Free God's Story: A Student Guide to Church History by Brian Cosby

this middle-road and wanted to purify the Church of England from its Roman Catholic vestiges. These became known as the “ Puritans .”
    But while there were many varieties of Puritans, a Puritan was one who reacted against Elizabeth’s via media in favor of a more thorough reformation in England; one who promoted evangelism, catechism (a series of questions and answers), and spiritual growth through the preaching and teaching of the Bible; one who embraced the doctrines of justification by faith alone and God’s saving work by grace alone; and one who strove for personal holiness.
    In particular, the Puritans—or as one historian called them, “intense Protestants”—wanted to purify the Church of England from certain practices and symbols: ministers wearing ceremonial vestments and surplices (religious clothing) that symbolized a mediatorial role between God and man. The Puritans rightly believed that Jesus was the only Mediator between God and man (cf. 1 Tim. 2:5). They wanted to remove crucifixes (crosses with Jesus on them) because Christ had risen from the dead. They sought to eliminate kneeling at Communion because it was seen as worshiping the bread and wine, which is idolatry. The Puritans wanted more preaching, catechism, and church discipline against immoral parishioners and clergy. To some, they seemed like killjoys and, thus, their neighbors did not always like them!
    When Elizabeth died in 1603, James VI of Scotland became James I of England, uniting the two kingdoms under one monarch. James had a Protestant upbringing, which gave false hope (as it turned out) to the Puritans. Even though the Puritans argued their case before him—against the bishops at the Hampton Court Conference in 1604—James sided with the bishops and the establishment, who said, “No bishop, no king.” James believed that his monarchy and the church government stood or fell together. Thus, the Catholic structure, its look and feel remained bonded to a Protestant theology. This is seen today in the Anglican and Episcopal Churches.
    However, not all was lost. James did order a fresh translation of the Bible, published in 1611, as the “King James” (kjv) or “Authorized Version”—the most influential Bible ever produced in the English-speaking world. James also required all churches to subscribe to the Book of Common Prayer, but he didn’t do a great job at enforcing his policies against the Puritans. His successor, however, King Charles I, did enforce policy and many Puritans came under intense persecution for not conforming to the state church.
The Scottish Reformation
    We should note, at this point, that Scotland went through a more thorough Reformation more rapidly. In 1547, when England was about to convert to Protestantism, Scotland was still controlled by the Catholic French. However, St. Andrews was a Protestant holdout and a young fiery man named John Knox (1514-1572) tutored there. The French stormed the city and took Knox prisoner to serve on a big rowboat called a galley.
    After two years, in 1549, he was released and took refuge in England. However, when “Bloody Mary” took the throne in 1553, he fled to Geneva, where he met Calvin. In a letter in 1556, Knox stated that Geneva “is the most perfect school of Christ that ever was in the earth since the days of the apostles.” He stayed busy in Geneva, preaching several times a week and conducting multiple meetings and visitations.
    In a rather unfortunate set of circum-stances, Knox wrote a pamphlet entitled The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women , in which he attacked the idea that women (especially wicked women) should rule as queens. He called them “harlots,” “monsters of nature,” and “Jezebels.” His antagonist, of course, was Queen Mary, but it was published the year that Mary died and Queen Elizabeth I took the throne (1558)—and Elizabeth was quite offended! In fact, she never forgave him and refused to let