Trinity College, Glasgow,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, is the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

's College at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

. It provides special supervision of candidates for the ministry through a Principal (appointed by the

General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the sovereign and highest court of the Church of Scotland, and is thus the Church's governing body.''An Introduction to Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland'' by A. Gordon McGillivray ...

) and a College Council. The college is the official channel of liaison between the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, the

, and the

United Free Church of Scotland The United Free Church of Scotland (UF Church; gd, An Eaglais Shaor Aonaichte, sco, The Unitit Free Kirk o Scotland) is a Scottish Presbyterian denomination formed in 1900 by the union of the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland (or UP) and ...

. The current principal is Doug Gay.

History

The

Disruption of 1843 The Disruption of 1843, also known as the Great Disruption, was a schism in 1843 in which 450 evangelical ministers broke away from the Church of Scotland to form the Free Church of Scotland. The main conflict was over whether the Church of S ...

marked a schism in the

, resulting in the creation of the

Free Church of Scotland Free Church of Scotland may refer to: * Free Church of Scotland (1843–1900), seceded in 1843 from the Church of Scotland. The majority merged in 1900 into the United Free Church of Scotland; historical * Free Church of Scotland (since 1900), rema ...

. The Free Church established three colleges or seminaries of its own, detached from the universities, for the education of its ministers. As well as its Glasgow college, the other two colleges were

New College, Edinburgh New College is a historic building at the University of Edinburgh which houses the university's School of Divinity. It is one of the largest and most renowned centres for studies in Theology and Religious Studies in the United Kingdom. Student ...

and

Christ's College, Aberdeen Christ's College, Aberdeen was one of three colleges in Scotland founded by the Free Church of Scotland for the training of ministers following the Disruption of 1843. The other two were New College, Edinburgh and Trinity College, Glasgow. Follo ...

. The Glasgow College, funded by local subscription, was established in 1856. It was a multi-disciplinary institution of considerable reputation, existing outside the University of Glasgow's Faculty of Divinity. In 1872

Thomas Martin Lindsay Thomas Martin Lindsay FRSE (1843–1914) was a Scottish historian, professor and principal of the Free Church College, Glasgow. He wrote chiefly on church history, his major works including ''Luther and the German Reformation'' (1900), and ''A His ...

was appointed Professor of

church history __NOTOC__ Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual ...

, and he became principal of the college in 1902. Later, in 1930, following the reunion of the churches and theological teaching facilities, the Glasgow Church college was renamed "Trinity College". After the reunion of the main Scottish

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

churches in 1929–30, the two teaching facilities in the University and the Church College were reintegrated. After 1976, when the Church-owned Trinity College buildings at

Park Circus Park Circus is a neighbourhood of Central-South Kolkata, in Kolkata district, West Bengal, India. Geography Police district Karaya police station is in the South-east division of Kolkata Police. Karaya Women police station, at the same a ...

were finally vacated, all teaching of theology took place in the university Divinity Faculty. Accordingly, while Trinity College still exists, it is a body without walls. On 2 November 2006, Trinity College celebrated its 150th anniversary with a gathering of some 250 alumni and friends.trinitycollege150
at divinity.gla.ac.uk Its 155th anniversary celebrations took place on 4 November 2011.

Some notable teachers

Teachers in the pre-1930 College included

Alexander Balmain Bruce Alexander Balmain Bruce (31 January 18317 August 1899) was a Scottish churchman and theologian. He was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland. Life He was born at Aberdalgie in the parish of Abernethy, Perthshire, on 13 January 1831, was the s ...

James Denney James Denney (8 February 1856 – 12 June 1917) was a Scottish theologian and preacher. He is probably best known today for his theological articulation of the meaning of the atonement within Christian theology, atonement for him being “the most ...

George Adam Smith :''Note in particular that this George Smith is to be distinguished from George Smith (Assyriologist) (1840–1876) who researched in some overlapping areas.'' Sir George Adam Smith (19 October 1856 – 3 March 1942) was a Scottish the ...

James Moffatt James Moffatt (4 July 1870, Glasgow – 27 June 1944, New York City) was a Scottish theologian and graduate of the University of Glasgow. Moffatt trained at the Free Church College, Glasgow, and was a practising minister at the United Free Ch ...

, Henry Drummond, and James Orr. In the modern era, in the reunited faculty, notable teachers have included John MacQuarrie, William H.C. Frend,

William Barclay William Barclay may refer to: *William Barclay (jurist) (1546–1608), Scottish jurist *William Barclay (writer) (c. 1570–c. 1630), Scottish writer *William Barclay (painter) (1797–1859), English miniature painter *William Barclay (theologian) ...

John Zizioulas John Zizioulas ( el, Ιωάννης Ζηζιούλας; born 10 January 1931) is a Greek Orthodox prelate and the current titular Metropolitan bishop of Pergamon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. He is one of the most influential ...

, Robert Davidson

George Newlands George McLeod Newlands is a Scottish theologian widely published in the fields of modern systematic theology, Christology, emancipatory theology, and the history of Christian thought. He is Emeritus Professor of Divinity at the University of Gl ...

, John Riches,

Heather Walton (theologian) Heather may refer to: Plants *The heather family, or Ericaceae, particularly: **Common heather or ling, ''Calluna'' **Various species of the genus ''Cassiope'' **Various species of the genus ''Erica'' Name * Heather (given name) * Heather (su ...

Charlotte Methuen (Church Historian) Charlotte Mary Methuen, (born 1964) is a British Anglican priest, historian, and academic. Since 2017, she has been Professor of Church History at the University of Glasgow. As an academic she specialises in the Reformation in Germany, 20th-centur ...

. The former clerk was

A. K. M. Adam Andrew Keith Malcolm Adam (born September 10, 1957), known as A. K. M. Adam, is a biblical scholar, theologian, author, priest, technologist and blogger. He is Tutor in New Testament and Greek at St. Stephen's House at Oxford University. He is a w ...

. The current clerk is Mark Johnston.

References

External links

Trinity College, Glasgow

University of Glasgow webpage on Trinity College

University of Glasgow webpage on Trinity College's Library
{{authority control Schools of the University of Glasgow Church of Scotland Bible colleges, seminaries and theological colleges in Scotland Educational institutions established in 1856 Category A listed buildings in Glasgow 1856 establishments in Scotland Hillhead

History

Some notable teachers

Archives

Further reading

References

External links