6 - Ceremonies, episcopacy, and the Scottish Kirk

Summary

Thus far, the debates that this study has surveyed have been confined to the polemical world of English Protestantism. The present chapter expands this purview to an examination of tensions within ‘British’ Protestant thought, for common to the debates surveyed thus far has been the sporadic contribution of Scottish writers, against whom some of the principal conformist works were directed. It is to be remembered that James was King of Scotland before he became King of England, and so when he arrived in London in 1603 he also assumed jurisdiction over the Church of England, while retaining jurisdiction over the Kirk. The problem (as the foregoing sentence suggests) was an extremely complex one, and has yet to receive the attention it deserves. One perspective that may prove useful for our understanding of the complexity of ‘British’ ecclesiology is that of doctrinal dispute. For as we have seen at some length, the Church of England proclaimed itself to be the one ‘true’ church, both ancient and reformed. However, an examination of polemical debates reveals that the Kirk also claimed to exemplify the ‘best reformed’ church and, crucially, a national Church. The contemporary literature in which these questions were explored illustrates tensions within two of the three kingdoms from the point of view of ecclesiology: either the Kirk would remain sovereign over itself, or it would be comprehended by the jurisdiction of Canterbury.