2. Patrick Hamilton in Germany – a Time of Preparation
by J H Merle d’Aubigné
Hamilton’s ambition was to go to Wittenberg, to hear Luther, Melanchthon and other Reformers; but circumstances led him to go first to Marburg. This town lay on his way, and a renowned printer there, Hans Luft, was then publishing the works of William Tyndale. In fact, on 8 May 1527, when Patrick arrived on the Continent, there appeared at Marburg the Parable of the Wicked Mammon; and seven months later, Luft published The Veritable Obedience of a Christian Man. But Hamilton hoped to find at Marburg something more than Tyndale’s writings – Tyndale himself. Hamilton was also aware that Lambert d’Avignon, the Reformer whose views were closest to those which prevailed afterwards in Scotland, had been called to Marburg by the landgrave, Philip of Hesse. The Landgrave was about to found there the first evangelical university, and its inauguration was fixed to take place on May 30.
Hamilton and his friends bent their course towards Hesse. He found the sprightly, pious and resolute Lambert – a man determined to take action so that the Reformation should not be checked halfway. Lambert told him that the hidden things had been revealed by Jesus Christ; that what distinguishes our religion from all others is the fact that God has spoken to us; that the Scriptures are sufficient to make us perfect. He did not philosophise much, persuaded that by philosophising one swerves from the truth. He set aside with equal energy the superstition which invents a marvellous mythology, and the incredulity which denies divine and supernatural action. “Everything which has been perverted [déformé] must be reformed [réformé],” said Lambert, “and all reform which proceeds otherwise than according to the Word of God, is nothing. All the inventions of human reason are, in the matter of religion, nothing but trifling and rubbish.”
Abridged from The History of the Reformation in the Time of Calvin, vol 6.
After the delivery of the inaugural discourses, Hamilton was among those who enrolled in the new university. From that time the Frenchman and the Scot frequently studied the Holy Scriptures together, and always with fresh interest. Hamilton’s extensive acquaintance with the Word of God astonished Lambert; the freshness of his thoughts and of his imagination charmed him; the integrity of his character inspired a high esteem for him; his profound remarks on the gospel edified him. A short time after this, the Frenchman said to the landgrave Philip: “This young man is of the illustrious family of the Hamiltons, which is closely allied, by ties of blood, to the King of Scotland. Although hardly 23 years of age, he brings to the study of Scripture a very sound judgement and has a vast store of knowledge. He has come from the end of the world, from Scotland, to your academy, in order to be more fully established in God’s truth. I have hardly ever met a man who expresses himself with so much spirituality and truth on the Word of the Lord.”
Because of an outbreak of the plague in Wittenberg, Hamilton gave up the idea of travelling there. Lambert resolved to turn the disappointment to good account. Having a high idea of Hamilton’s faith, judgement and abilities, he begged him to compose some theses on evangelical doctrine and to defend them publicly. Everyone supported this request; an academical solemnity at which a foreign theologian belonging to the royal family of Scotland should hold the chief place, would inevitably throw a certain éclat over the new university. Hamilton consented. His subject was quickly chosen. In his eyes a man’s religion was not sound unless it had its source in the Word of God, and in the inmost experience of the soul receiving that Word and thereby being led into the truth. He deemed it necessary to present the doctrine in this practical aspect, rather than to lose himself in the speculative ideas of scholasticism.
On the appointed day Hamilton entered the great hall of the university, in which were gathered professors, students and many others. He announced that he was about to establish a number of truths about the law and the gospel, and that he would maintain them against all comers.
“There is a difference, and even an opposition, between the law and the gospel,” said Hamilton. “The law shows us our sin; the gospel shows us the remedy for it. The law shows us our condemnation; the gospel shows us our redemption. The law is the word of wrath; the gospel is the word of grace. The law is the word of despair; the gospel is the word of comfort. The law is the word of unrest; the gospel is the word of peace. The law says, Pay thy debt; the gospel says, Christ has paid it. The law says, Thou art a sinner; despair and thou shalt be damned; the gospel says, Thy sins are forgiven thee: be of good comfort, thou shalt be saved. The law says, Make amends for thy sins; the gospel says, Christ has made it for thee. The law says, The Father of heaven is angry with thee; the gospel says, Christ has pacified Him with His blood. The law says, Where is thy righteousness, goodness and satisfaction; the gospel says, Christ is thy righteousness, thy goodness, thy satisfaction. The law says, Thou art bound and obliged to me, to the devil and to hell; the gospel says, Christ hath delivered thee from them all.”
The attack began, and Hamilton’s defence was as remarkable as his exposition. His phraseology was clear and concise, and his practical Christianity struck the minds of his hearers forcibly. Certainly, said Lambert, Hamilton has put forward thoroughly-Christian statements and has maintained them with a great deal of learning.
Hamilton engaged in other public disputations. As justification by faith in Christ is the principle which distinguishes Protestantism from other Christian systems, he felt bound to establish the nature, importance and influence of that doctrine. He believed that faith is born in a man’s heart when, as he hears or reads the Word of God, the Holy Spirit bears witness in his heart to the main truth which is found in it, and shows him clearly that Jesus really is an almighty Saviour. For the young Scot, faith was a divine work which he carefully distinguished from a merely-human faith. On this subject he laid down and defended the following propositions: “He who does not believe the Word of God does not believe God Himself. Faith is the root of all that is good; unbelief is the root of all evil. Faith makes friends of God and man; unbelief makes enemies of them. Faith lets us see in God a Father full of gentleness; unbelief presents Him to us as a terrible judge. Faith sets a man steadfast on a rock; unbelief leaves him constantly wavering and tottering. To wish to be saved by works is to make a man’s self his saviour, instead of Jesus Christ.”
In the midst of all these labours, however, Hamilton was thinking of Scotland. It was not of the benefices which had been conferred on him, nor of St Andrews; it was not even of his family or friends that he thought the most. What occupied his mind night and day was the ignorance and superstition in which his countrymen were living. What powerfully appealed to him was the necessity of giving glory to God and of doing good to his own people.
And yet would it not be madness to return to them? Had he not seen the animosity of the Scottish clergy? Did he not know well the power of Archbishop Beaton? Had he not, only six or seven months before, left his country in all haste? Why then these thoughts of returning? There was good reason for them. Hamilton had been fortified in spirit during his sojourn at Marburg; his faith and his courage had increased. By living with decided Christians, who were ready to give their lives for the gospel, he had been tempered like steel and had become stronger. No one could doubt that extreme peril awaited him in Scotland; his two friends, John Hamilton and Wynram, did not understand his impatience and were resolved to wait.
But neither their example nor Lambert’s urgency could quench the ardour of the young hero. He felt the sorrow of parting with Lambert and of finally giving up the hope of seeing Luther and Melanchthon; but he had heard God’s call; his one duty was to answer it. About the end of autumn 1527 he embarked with his faithful servant and sailed towards Scotland.