John Caird (theologian)

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person John CairdTemplate:Efn Template:Postnominals DD LLD (1820–1898) was a Scottish theologian. He entered the Church of Scotland, of which he became one of the most eloquent preachers. He served as the Principal of the University of Glasgow from 1873 until 1898.

Life

He was born at 24 Nicholson Street<ref>Greenock Post Office Directory 1820</ref> in Greenock on 15 December 1820, the son of John Caird of Caird and Co. and Janet Young. His younger brother was Edward Caird.

He was educated at Greenock Grammar School, and then attended the University of Glasgow graduating MA in 1845. He spent some time as a missionary in Ardentinny before being licensed to preach as a Church of Scotland minister by the Presbytery of Glasgow in 1845.<ref name="ReferenceA">Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae; vol. 7; by Hew Scott</ref>

In September 1845 he was ordained as minister at Newton-on-Ayr, translating to Lady Yester's Church in Edinburgh in May 1847, and to Errol, Perthshire in July 1849. Caird was transferred to Park Church, Glasgow in 1857, being appointed Chaplain in Ordinary to Queen Victoria in the same year.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

In 1862 he became Professor of Divinity at the University of Glasgow, and, in 1873 following the death of Thomas Barclay,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> became Principal of the university, a post which he then held for 26 years, until 1898.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>

The University of Glasgow made him a Doctor of Divinity in 1860 and St Andrews University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws in 1863. Edinburgh gave him a second DD doctorate in 1884.<ref name="ReferenceB">Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae; vol. 7; by Hew Scott, p. 398</ref>

A sermon on Religion in Common Life, preached before Queen Victoria, made him known throughout the Protestant world. He wrote An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion (1880), and Spinoza (1888).Template:Sfn

Caird delivered the 1892–1896 Gifford Lectures at the University of Glasgow, entitled The Fundamental Ideas of Christianity.

In 1897 he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

He died on 30 July 1898 in Greenock and is buried in Greenock Cemetery.<ref name=":0" /> His position as Principal was filled by Robert Herbert Story.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>

Family

In June 1858 he married Isabella Riddle Glover, daughter of Rev Dr William Glover of Greenside. They had no children.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Publications

• Religion in Common Life (1855)
• The Fundamental Ideas of Christianity 2 vols. (1899)

References

Sources

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Attribution

• {{#invoke:Template wrapper|wrap|_template=cite wikisource

| _exclude = noicon,inline,short,wslink,plaintitle,year | _alias-map = authorlink:author-link, archiveurl:archive-url, archivedate:archive-date,wspage:page,nopp:no-pp, 1:chapter,title:chapter,wstitle:chapter,laysummary:lay-summary,laydate:lay-date | firsticon = {{#if:||1}} | noicon = 1 | prescript = {{#if:|One or more of the preceding sentences|This article}} incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: | last = {{#if: ||Cousin}} | first = {{#if: ||John William}} | author-link = {{#if: ||John William Cousin}} | wslink = A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature | plaintitle = A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature | year = 1910 | publisher = {{#if: ||J. M. Dent & Sons}} | location = {{#if: ||London}} }}Template:Main other

External links

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• Biography and Summary of Gifford Lectures by Dr Brannon Hancock