John Knox

Hamilton and Wishart, with a long line of less prominent disciples, yielded up their lives at the stake. But from the burning pile of Wishart another man came forward whom the flames were not to silence, one who under God was to end the power of Rome in Scotland.LF 107.1

John Knox turned away from the traditions of the church to feed on the truths of God's Word. The teaching of Wishart confirmed his decision to forsake Rome and join the persecuted Reformers.LF 107.2

His companions urged him to preach, but he trembled with fear at its responsibility. Only after days of painful conflict with himself did he consent. But once he had accepted the position, he pressed ahead with unfailing courage. This truehearted Reformer had no fear of anyone. When he was brought face-to-face with the queen of Scotland, John Knox was not to be won by favors, nor did he lose courage in the face of threats. The queen said that he had taught the people to receive a religion prohibited by the state, and so he had transgressed God's command for subjects to obey their princes. Knox answered firmly: “If all the descendants of Abraham had followed the religion of Pharaoh, whose subjects they were for many years, I ask you, madam, what religion would there have been in the world? Or if everyone in the days of the apostles had followed the religion of the Roman emperors, what religion would there have been on the face of the earth?”LF 107.3

Mary said, “You interpret the Scriptures in one way, and they [Roman Catholics] interpret in another; whom shall I believe, and who shall be judge?”LF 107.4

“You shall believe God, who plainly speaks in His word,” answered the Reformer. “The word of God is plain in itself; and if any obscurity appears in one place, the Holy Spirit, who never contradicts Himself, explains it more clearly in other places.”^{7David Laing, The Collected Works of John Knox, volume 2, pages 281, 284.}LF 107.5

At the risk of his life and with unfailing courage, the fearless Reformer kept at his mission, until Scotland was free from Catholicism.LF 107.6

In England the establishment of Protestantism as the national religion reduced the persecution but did not stop it completely. Many of Rome's forms were retained. Protestants rejected the supremacy of the pope, but in his place they enthroned the king as head of the church. The religion still departed widely from the purity of the gospel. English Protestants did not yet understand religious liberty. Though the Protestant rulers rarely resorted to the horrible cruelties that Rome employed, they did not acknowledge the right of all to worship God according to their own consciences. Dissenters suffered persecution for hundreds of years.LF 107.7