The
Book of Discipline refers to two works regulative of
ecclesiastical order in the
Church of Scotland, known as
The First Book of Discipline (1560) and
The Second Book of Discipline (1578), drawn up and printed in the
Scottish Reformation. The first was drafted by a committee of "six Johns", including leading reformer
John Knox. It set out a system of
Presbyterian polity on the Geneva model, but the lack of funds meant its programme of clerical organisation and education was largely abandoned. The second book was adopted after the forced abdication of
Mary Queen of Scots and was much more clearly Presbyterian in outlook. It placed church supervision fully in the hands of groups of elected church leaders in
presbyteries.