Religious Toleration in the Wake of Revolution: Scotland on the Eve of Enlightenment (1688–1710s)

Abstract

AbstractThis article demonstrates that a vital transformation occurred within Scottish Presbyterianism following the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688–9 when the Episcopalian Church was overturned for the third and last time. This development held important implications for the subsequent Enlightenment, in which the Presbyterian Church – which had formerly been a byword for intolerance and insularity – played an integral role. After briefly describing the composite nature of the recently re‐established Church, the second section of the article delineates the strands of argument that Presbyterians put forth for religious toleration and ecumenicalism. This discourse privileged the national interests of socio‐economic amelioration in defiance of traditional arguments for the divine right of church government and the state's right to enforce religious uniformity. The European context is also considered, as intellectual currents circulating in Holland, in addition to examples being set elsewhere on the continent, influenced these arguments. The third section explains how a precariously ascendant group of Presbyterian moderates successfully stemmed their rivals’ influence, despite being heavily outnumbered. By relying on the political patronage of William III and his Scottish statesmen, they were able to control the General Assembly and mitigate, whenever possible, persecution in the provinces. Although intolerance remained a vibrant tradition, their combined efforts ended the age of armed religious conflict that had marred Scotland's social and political landscape in the preceding two centuries.