Coauthor of the famous Scottish National Covenant, moderator of the Glasgow General Assembly that defied King Charles I, and member of the Westminster Assembly, Alexander Henderson (1583–1646) led Scotland during the tumultuous period of the British Revolutions. He influenced Scotland as a Covenanter, preacher, Presbyterian, and pamphleteer and earned an important place in the nation’s history. Despite his numerous accomplishments, no modern biography of Henderson exists. In Riots, Revolutions, and the Scottish Covenanters , L. Charles Jackson corrects this omission. He avoids the extremes of casting Henderson as a forerunner to liberty or as a theological tyrant and instead places his actions in their historical setting, presenting this important leader as he saw himself: primarily a minister of the gospel who was struggling to live faithfully as he understood it. Using neglected and, in some cases, new sources, Jackson reassesses the role of religion in early modern Scotland as reflected in the life of Alexander Henderson. Table of Contents: 1. The Preparation 2. The Covenanter 3. The Preacher 4. The Presbyterian 5. The Pamphleteer 6. The Collapse of the Cause

How freely can salvation be offered to people? How do Law and Grace find balance? What influence does federal theology have on the overall theological enterprise? How does a confessional church interact with both the civil government and other religious communions? These are the questions roiling the twenty-first-century church; these were the questions threatening to splinter the Scottish church in the early eighteenth century. In those earlier days of mounting theological confrontation withinthe Scottish church, Ebenezer Erskine - a parish minister renowned for his evangelistic zeal - had a major role to play. Through this examination of the theology and ministry of Erskine, one therefore gains not only a deeper understanding of a man critically important within Presbyterian history, but also insight into the pressing theological disputes of the day. By analysing Erskine's contributions to ongoing theological discussion, greater clarity is gained on the development of federal theology; on the root causes of the Marrow controversy; and on the challenges involved as increasing religious diversity penetrated lands once dominated by national churches. In these areas and more, Erskine serves both to illuminate an obscure era and torefine modern understandings of still controversial theological issues.

Unity and Continuity in Covenantal Thought examines the historiographical problems related to the interpretation of the Westminster Standards, delving into the issue of covenantal thought in the Westminster Standards, followed by an exhaustive analysis of nineteenth- and twentieth-century scholarship on covenant.

The National Book League was a precursor to the current Booktrust, and was set up in 1924 by the Society of Bookmen in order to promote reading, particularly among the young. To that end, the NBL issued Reader's Guides on a variety of subjects, each written by an author with expertise in that field and containing an annotated bibliography of recommended titles on the subject. J. D. Mackie had a distinguished career as a historian of Scotland, and was appointed Historiographer Royal for Scotland in 1957, the year after this guide was published. This guide includes an introduction defending Scottish history as a subject independent from general British history, and a bibliography divided by period and by specific points of interest, including Scottish art and the role played by Scots in the development of the British Empire.