A Gaelic Church: The Scottish Episcopal Story
In Scotland, the primary expression of the church—or kirk in the Scottish tongue—is the Church of Scotland, which has long been the epitome (and, in many ways, the founder) of the Presbyterian tradition. And yet, an episcopally-governed, liturgical church has long paralleled the state church with its own unique flavor of the Anglican tradition. This traditional Scottish Episcopalianism has a unique blend of Reformed and Catholic theology, emphasizing theological similarities over distinctions. This includes a high churchmanship and a greater appeal to older church traditions—encompassing liturgical, ecclesiastical, and theological elements—and an early perseverance of the Gaelic language in worship, tying it even more deeply to Scotland’s ancient Celtic roots.
From Oxford to Scotland
On July 14, 1833, Anglican priest John Keble delivered what we now know as the “Assize sermon” at the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin in Oxford. This sermon was considered a “National Apostasy,” with rhetoric pointed towards the Church of England at a time when it was facing dramatic change. Keble decries these changes as a “decay or want of faith,” denouncing the emergence of modernity as “omens and tokens of an Apostate Mind in a nation.” This sermon marks the beginning of the Oxford Movement and what we now know as “Anglo-Catholicism.”
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The impulse driving the Oxford Movement advocated for the incorporation of older traditions of faith into existing liturgical practice, citing the Caroline Divines as a theological precedent. While this movement was occurring in 19th-century England, the drive towards embracing older traditions already existed within Scotland since the 16th century. The turmoil of the Scottish Reformation saw various luminaries emerge from places like the University of Aberdeen, where the more iconoclastic and anti-traditionalist positions of the Presbyterian faced opposition. Between these figures and the Anglicizing influences introduced by King James VI/I, a “traditional Scottish Episcopalianism” began to take shape.
To understand how we define this term, let’s explore some of the key figures of this faction, beginning in the 16th century. This includes focusing on their key theological principles and how they impacted their formation. By highlighting the contributions of these luminaries, we can begin to understand how Scottish Episcopalianism is distinct and essential to the formation of the Scottish Episcopal Church.
John Carswell (c. 1522 – 1572)
John Carswell, also written as Seon Carsuail in Scots Gaelic, was born in 1522 and most likely originated in Wigtownshire. He had received some education in the traditional Gaelic bardic tradition at an early age, becoming a student at the University of St. Andrews and graduating with a Master of Arts in 1545. After the Scottish Reformation Parliament of 1560, he became Superintendent of Argyll and the Isles, to which he received a grant from Mary, Queen of Scots for the bishopric of the Isles and Iona Abbey.
His most notable work was the translation of the Book of Common Order into Classical Gaelic, the prestige language preserved by the bardic elite. This text, entitled Foirm na n-Urrnuidheadh, was dedicated to the Earl of Argyll, containing a poem written by Carswell, and is the first printed Gaelic text. By printing the text in the Gaelic language, Carswell ensured that Scottish Protestantism would penetrate into the Scottish Gaelic-speaking communities. Clerics, such as James Kirkwood and Robert Kirk, would later translate the Bible into Scots Gaelic, ensuring that the Gaelic language would have its place within Scottish worship.
William Forbes (1585 – 1634)
William Forbes was born in Aberdeen, where he received his initial education at Marischal College and graduated A.M. in 1601. He then held the chair of logic at the same college, resigning from it five years later to pursue education on the continent.
Forbes later returned, with Bishop Peter Blackburn of Aberdeen ordaining him. He then ministered at two parishes in Alford and Monymusk. Forbes preached before King Charles I at Holyrood in 1633, so pleasing the king that he subsequently established the See of Edinburgh. Forbes was nominated and later consecrated for this See in February 1614.
William Forbes’s ministry was often controversial, as he taught that Reformed and Catholic doctrines could be reconciled. This was demonstrated by his observance of the Five Articles of Perth, an attempt by King James VI/I to integrate the Churches of Scotland and England. These articles included kneeling before Communion, private baptism, private communion for the sick, confirmation by a bishop, and observance of the Holy Days. While Forbes never published anything himself, a collection of his works entitled Considerationes would be published in 1658. These works later became influential to Edward Pusey’s theology and the development of the “Anglo-Catholic” movement.
John Forbes of Corse (1593 – 1648)
John Forbes of Corse was the second son of Patrick Forbes of Corse Castle, Bishop of Aberdeen. He entered King’s College, Aberdeen in 1607, and eventually attended the University of Heidelberg, where he studied under David Pareus. After studying at various colleges across the Continent, his uncle, John Forbes, ordained him at Middelburg in 1619. He returned to Aberdeen in the next year and became professor of divinity in King’s College. His first text, Irenicum Amatoribus, was published in 1619, which was positively received by James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh in the Church of Ireland.
