Between Two-Kingdoms: The Political Theology of the Scottish Covenanters at the Westminster Assembly

Abstract

The Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF) is a system of public theology confessed by many presbyterian churches today. Chapter twenty three of the American revision of the WCF articulates a Christian view of the civil magistrate that is more conducive to civil pluralism. The original version, however, gave the magistrate the responsibility of protecting religion and pure worship. In America, Reformed Christians are still discussing how to articulate the church's relationship to the state in a way that si more consistent with the Bible and the Reformed tradition. The political theology of the Reformed Scottish Covenanters at the Westminster Assembly provides insight on how Scotland envisioned a Christian body politic while maintaining the spirituality of the institutional church. Interpreting chapter twenty three of the WCF in light of Scottish Covenanter theology shows how the chapter may not conflict with sphere sovereignty but rather provide helpful categories of thought for political theology moving forward. However, the history of the Covenanting movement will also show how tying church and state together resulted in division and chaos at every level and that the language of the original might have caused confusion. This paper aims to encourage Christians to think further about how to to learn from mistakes of the past while retaining the timeless principles of Reformed political thought.