Podcast Episode 53
Scottish National Covenant
with Dr. Laura Stewart & host Nick Walters
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When Scottish nobles and ministers gathered in an Edinburgh churchyard in 1638, they were not staging a protest — they were redefining the relationship between Christ, the Church, and the crown.
Episode 53 of This Week in Christian History centers on the Scottish National Covenant, one of the most consequential confessional and political documents in Protestant history. Drafted and signed in 1638 at Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh, the Covenant asserted that Jesus Christ — not the king — is the head of the Church. It was both a theological declaration and a constitutional crisis in written form.
In this episode, Nick Walters, founder of the Center for Christian History at Mississippi College, explores why the Covenant emerged, what pressures led to its drafting, and how it reshaped Scotland, Britain, and eventually the Atlantic world.
Our Deep Dive guest is Laura Stewart of the University of York, one of the leading scholars of early modern Scotland and the Covenanting movement. Dr. Stewart brings scholarly clarity to the political theology behind the Covenant, the Prayer Book crisis of 1637, and the explosive reaction against Charles I’s attempts to impose religious uniformity. The conversation situates the Covenant within the broader Reformed tradition, Scottish Presbyterian identity, and the turbulent context of seventeenth-century Europe.
Here is a link to Dr. Stewart's book on the Covenant: https://global.oup.com/academic/produ...
The episode examines how confessional documents functioned not merely as statements of belief but as instruments of resistance. What happens when theology collides with royal authority? What does it mean to claim Christ’s kingship in a society where monarchs insist on ecclesiastical control? And how did a document signed in Edinburgh reverberate into the Wars of the Three Kingdoms and beyond?
As always, the episode also features historical highlights from the same week in Christian history.
One highlight looks back to the martyrdom of Polycarp, the second-century bishop of Smyrna whose steadfast refusal to renounce Christ under Roman pressure became one of the earliest and most powerful martyr narratives in Church history. His witness reminds us that questions of authority — imperial or ecclesiastical — have shaped Christian life from the beginning.
Another highlight turns to the modern archaeological rediscovery of the ancient city of Ur. Excavations there in the early twentieth century transformed scholarly understanding of the ancient Near East and the historical context of the Old Testament world. The recovery of material culture from Ur deepened appreciation for the historical grounding of biblical narratives and the complex civilizations that surrounded ancient Israel.
Together, these segments underscore a recurring theme in Christian history: the intersection of faith, authority, and public life. From Polycarp before Roman officials, to Scottish nobles before their king, to archaeologists uncovering the world of Abraham, Christianity has continually engaged the structures of power, culture, and historical memory.
This episode invites listeners to consider how confessional commitments shape political realities — and how the claim that “Christ is head of the Church” has carried consequences across centuries.
Subscribe to This Week in Christian History for weekly episodes featuring:
– An interview with Nick Walters, founder of the Center for Christian History at Mississippi College
– A Deep Dive with a leading subject matter expert
– Historical highlights from the same week in Church history
If you are interested in serious, historically grounded conversations about Christianity — its theology, its conflicts, its martyrs, and its global impact — this episode offers both scholarly depth and accessible insight.
