After John Knox had been freed from French slavery he ended up in London in 1549. The Reformation was already under way in England and Knox’s reputation had already gone before him. His mentor, George Wishart, had brought back a copy of the First Helvetic Confession, which was the first Reformed creed put together by the Swiss scholars Bullinger, Bucer, and others in 1536. Wishart had translated it from Latin into English, and it was published in both England and Scotland in 1548, having an influence on church leaders.
Knox hardly had time to rest when he was snapped up and offered the position of chaplain to the army garrison town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, next to the Scottish border. His down-to-earth approach won the hearts of the brawling soldiers, with a remarkable peace ensuing in the town. But he was soon off again, this time to Newcastle where he stirred up the local population with his bold preaching. At the end of August 1552 Knox, under the instructions of the Duke of Northumberland, travelled this time to be one of the chaplains of the teenage Protestant King Edward VI in London. It was here that his influence among the English was felt most, and he made friends and acquaintances among many of the leading English reformers, such as Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, Bishop Hugh Latimer, Bishop John Hooper, John Foxe, who wrote the Book of Martyrs, Thomas Lever, and John Bradford.
In his first sermon before King Edward VI and his court at Windsor Castle, he yet again caused a stir. It was September 1552 and Archbishop Cranmer’s Second Book of Common Prayer had just been passed by Parliament to be used for the church services in England. Now, before the Royal Court, Knox was raising his voice like a trumpet, asserting that the people should receive communion seated, rather than kneeling at the altar rail. Immediately the Privy Council halted the printing of the Prayer Book, much to the frustration and anger of Cranmer who had worked hard compiling it. In the eyes of Knox, kneeling to receive communion at the altar rail reminded him too much of the Roman Catholic Mass in which the host, or wafer, was worshipped, and he refused to compromise, fearing that this would be the means of dragging people back to Romanism. In the end Cranmer had to insert a rubric into the Prayer Book explaining that the act of kneeling was not a compromise with the Mass, but an act of respect to Christ. As the text was written in black, rather than the usual red, it was called the ‘black rubric’.
When Knox was offered the ministry of the Bishop of Rochester, he turned it down. Likewise the much sought after post as minister of All Hallows, Bread St, in London, was rejected. It was becoming clear that Knox could not compromise his own conscience in the Church of England.
Tragedy struck the Protestant cause when Edward VI died in 1553. Suddenly panic spread throughout England as Mary Tudor came to power. Within a short time she had rounded up the chief reformers and within a few years she sought to force England back to Rome, putting to death almost 300 of the leaders, including Archbishop Cranmer, and the bishops Hooper, Latimer, and Ridley. Knox would have suffered the same fate, but he fled with many others to the safety of the Continent where he would eventually spend time with Calvin in Geneva.
‘Contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.’ (Jude 3, NKJV)
Image: John Knox stained-glass window in the Presbytery Hall, Edinburgh Theological Seminary, Paul James-Griffiths.