Along with five other academics —Robert Baron, William Leslie, James Sibbald, Alexander Scoggie, and Alexander Ross —they operated under the leadership of Bishop Patrick Forbes of Aberdeen and became known to the Covenanters as the “Aberdeen doctors.” Collectively, the Aberdeen doctors were influenced by the works of William Forbes and proved to engender opposition—namely from the Covenanters—for their insistence on complying with the Articles of Perth and their refusal to agree with the National Covenant. One of their notable acts was penning an irenic proposal between the Reformed and Lutheran churches on the Continent. The doctors argued that concord may exist, even where dissension may occur regarding secondary matters.
Henry Scougal (1650 – 1678)
Henry Scougal was born in Leuchars in 1650 and was the second son of Bishop Patrick Scougal of Aberdeen. From an early beginning, he was raised in a religious environment where he would spend his free time reading, meditating, and praying. He entered King’s College in 1665 and was swiftly appointed as Professor of Philosophy after graduation. Scougal was ordained seven years later, serving for one year as a minister at a parish in Auchterless, Aberdeenshire. He was later appointed by the Synod to be Professor of Divinity at King’s College, where he taught for five years.
Along with George Garden and James Garden, Scougal was influenced by asceticism and mystical theology. This placed them at odds with more conservative Calvinists who saw this as “popery.” Scougal would defend their positions in his 1674 thesis De Objecto Cultus Religiosi, maintaining a moderate position between strict Calvinism and Roman Catholic liturgical practice. George Garden was a vocal critic of their more Calvinist Presbyterian counterparts, referring to their works as dry regarding theological matters. In his dedication letters to the Latin edition of John Forbes of Corse’s works, he criticizes the present spiritual deficiencies, the lack of traditional liturgical elements, the focus on theological argumentation, and the replacement of early Christian symbolism. Henry Scougal upheld the Episcopalian stance by arguing for the necessity of traditional mysticism within the Reformed tradition.
Thomas Rattray (1684 – 1743)
Bishop Thomas Rattray was born in 1684 and was the eldest son of James Rattray, the head of an ancient family from Craighall in Perthshire. Despite being a layman at the time, Rattray had demonstrated himself to be a man of learning through his theological writings. During his stay in London in 1716, he assisted Nathaniel Spinckes by translating a concordat addressed to Orthodox Patriarchs by nonjuring bishops into Greek. He was elected Bishop of Dunkeld in 1732 after his bishopric to Brechin was declared void by the College of Bishops in 1727. He later became Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church in 1739.
Rattray was part of a Scottish intellectual environment influenced by John Forbes of Corse and Henry Scougal, as well as French mystics such as Antoinette Bourignon and Madame Guyon. Within his ministry, he advocated for the adoption of the liturgical ‘usages’ and diocesan episcopacy. This was a controversial position in what is known as the “Usages Controversy,” where liturgical practices such as the mixing of water and wine, prayers for the dead, the invocation of the Holy Spirit over the bread and wine (or epiclesis), and the prayer of oblation were hotly contested.
In his 1728 work Essay on the Nature of the Church, Bishop Rattray argued for the Scottish Communion Office to resemble that of the Eastern liturgical traditions. This would later become influential to Bishop Samuel Seabury and would inform the Book of Common Prayer within the American Episcopal Church.
What is Traditional Episcopalianism?
During the Scottish Reformation, the split between the Presbyterian and Episcopalian factions is illustrated with two dimensions: the political and religious. While the political dimensions highlight the desire for integration between the Churches of Scotland and England, the religious dimension illustrates a moderate approach to church reform. The intersections between these dimensions inform what can best be described as “Traditional Scottish Episcopalianism,” often entertaining doctrines that sparked controversy among the more orthodox Calvinists while maintaining a distinctively Protestant point of view.
The Scottish Episcopal blend of Reformed and Catholic theology developed over centuries of heated discourse, often intersecting with the Church of England while maintaining a distinct Scottish approach. The works produced within this tradition inform the later “Anglo-Catholic” tradition, while serving as the framework for the Scottish Episcopal tradition, which is characterized as being fully Catholic and Reformed. This Scottish Episcopal tradition, through Bishop Seabury’s early efforts in North America, would later inform the formation of The Episcopal Church of the United States, including its very name.
Image: photo of St. Ninian’s Cathedral (Perth, Scotland), by Kilnburn, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
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