"lawfully chosen thereto by some Kirk." Later, we find that rather more
than this, and rather more than some of the "trew ministeris" then had,
is required.

As the document reaches us, it appears to have been "mitigated" by
Lethington and Wynram, the Vicar of Bray of the Reformation. They
altered, according to the English resident, Randolph, "many words and
sentences, which sounded to proceed rather of some evil conceived opinion
than of any sound judgment." As Lethington certainly was not "a lawful
minister," it is surprising if Knox yielded to his criticism.

Lethington and Wynram also advised that the chapter on obedience to the
sovereign power should be omitted, as "an unfit matter to be treated at
this time," when it was not very obvious who the "magistrate" or
authority might be. In this sense Randolph, Arran's English friend,
wrote to Cecil. {174a} The chapter, however, was left standing. The
sovereign, whether in empire, kingdom, duke, prince, or in free cities,
was accepted as "of God's holy ordinance. To him chiefly pertains the
reformation of the religion," which includes "the suppression of idolatry
and superstition"; and Catholicism, we know, is idolatry. Superstition
is less easily defined, but we cannot doubt that, in Knox's mind, the
English liturgy was superstitious. {174b} To resist the Supreme Power,
"doing that which pertains to his charge" (that is, suppressing
Catholicism and superstition, among other things), is to resist God. It
thus appears that the sovereign is not so supreme but that he must be
disobeyed when his mandates clash with the doctrine of the Kirk. Thus
the "magistrate" or "authority"--the State, in fact--is limited by the
conscience of the Kirk, which may, if it pleases, detect idolatry or
superstition in some act of secular policy. From this theory of the Kirk
arose more than a century of unrest.