Notable Quotable: The Monstrous Regiment of Women

John Knox was the founder of the Church of Scotland and served King Edward VI of England as a royal chaplain. He was also a rabid misogynist who in 1558, nearly five hundred years ago, was so opposed to the idea of women ruling any country that he published a pamphlet entitled, “The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women.”

In his pamphlet, Knox referred to the Queen of England as Jezebel, a wicked woman, a traitor, and a bastard. Likewise, he assailed England as a “Monstrous empire of a cruel woman” and an “Isle abominable before God.”

The people of England, however, loved and revered their queen. Their ongoing affections drove the irascible Knox into deeper and more disturbing conniption fits where he likened the silence of church leaders and their support for the queen to a repugnant offense that would incur the wrath of God for going against the natural order of things.

Knox’s quote below is only notable in that it reminds us that history is never so far behind us. It can rear its head in any given moment and often does. Today, the past is barking back at us through the angry voices of a new generation of biased men, who hate, who must dominate, and who believe that in this country, where we are all created equal, it is their right and only a man’s right to ascend to the highest office of power.

“I am sure that God has revealed to some in this our age, that it is more than a monster in nature, that a woman shall reign and have empire above man. And yet with us all, there is such silence, as if God therewith were nothing offended.” —John Knox

Around the world, women have been leaders of nations for centuries. As of today, there are 30 women serving as heads of state. But not in America which claims to be the greatest democracy in the world. That may change on Tuesday or it may not. Should such an event come to pass, many will celebrate the advancement and the breaking of our glass ceiling, but others will revile it with the unwarranted passion of John Knox. For that we must all be sorry.

Come Tuesday in America, may God continue to bless us all.