May - the Free Presbyterian church of Scotland

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The Free Presbyterian Magazine
blasphemous. It does not appear that they separated from the Church although
they were withholding their tithes.
Perhaps the most surprising thing is the strength of their opposition to the
Pope. They regarded him as an imposter and a wicked man, and it is remarkable
that people in their position should have had such views. The Pope was
a long way away and one wonders why they were even thinking about him.
Probably this indicates a legacy from the writings and teachings of Wycliffe
120 years earlier. Wycliffe moved in high political circles in which the Pope
was a major figure. The point here is that people’s view of the Church and of
Romanism will depend not only on having the Bible but also on the
teaching that they have received. These people had received good teaching
through Wycliffe but there were other early Protestants who did not have
such advantages.
One other thing to notice is that there is nothing in the articles about the doctrine
of justification by faith. Possibly this is because the articles were drawn
up by an ignorant enemy who was trying to blacken them. If they had
drawn up their own articles there might have been a very different emphasis.
Before moving on to Patrick Hamilton, we mention in passing that Lutheran
books were coming into Scotland by July 1525. These were in Latin, but
they were being read in monasteries and universities; and, after 1526, copies
of Tyndale’s New Testament were coming into Scotland. This was in English,
so the Word of God was becoming generally available so long as there was
someone around who could read English.
(2.) Patrick Hamilton and his successors. Patrick Hamilton (1504-1528)
was possibly born at Stonehouse, near Glasgow. He studied at Paris and St
Andrews and was converted, probably through the imported Lutheran books
that we have mentioned. He became an open Protestant in 1526. In 1527
Archbishop James Beaton cited him to answer for his heretical beliefs, and
Hamilton escaped from this by fleeing to Germany. After six months he
deliberately returned to Scotland knowing what the cost was likely to be. He
was apprehended and tried by Archbishop Beaton and others, and put to
death on 29 February 1528. The two main sources for his theological beliefs
are the articles that were alleged against him at his trial and his short book
usually known as Patrick’s Places. This was a Latin composition translated
into English by John Frith, and published in London about 1532 with the title,
Divers Fruitful Gatherings of Scripture. It is mainly an exposition of the
doctrine of justification by faith.
As far as his view of Rome is concerned, we get more from the articles
alleged against him at his trial. Here are some of them, as given in Spottiswoode’s
History: “(1) That the corruption of sin remains in children after