The Probert Encyclopaedia of General Information

COVENANT

In Scotch history, Covenant was the name given to a bond or oath drawn up by the Scottish reformers, and signed in 1557, and to the similar document or Confession of Faith drawn up in 1581, in which all the errors of Popery were explicitly abjured. The latter was subscribed by James VI and his council, and all his subjects were required to attach their subscription to it. It was again subscribed in 1590 and 1596. The subscription was renewed in 1638, and the subscribers engaged by oath to maintain religion in the same state as it was in 1580, and to reject all innovations introduced since that time. The Solemn League and Covenant was a solemn contract entered into between the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and commissioners from the English parliament in 1643, having for its object a uniformity of doctrine, worship, and discipline throughout Scotland, England, and Ireland, according to the word of God and the example of the best reformed churches. In 1662 it was abjured by act of parliament, both in England and Scotland.
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