Analysing the controversial John Knox

John Knox Jane Dawson Yale, hb, £25.00 As Jane Dawson makes clear in this superb new biography of John Knox, the Scottish reformer was not only a major figure in the history of Scotland, he also played an important role in the history of England as well. It is true that part of his influence on English history was negative. His most famous work, The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women, was aimed at Mary Tudor but it did not endear him to Elizabeth. In fact Knox helped fix in the English Queen’s mind a suspicion of Geneva and of all that emanated from that source that influenced her church settlement.

But at a time when the union between England and Scotland is under strain, Knox should be remembered as a great advocate of that union. One of his major objectives was to unite not just England and Scotland but all the nations of the British Isles in allegiance to the Protestant faith. Scotland was certainly dear to him and he believed it was a ‘covenanted nation’ but England, which gave him his first wife and a dear friend and fellow worker in the cause of the gospel, Christopher Goodman, also stood high in his affections.

To many readers today Knox will not be an immediately sympathetic figure. His religious zeal, which took the form of a total commitment to the Reformed faith and a hatred of the Catholic mass, do not go down well in a more ecumenical age. His First Blast and some of the views he expressed about women have been seen to mark him out as a misogynist although in fact he got on well with women and had some close women supporters. Dawson’s achievement is to bring this complex and controversial figure to life and to point to his achievements without seeking to disguise the less attractive features of his character.

Although he was not a great theologian in the same league as Calvin he was an important figure in 16th century Protestantism, who ministered in Geneva and other European cities as well as in Edinburgh, St Andrews and Berwick. He was an extremist. In Dawson’s words, “starting from a conventional premise he carried his argument to the extreme limits of the argument and then beyond”. As a result, although he developed no original doctrinal position, “he did produce a distinctive blend of Reformation ideas”.

Some of these ideas, such as the importance of sitting for communion, were rejected by English reformers. One of the most interesting parts of Dawson’s narrative deals with the clash at Frankfurt between Knox and English exiles such as Cox and Grindal who were later to exercise high office in the Elizabethan church. During the reign of Edward VI Knox preached before the king and the English court and criticised directions in the 1552 Prayer Book about receiving communion. Cranmer won the argument but the so-called ‘black rubric’ was inserted into the Prayer Book saying that kneeling did not mean recognition of the real presence.

Knox could be a trouble-maker of the highest order, but, as Dawson points out, he was not always consistent. He had a contradictory theology of the church, at times talking of the church as a national body, at other times referring to it as a persecuted minority. Given the emphasis he gave to church discipline as well as to the preaching of the Word and administration of the sacraments it was always going to be difficult to create a national church that measured up to his standards.

Knox saw himself as a prophet and watchman. His readiness to speak out sometimes damaged his own cause and embarrassed his allies. In view of his outspokenness it is remarkable that he actually died in his own bed.

This is the best biography of Knox to have been written. It makes use of new manuscript discoveries, notably the papers of Christopher Goodman. Dawson’s work deserves a wide readership not only in Scotland but in England and beyond.

In one important way Knox continues to be influential today. It was during his ministry at Geneva that members of the congregation there produced the Geneva Bible that soon became popular in both England and Scotland. This new translation provided a full scholarly apparatus to help readers understand the text, with summaries, marginal notes and maps.

It also adopted the division of chapters into numbered verses that was a feature of the French translations being produced in Geneva. As Dawson rightly argues, “this simple but dramatic change in layout transformed the reading and citation of the Bible and dictated how that book is understood today”.

Paul Richardson