The Reek Of Patrick Hamilton

The Reek Of Patrick Hamilton

He was Scotland’s first Protestant martyr.

PATRICK HAMILTON, born about 1503, was from an important Scottish noble family and a distant relative of the Stuart king James V and therefore, technically, royalty. During his short life he passed a number of milestones in rapid succession. When a teenager, he was appointed the titular abbot of Ferne in Ross-shire, then entered the University of Paris, and graduated in 1520.

In Paris, Hamilton was exposed to the teachings of Martin Luther, which were spreading across Europe. He returned to Scotland in 1523, unhappy with the Roman Catholic Church, but as the second son, he was expected to study theology. He entered St. Leonard’s College at St. Andrews that same year, excited about Luther’s teaching of justification by faith.

By 1525 books containing the heresies of Luther were forbidden by the Scottish Parliament. The next year Patrick Hamilton let it be known publicly that he believed those doctrines. In the space of a year Hamilton received three summonses from Archbishop Beaton. In response to the first accusation of heresy in 1527, he went abroad to avoid further problems with the church.

However, this trip served only to strengthen his resolve to follow Luther. He went to Wittenberg, Germany, and personally met both Luther and co-Reformer Philip Melanchthon. He also met William Tyndale, who was translating the Bible into English. While in Germany he wrote a short book entitled Common Places, which explained the principles and doctrines of the Reformation, emphasizing, in particular, justification by faith in Christ alone.

Soon he was home again in Scotland, where he began preaching the doctrines of the Reformation. His preaching and family connections made him a considerable threat to the Roman Catholic Church, and in January 1528 Hamilton was called to meet with Archbishop Beaton and other Catholic theologians at St. Andrews. He was examined and then sent home—perhaps in the hope that he would further incriminate himself or that he would leave the country to save himself.

A month later he was again summoned to appear before the archbishop and his council on thirteen charges of heresy: the main charge being the position he took in Common Places: that “man is not justified by works, but by faith alone.” Other charges concerned his positions on penance, confession, and purgatory. He was convicted and sentenced to be burned at the stake that very same day, February 29, 1528. The execution was carried out in such haste that there was not enough wood and powder on hand to produce a huge blaze. As a result, Hamilton suffered a slow and horrible death.

Hamilton’s influence grew as word of his martyrdom spread, making him more popular in death than in life. Soon all of Scotland was discussing Reformed theology. One of his accusers, Alexander Alexius, was converted as a result of Hamilton’s testimony and became a Reformation leader.

A witness of Hamilton’s burning later remarked, “The reek [stench of the smoke] of Patrick Hamilton has infected as many as it did blow upon.”

Reflection

If you had been raised a Roman Catholic at the beginning of the Reformation, how would you have reacted to Martin Luther’s teaching that man is not justified by works but by faith alone? What about now? Do you know of justification by faith as merely a doctrine or as a personal experience?

If they are saved by God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s wonderful kindness would not be what it really is—free and undeserved.

Romans 11:6