The Scottish Reformation: Knox, Melville, the Scots Confession and the Books of Discipline

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

   • John Knox (lecture 1 of 'John Knox and the Scottish Reformation') Sherman Isbell (Free Church of Scotland (Continuing), Presbytery of the United States) 43 min 42 s Open source Doctrinal Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary / SermonAudio
   • From Knox to the Covenanters Rev. David Silversides 46 min 14 s Open source Doctrinal Loughbrickland Reformed Presbyterian Church (RPC of Ireland) / SermonAudio Intramural within the Scottish stream: both hold the 1647 text of WCF 23, but Reformed Presbyterians add political dissent from uncovenanted constitutions, which the Free Church tradition (Cunningham, Bannerman, Moncreiff, FP Magazine) rejects. Present both as confessional options under the 1647 text in the Headship...
   • History of the Reformation series: 'John Knox and the Scottish Reformation', parts 1-5 Joe Morecraft III 5 lectures: 46 min 40 s; 52 min 15 s; 50 min 33 s; 1 h 3 min 35 s; 52 min 43 s Open source Supplementary Heritage Presbyterian Church (RPCUS) / SermonAudio Westminster-subscribing (RPCUS) but teaches a theonomic reading of the civil magistrate and the judicial law, which goes beyond WCF 19.4 ('general equity') and the 1647 text of 23.3 as read by the Scottish churches. Keep as supplementary narrative history only (Knox, Covenanters, Westminster Divines units); do not...

   Total: 2.5 hours

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

   • The Scots Confession (1560) John Knox and five fellow 'Johns' (Willock, Winram, Spottiswoode, Row, Douglas) Open source Primary text 1560. Free online
   • The First Book of Discipline (1560) Church of Scotland Open source Primary text 1560. Free online
   • The Second Book of Discipline (1578) Church of Scotland (Melville, Pont and others) Open source Primary text 1578. Free online
   • The History of the Reformation of Religion in Scotland John Knox 464 scanned pages (archive.org imagecount) Open source Primary text 1905 ed.. Public domain
   • The Life of John Knox Thomas M'Crie (the elder) 550 scanned pages (archive.org imagecount) Open source Doctrinal 1814. Public domain
   • The Life of Andrew Melville, vol. 1 Thomas M'Crie (the elder) 532 scanned pages (archive.org imagecount; vol. 1) Open source Doctrinal 1824. Public domain
   • The Scottish Reformation: a Historical Sketch Peter Lorimer 284 scanned pages (archive.org imagecount) Open source Supplementary 1860. Public domain
   • Book of Common Order of the Church of Scotland (John Knox's Liturgy) and the Directory for the Public Worship of God Sprott and Leishman, eds. 458 scanned pages (archive.org imagecount) Open source Source studied 1868. Public domain

3. Assignment Write a research paper of 30 pages on a topic drawn from the lectures and readings of this course. Argue from Scripture, the Westminster Standards (1647 text) and the Three Forms of Unity, cite the primary sources you read, and state the points on which the sources differ.

   Open the assignment

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.