John Knox
"J ohn Knox" by A. Taylor Innes is a historical account written in the late 19th century. The book delves into the life and legacy of John Knox, a pivotal figure in the Protestant Reformation in Scotland. As a central character, Knox's transformation from a Catholic priest to a leading preacher of the Reformed faith is explored, highlighting the sociopolitical context of his time. The opening of the text sets the stage for Knox's early life and theological development, emphasizing the ambiguity surrounding his formative years. It reveals that little is known about his inner character prior to the age of forty, suggesting a significant internal transformation that led him to become a prominent reformer. The narrative describes his upbringing in Haddington, Scotland, and details his education at the University of Glasgow under the tutelage of influential theologian John Major, before hinting at the pivotal moments that would redirect Knox's life towards the Reformation and a fierce opposition to the Catholic Church. The author invites readers to consider the complexities of Knox's personal faith journey and the moral struggles that defined his later public life.T he century now closing has redeemed Knox from neglect, and has gathered around his name a mass of biographical material. That material, too, includes much that is of the nature of self-revelation, to be gleaned from familiar letters, as well as from his own history of his time. Yet, after all that has been brought together, Knox remains to many observers a mere hard outline, while to others he is almost an enigma-a blur, bright or black, upon the historic page. There is one real and great difficulty. For the first forty years of his life we know absolutely nothing of the inner man. Yet at forty most men are already made. And in the case of this man, from about that date onwards we find the character settled and fixed. Henceforward, during the whole later life with its continually changing drama, Knox remains intensely and unchangeably the same. It is the contrast, perhaps the crisis, which is worth studying. The contrast, indeed, is not unprecedented. More than one Knox-like prophet, in the solemn days of early faith, 'was in the desert until the time of his shewing unto Israel'; and not the polished shaft only, but the rough spear-head
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