The Story of the Scottish Church

The Story of the Scottish Church began as a series of lectures given by Dr. M’Crie to large audiences in Edinburgh. As printed in a cheap form they enjoyed a wide circulation, but at the very close of his life their author brought the history down to the period of the Disruption, and it was printed in one volume. Dr. M’Crie evidently felt that it was as necessary for nineteenth-century Scots to hear about the great works that God had done in their land, as it had been in Israel when the psalmist said, “We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done.” (Ps. 78 v. 4).

More than a century later, in our time of widespread decay of religion, it is even more desirable that not only Scots, but all the people of the United Kingdom and lands beyond should read the story of how it pleased God to give Scotland a reformation of religion so complete that His Church there could be described as fully agreeable to the Scriptural pattern. Such a Church was sure to become a special object of Satan’s enmity, and in his book Dr. M’Crie has faithfully and in a most readable way portrayed the trials and tribulations of the Scottish Church at the hands of the Stuart kings, English Episcopacy, and Rome also, seeking to regain its dominance. Declension in various forms and divisions made their own contribution to the troubles of the Scottish Church, but on the other hand there were great deliverances such as the “Glorious Revolution” of 1688 and revivals like that of the period leading up to the Disruption in 1843. The story ends just after that event.

The events described cannot, of course, be separated from the characters involved, and many of these must rank among the ablest, godliest and most valiant in the New Testament era. Altogether, it is a stirring, absorbing account of God’s mighty works in Scotland that should call forth our prayers for similar works to be done in our time.