Journal: Puritan Reformed Journal
Volume: PRJ 05:2 (Jul 2013)
Article: John Knox’s Doctrine Of Predestination And Its Practical Application For His Ecclesiology
Author: Jae-Eun Park

PRJ 5:2 (July 2013) p. 65

John Knox’s Doctrine Of Predestination And
Its Practical Application For His Ecclesiology

Jae-Eun Park

Most scholars, including James S. McEwen, V. E. D’Assonville, W. Stanford Reid, Richard L. Greaves, Richard G. Kyle, and others, have agreed that On Predestination (1560)1 by John Knox (1510-1572) is characterized by a theology that tends to be more practical than speculative, and is far from systematic.2 Nevertheless, in the scholarship on John Knox, there has been insufficient discussion and relatively little attention paid to the question of why Knox’s doctrine of predestination tends to be practical.3 Therefore, in order to look

PRJ 5:2 (July 2013) p. 66

into the practical characteristic of On Predestination, it is necessary to examine who the main antagonists of On Predestination are in the historical context,4 what their theological positions are, and how certain

PRJ 5:2 (July 2013) p. 67

aspects of their theology collided with Knox’s theological stance. With reference to praxis, it is also necessary to prove a relationship between Knox’s ecclesiology and his opponents’ supposed refutation of the doctrine of predestination, since the argumentation of Knox’s opponents, specifically concerning the secrecy of God’s predestination and the notion of a small flock, threatens the overthrow of the relationship between the visible church and the invisible church.5

The first step of this research, therefore, will be an inquiry into the historical background of one particular adversary addressed in On Predestination, viz. Robert Cooche (variously Couche, Cooke, and Cowche), his authorship, and the contents of his treatise The Confutation of the Errors of the Careless by Necessity (1557-1559).6 Knox excoriates the author of the treatise and takes up his arguments sentence by sentence in On Predestination. The second step of this research will be to scrutinize On Predestination with a view to the concepts of “election

PRJ 5:2 (July 2013) p. 68

and reprobation” and “God’s secret will,” which are focal points of the assault by Cooche in The Confutation. As a result of this research, the differences in the theological stance between Knox and his adversary will be highlighted. The third step will be to examine such differences...