"The First Blast of the Trumpet is, perhaps, John Knox's most famous and controversial work.

In the twentieth century, few people have read the book, and still fewer have made an attempt to understand the reformer's position. For John Knox, the teaching of scripture alone is sufficient to prove that women should not bear rule over men. The testimony of scripture is so plain, he wrote, that "to add anything were superfluous, were it not that the world is almost now come to that blindness, that whatsoever pleases not the princes and the multitude, the same is rejected as doctrine newly forged, and is condemned for heresy" (p. 390).

Knox knew that his 16th-century opponents expected citations from classical and patristic sources. Therefore, the reformer takes aim at both the position and polemical methods of his critics by quoting some of the stoutest comments imaginable, refuting the government of women.

Whether Knox personally joins with the ancient authors in every detail is immaterial; by numerous references to antiquity, the reformer demonstrates that there is a venerable history of opposition to the rule of women.

Still, Knox points out that his main argument, even if stripped of the patristic citations, is fundamentally based upon the authoritative word of God. "For as I depend not upon the determinations of men, so I think my cause no weaker, albeit their authority is denied unto me; provided that God by his revealed will, and manifest word, stands plain and evident on my side" (p. 400).

Contemporary readers should also recall that, when Knox speaks of "nature," he is often making reference to human nature. Even so, he states, "this part of nature is not my most sure foundation" (p. 385). Again, his principal concern is with the revealed will of God, written in the Bible.

The treatise was published in Geneva in 1558. As indicated in the preface, the work was published anonymously. The author wished to conceal his identity, until he had issued two more blasts, intending to disclose his name with the publication of the Third Blast. The reformer's plan to write two sequels remained unfulfilled, although he later published a summary of the contents which he proposed to treat in the Second Blast. The summary of the Second Blast was appended originally to his Appellation (1558)."

- Kevin Reed in the "Editor's Note" to the Presbyterian Heritage Publications edition.