George Gillespie

Some people don’t act their age. Consider Mozart, who composed his first symphony at eight, or Joan of Arc who reversed the wartime fortunes of England at seventeen, or Pascal, who designed a calculator at nineteen. Today’s story concerns the outsized influence of the youngest member of the Westminster Assembly. British Parliament commissioned the Westminster Assembly in 1643 to constitute a Form of Government, a Directory for Worship, Confession of Faith, and two Catechisms for use in the Church of England and Scotland. The motion called for “the most learned, godly and judicious divines” (theologians) to agree on best church practices and resolve whether the divine right of kings extended to jurisdiction over the church. One hundred twenty-one commissioners from England and five from Scotland met regularly for five years at Westminster Abbey, the youngest of which was George Gillespie (1613-1648). Despite his relative youth (thirty) and obscurity, he soon became one of the most influential leaders of the Assembly. His early mastery of theology generated considerable interest among Scottish churches, but George could not in good conscience submit to ordination from a bishop, so he labored in obscurity as a tutor until his exceptional skills for a larger field of service could not be denied. His rise to leadership at the Assembly was so sudden that it’s difficult to determine which stories about him are legendary and which are factual. One widely told story concerns the writing of the Shorter Catechism (a condensed version of the Larger Catechism, making it easier for children to memorize). The enormity of question four, “What is God?” gave the Assembly considerable pause. George was asked to pray for guidance. When he finished, someone committed his prayer to writing. As the Assembly wrestled with the most fitting answer, they kept revisiting what George had just prayed. Since they couldn’t improve upon it, they settled on the first few words of George’s prayer: