Knox came to believe that the Church of Rome had greatly degenerated from apostolic times. Its priesthood was ignorant and corrupt. Its services in Latin were foreign to the people. Knox came to criticize what he called an “idolatrous mass” because it was presented as a repetition of the once for all sacrifice of Christ. So by 1546, Knox was firmly committed to the Protestant cause. Shortly thereafter he was captured by the French and made a galley slave on a ship.
This became a watershed event in his life and only confirmed him in his new convictions. When he was released 19 months later, Knox fled to England where he joined the Reformed forces and worked with Thomas Cranmer. For two years Knox served as an itinerant evangelist. When Catholic Mary Tudor, known as Bloody Mary, came to the throne in 1553, there was a systematic and ruthless persecution of Protestants. Knox fled to Frankfurt and then Geneva where he came under the influence of John Calvin.
During his exile, Knox pastored British refugees in the first English congregation in Geneva. This church became the cradle of Puritanism. While there, Knox was involved in the production of a new translation of the Bible, completed in 1560, known as the Geneva Bible. It became the first English Bible to be published in Scotland. When Knox returned to Scotland in 1559, he brought all this experience with him. Knox worked for doctrinal and church reforms. His efforts turned millions to a renewed awareness of God’s sovereignty, the authority of Scripture and justification by grace alone.
Thanks for the ping!
"Presbyterians often forgot that John Knox had been a Sunday bowler"
-- from the thread Revolution, devolution, evolution
Bless you for posting this.
The Geneva Bible, of course, was the Bible the Mayflower Pilgrims brought with them to America.