In 1733 Ebenezer Erskine, William Wilson, Alexander Moncrieff, and James Fisher seceded from the Church of Scotland and formed the Associate Presbytery. Later they were joined by Ralph Erskine and Thomas Mair. The collective writings of thesee According to them, the Church was Christ's mediatory kingdom and divine right presbyterianism was essential in Scotland because it was taught in Scripture, summarized in the standards, sworn in national covenants, and established by civil and e Both of these pillars of Scottish covenant theology acknowledged the same Christological distinction. According to the covenant of works, mankind was alienated from the Triune Creator God; whereas in the covenant of grace the elect were redeem Instead of examining their theological foundation, the Seceders explained these inconsistencies in their doctrine by various theological distinctions (e.g. Christ's internal and external headship over the Church visible and invisible).

The burgh of Canongate, situated next to Edinburgh, was deeply affected by the British Civil Wars (1638-49). The Canongate kirk session records, the parish-based bureaucratic and disciplinary records of the Reformed (Presbyterian) Kirk, provide a detailed portrait of daily life in Canongate during that tumultuous period. The records are particularly revealing of early modern gender history as they show how both men and women interacted with the local kirk, and reveal key social trends in the burgh, especially relating to sex and marriage. Illicit sex and its issue adultery, fornication and illegitimacy were a common and serious concern for the Reformed Kirk, and their persecution was more of a national preoccupation than in England or other parts of Europe. This concern is reflected in the large number of fornication and adultery cases that came before the Canongate kirk session between 1640 and 1650. The marital partnership, as the economic and social cornerstone of early modern society, was also an important issue in Canongate, and the kirk session records provide a glimpse at the nature and significance of marriage in the parish. Scotlands kirk session records offer one of few windows into the daily lives of early modern women, and they allow us to see some of the many ways in which women were active agents in the kirks system of godly discipline. Through the Canongate kirk session records, therefore, it is possible to glean understanding about Scottish womens lives in relation to one of the most rigorous disciplinary systems of early modern Europe.

The burgh of Canongate, situated next to Edinburgh, was deeply affected by the British Civil Wars (1638-49). The Canongate kirk session records, the parish-based bureaucratic and disciplinary records of the Reformed (Presbyterian) Kirk, provide a detailed portrait of daily life in Canongate during that tumultuous period. The records are particularly revealing of early modern gender history as they show how both men and women interacted with the local kirk, and reveal key social trends in the burgh, especially relating to sex and marriage. Illicit sex and its issue adultery, fornication and illegitimacy were a common and serious concern for the Reformed Kirk, and their persecution was more of a national preoccupation than in England or other parts of Europe. This concern is reflected in the large number of fornication and adultery cases that came before the Canongate kirk session between 1640 and 1650. The marital partnership, as the economic and social cornerstone of early modern society, was also an important issue in Canongate, and the kirk session records provide a glimpse at the nature and significance of marriage in the parish. Scotlands kirk session records offer one of few windows into the daily lives of early modern women, and they allow us to see some of the many ways in which women were active agents in the kirks system of godly discipline. Through the Canongate kirk session records, therefore, it is possible to glean understanding about Scottish womens lives in relation to one of the most rigorous disciplinary systems of early modern Europe.

David Lipscomb, editor of the Gospel Advocate for almost half a century, was a man of wide influence. He was intensely devoted to the cause of Christ. In the estimation of his admirers he "had a keener and deeper insight to the meaning of the Holy Scriptures and of God's dealings with the race than any other one man in all Christendom." Though such a judgement is open to question, the man becomes a fit subject for such a study as we have attempted to make.