Melville Divinity Hall
SH101 · 3 credits · Undergraduate

Survey of Scottish Church History: Columba to the Disruption

Syllabus

  1. Unit 1 · Columba and the Celtic Church (to 1560)

  2. 1. Reading Columba's mission from Iona (563-597), the church of the Picts and Scots, and how the Celtic church was drawn into the Roman system before the Reformation. Students read Adomnan's Life of Columba as a historical source and weigh what the Free Church historians made of the Culdees. Read the documents of this unit.

  3. 1. Lectures Listen to the lectures in order. Those marked supplementary are optional.

    • The History of the Church in Scotland (Affinity Talks) Iver Martin (Principal, Edinburgh Theological Seminary) 48 min 17 s Open source Doctrinal Free Church of Scotland; YouTube channel 'Affinity'
    • Columba, Week 1: Faith before the 'Blessed Man' Rev. Dr Bruce Ritchie 48 min 57 s Open source History Highland Theological College UHI (church affiliation not stated on the host page); YouTube channel 'Highland Theological College UHI'
    • Columba, Week 4: Theologian & Evangelist Rev. Dr Bruce Ritchie 54 min 38 s Open source History Highland Theological College UHI (church affiliation not stated on the host page); YouTube channel 'Highland Theological College UHI'
    • Columba, Week 7: Influence & Legacy Rev. Dr Bruce Ritchie 48 min 57 s Open source Supplementary Highland Theological College UHI (church affiliation not stated on the host page); YouTube channel 'Highland Theological College UHI'
    • The Iona Christians Joe Morecraft III 57 min 20 s Open source Supplementary Under review Heritage Presbyterian Church (RPCUS); broadcaster shown is Covenant Family Church (OPC); SermonAudio, broadcaster 'Covenant Family Church (OPC)' Kept as supplementary narrative only. Morecraft (RPCUS) teaches theonomy; the flag in the SH501 research stands. Not a required item.

    Total: 4.3 hours

  4. 1. Reading Read in the order given. Public-domain and free texts are linked; purchases are optional and never required.

    Total: 69 pages

  5. 1. Reading Further reading for this unit, from the recommended list: optional, and not counted in the study time.

  6. 1. Assignment Read Adomnan's Life of Columba (the assigned pages) as a historian would. Write an essay that (1) sets out what the Life shows about Columba's work, his monastery and his preaching to the Picts; (2) separates what a careful reader can accept as history from what belongs to the genre of a saint's life; and (3) weighs the claim of M'Lauchlan and Hetherington that the Columban church was simpler and nearer to the apostolic pattern than the Roman church that replaced it. Say where their case is strong and where it goes beyond the evidence. Length: 4-5 pages. Assessed on: Uses the assigned pages of the Life with page references; Distinguishes historical testimony from hagiography with reasons; States M'Lauchlan's and Hetherington's case fairly before judging it; Reaches a measured conclusion that does not read later Presbyterian polity back into the sixth century without evidence; Clear structure and correct citations.

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  7. Unit 2 · The Reformation: Knox and the Scots Confession (1560)

  8. 2. Reading From the martyrdoms of Patrick Hamilton and George Wishart to the Reformation Parliament of 1560, the Scots Confession and the First Book of Discipline. Students read Knox's own History and compare the Scots Confession with the Westminster Confession on the church. Read the documents of this unit.

  9. 2. Lectures Listen to the lectures in order. Those marked supplementary are optional.

    • John Knox: 'a man well hated' Donald Macleod (Professor of Systematic Theology, Free Church College) 1 h 6 min 42 s Open source Doctrinal Under review Free Church of Scotland; YouTube channel 'Tryst with Christ' Donald Macleod was the Free Church of Scotland's professor of systematic theology (a subscriber). Founder to note: the Free Church (Continuing) and Free Presbyterian constituencies hold reservations about him from the 1990s Free Church controversies (general knowledge, not from the host page). Kept doctrinal; the...
    • John Knox (lecture 1 of 'John Knox and the Scottish Reformation') Sherman Isbell 43 min 42 s Open source Doctrinal Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), Presbytery of the United States; SermonAudio, broadcaster 'Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary'
    • John Knox (Iain H. Murray Address) Iain H. Murray (Banner of Truth Trust) 54 min 41 s Open source History Under review YouTube channel 'Banner of Truth' Re-roled doctrinal -> history: the host page states no church, so the subscription rule for doctrinal cannot be shown from the source. The address is biographical. Still required; Units 2's doctrinal teaching rests on Macleod and Isbell.
    • John Knox and the Scottish Church Ian Macleod 57 min 30 s Open source Supplementary Under review Kalamazoo Reformed Church (denomination not shown by the embed player); SermonAudio, broadcaster 'Kalamazoo Reformed Church' The rebuild's 'Three Forms of Unity' for this congregation is not shown by the embed player and the broadcaster page is behind a bot check. Supplementary only until the founder confirms the denomination.
    • The Scottish Reformation (A Survey of Church History) W. Robert Godfrey 23 min 49 s Open source Supplementary United Reformed Churches in North America; YouTube channel 'Ligonier Ministries'
    • Worship in Scottish Reformation Presbyterianism Glenn Ferrell (pastor) 1 h 2 min 31 s Open source Supplementary Orthodox Presbyterian Church (First OPC San Francisco); YouTube channel 'First OPC SF'

