Henry Scougal (1650–1678) was a Scottish

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

, minister and author. Henry Scougal was the second son of

Patrick Scougal Patrick Scougal (1607–1682) was a Scottish Churchmanship, churchman who served as Bishop of Aberdeen. Life He was born in Haddington, East Lothian, a cousin of the painter John Scougal, in 1624 he graduated from the University of Edinbu ...

and Margaret Wemys. His father was

Bishop of Aberdeen The Bishop of Aberdeen (originally Bishop of Mortlach, in Latin Murthlacum) was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Aberdeen, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th-century cleric named Nech ...

for more than 20 years. From his infancy, Scougal was raised with religion. From his youth, Scougal spent his free hours in reading, meditation and prayer. He especially enjoyed studying the historical passages of the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

. In 1665 Scougal entered King's College,

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...

, and, after graduation, was promoted to the office of professor of philosophy. In 1672, Scougal was ordained and appointed minister of a church 20 miles from

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, where he served for one year before returning to take the office of professor of divinity at King's College, where he taught for five years. He spoke

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, and a few Asian languages. Scougal produced a number of works while a pastor and professor of divinity at King's. His most recognized work, ''The Life of God in the Soul of Man'', was originally written to a friend to explain

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

and give spiritual counsel. This work was almost universally praised by the leaders of the

Great Awakening Great Awakening refers to a number of periods of religious revival in American Christian history. Historians and theologians identify three, or sometimes four, waves of increased religious enthusiasm between the early 18th century and the late ...

, including

George Whitefield George Whitefield (; 30 September 1770), also known as George Whitfield, was an Anglican cleric and evangelist who was one of the founders of Methodism and the evangelical movement. Born in Gloucester, he matriculated at Pembroke College at th ...

, who said he never really understood what true religion was until he had digested Scougal's treatise. On 13 June 1678 Scougal died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

. George Garden, ''The Works of the Rev. Henry Scougal: together with his funeral sermon, by the Rev. Dr. Garden ; and an account of his life and writings'' (Robert Carter, 1846) https://books.google.com/books?id=_1AXAAAAYAAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s

Works

*De Objecto Cultus Religiosi (Aberdeen, 1674) *The Life of God in the Soul of Man (London, 1677) edited by ishop Gilbert Burnet, 1691, 1707, 1742, 1751, 1753, other editions, and a French translation in 1727 *also edition (with portrait and Life) by James Cooper, D.D., Aberdeen, 1892) *Reflections and Meditations (Aberdeen, 1740) *Essays, Moral and Divine (Aberdeen, 1740) *Sermons (Glasgow, 1751) *Sermons (Aberdeen, 1773) *He is said to have left in manuscript three Latin tractates — "A Short System of Ethics," " A Preservative against the Artifices of Roman Missionaries," and the first chapter of "The Pastoral Care," but these were not printed, and the MSS. have disappeared.

Bibliography

*Reg. of Deeds, Durie, cvii., 28th Dec. 1705 ; *Butler's Henry Scougal and the Oxford Methodists (Edinburgh, 1899) *Orem's Hist, of Aberdeen, 178 *Works (Aberdeen, 1759, 1765, 1773; London, 1818; Glasgow, 1830).

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* * * Scottish Christian theologians Alumni of the University of Aberdeen 17th-century deaths from tuberculosis 1650 births 1678 deaths Tuberculosis deaths in Scotland {{Christian-theologian-stub