House Church Movement in Scotland (1547-1559 A. D.)

I found this second-hand book at the Haunted House Bookstore called The Story of the Scottish Reformation by Renwick. It was published in 1960. I knew very little about the Reformation in Scotland and it was very cheap so I bought it. I found a historical parallel. The growth of the Church in Scotland foreshadowed the house church movement in China during the 1960s and 1970s. The French captured the Castle of Saint Andrews in the 1550s, which was a haven for the Reformation leaders. The leaders were made galley slaves and many thought the Reformation movement would die. However God is not bound by circumstance. Renwick described what happens:

When the Castle of St. Andrews was captured by the French it seemed as if the cause of the Reformed Church was lost. Scotland was virtually governed by the French, and the Roman Church seemed permanently established. Indeed, throughout all Europe, the the Protestant faith was at its lowest ebb. Yet the amazing fact emerges that, at this very time when the Protestant movement in Scotland was without a leader, the Reformed doctrines took an ever-increasing hold upon all classes. Thus, when, in 1555, John Knox returned from Geneva for a visit of a few months, he was overjoyed to find great masses of the people thirsting for the gospel. This he related in a letter to his mother-in-law, Mrs. Bowes, and declared they were 'night and day sobbing and groaning for the bread of life. If I had not seen it with my eyes in my own country, I could not have believed it. Depart I cannot until such time as God quench their thirst a little'.

Renwick pointed out that this time of exile was good for Knox too. Although he suffered horribly as a galley slave, when he was released he made it to mainland Europe and met with the Reformation leaders. He came back to Scotland a well-trained, and bold leader. Knox and the other leaders most probably had made wise plans, but God chose His own way. (Proverbs 16:9)

When the Chinese Communist regime kicked out the missionaries in the 1960s, many thought the Church in China would die. However, the church went underground and grew.