Today, February 28th, 2024, marks the 386th anniversary of the publication of the Scottish National Covenant of 1638. As bound in my conscience that personal covenanting is a duty along with social covenanting, and that I have been deficient in this work, and that I see myself as firmly rooted in the covenanting tradition, I felt it expedient to renew this covenant for myself, in the spirit thereof, according to my own place and station, the legal parts relating to Acts of Parliament and oaths of submission to the king excepted.[^1] >Behold, we are servants this day, and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruit thereof and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it: And it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us because of our sins: also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress. And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it; and our princes, Levites, and priests, seal unto it. >**Nehemiah 9:36-38** I, Christian Herring, as under-signed, protest, that, after long and due examination of my own conscience in matters of true and false religion, I am now thoroughly resolved in the truth by the word and Spirit of God: and therefore I believe with my heart, confess with my mouth, subscribe with my hand, and constantly affirm, before God and the whole world, that this only is the true Christian faith and religion, pleasing God, and bringing salvation to man, which now is, by the mercy of God, revealed to the world by the preaching of the blessed gospel; and is received, believed, and defended by many and sundry notable churches and nations, as God's eternal truth, and only ground of my salvation; as more particularly is expressed in the Confession of Faith, publicly set down by the Westminster Assembly of Divines, in the year of God 1646. To the which Confession and Form of Religion I willingly agree in my conscience in all points, as unto God's undoubted truth and verity, grounded only upon his written word. And therefore I abhor and detest all contrary religion and doctrine; but chiefly all kind of Papistry in general and particular heads, even as they are now damned and confuted by the word of God and doctrine of true churches. But, in special, I detest and refuse the usurped authority of that Roman Antichrist upon the scriptures of God, upon the church, the civil magistrate, and consciences of men; all his tyrannous laws made upon indifferent things against Christian liberty; his erroneous doctrine against the sufficiency of the written word, the perfection of the law, the office of Christ, and his blessed gospel; his corrupted doctrine concerning original sin, man's natural inability and rebellion to God's law, man's justification by faith only, man's imperfect sanctification and obedience to the law; the nature, number, and use of the holy sacraments; his five bastard sacraments, with all his rites, ceremonies, and false doctrine, added to the ministration of the true sacraments without the word of God; his cruel judgment against infants departing without the sacrament; his absolute necessity of baptism; his blasphemous opinion of transubstantiation, or real presence of Christ's body in the elements, and receiving of the same by the wicked, or bodies of men; his dispensations with solemn oaths, perjuries, and degrees of marriage forbidden in the word; his cruelty against the innocent divorced; his devilish mass; his blasphemous priesthood; his profane sacrifice for sins of the dead and the quick; his canonization of men; calling upon angels or saints departed, worshipping of imagery, relics, and crosses; dedicating of churches, altars, days; vows to creatures; his purgatory, prayers for the dead; praying or speaking in a strange language, with his processions, and blasphemous litany, and multitude of advocates or mediators; his manifold orders, auricular confession; his desperate and uncertain repentance; his general and doubtsome faith; his satisfaction of men for their sins; his justification by works, *opus operatum*, works of supererogation, merits, pardons, pilgrimages, and stations; his holy water, baptizing of bells, conjuring of spirits, crossing, sayning, anointing, conjuring, hallowing of God's good creatures, with the superstitious opinion joined therewith; his worldly monarchy, and wicked hierarchy; his solemn vows, with all his shavelings of sundry sorts; his erroneous and bloody decrees made at Trent, with all the subscribers or approvers of that cruel and bloody band, conjured against the church of God. And finally, I detest all his vain allegories, rites, signs, and traditions brought in the church, without or against the word of God, and doctrine of the true reformed church; to the which I join myself willingly, in doctrine, faith, religion, discipline, and use of the holy sacraments, as a lively member of the same in Christ my head: promising and swearing, by the great name of the LORD my GOD, that I shall continue in the obedience of the doctrine and discipline of the true church, and shall defend the same, according to my vocation and power, all the days of my life; under the pains contained in the law, and danger both of body and soul in the day of God's fearful judgment. And seeing that many are stirred up by Satan, and that Roman Antichrist, to promise, swear, subscribe, and for a time use the holy sacraments in the church deceitfully, against their own conscience; minding hereby, first, under the external cloak of religion, to corrupt and subvert secretly God's true religion within the church; and afterward, when time may serve, to become open enemies and persecutors of the same, under vain hope of the Pope's dispensation, devised against the word of God, to his greater confusion, and their double condemnation in the day of the Lord Jesus: I therefore, willing to take away all suspicion of hypocrisy, and of such double dealing with God, and his church, protest, and call the Searcher of all hearts for witness, that my mind and heart does fully agree with this my Confession, promise, oath, and subscription: so that I am not moved with any worldly respect, but am persuaded only in my conscience, through the knowledge and love of God's true religion imprinted in my heart by the Holy Spirit, as I shall answer to him in the day when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed. And because I perceive, that the quietness and stability of true religion and church doth depend upon the safety and good behavior of the civil magistrate, as upon a comfortable instrument of God's mercy granted to a nation, for the maintaining of his church, and ministration of justice; I protest and promise with my heart, under the same oath, hand-writ, and pains, that, should God be so pleased as to raise one up in my day, I shall defend the person and authority of a true Christian magistrate with my goods, body, and life, in the defense of Christ, his gospel, liberties of the country, ministration of justice, and punishment of iniquity, against all enemies within this nation or without, as I desire my God to be a strong and merciful defender to me in the day of my death, and coming of my Lord Jesus Christ; to whom, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, be all honor and glory