    Total: 5.1 hours

  10. 2. Reading Read in the order given. Public-domain and free texts are linked; purchases are optional and never required.

    Total: 83 pages

  11. 2. Reading Further reading for this unit, from the recommended list: optional, and not counted in the study time.

  12. 2. Assignment Compare the Scots Confession (1560) with the Westminster Confession (1647) on the church. Use Scots Confession arts. 16-25 and WCF chs. 25 (the church), 30 (church censures) and 31 (synods and councils). Show where the two agree, where Westminster says more or says it differently (for example the notes of the true church, the authority of councils, discipline), and explain what changed between 1560 and 1647 that made the difference. End with one paragraph on why the Church of Scotland could adopt the Westminster Confession in 1647 without renouncing the Scots Confession. Length: 5 pages. Assessed on: Quotes both confessions accurately, by article and chapter; Identifies at least three real points of agreement and two of development; Explains the historical reasons for the differences (1560 to 1647); Answers the closing question with reference to the 1647 Act of Assembly approving the Confession; Clear argument, correct citations.

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  13. Unit 3 · Melville and the Second Book of Discipline (1572-1638)

  14. 3. Reading Andrew Melville, the Second Book of Discipline (1578), the King's Confession (1581) and the Golden Act of 1592, then James VI's long campaign to bring back bishops, ending with the Five Articles of Perth. The unit centres on the doctrine of the two kingdoms and Christ's sole headship over his church. Read the documents of this unit.

  15. 3. Lectures Listen to the lectures in order. Those marked supplementary are optional.

    • From Knox to the Covenanters Rev. David Silversides 46 min 14 s Open source Doctrinal Loughbrickland Reformed Presbyterian Church (RPC of Ireland); SermonAudio, broadcaster 'Loughbrickland Reformed Presbyterian'
    • Master Robert Bruce of Kinnaird Donald Macleod (Professor of Systematic Theology, Free Church College) 58 min 9 s Open source Doctrinal Free Church of Scotland; YouTube channel 'Tryst with Christ'
    • John Davidson and the General Assembly of 1596 John W. Keddie 44 min 0 s Open source Doctrinal Under review Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) (his sermons on SermonAudio are broadcast by Stornoway and Inverness FCC congregations); YouTube channel 'Scottish... Affiliation (Free Church of Scotland (Continuing)) is from his SermonAudio broadcasters, not this host page; the rebuild says so. Kept doctrinal.

    Total: 2.5 hours

  16. 3. Reading Read in the order given. Public-domain and free texts are linked; purchases are optional and never required.

    Total: 95 pages

  17. 3. Reading Further reading for this unit, from the recommended list: optional, and not counted in the study time.

  18. 3. Assignment Analyse the doctrine of the two kingdoms as the Scottish church held it between 1578 and 1596. Use ch. 1 of the Second Book of Discipline, Melville's words to James VI at Falkland in 1596 (M'Crie, Life of Melville, vol. 2, pp. 65-68) and the King's Confession of 1581. Explain (1) what power belongs to the church and what to the civil magistrate, (2) why Melville called the king 'God's silly vassal' and in what sense he was still the king's loyal subject, and (3) how WCF 30.1 and 23.3 (1647 text) carry this doctrine forward. Length: 4-5 pages. Assessed on: Accurate exposition of Second Book of Discipline ch. 1 with quotations; Places the 1596 interview in its historical setting (the Cupar meeting, the king's policy); Shows how the King's Confession bound king and people; Traces the line to WCF 30.1 and 23.3 (1647) correctly; Clear structure and citations.

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  19. Unit 4 · The Covenanters (1638-1688)

  20. 4. Reading Laud's Service Book and the National Covenant of 1638, the Glasgow Assembly, the Solemn League and Covenant and the Westminster Assembly, then the Restoration, the ejection of nearly 400 ministers in 1662 and the Killing Times. Students read the Covenants themselves and the case the Covenanters made for Christ's crown and covenant. Read the documents of this unit.

  21. 4. Lectures Listen to the lectures in order. Those marked supplementary are optional.

    Total: 8.8 hours

  22. 4. Reading Read in the order given. Public-domain and free texts are linked; purchases are optional and never required.

