John Brown of Priesthill: Historic Heroism in an Ordinary Scottish Life

We love our popular heroes – tough, strong, adventuring fellows, with lives full of daring exploits. The obscure Scottish Covenanter John Brown of Priesthill is a hero of a different kind. Like the early Christian martyrs of the Roman Empire who would rather suffer and die than deny their God, John Brown stood firmly for the life and liberty found only in the Lord Jesus Christ. Brown’s inspiring story deserves reading over and over again, from generation to generation. The Scottish Covenanters of the seventeenth century, inspired by the leadership of Reformer John Knox over a hundred years earlier, refused to accept a debased and authoritarian Christianity headed by arrogant kings and clergy. The Covenanters believed that they should choose their own Christian teachers according to a strict Biblical standard and not by the dictates of arbitrary authority. John Brown was one such teacher. His life was ordinary. He sought to provide for his home and family. Known as a carrier, Brown carried various valuables belonging to neighbors abroad in the community to trade for them. Hardly a glamorous vocation, it yet required a great deal of trust among those he served. Thus, when he preached, people listened. Tyrants fear such men. John Brown died because he trusted and served His God above all else. Christian classroom and homeschool teachers will want their students to read and absorb the whole depth of meaning in this story. Christian parents will want to inspire and strengthen their older children’s hearts with John Brown’s and the entire Scottish Covenanter story.