Semester in Scotland Students Reformation Tour
Each Semester in Scotland student studies Scottish Church history as part of their course, a key part of this class includes a week long Reformation Tour with Scottish Reformation Tours. Our most recent tour was with four girls from Geneva College in the U.S.A. Here’s what one of them wrote about their time with us.
“Last week was our Reformation Tour, courtesy of Jimmy and Helen Fisher. I loved every second of our time traveling around Scotland. God blessed us with unusually pleasant weather and safe travels. Jimmy and Helen took us around to many churches, graveyards, castles, and even some battle sites that were relevant to the Reformation in Scotland. A lot of the stories that Jimmy told us as we went around were familiar—we had just finished reading “The Scottish Covenanters” by Johannes G. Vos the week before. But while the four of us girls may have had a basic understanding of the timeline of the Reformation as well as the key figures that drove the changes in the church, it wasn’t until we were standing by the graves of the two Margarets or William Adam that we really came to realize the price to be paid by being faithful to Christ.
During the week, I began to notice a pattern in why so many people were being martyred for being Covenanters. In so many cases, like William Adam’s, it was simply for being seen reading a Bible. Or like John Brown, who was murdered in front of his wife and children because he owned a Bible and was telling Bible stories to children. I think that the Covenanters had grasped an all-important concept that Christians today forget all too often—the Bible is the living Word of God. The Word of God has the power to change people. It is the ultimate written source of Truth in our lives. And for those who are opposed to God, this is an aroma of death. It is why so many who are opposed to Christ wish to put barriers between His people and His Word.
After this week, I have come to a new appreciation for God’s Word and what it is. We have the very words that God breathed out at the very tips of our fingers—should we not be taking full advantage of this means of grace every day? So many have died for the act of owning or reading the Bible, and it should convict us of the life-giving importance of knowing God through His Word. I have come to appreciate my heritage in the Reformed Presbyterian tradition even more than I already have—what a rich history of being faithful to God’s Word and keeping Christ as the only Head of the church.”
Bethany Cerbus