The Notion of the Church in the Writings attributed to King James VI & I

Abstract

I preface this essay by saying that it owes the form of its title to an article by Dr D. H. Willson, of Minnesota, entitled ‘James I’s Literary Assistants,’ published in The Huntington Library Quarterly, VIII (1944–5), 35-57. In this article Dr Willson argues interestingly, though not entirely conclusively, that all but some six of the writings commonly attributed to James I are in whole or in part the work of his literary assistants. Impressive as Dr Willson’s arguments frequently are, they do not demolish the existence of at least a ‘Jacobean school of theology’ within which such men as Montague, Casaubon, Andrewes, and even du Moulin (in favour of whose authorship of A Remonstrance for the Right of Kings Dr Willson’s argument has much to commend it) do, in fact, reflect the views of the King himself. Indeed, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that Dr Willson has over-stated his case, and that the divines he lists as part authors, at least, were really scholarly research workers: royal servants producing evidence to support their master’s theories. On such an assumption we can continue to refer to what ‘James’ says.