D. Method of Prayer
Are the prayers in The Book of Common Order intended to be read in worship? Did Knox favor the use of forms of prayer? Before addressing this matter, it needs to be said that Knox is thought to have been an Anglican. Historians such as C. L. Warr and Gordon Donaldson advocate this view,[1] which might suggest that Knox was a supporter of the English Book of Common Prayer,[2] which contains prayers designed to be read in worship, and also that Knox practiced set forms of prayer. This assumption however, has been convincingly disproved in Reid’s article, “Knox’s Attitude to the English Reformation.” Reid argues on the basis of common sense that if “Knox had really favoured acceptance of the Anglican orders, confession and liturgy, one wonders why the Scots bothered preparing their own [i.e. The Form of Prayers and Ministration of the Sacraments] — but they did.”[3] However, Reid admits that “undoubtedly some individuals [i.e. followers of Knox] employed the second Book of Common Prayer in their services…, but this did not mean that they felt that they should employ the prayer book in the same manner as did the English church. It was a matter of freedom whether they used it or not.”[4] Reid further admits that in some point of time even Knox “advised his Berwick congregation to use the second Prayer Book [albeit on certain conditions] for the sake of peace, but at the same time under protest.”[5] James Stalker shares the same sentiment with Reid:
There is some evidence that the English Book of Common Order, issued in the reign of Edward VI, was occasionally employed in the earliest stages of the Reformation in Scotland; and there is nothing surprising in this taking place at a time when Knox himself was officiating as a minister of the Church of England.[6]
There is nothing surprising because at this time, as Reid explains, “Since the magistrates were truly Christians and the times were difficult and dangerous they [i.e. Knox and his supporters] should submit for the sake of peace.”[7] Thus, Reid comes to a conclusion that “despite his [i.e. Knox’s] dislike of the Book of Common Prayer, Knox would have conformed if he were living in England.”[8] But as David Laing observes concerning the occasional use of the Book of Common Prayer as the Reformation dawned in Scotland: “Such arrangements, however, were merely prospective, to suit the exigencies of the times; and if we admit that the English Liturgy was actually adopted, it could have only been to a partial extent, and no long of continuance.”[9]
Nevertheless, the fact that Knox advised his congregation in Berwick to utilize the Book of Common Prayer does not mean that he agreed with it; and therefore, the suggestion that Knox employed set forms of prayer from this Book can now be dismissed.
Did Knox use the prayers in The Book of Common Order as a form? To answer this, it must be remembered that unlike the Book of Common Prayer, “prescribed as a ritual which admitted of no change,” The Book of Common Order “was enjoyed to be used chiefly as a guide or directory.”[10] “Thus, in some of the rubrics, it is distinctly stated that ‘the minister was not expected to repeat these things, but he had the option, after closing his sermon, either to use these prayers, or to pray in the Spirit if God shall move his heart, framing the same according to the time and matter which he hath intreated of.’”[11]
