Neither the place nor the date of John Knox's birth can be established with certainty. Giffordgate, a hamlet near Haddington, is the most likely site and somewhere between November 24, 1513, and November 24, 1514, is the most probable date. He was likely educated at St. Andrews, probably under the tutelage of John Major. He was ordained as a Catholic priest by the bishop of Dunblane in 1536 and later served as a notary and a private tutor to the family of Hugh Douglas at Longniddry. He was converted to Protestantism while sitting under the preaching of Thomas Gwilliam in Lothian. He also was influenced by men such as Patrick Hamilton and George Wishart, both of whom were martyred because of their Reformed views.
Wishart was arrested and condemned to death by Bishop Beaton. This led to the Bishop's assassination in May 1546 and the overthrow of the Castle of St. Andrews by opponents of Roman Catholicism. In that same year Knox took refuge at the castle and accepted the call to the Reformed ministry. From the pulpit of the Parish Church he declared that the wicked lives of the clergy, the corrupt Catholic doctrine and the "blasphemous papal pretensions" proved that the Church of Rome was apostate. In the autumn of 1547 the castle was attacked by the French fleet and was forced to surrender. Knox and those of his followers at the castle were taken to France, where he was made a galley slave. His release was arranged by the English government in 1549.
Knox returned to England, where he joined Archbishop Crammer and Protector Somerset in their efforts to reform the church under Edward VI. He was active in the English Reformation for five years (1549-1554). During those years he demonstrated his ability as a rugged political fighter. His sermons attacked the Mass as idolatrous, and he was summoned to answer for his views before the Council of the North at Newcastle in 1550. At the Council he vindicated the Puritan position that "all worshipping invented by the brain of man, without God's express command, is idolatry." In 1552 Knox was appointed as one of six royal chaplains and given the opportunity to preach before the royal court. There he criticized the provision in the forthcoming Second Book of Common Prayer that called for kneeling during Communion as a symbol of adoration of the host. Through his influence there was added the statement declaring "that by kneeling no adoration is intended either of the sacramental elements or of Christ's 'natural flesh and blood.'" As one of the preachers of the 1553 Lenten sermons, he also warned of the dangers of secret Catholics in political offices.
When Mary Tudor (later known as Bloody Mary) acceded to the throne, Knox fled to the Continent. He met with Calvin in Geneva, Bullinger in Zurich and other Swiss leaders, posing questions on rebellion against idolatrous monarchs and female sovereigns. It was these encounters that helped him solidify his own theological beliefs.
Knox's exile was not a time of inactivity. At Calvin's urging Knox became pastor of the English congregation at Frankfurt in 1554. The congregation soon divided over the question of revising the Book of Common Prayer or substituting a new liturgy. Knox chose to withdraw and return to Geneva in 1555.
In September 1555 he went back to Scotland for nine months and openly preached Protestant doctrine. He encouraged Protestant leaders to abstain from Mass and to instead celebrate Communion with a Reformed ritual. He was summoned to Edinburgh in May 1556 on a charge of heresy, but the charges were not supported by the Regent (Mary of Guise) and the accusations were dropped.
Knox left Scotland that year to return to the English congregation in Geneva. His time at Geneva was possibly the happiest days of his ministry. It was to Geneva in 1556 that he brought his wife, Marjory Bowes, whose mother had been a committed member of his Berwick flock. It also was in Geneva that his two sons, Nathanael and Eleazar, were born. There he wrote The First Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstrous Regiment of Women (1558). In this work he argued that female sovereignty was contrary to natural and divine law. The article was aimed primarily at Queen Mary, but shortly after its appearance Elizabeth was crowned Queen. Understandably, his position won no friends for him in her court either. Even John Calvin was displeased. This may have prompted Knox to write his treatise against "Anabaptist" in defense of the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination. In the summer of 1558 Knox wrote three more tracts setting forth his theory of lawful rebellion against idolatrous princes, including rebellion by commoners.
A return of persecution caused the Protestant lords in Scotland to seek for Knox's return. He arrived on the second of May 1559. On May 11 a riot started at St. John's Church at Perth, where Knox had preached against the "idolatry" of the mass. After a number of attempts toward compromise were made and failed, the Regent, supported by France, and the Reformers, supported by England, commenced a civil war, which ended only when the Regent died in June 1560. In addition to all of his other duties during this time, Knox, along with five others, played a major role in drafting the Scots Confession, which Parliament approved in August 1560. This, as far as possible, established Protestantism as the national religion. It abolished the jurisdiction of the pope and approved the Scots Confession as the basis for belief in Scotland. The Scots Confession held this position until the Westminster Confession replaced it in 1646.
With Wilock, John Douglas and three others, Knox also drafted the First Book of Discipline. It not only advocated reform of the church but championed compulsory education up to the university level and made provisions for the poor. These principles were never adopted because the Scottish landowners did not want to squander the wealth of the church on Knox's "devout imaginings." His most notable work was the History of the Reformation of Religion within the Realm of Scotland, the first complete edition of which was published in 1644.
Most significant, however, was Knox's influence on the Church of Scotland. In all probability Catholicism would have been rejected even if he had not been present. But it is likely because of Knox that the Scottish Church was Calvinist rather than Anglican and presbyterian rather than episcopal. He also gave to the Church an eclectic theology, helped draw up its Book of Common Order and planted the seeds for the later development of Covenant thought in Scotland. His broad view of ecumenical fellowship with Protestant churches in England and on the Continent helped temper the spirit of Scottish nationalism during his lifetime as well.
Knox also contributed significantly in the fight for human rights. He emphasized the responsibility of not only those in authority but of all individuals to resist evil rulers, and he demonstrated that belief in his encounters with Queen Mary. Knox was a man of conviction and courage, whose struggle against the religious views of his time overshadowed the warmer side of his nature. It should be remembered that the Catholicism of 16th century Scotland was much different than today. Yet his biographer, Jasper Ridleys, calls him a person of "profound and sincere religious sensitivity." This sensitivity can be traced to his devotion to the Bible.
Mrs. Knox died in December 1560. Knox was remarried in 1564 to Margaret Stewart, daughter of Lord Ochiltree. To this union was born three daughters. In 1570 he experienced a stroke of apoplexy. He retired to St. Andrews for 6 months but did not cease to preach, even though he had to be lifted into the pulpit. In the fall of that year he returned to Edinburgh. On November 24, 1572, he bid a "last good night" to the deacons and elders of St. Gile; he offered up a prayer for the "troubled Kirk"; and as a last request, he asked his wife to read the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians, "where I first cast my anchor." He was buried at the churchyard of St. Giles.
