John Knox

Life

The year of Knox's birth is not known precisely; it is estimated to fall between 1505 and 1515. In Korean churches his name is also written "Nakseu." His father was a merchant. He is believed to have studied at the University of Glasgow, and he was ordained a priest in the Roman Catholic Church. He later worked as a notary and tutor before meeting the itinerant preacher George Wishart, through whom he embraced the ideas of the Reformation.

After Wishart's execution, Knox joined the Protestant party holding St Andrews Castle. When the castle fell in 1547, he was captured by French forces and served as a galley slave (aboard an oar-propelled warship) until his release in 1549. He then worked as a preacher in England and became a royal chaplain to King Edward VI. After the Catholic Mary Tudor came to the throne in 1553, he fled to the Continent the following year. At the English church in Frankfurt, he became embroiled in conflict over the prayer book and liturgical practice. He then moved to Geneva, where he became minister of the English refugee congregation and maintained close ties with John Calvin.

In 1559 he returned to Scotland, where he led the Reformation movement and served as minister of St Giles' Church in Edinburgh. He died in Edinburgh on November 24, 1572.

Ministry and Achievements

In August 1560 the Scottish Parliament repudiated papal authority and prohibited the Mass, thereby giving legal sanction to the reform that Knox and his colleagues had pursued. In the course of this process, Knox took part in drafting the following documents:

• The Scots Confession
• The First Book of Discipline: a document setting out the organization and discipline of the church, among other matters
• The Book of Common Order: a directory for worship that adopted the worship tradition of Geneva

These documents played an important role in the establishment of the Church of Scotland as a Presbyterian church. A General Assembly of the Church of Scotland was subsequently organized.

Knox confronted the Catholic Queen Mary Stuart on several occasions, and his preaching is considered to have contributed to the process that led to her deposition in 1567. He is also known as a historian for his History of the Reformation in Scotland.

Influence on the Korean Church

Presbyterianism, which began in Scotland, spread to the United States, Canada, Australia, and elsewhere. From the 1880s onward, Presbyterian churches in these countries sent missionaries to Korea, leading to the founding of Presbyterian churches there. For this reason, some within Korean Presbyterianism regard Knox's Church of Scotland as the root of Korean Presbyterianism. A little over half a century after Knox's death, heirs of his theological tradition drafted the Westminster Confession of Faith, which remains a standard doctrinal document in Korean Presbyterian churches today.

In Korean theological scholarship, works on his life and thought have appeared, such as John Knox by Professor Kim Yo-sup of Chongshin University. Some observers note, however, that research on Knox remains limited relative to the prominence of Presbyterianism in the Korean church.

Assessment

Within the Reformed tradition, Knox is highly regarded as a reformer who refused to compromise despite persecution and exile. Kim Yo-sup has characterized Knox, in comparison with Calvin, as more a man of action than a theorist.

On the other hand, The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women, published anonymously in Geneva in 1558, has been criticized as an attack on female rulers. The work also brought Knox into conflict with Queen Elizabeth I of England. Some interpret the work as aimed specifically at Catholic female rulers who persecuted Protestants, such as Mary Tudor. Knox is also regarded as the first in Scotland to argue systematically that resistance to tyrants, even armed rebellion, is justified. Opinions on this point are divided: some see it as a significant contribution to the history of political thought, while others regard it as excessively radical.