Alexander Henderson: Covenanter
Introduction
Presbyterianism was established in
Scotland only after bitter struggle. If Andrew Melville, was the father of
Presbyterianism, Alexander Henderson, more than any other, was responsible for
fixing it firmly in the kirk of Scotland - although even after his life the
struggle continued for some few years.
The Stuart kings were on the throne
of Scotland, all of them strong proponents of the divine right of kings and
eager to be the absolute monarchs which their predecessors had been.
Specifically, after Melville died, James VI pressed the claims of an absolute
monarch; and his policy was followed by Charles I.
The Stuarts were
convinced, and correctly so, that Presbyterianism was a threat to their claims
of absolute rule. They favoured what was known as prelacy, the form of church
government practiced in the Anglican Church in England, a system of church
government much like Rome's with archbishops, bishops, and lower clergy. The
Scottish Presbyterians were just as convinced that such hierarchical forms of
church government were contrary to all Scripture, and they were determined to
resist, to the death if need be, any efforts by the Stuarts to impose prelacy
on their land and in their church.
With Melville out of the way, the
Stuarts, though still opposed by a few, were successful in nearly silencing
Presbyterian ministers. They used the threats and punishments of imprisonment
and banishment; they bribed wavering ministers with promises of bishoprics;
they sent recalcitrant men to remote parts of Scotland where their influence
was nil.
The difficulty was that along with prelacy came other evils: the
right of kings to rule in affairs of the church, episcopal liturgical practices
in the worship services, and oftentimes the dreadful heresy of Romanism. All
these galled the soul of the Presbyterians, whose only desire was to worship
God according to the commands of the Scriptures.
Henderson's Early
Life And Calling
Into this situation Alexander Henderson was born in
Fifeshire around the year 1583. Nothing is known of his early life. He lived in
obscurity until he began his studies in St. Andrews. He earned his A.M. degree
in 1603, and because he soon acquired a reputation as a brilliant mind, he was
given the chair of professor of philosophy in St. Andrews.
Here he might
very well have lived a comfortable and settled life, enjoying the honour and
income of a prestigious post and bothering very little about the life and death
struggle going on in the church. He was a man who, without much thought,
supported prelacy, and he really never considered that anyone could be so
concerned about minute problems as to make a fuss over the question.
But
God had other plans for him. These plans began to become clear when in 1615
Henderson was made a minister of the gospel in the parish of Leuchars. Even
this would not have amounted to all that much if it were not for the fact that
the people in this parish were strong Presbyterians who had no intention of
allowing an episcopal prelate on their pulpit. On the day of Henderson's
ordination they locked the doors and forced Henderson and his party to break
into the church through a window.
There was fine divine irony in the events
which followed. Robert Bruce, staunchly Presbyterian, attracted such large
crowds to his ministry that Henderson was of a mind to go secretly to hear him
to learn if possible the secret of Bruce's popularity.
After Bruce entered
the pulpit, he read his text at the appropriate time, which text was: "Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold,
but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber" (John 10:1).
Alexander Henderson could not help but recall how he had himself entered the
church where he was pastor when first he came to Leuchars. He was so smitten in
his conscience that he retreated from the service in shame, went to his own
study to ponder what Bruce had said, and became convinced before God that
Presbyterianism was the only form of church government and worship sanctioned
by the Holy Scriptures.
With that remarkable conversion, Scotland gained
one of her most ardent and passionate defenders of the cause of God.
Henderson's Battle For Presbyterianism
Although from that
time on Henderson's life was devoted to the cause of Scottish Presbyterianism,
we can mention only a few outstanding events in a life of dedicated service.
At the General Assembly of 1618 the forces of prelacy in Scotland gained a
victory of sorts when the Perth Assembly decided, under pressure of the king
and his ministers, to impose upon the churches various episcopal practices
which included kneeling at the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, private baptism
in the homes or at the church outside worship services, private administration
of the Lord's Supper, episcopal confirmation of clerics, and the celebration of
various Christian holidays.
When the pastor of Leuchars opposed these
episcopal innovations, he was summarily called to defend himself before the
imposing High Commission of the king in St. Andrews. His defence of his
position was so effective that the High Commission refused to do anything
further to him in spite of his defiance of Assembly decrees.
