile’s in Edinburgh; first interview with Mary, Queen of Scots
• 1564 – marries Margaret Stewart
• 1566 – writes much of his History of the Reformation of Religion in Scotland
• 1572 – dies in Edinburgh; buried at St. Gile’s Church

John Knox is regarded as the “Father of the Scottish Reformation” and the “Founder of the Scottish Protestant Church.” It has been said if Martin Luther was the “Hammer” of the Reformation and John Calvin the “Pen,” John Knox was the “Trumpet.”

At the beginning of the sixteenth century, spiritual darkness covered Scotland. The religious superstitions of Rome gripped the nation. The Bible was essentially a closed book and the belief was that righteousness come by works, not by grace. The religious leaders did nothing to spur spiritual growth but were ignorant of it. There was a great loss of hearing the Word of God which left the nation impoverished and very, very weak. This is the condition of Scotland that John Knox entered.

John Knox was born in Haddington, Scotland (15 miles East of Edinburgh) to Roman Catholic parents. He enrolled in the University of St. Andrew’s at age fifteen and graduated with an M.A. degree at age nineteen. Later that same year, he was ordained to the priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church. Unable to find a parish to serve in, he became a papal notary who authenticated documents. He also served as a tutor for well-to-do families that held Protestant beliefs. This is where he was exposed to Protestant doctrine.

Then in 1543, Knox converted to the Christian faith under a Dominican friar and chaplain who went deep into Reformation doctrine with him. Seeing how corrupt and contaminated the Catholic system was, Knox spent the next two years devoted to in-depth study of Scripture. Knox was given even more intense exposure to Reformation doctrine by becoming a bodyguard to George Wishart, a very powerful Reformed preacher. Knox learned boldness courage, and faithfulness in ministry.

In 1545, religious persecution reached a fever pitch and Wishart was arrested and taken to St. Andrew’s Castle where he was burned at the stake in 1546. This is when and where the torch was passed on to Knox. Previously a Catholic stronghold, the St. Andrew’s Castle became a rallying point for those who embraced Reformation teaching.

From Knox’s inital preaching in 1547, he daringly upheld the truth of Sola Fide – justification by faith in Christ alone. He was a staunch defender of salvation by grace alone. Here Knox denounced Rome’s teaching on purchased indulgences, holy pilgrimages, forced fasts, and clerical celibacy. He declared them to be blasphemous and openly pronounced the Pope to be an antichrist. He went on to assert that the Catholic ceremonies went beyond the commands and instructions of Scripture, insisted that mass was idolatrous, and decried the church’s teaching on Purgatory.

In June of 1547, St. Andrew’s Castle came under siege. Knox and 120 defenders were captured and made to row in the hull of a Frnech battleship for nineteen months. They were released but could not return to Scotland at this time because of severe persecution. Knox went to London for the next five years and established reform in the Church of England. Knox traveled throughout England preaching at various churches and spreading the Reformation doctrine.

This Protestant cause came to an abrupt halt in 1553 when Queen Mary I (known as “Bloody Mary”) was crowned. 288 reformers, including women, children, and other prominent spiritual leaders, would be burned at the stake. This caused Knox to flee and go to Europe for the next five years for safety. Knox traveled to England, France, and Switzerland, preaching and upholding Reformation doctrine and denouncing the Catholic Church. In Switzerland, Knox traveled to Geneva where he sat under the teaching of Calvin. Then he traveled to Frankfurt, Germany establishing an English-speaking congregation in 1554.

One achievement that stands out is in 1558. Knox worked on an English version of the Bible known as the Geneva Bible. This translation would be the Bible of choice for the Reformers and Puritans. It would be the Bible the Pilgrims took to the New World in 1620.

John Knox finally returns to Scotland in 1559 after twelve tumultuous years in England and Eurpoe. By now his goal was to uproot Roman Catholicism and plant biblical Christianity in its place.

Another achievement came in 1560. The Parliament passed legislation that abolished Catholic religion in Scotland and adopted a document, the “Scots Confession.” It states the infallible Word of God is to be the exclusive authority of the Church – Solus Scriptura.

After his return to Scotland, Knox continued his preaching until his death in 1572. He continued to denounce the Roman Catholic Church’s practices and even went before the Queen many times to argue about Catholic practices and explain Reformation doctrine. Knox died in 1572, having been anchored to Jesus Christ by faith alone.