# Negative Confession > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Negative_Confession > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Negative_Confession.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_Confession > Source revision: 1347223776 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{short description|1581 document adopted in defence of the Scottish Church}} {{For|the judgement of the dead in Ancient Egyptian religion|Assessors of Maat}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} The '''Negative Confession''' ([Latin](/source/Latin): {{lang|la|Confessio Negativa}}), sometimes known as the '''King's Confession''', is a [confession of faith](/source/Creed) issued by King [James VI](/source/James_VI_and_I) of [Scotland](/source/Kingdom_of_Scotland) on 2 March 1581.S. A. Burrell, "The Apocalyptic Vision of the Early Covenanters", ''The Scottish Historical Review'', Vol. 43, No. 135, Part 1 (April 1964), p. 11, n. 1. ==Background== In 1580 Scottish [Protestants](/source/Protestantism) feared the influence of [Counter-Reformation](/source/Counter-Reformation) forces in Scotland and were suspicious of King James's [Catholic](/source/Catholic_Church) [favourite](/source/favourite), [Ésme Stewart](/source/Esm%C3%A9_Stewart%2C_1st_Duke_of_Lennox). They suspected that Catholics had obtained a [papal dispensation](/source/Dispensation_(Catholic_canon_law)) to allow them to subscribe to the [Scots Confession](/source/Scots_Confession) of 1560.G. D. Henderson, 'Introduction', ''The Scots Confession, 1560, and Negative Confession, 1581'' (Edinburgh: Church of Scotland, Committee on Publications, 1937), p. 26. [David Calderwood](/source/David_Calderwood) later asserted that "many masked ''Papists'' subscribed the old Confession deceitfully".David Calderwood, ''[https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A01039.0001.001/1:3?rgn=div1;view=fulltext An ansvvere to M. I. Forbes of Corse, his peaceable warning]'' (1638). Retrieved 19 January 2021. In order to allay these fears and demonstrate his fidelity to Protestantism, James commissioned [John Craig](/source/John_Craig_(reformer)) to draft a confession of faith that would appeal to Protestants and which no Catholic would be able to sign. [Robert Baillie](/source/Robert_Baillie) later wrote:
In the year 1580 some prime courtiers and others truly popish in their heart, yet for their own ends was content to dissemble and to abjure popery with their owne equivocations and mentall reservations, the King, desiring to stop all starting holes, caused Mr Craige, the pastor of his familie, to draw up a confession of every particular rejecting expressly the most of the Romish errors.Henderson, 'Introduction', p. 27.
The document became known as the Negative Confession because it defined what the [Church of Scotland](/source/Church_of_Scotland) was against rather than declaring those doctrines which it approved.Burrell, 'The Apocalyptic Vision of the Early Covenanters', p. 48. However, the Confession did include an affirmation of the Scots Confession.Henderson, 'Introduction', p. 28. == The Negative Confession in the royal household== The Confession was first subscribed by the King and his courtiers (including Ésme Stewart), hence the name King's Confession. The document was drawn up by the minister John Craig and signed on 28 January 1582.[Steven J. Reid](/source/Steven_J._Reid), ''The Early Life of James VI: A Long Apprenticeship'' (Edinburgh: John Donald, 2023), pp. 175–176. == Reception == According to [David Calderwood](/source/David_Calderwood), "almost all citizens of all ranks followed" James in subscribing to the Confession.[David Calderwood](/source/David_Calderwood), ''Parasynagma Perthense et iuramentum'' (1620), p. 26, cited in Burrell, 'The Apocalyptic Vision of the Early Covenanters', p. 48. The [General Assembly of the Church of Scotland](/source/General_Assembly_of_the_Church_of_Scotland) approved of it and declared it "a true and Christian Confession to be agreed unto by such as truly profess Christ and his true religion". The Church also received orders to prosecute "refusers" and university graduates were required to subscribe to it. The Confession was frequently renewed throughout Scotland and John Craig included it in his popular ''Catechism''. In 1637 [Charles I](/source/Charles_I_of_England) ordered the use of a new prayer book in Scotland, which was similar to the [Anglican](/source/Church_of_England) [Book of Common Prayer](/source/Book_of_Common_Prayer). This was met with widespread resistance and many Scots believed that Charles's [Archbishop of Canterbury](/source/Archbishop_of_Canterbury), [William Laud](/source/William_Laud), was trying to re-introduce Catholic practices. Scottish Church leaders took the Negative Confession, with its strident anti-Catholicism, as their inspiration in the campaign against Charles's ecclesiastical policies.Henderson, 'Introduction', pp. 28-29. In 1638 [Archibald Johnston](/source/Archibald_Johnston) and [Alexander Henderson](/source/Alexander_Henderson_(theologian)) reprinted the Confession in the [National Covenant](/source/National_Covenant), which was signed across Scotland.John D. Ford, 'The Lawful Bonds of Scottish Society: The Five Articles of Perth, The Negative Confession and the National Covenant', ''The Historical Journal'', Vol. 37, No. 1 (Mar., 1994), p. 54. In 1831 [Edward Irving](/source/Edward_Irving) said the Confession "is one of the most nervous protestations against the Papacy that was ever penned".Edward Irving, 'Preface', ''The Confessions of Faith and the Books of Discipline of the Church of Scotland, of Date Anterior to the Westminster Confession'' (London: Baldwin and Cradock, 1831), p. cxxviii. The 19th-century Protestant theologian [Philip Schaff](/source/Philip_Schaff) called it "the most fiercely anti-Popish of all Confessions".William A. Craig, ''A History of Creeds and Confessions of Faith in Christendom and Beyond'' (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1911), p. 261. In 1902 [W. L. Mathieson](/source/W._L._Mathieson) spoke of "that exhaustive execration of all things papal which the Presbyterians of the next century were content to revive as the confession of their faith".W. L. Mathieson, ''Politics and Religion: A Study in Scottish History from the Reformation to the Revolution, Vol. I'' (Glasgow: James Maclehose and Sons, 1902), p. 222. [Hugh Pope](/source/Hugh_Pope) in the ''[Catholic Encyclopedia](/source/Catholic_Encyclopedia)'' described it as the "most violent condemnation of Papistry that ever issued from a [Calvinistic](/source/Calvinism) pen".{{cite CE1913|wstitle= Faith |volume= 5 |page= |last= Pope |first= Hugh |author-link= Hugh Pope |year=1913|short=1}} ==Editions== *''The Scots Confession, 1560, and Negative Confession, 1581'', introduction by [G. D. Henderson](/source/G._D._Henderson) (Edinburgh: Church of Scotland, Committee on Publications, 1937). *The text of the Confession is reprinted in ''A Source Book of Scottish History, Volume 3: 1567 to 1707'', eds. W. C. Dickinson and G. Donaldson (London: Nelson, 1954), p. 32. == External links == * Text of the Confession at ''We are Reformed'': {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250322065418/https://wearereformed.com/the-kings-confession-1581/|date=March 22, 2025|title=The King’s Confession (1581)}} ==Notes== {{reflist}} {{Scottish religion}} {{reformed confessions}} Category:1581 books Category:1581 in Scotland Category:Scottish Reformation Category:16th-century Christian texts Category:Presbyterianism in Scotland Category:Reformed confessions of faith Category:Church of Scotland --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Negative Confession](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_Confession) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negative_Confession?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.