Something on
the same order took place nearly 20 years later when efforts were made to force
Henderson personally to make use of episcopal liturgy rather than the simple
liturgy used by Presbyterians throughout the land, who managed successfully to
resist the king's best efforts.
On March 1, 1638 an event took place of
momentous importance. This was the signing of the National League and Covenant
in the Greyfriars churchyard in Edinburgh. This was acutally the second
National Covenant, sometimes called the Renewal of the Covenant. It included in
it the First National Covenant or King's Covenant. It was a rather short
document signed and sworn to by large multitudes of people from all parts of
Scotland and from all ranks and classes of the Scottish people. It was a solemn
moment in Scotland's history, for the document bound the signers by oath to be
true to the Reformed faith, to be loyal to the king and the liberties and laws
of the kingdom, and to resist Popery and every effort to impose prelacy upon
them.
It was this National League and Covenant which gave to those signing
it and to subsequent Presbyterians the name of "Covenanters."
Alexander
Henderson was chiefly responsible for the document and was one of its
signatories.
Through the efforts of staunch Presbyterians the faithful
acquired a majority at the General Assembly of 1638, at which Assembly
Henderson was chosen as Moderator. Although the Assembly was protested,
resisted, and opposed by the bishops, and although it was officially dissolved
by the king it continued to meet until it had successfully excommunicated
opposing bishops and adopted decisions favorable to strict Presbyterianism.
It was at this meeting that, in an eloquent speech, Mr. Henderson defined
what in the judgment of Presbyterians, was the responsibility of the king
towards the church. We quote a few snatches from this speech to give some
indication of the position which these men took on the sticky question of the
relation between church and state.
. . . To a Christian king belongeth,
1. Inspection over the affairs of the church . . . .
2. The vindication
of religion . . . he being the keeper of the first table of the law.
3. .
to confirm . . . the constitutions of the kirk . . . and give them the strength
of law.
4. He both may and ought to compel kirk men in the performance of
the duties which God requires of them.
5. The coercive power also belongs
to the prince. . . .
6. The Christian magistrate hath power to convoke
assemblies . . and in assemblies . . his power is great. . . .
But the
church also firmly believed that it had certain rights and responsibilities
towards the king which were put into practice by Henderson and the
Presbyterians.
When Charles I flatly refused to give Presbyterians any
leeway in their practices, war broke out in England against the king. The
forces opposed to the king were directed by Parliament in which the
anti-Prelate or Puritan party had gained power. The men of Scotland were
prepared to join with their brethren in England in the civil war which was sure
to come. Henderson in fact became a chaplain in these forces which scored
several victories over the Royalist troops.
It is not our purpose to review
all the events of that war; there will perhaps be another time to do that. Any
schoolboy knows how Oliver Cromwell and his Roundheads eventually defeated the
king, who fled for safety to Scotland. And all know how he was turned over to
the English, who promptly relieved him of his head and established the
Commonwealth with Cromwell as leader.
Henderson's last years
Two more events can briefly be mentioned. As Parliament in London guided
the war against Charles, so did Parliament take it upon itself to restore
Presbyterianism to England and Scotland. The method used was to summon an
assembly of divines to bring this about. The assembly of divines which came to
London at Parliament's bidding has become known as the Westminster Assembly,
that famous and illustrious assembly of Presbyterian divines. To that assembly
Henderson was sent as delegate from Scotland, and on that assembly he laboured
diligently for Parliament's goals.
In 1645, before Charles' final defeat,
Henderson spent time, at the king's personal request, in negotiations with the
king in an effort to stop the civil war and bring peace to the commonwealth.
Efforts proved fruitless, for the king would not surrender episcopacy. But
during the negotiations, although only after it became clear that they were
fruitless, Henderson asked to be excused to return to his home in Edinburgh.
His constitution was broken by overwork and he was too weak to continue in
these arduous struggles with England's king.
He returned home, but died
eight days after his return, on August 19, 1646 in Edinburgh. He was buried in
Greyfriars churchyard, where to this day a monument stands commemorating his
faithful labours.
These men were tested to the limit in faithfulness to
their calling to obey God rather than men. It was a faithfulness which puts
them in the roll of the heroes of faith celebrated by Scripture.