The Church In Scotland
Kirk and Nation. By J. M. BeiA. SkeMngteo. 193 pp. Index. The Seottiab Churches. By John Higher Skefltngton. 219 pp. Index. In tracing the history of the Reformed Church of Scotland in a volume of such modest size, Mr Reid has taken upon himself a considerable task. There is. a great store of facts to put in order; affairs of church and State are inextricably mixed; and it is difficult to prune without cutting away what may afterwards be looked for as essential. The author has attempted to solve the problem by writing briefly about as many topics as can be packed into 170 pages. (There are 20 pages at the end of the book in which various formularies and “confessions” are set down for reference.) Some very thorny subjects remain impenetrable; the chapters headed “Disruption” and “The Three Kirks” are examples, although it is only fair to say that other writers in this field have allowed themselves more scope without better results. Mr Reid writes well of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. For instance, his brief appraisal of the problems confronting the Regent. Queen Marie, while her daughter was in France, is masterly; equally enlightening is his study of the attitude of James VI in London to the Kirk in Scotland. The author has also written a number of pleasing miniature portraits. Patrick Hamilton, the Lutheran martyr, George Wishart. John Knox, "who was in old age so weak that he had to be lifted into the pulpit, ’but ere he had done with his sermon he was so active and vigorous that he was like to beat the pulpit in pieces’.” The great Thomas Chalmers also comes to life. “As a preacher he electrified Glasgow. He spoke under many handicaps. His face was heavy and pale. His eyes, too. were pale and dull. His speech was thick and drawling. In defiance of deeply-rooted custom. and prejudice, he read from a manuscript. But as he took hold of his subject fire came into his voice. At service after service the Tronkirk was crowded to the doors with people from all parts of Glasgow, who listened with fascinated attention and often wept.” In more modern times the great John White is described as “a man with an iron will and an iron voice.” The author of "The Scottish Churches” is a lecturer in sociology in the University of Glasgow. He studies “varieties of religious experience* mainly, from the point of view of statistics. The reader will learn that the various branches of the Presbyterian church in Scotland claim a membership of about li million. The Roman Catholic Church, particularly strong about Glasgow, has the second largest number of adherents—more than half a million. The Scottish Episcopal church has some 50,000 members. There are 20.000 Baptists, 13.000 MethodiSts, and a sprinkling of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Latter Day Saints, Seventh-day Adventists and Spiritualists, to name but a few listed by Dr. Highet. In later pages the author tries to gauge the results of the various missions and “Crusades” that have been a feature of the religious life of the post-war years. He has also assembled a considerable body of opinion bn the vexed question of empty pews. It follows that the book throws light on many topics which will be of practical interest to many readers far removed from Scotland.
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Press, Volume C, Issue 29500, 29 April 1961, Page 3
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560The Church In Scotland Press, Volume C, Issue 29500, 29 April 1961, Page 3
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