"God Shall Always Raise Up Some": John Knox, the Reformer as Prophet

Even those who resist John Knox's 'message' must concede the superbly rhetorical nature of his 'medium: His control over figures of pathos—abusive similitudes, lavish ironies, and cutting epithets—is striking, and the careful divisio apparent in the structure of his tracts, as well as the scholarly listing of proofs and exempla, indicate his characteristic regard for figures of logos. Most notable, however, are his figures and cultivation of ethos, which deal with self-characterisation, or the personal qualities of the 'messenger,' which can stand apart from the message or medium. Characteristically, Knox likes, first, to portray himself as a prophet. The second part of his 'ethical' consciousness involves not so much the prophetic speaker as the hostile or resisting audience to whom he usually finds himself speaking.