    Total: 88 pages

  23. 4. Reading Further reading for this unit, from the recommended list: optional, and not counted in the study time.

  24. 4. Assignment Analyse the National Covenant of 1638 as a document. Describe its three parts and what each contributes; explain what the subscribers bound themselves to (doctrine, worship, government, loyalty to the king) and what they refused; then compare its aims with those of the Solemn League and Covenant (1643). Close by assessing, from WCF 22 (lawful oaths and vows), whether the Covenants could bind later generations, stating the Covenanter (Reformed Presbyterian) answer and the Free Church answer fairly. Length: 5 pages. Assessed on: Accurate account of the Covenant's structure, with quotations; Explains the 1581 Confession's place inside the 1638 Covenant; Compares the 1638 and 1643 Covenants precisely; States both positions on continuing obligation fairly, with WCF 22; Clear argument, correct citations.

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  25. Unit 5 · The Revolution Settlement and the Secessions (1690-1800s)

  26. 5. Reading The Revolution Settlement of 1690 restored Presbyterian government and the Westminster Confession but left the Covenants aside, and the Cameronian remnant stood apart. Patronage (restored 1712), the Marrow Controversy and Moderatism led to the Secession of 1733 and the Relief Church of 1761. Read the documents of this unit.

  27. 5. Lectures Listen to the lectures in order. Those marked supplementary are optional.

    Total: 9.4 hours

  28. 5. Reading Read in the order given. Public-domain and free texts are linked; purchases are optional and never required.

    Total: 47 pages

  29. 5. Reading Further reading for this unit, from the recommended list: optional, and not counted in the study time.

  30. 5. Assignment Weigh the Revolution Settlement and the Secession. First, set out what the Act of 7 June 1690 established and what it left out (the Covenants, the Acts of 1638-1649, patronage). Second, explain why the Cameronians refused to join the Revolution Church and why the Four Brethren seceded in 1733 (Thomson, ch. II; M'Crie). Third, judge whether the Seceders' grounds were the same as, or different from, the Cameronians', and whether secession was the right course, stating the case of those who stayed in the national church fairly. Length: 4-5 pages. Assessed on: Accurate reading of the 1690 Act, with quotations; Clear account of the Cameronian and Secession positions, distinguished; Uses Thomson and M'Crie with page references; States the opposing case fairly before judging; Clear argument, correct citations.

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  31. Unit 6 · The Ten Years' Conflict and the Disruption (1834-1843)

  32. 6. Reading The Evangelical revival under Thomas Chalmers, the Veto Act of 1834, the Auchterarder and Strathbogie cases, the Claim of Right of 1842 and the Disruption of 18 May 1843, when about 450 ministers left the Establishment to form the Free Church. The unit asks what the headship of Christ over his church required of them. Read the documents of this unit.

  33. 6. Lectures Listen to the lectures in order. Those marked supplementary are optional.

    Total: 10.6 hours

  34. 6. Reading Read in the order given. Public-domain and free texts are linked; purchases are optional and never required.

    Total: 253 pages

  35. 6. Reading Further reading for this unit, from the recommended list: optional, and not counted in the study time.

  36. 6. Assignment Weigh the Disruption argument for the headship of Christ. Using the Claim of Right (1842) and the Protest (1843), set out (1) what the Church claimed as its own spiritual jurisdiction and on what grounds (Scripture, WCF 30.1 and 31, the Acts of 1592 and 1690), (2) why the Court of Session's rulings were judged an invasion of Christ's crown rights, and (3) why the ministers chose to leave the Establishment while still holding the establishment principle (WCF 23.3, 1647). Then state the strongest objection fairly, from either the Moderate party or the Voluntaries, and answer it. Add a short paragraph on how a Reformed Presbyterian (Covenanter) would read 1843 (founder decision 3). Length: 5-6 pages. Assessed on: Accurate exposition of the Claim of Right and the Protest, with quotations; Correct use of WCF 30.1, 31 and 23.3 (1647 text); Explains the distinction between leaving the Establishment and giving up the establishment principle; States and answers the strongest objection fairly; Represents the Covenanter reading accurately; Clear argument, correct citations.

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  37. Further reading

  38. Reading Further reading: the annotated hub page of the books and articles on this subject. Optional.

  39. In Spanish (supplementary) Spanish-language lectures and readings, supplementary. The English lectures above remain the core; strong English lectures are translated rather than replaced by weaker Spanish ones.

Every lecture and reading carries its role. "Under review" means the teacher's subscription to the Westminster Standards or the Three Forms of Unity is not yet established; "Read as comparison" means the material teaches the 1788 American text of WCF 20.4, 23 or 31 or of Larger Catechism Q.109, which the school reads beside the 1647 text. Nothing has been removed.