Mr. Simson's knotty case : divinity, politics, and due process in early eighteenth-century Scotland / Anne Skoczylas.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Skoczylas, Anne, 1938-

Series:

McGill-Queen's studies in the history of ideas ; 31.

McGill-Queen's studies in the history of ideas ; 31

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Church of Scotland--Discipline--History--18th century.

Church of Scotland.

Church of Scotland--Doctrines--History--18th century.

Simson, John, 1668?-1740.

Simson, John.

Physical Description:

x, 403 p.

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Mister Simson's knotty case

Place of Publication:

Montreal ; Ithaca, N.Y. : McGill-Queen's University Press, c2001.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The issues involved in these trials included the right of universities to discipline their professors, the degree of political control over the appointment and methodology of teachers, the preservation of factional advantage through such appointments, and the nature of the relationship between a state church and the public institutions responsible for educating its clergy. Skoczylas shows that the effect of the Enlightenment on Scottish Calvinism, which required adaptation to new developments in theology and pedagogy, was an important sub-text to the trials: the compromise reached at the end of the second led indirectly to the first secession of ultra-orthodox ministers from the Church of Scotland. More significantly, the Church became increasingly open to innovative thought so that enlightened ministers of the latter half of the century could debate matters forbidden to Simson. Mr Simson's Knotty Case breaks new ground, offering the first analysis of many ecclesiastical and political sources. Skoczylas shows that although Simson was in many ways a conservative man, despite his innovative pedagogy, the liberalizing effects of his cases thrust Scotland from the obscurity of Covenanting orthodoxy into the clarity of the Enlightenment.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations Used in the Notes

Introduction: Scotland after 1707

John Simson: Historiography and Significance

Simson, Glasgow, And Calvinism

My Great Unfitness for Discharging such ane Office Aright: John Simson and Glasgow University

I Profess myself only a Student: Simson as Teacher

So Unspotted a Church: Challenges to Scottish Calvinism

simson’s first case

A General Inclination to Novelties in Doctrine: Letters, Negotiations, Skirmishes, 1711–1715

A Speedy Trial: Libel, Committee, Trial, 1715–1717

simson and the struggles in scotland, 1717–1726

Adiew to the Piece and Unity of this place: Simson and Glasgow Politics

Further Gulps of Error: Simson and Religious Turmoil

simson’s second case and after

A Crime Deeper than Crimson: From Letter to Suspension, 1726–1727

The Brink of a Rupture: Depose? Acquit? 1727–1729

Quit of him at last: Descent into Obscurity, 1729–1740

Conclusion: Scotland Transformed

Documents re Simson’s First Case

Documents re Simson’s Second Case

Glossary

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references: p. [377]-397 and index.

ISBN:

0-7735-6422-5

OCLC:

181843237