The Ten Commandments by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: REL012000/REL067000/REL023000
Publisher: Crossway
Published: 2018-10-30T00:00:00+00:00

7

An Affair of the Heart

You shall not commit adultery.

Exodus 20:14

As a part of my doctoral work on John Witherspoon, I had to spend time in Edinburgh at the National Archives of Scotland. I spent weeks looking at historical church records from the eighteenth century. It may not sound like a barrel of monkeys, but for this Presbyterian pastor it was fascinating to look through old minutes from various sessions, presbyteries, synods, and assemblies. Sure, there were technical debates, examinations, and minutiae that only historians would enjoy, but at the local church level, the issues were surprisingly relevant. In fact, most of the session records (think elder meeting minutes) dealt with sex and marriage.

For example, a woman named Margaret Snodgrass was called before the elders at John Witherspoon’s church in Beith, Scotland, on September 25, 1747. She was asked if she was with child and responded that she was, though she was not married. She claimed that the father was one John Sheddan of Cuff. In the next month, the elders brought John before them and asked if he had had “any carnal dealings with Margaret.” He vigorously denied the charge. The session continued to work with him, and he continued to plead his innocence, even though records suggest he was lying. Three years later, the issue was still unresolved. Margaret and John were now married, but they had been found guilty (again) of “uncleanness” and had to appear this time before the whole congregation.

Or consider another controversy that surfaced at that same church in 1747. William Mitchell and Elizabeth Cochran were rebuked by Witherspoon for their “irregular marriage.” This was a common problem in eighteenth-century Scotland. A couple would clandestinely commit themselves to one another without the approval of their parents and without the blessing and formal ceremony of the church. They would get married in secret and then feel free to engage in sexual intercourse. What was the church to do? Were they married or not? Were they living in sin? For their part, William and Elizabeth were fined by the church.

Then there was the case of a man named George King and his servant girl Margaret. Margaret accused her master of committing adultery with her and fathering her child. George denied the accusations, claiming that Margaret was a loose woman who slept around. But the elders didn’t believe George. When George continued to rebuff the session’s efforts to bring the sin to light, they brought the matter to the presbytery, who also disbelieved George’s profession of innocence. The presbytery said that George was “guilty of gross prevarication of such indecent behavior that he deserves to be publicly rebuked.” And yet he continued to maintain his innocence. This lasted a full decade until George finally admitted, just as Witherspoon was leaving the church, that he was guilty of adultery.

Some things, and some sins, never change. In fact, scholars from other periods have found the same patterns. In his excellent book Calvin’s Company of Pastors, Scott Manetsch examines the consistory minutes from Geneva in the years 1542–1609.

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