Bible and sword : the Cameronian contribution to freedom of religion

[摘要] During the 16th and 17th centuries, the Stewart rulers of Scotland and Englandendeavoured to enforce Royal Absolutism on both countries. This includedecclesiastical pressure on the Scottish Presbyterians, giving rise to a movementknown as the Covenanters. One identifying aspect was their fieldpreachings,or Conventicles, held in secret, frequently on the moors. As persecutionincreased, worshippers took weapons to these Conventicles for selfdefencein case of attack during the service.Royal efforts to impose Episcopalianism on Scotland intensified after theRestoration of 1660 and were met with resistance. In 1666 open revolt brokeout in The Pentland Rising, which was put down with great severity after theCovenanters were defeated at Rullion Green.Open revolt broke out again in 1679, when some Covenanters defeated asmall royalist force at Drumclog, but they were soundly defeated by the royalarmy at Bothwell Brig shortly afterwards. The Covenanters split into twofactions, moderate and extreme; the extreme element becoming known asCameronians after the martyred covenanting preacher Rev Richard Cameron,'The Lion of the Covenant.The hypothesis researched was that; The development and actions of theCameronian movement made a significant contribution to Freedom ofReligion in Scotland. The hypothesis rests on whether Cameronianinfluence was significant, and to what degree. Subsequent to Bothwell Brig, the Covenanting movement virtually collapsed inScotland. The leaders fled to Holland and the common people who remainedwere severely persecuted. But by early 1680, two covenanting ministers,Richard Cameron and Donald Cargill, had returned from Holland to preach inthe fields against Erastian limitations on doctrine, worship, discipline, andchurch government. They were hunted down and killed, but their followers(now called Cameronians) formed their own ecclesiastical polity known as theUnited Societies. This was a presbyterial Church, separate but not sunderedfrom the Church of Scotland (The Kirk), which had by now largely accepted aconsiderable degree of Erastianism.The Cameronians became a small but vociferous pressure group, not onlypersecuted, but denigrated by moderate Presbyterians. Throughout thisperiod they ensured a considerable degree of freedom of religion forthemselves, despite the ever intensifying persecution. Their stance wasvindicated at the Glorious Revolution of 1688/9, one outcome being theraising of both a guard, and a regiment, of Cameronians, both of whichenabled a period of comparative calm and safety to prevail, thus allowingParliament and the General Assembly to finalise the Revolution Settlement forboth Church and State, without any external threat from Jacobitism.The Cameronian clergy then became reconciled with the Kirk in 1690, andbrought two-thirds of the United Societies with them, thus ending their periodof isolation, and once more presenting a (virtually) united Presbyterian front tothe world. Rev Alexander Shields was critical to both the formation of theregiment and reconciliation with the Kirk.The thesis demonstrates that the Cameronians made four significantcontributions to freedom of religion in Scotland.Firstly, they made a significant contribution to freedom of religion bytheir struggle to protect the right to retain their own freedom of doctrine,worship, discipline and church government, resisting every effort toremove these by force. In 1690 they secured these freedoms. Secondly by their new-found military effectiveness, they secured aclimate of comparative peace and stability in the latter half of 1689 and1690, during which both Parliament and General Assembly were ableto carry through vital legislation for Church and State, without anyexternal threat.Thirdly, through the reconciliation of their clergy with the Kirk, theCameronians were catalytic in the establishment of a [virtually] unitedPresbyterian front in Scotland,1 thereby ensuring that the Kirk wasstrong enough to accept the existence of other denominations withoutfeeling unduly threatened.Fourthly, Rev Alexander Shields stands out as catalytic in theachievement of the Second and Third significant contributions. It canbe argued that his behaviour, in itself, was a significant contribution toFreedom of Religion.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University