How is John Knox important?

Answer 1

He was one of the leaders of the Scottish Reformation. Thus he can be regarded as one of the main founders of the Church of Scotland (C of S). He developed many of the concepts and ideas which have had a huge influence on the doctrines and conventions of the C of S and its splinter churches. At one time the C of S and its splinter churches were very dominant in Scottish affairs, because many, at some points most, Scots were members of the Church of Scotland or a splinter church. Although most Scots today are not members of the C of S or one of the splinter churches, there are still a small minority who are. Without the existence of the C of S and Free Church of Scotland (F C of S), United Free Church of Scotland and so on (U F C of S), there would have been no Presbyterianism for Scottish emigrants to export to the many parts of the world they have in the past where they have moved to. Besides, John Knox's legacy cannot be said to simply be the C of S, F C of S etc. It was John Knox who said that every Scot should know what he called God's word and thus must be able to read The Bible. Thus Scotland came to have higher literacy rates than many other European countries. This helped fueled a greater emphasis on education in general without which the Scottish Enlightenment may not have taken place. Of course all of these things are only partly creditable to John Knox, but it is uncertain if they would have taken place if it were not for his influence.