Journal: Reformed Presbyterian Theological Journal
Volume: RPTJ 08:1 (Fall 2021)
Article: Wariston On The Word: Lessons On The Use And Abuse Of Scripture From The Diary Of A Covenanter
Author: David G. Whitla

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Wariston On The Word: Lessons On The Use And Abuse Of Scripture From The Diary Of A Covenanter

David G. Whitla

Professor of Church History Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary

Introduction

This article offers a practical perspective on the right reception of Scripture in the Christian life, through the eyes of a lesser-known member of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, the Scottish Covenanter Archibald Johnston of Wariston (1611–63). Wariston1 is best known in Covenanting lore as the “The Lawyer of the Covenant”–a fiery zealot for the Presbyterian cause, who composed most of the Covenanters’ legal documents, the most important being the National Covenant of 1638. He remained at the top of the Covenanter political hierarchy during the turbulent decade of the British Civil Wars–including his time as a Scottish commissioner to the Westminster Assembly–and surprisingly, collaborated with the Cromwellian regime in the 1650s. This fateful decision led to his being hanged for treason by a restored Charles II in 1663, though his scaffold recantation and recommitment to the Covenanted Reformation meant he would be remembered as one of the first Covenanter martyrs. But our interest is with what lay beneath his remarkable public career and fueled it: an intense spirituality marked by an exhausting regime of spiritual disciplines centering on the study of Scripture.

It can be a dubious exercise for historians to try and reconstruct the inner life of specific Puritans or Covenanters by “reading between the lines” of their published treatises on Scripture. But when we happen to have their own words in the form of a personal diary–or “self-writing”–we possess a very intimate portrait of these servants of God, and a unique window into their own devotional study of the Word–rich with lessons and warnings.2 If their published treatises and sermons show us their theology of the Word, their personal diaries show us their personal reception of the Word. They reveal to what extent they practiced the doctrine of the Word that they preached. More often than not, there is a clear consistency between their doctrine of Scripture and their Christian practice, but in some cases, the congruity between doctrine and practice is rather ambiguous.

Happily, one of the most important spiritual diaries of the Puritan period is that of Wariston, who kept a meticulous record of his spiritual journey almost every day of his adult life.3 This diary will

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be our primary source fo...