One confession of faith that is seldom referenced outside of Scottish Covenanter literature is known as the "Children's Bond." It was a signed statement of faith prepared around 1684 by 15 girls around 10 years of age or younger. These girls came from Pentland, an area known for a famous battle between Covenanter and Royalist forces 17 years before. The 1680's were the height of the Killing Times which makes their confession all the more outstanding. I have yet to see it reproduced in full online, so here is the text for those who may be interested:

Source: Torchbearers of the Truth by A.S. Horne

See also: http://www.ianpaisley.org/article.asp?cov_mackail.htm

[Edited on 20-1-2005 by VirginiaHuguenot]

__________________
Andrew Myers
Husband of Jessica, Father of Jackson, Katie and Samuel
Member, Presbyterian Reformed Church of Northern Virginia
Warrenton, VA USA
Editor, The Matthew Poole Project

"Let your Morning Thoughts, and your last Evening Thoughts, be what shall become of you to all Eternity." -- Matthew Poole

OK. Interpret please. Are the covenanting to not go to the prelatic churches?

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Patrick
OPC
MDiv, RTS Jackson.

"He does well, that discourses of Christ; but he does infinitely better, that by experimental knowledge, feeds and lives on Christ." Thomas Brooks.

Correct. The history which led up to such a hardline stance on the part of the Society People or Cameronian Covenanters, as they are sometimes called, is crucial in understanding their mindset.

The nation of Scotland had voluntarily, willingly signed the National Covenant as well as the Solemn League and Covenant and was on the way to the most thorough reformation of any country in Europe. However, when King Charles II assumed the throne in 1660, he immediately declared the covenants to be treasonous. Those who adhered to them anyway were called Covenanters. Over time the King tried various tactics to divide and conquer the Covenanters, militarily, theologically and in other respects. In 1662, Presbyterian ministers were ejected from their pulpits and replaced by curates who followed state policy with respect to the church. The ejected ministers began to hold outdoor conventicles which were outlawed but held anyway. Charles claimed the title "Head of the Church," which the Covenanters could not in good conscience confess as was required by law in the oath of allegiance, since they believed that Christ alone was Head of the Church. Such refusal to own the oath became a capital crime. However, some Presbyterians did not have a conscience about this, so the camp was divided. There were also a series of Indulgences promulgated by the King which divided the Presbyterians further. By conforming more Presbyterian ministers returned to the prelatic churches and shrunk the size of the Covenant-adhering Presbyterian camp further. A tax was levied to pay for Government soldiers whose primary job was to hunt down the Covenanters. Those who paid the tax were naturally shunned by those being hunted. As the persecution grew more fierce, the death penalty for ministers leading conventicles was expanded to all who attended the same. Execution without trial was the order of the day. The Covenanters resorted to armed resistance under Reformed principles of resistance to tyrants, but they were no match for the Government. Men like Donald Cargill and Richard Cameron lead the smaller and smaller Covenanting party which alone adhered to the Covenants without compromise. The Society People who followed them carried on even after those men were executed. They became nearly leaderless and yet would not surrender their adherence to the Covenants despite ever-increasing pressure. The Children's Bond is a reflection of those young persons who grew up in this time period watching their parents and neighbors suffer under the King and his prelates. They testified together their faithfulness to the principles of their fathers and mothers who died. The Glorious Revolution of 1688 put an end to the persecution but failed to renew the Covenants. This failure lead to the continuation of the Society People outside of the national church, which over time lead to the formation of the Scottish, American, Irish and Australian Covenanter Churches, which all adhered to the Covenants or to Covenanter principles. The children who drew up this Bond, I believe, show forth their faithfulness to Christ in a time of extreme persecution. Their theological understanding, while perhaps not expressed perfectly, is amazing to me considering that the oldest signer was 10 years old. In any case, I hope this brief history clarifies a bit of the background behind the Bond.

very interesting Andrew...I like what you have drawn from this!

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JC
URCNA
PA, but homesick for SC

"Who says you can't go back, been all around the world and as a matter of fact. There's only one place left I want to go, who says you can't go home" Bon Jovi