George Wishart

February 09, 2005

One March day in 1546, a man named George Wishart was brought before a solemn meeting of bishops at St. Andrews’s Abbey in Scotland. George had been preaching out in the fields to people even though the church had forbidden him to do so.

The interrogator there, John Lauder, accused George of heresy.

George recalled that he’d been only speaking about the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer and the epistle of Paul to the Romans.

Lauder pointed out that he’d done so “without any authority of the church.” Then he began shouting, “Thou false heretic, traitor and thief, deceiver of the people, thou despisest the holy church.”

George replied, “We ought to obey God rather than men.”

Lauder continued presenting evidence of heresy. George had taught that the gospels urge us to confess our sins to God, not to a priest. George had questioned infant baptism, asking, “Shouldn’t a person understand the thing he’s committing himself to?”

George had declared that the eucharist was just a symbol, a piece of bread. George had questioned the practice of praying to the saints, since the Bible clearly states we should worship God alone.

In other words, George was disagreeing with all these bishops in their impressive robes, seated in their imposing cathedral.

So Lauder shouted even louder, “Thou wilt not obey our general councils.”

George replied simply, “Without the express witness of the Scripture, I dare affirm nothing.”

But that wasn’t enough for the churchmen at St. Andrews. They couldn’t allow this man to challenge their authority. They couldn’t allow him to go on demonstrating that their cherished traditions had no basis in Scripture. And so they condemned him to be burnt as a heretic.