eternally. Amen. In obedience to the commandment of God, I conform to the practice of the godly in former times, and according to the laudable example of my worthy and religious progenitors, and of many yet living, in the following causes. First, for the defense the true religion, as it was then reformed, and is expressed in the Confession of Faith above written, set down in public Catechisms; and which hath been for many years, with a blessing from Heaven, preached and professed in true Protestant churches, as God's undoubted truth, grounded only upon his written word. Second, for maintaining the authority of the Christian civil magistrate, his person and estate; the true worship of God and the magistrate's authority being so straitly joined, as that they had the same friends and common enemies, and did stand and fall together. And finally, being convinced in my mind, and confessing with my mouth, that the present and succeeding generations in all nations are bound to make and keep national oaths and subscriptions inviolable. I, Christian Herring, under-subscribing, considering divers times before, and especially at this time, the danger of the true reformed religion and of the public peace of nations, by the manifold innovations and evils, generally contained, and particularly mentioned in my late supplications, complaints, and protestations; do hereby profess, and before God, his angels, and the world, solemnly declare, that with my whole heart I agree, and resolve all the days of my life constantly to adhere unto and to defend the foresaid true religion, and (forbearing the practice of all innovations already introduced in the matters of the worship of God, or approbation of the corruptions of the public government of the church, or civil places and power of churchmen, till they be tried and allowed in free Assemblies) to labor, by all means lawful, to recover the purity and liberty of the Gospel, as it was established and professed before the foresaid novations. And because, after due examination, I plainly perceive, and undoubtedly believe, that the innovations and evils contained in my supplications, complaints, and protestations, have no warrant of the word of God, are contrary to the articles of the foresaid Confession, to the intention and meaning of the blessed reformers of religion in sundry lands; and do sensibly tend to the re-establishing of the Popish religion and tyranny, and to the subversion and ruin of the true reformed religion, and of Christian liberties, and estates, nations, and magistrates; I also declare, that the foresaid Confessions are to be interpreted, and ought to be understood of the foresaid novations and evils, no less than if every one of them had been expressed in the foresaid Confessions; and that I am obliged to detest and abhor them, amongst other particular heads of Papistry abjured therein. And as each day of my life I am more convinced by the Holy Spirit of God of the complete and utter evil and blasphemy of that Roman Antichrist, and all parts of his false religion, and as I have been witness of his sinister deception and leading astray of many professors of the Protestant faith, like that idol shepherd, Zechariah 11, I do solemnly swear, in no uncertain terms, to utterly detest and abhor such evil every day of my life, and that I endeavor the extirpation of Popery in every motion and form thereof, in myself, my family, my church, my nation, and in the world, according to what authority may be granted me, by the strength and might of ALMIGHTY GOD, and to bear public witness of the same. And therefore, from the knowledge and conscience of my duty to God, without any worldly respect or inducement, so far as human infirmity will suffer, wishing a further measure of the grace of God for this effect; I promise and swear, by the GREAT NAME OF THE LORD MY GOD, to continue in the profession and obedience of the foresaid true religion; and that I shall defend the same, and resist all these contrary errors and corruptions, according to my vocation, and to the uttermost of that power that God hath put in my hands, all the days of my life. And in like manner, with the same heart, I declare before God and men, that I have no intention nor desire to attempt anything that may turn to the dishonor of God; but, on the contrary, I promise and swear, that I shall, to the uttermost of my power, with my means and life, stand to the defence and preservation of the foresaid true religion and liberties; as also to the mutual defense and assistance every true Christian brother entering into like covenant, in the same cause of maintaining the true religion, the lawful magistrate's authority, with our best counsel, our bodies, means, and whole power, against all sorts of persons whatsoever; so that whatsoever shall be done to the least of us for that cause, shall be taken as done to us all in general, and to every one of us in particular. And that we shall neither directly nor indirectly suffer ourselves to be divided or withdrawn, by whatsoever suggestion, combination, allurement, or terror, from this blessed and loyal conjunction; nor shall cast in any let or impediment that may stay or hinder any such resolution as by common consent shall be found to conduce for so good ends; but, on the contrary, shall by all lawful means labor to further and promote the same: and if any such dangerous and divisive motion be made to us by word or writ, we, and every one of us, shall either suppress it, or, if need be, shall incontinent make the same known, that it may be timeously obviated. Neither do I fear the foul aspersions of rebellion, combination, or what else my adversaries, from their craft and malice, would put upon me; seeing what I do is so well warranted, and ariseth from an unfeigned desire to maintain the true worship of God, the lawful magistrate's authority, and the peace of the nation, for the common happiness of myself and my posterity. And because I cannot look for a blessing from God upon my proceedings, except with my profession and subscription I join such a life and conversation as beseemeth a Christian who has renewed his covenant with God; I therefore faithfully promise for myself and all others under me, whether in public, or in my particular family, and personal carriage, to endeavor to keep myself within the bounds of Christian liberty, and to be a good example to others of all godliness, soberness, and righteousness, and of every duty I owe to God and man. And, that this my covenant may be observed without violation, I call the LIVING GOD, THE SEARCHER OF HEARTS, to witness, who knoweth this to be my sincere desire and unfeigned resolution, as I shall answer to JESUS CHRIST in the great day, and under the pain of God's everlasting wrath, and of infamy and loss of all honor and respect in this world: most humbly beseeching the LORD to strengthen me by his HOLY SPIRIT for this end, and to bless my desire and proceeding with a happy success; that religion and righteousness may flourish, to the glory of GOD, and peace and comfort of all.  In witness whereof, I have subscribed with my hand all the premises. Christian Herring #covenanting [^1]: The text of the original covenant can be found [here](https://reformationhistory.org/nationalcovenant_text.html).