# James Guthrie



## VirginiaHuguenot (May 31, 2005)

On June 1, 1661, James Guthrie became the first of many Scottish Covenanters to be martyred for the faith under the reign of King Charles II. 

His last words were 'The Covenants! The Covenants! They shall yet be Scotland's reviving.'

More on his life and works here and here.


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## RamistThomist (May 31, 2005)

> His last words were 'The Covenants! The Covenants! They shall yet be Scotland's reviving.'



I was musing over those words today. Go Scots Worthies!


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## VirginiaHuguenot (May 31, 2006)

"My heart, I commend you to the eternal love of Jesus Christ. Pray for me while I am here, and praise with me hereafter. God be with you!" -- Letter from James Guthrie to his wife written on the day of his death


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## JOwen (May 31, 2006)

> _Originally posted by VirginiaHuguenot_
> On June 1, 1661, James Guthrie became the first of many Scottish Covenanters to be martyred for the faith under the reign of King Charles II.
> 
> His last words were 'The Covenants! The Covenants! They shall yet be Scotland's reviving.'
> ...



As a sometime Covenanter in time past (but having moved over to the Revolution Church many years ago) I was always troubled by 'The Covenants! The Covenants! They shall yet be Scotland's reviving'. 

"Christ and him crucified" will be the reviving of Scotland, not a man made covenant.


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## VirginiaHuguenot (May 31, 2006)

> _Originally posted by JOwen_
> 
> 
> > _Originally posted by VirginiaHuguenot_
> ...



These words preceded the covenants quote as Guthrie spoke on the scaffold:



> 'I take God to record upon my soul, I would not exchange this scaffold with the palace and mitre of the greatest prelate in Britain. Blessed be God who has shown mercy to me such a wretch, and has revealed His Son in me, and made me a minister of the everlasting Gospel, and that He hath deigned, in the midst of much contradiction from Satan, and the world, to seal my ministry upon the hearts of not a few of His people, and especially in the station where I was last, I mean the congregation and presbytery of Stirling. Jesus Christ is my Life and my Light, my Righteousness, my strength, and my Salvation and all my desire. Him! O Him, I do with all the strength of my soul commend to you. Bless Him, O my soul, from henceforth even forever. Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace for mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.'



I think his reference to the covenants must be understood in the context of what he had just said about Christ, and in the historical context of the government's recent repudiation of the covenants. I am sure Guthrie did not view the word of man as the source of reformation, but rather the spirit of Christ which quickened men's hearts so that they desired the reformation spoken of in the covenants which would again revive Scotland. It was his faithfulness to the covenants, a testimony to the work of Christ in Scotland, that led him to the scaffold, and his testimony on the scaffold was that faithless Scotland must renew her allegiance to Christ in order to experience once again the revival that brought about the 1638 Reformation.


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## JOwen (May 31, 2006)

> _Originally posted by VirginiaHuguenot_
> 
> 
> > _Originally posted by JOwen_
> ...



I have no doubt as to Guthrie's own allegiance to Christ, but am speaking to the regular substitution of the Covenants in place of Christ. The Covenants themselves do not present the Gospel, but a vow to uphold and defend the true religion in the face of all unchristian opposition. To say 'The Covenants! The Covenants! They shall yet be Scotland's reviving', is to substitute the defence of "a thing" for the thing itself, thus missing the point. The only Covenant that will revive Scotland, or any other nation is the Covenant of Grace.

Every blessing brother,


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## VirginiaHuguenot (May 31, 2006)

> _Originally posted by JOwen_
> I have no doubt as to Guthrie's own allegiance to Christ, but am speaking to the regular substitution of the Covenants in place of Christ. The Covenants themselves do not present the Gospel, but a vow to uphold and defend the true religion in the face of all unchristian opposition. To say 'The Covenants! The Covenants! They shall yet be Scotland's reviving', is to substitute the defence of "a thing" for the thing itself, thus missing the point. The only Covenant that will revive Scotland, or any other nation is the Covenant of Grace.
> 
> Every blessing brother,



I (and I am sure, James Guthrie) fully agree that Christ alone can bring about the revival of Scotland or any other nation. I view Guthrie's wording in the context of his own personal testimony, as well as that of the covenants themselves, to the work of Christ who alone brings about reformation. 

