Subscription, the Scottish Englightenment and the Moderate interpretation of history

Kidd, C.C. (2004) Subscription, the Scottish Englightenment and the Moderate interpretation of history. Journal of Ecclesiastical History, 55, pp. 502-519. (doi: 10.1017/S0022046904009996)

Abstract

The theological reticence of the Moderates in the eighteenth-century Scottish Kirk sits oddly with their contribution to other spheres of literature, notably historical writing. A faultline runs through the historiography of Moderatism, dividing those historians who believe the Moderates remained committed Calvinists from those who endorse the view of contemporary critics within the Kirk that the Moderates favoured Arminianism, or worse. An appreciation of the Moderate preference for history over theology may go some way towards resolving this conundrum. Moderate accounts of religious history ran in parallel with the historical sociology of stadial progress which emerged in the Scottish Enlightenment. Moderate historians recognised that human interpretation of the divine also followed a developmental pattern. Thus, although the Moderates continued to uphold subscription to the Westminster Confession of Faith, their writings indicate that an historical sensitivity to theological change replaced what they perceived to be an inevitably time-bound commitment to dogma.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Kidd, Professor Colin
• Authors: Kidd, C.C.
• Subjects: D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > History
• Journal Name: Journal of Ecclesiastical History
• ISSN: 1469-7637