I think language can be tricky and I am all for precision in theological matters. However, I think Guthrie was using a metonymy by referring to the covenants as he did. I view his comment charitably, especially given his preceeding words and his willingness to die for Christ on the scaffold. He also died for his fidelity to the covenants, which were a written engagement to serve Christ. 

When someone says, what saves you, one might answer, I am saved by baptism into Christ for the remission of my sins. Does the water alone save? Of course not. But this is a true statement, is it not, albeit an abbreviated one. Spiritually speaking, baptism saves. It is easy to misunderstand the Reformed Biblical meaning of that statement and many have, but rightly understood, it is a simple and true statement, using a metonymy to express a Biblical truth.

When someone says, what is the key to reformation, I might answer, the Bible. A literal hardcopy Bible is not what I am referring to but rather the living, powerful, two-edged sword that is the word of God. When someone asks me what do I believe, I might say that I believe the Westminster Confession of Faith. I believe in the Bible over and above the WCF, but the WCF is my confession of faith because I believe it accurately summarizes the teaching of Scripture. Is it wrong to say, I believe the WCF? Should I say, I believe the Bible alone? It is wrong to speak of the covenants as bringing about reformation? They were a means to that end, but not the source. 

When someone asks, how can we bring about reformation today, I might answer: Christ alone can bring about reformation through his word and spirit. Someone else might say, the church must return to her first love, Christ. It may well be understood that the church cannot do this unless moved by the Holy Spirit. That is how I would understand such a remark unless I have some reason to think the speaker is a Pelagian. 

I think a one-sentence comment should not be lifted out of context to impute an unintended meaning, especially when the speaker is sealing his testimony to the work of Christ in Scotland with his blood. As he said to his executioners, 



> 'My lords,' said Guthrie, 'my conscience I cannot submit. But this old and crazy body I do submit, to do with it whatsoever you will; only, I beseech you to ponder well what profit there is likely to be in my blood. It is not the extinguishing of me, or of many more like me, that will extinguish the work of reformation in Scotland. My blood will contribute more for the propagation of the Covenant and the full reformation of the kirk than my life and liberty could do, though I should live on for many years.'



Technically speaking, his blood could not contribute anything to the work of reformation in Scotland -- apart from the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit. Likewise, when Tertullian said, 'the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church,' I view his comment in the context of the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, apart from which spilled blood is just spilled blood. 

The Scottish National Covenant does not claim to present the gospel, but rather gives this testimony:



> WE all and every one of us under-written, protest, That, after long and due examination of our own consciences in matters of true and false religion, we are now thoroughly resolved in the truth by the word and Spirit of God: and therefore we believe with our hearts, confess with our mouths, subscribe with our hands, and constantly affirm, before God and the whole world, that this only is the true Christian faith and religion, pleasing God, and bringing salvation to man, which now is, by the mercy of God, revealed to the world by the preaching of the blessed evangel; and is received, believed, and defended by many and sundry notable kirks and realms, but chiefly by the kirk of Scotland, the King's Majesty, and three estates of this realm, as God's eternal truth, and only ground of our salvation; as more particularly is expressed in the Confession of our Faith, established and publickly confirmed by sundry acts of Parliaments, and now of a long time hath been openly professed by the King's Majesty, and whole body of this realm both in burgh and land. To the which Confession and Form of Religion we willingly agree in our conscience in all points, as unto God's undoubted truth and verity, grounded only upon his written word.



So it is a testimony to Christ, who alone brings about reformation in the lives of men and in the life of a nation. I think it is a good testimony, and if clarification is needed it should be given, as I have no doubt Guthrie would have been pleased to do.

I understand the objection raised to Guthrie's words, but I think given the context it is not necessary. To extent that your concern is based on your experience with Steelites, I appreciate that concern, and to the extent that anyone repeating Guthrie's famous quote in a sense that does not include a metonymy, I agree that the speaker is taking Guthrie's thought in a direction not at all in which it was intended. I also agree with the saying of John Trapp that "means must be neither trusted nor neglected." 

God bless, brother!

[Edited on 5-31-2006 by VirginiaHuguenot]


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