J. Douglas MacMillan (30 September 1933 – 3 August 1991) was a British

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

minister in the Free Church of Scotland.

Life

MacMillan was born the youngest of six children, on the

Ardnamurchan Ardnamurchan (, gd, Àird nam Murchan: headland of the great seas) is a peninsula in the ward management area of Lochaber, Highland, Scotland, noted for being very unspoiled and undisturbed. Its remoteness is accentuated by the main access ...

peninsula in

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

. He was converted at the age of 21, and studied at the

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 at the Free Church College. After his ordination, he ministered at St. Columba in Aberdeen (1966–1974) and St Vincent Street in Glasgow (1974–1982), before taking up an appointment as 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 ...

at the Free Church College. Since 1994, the biennial MacMillan Lecture in Evangelism has been held at that institution in his honour. According to Hywel Jones, MacMillan's preaching was marked by "powerful originality and strong orthodoxy". He is best known for his book ''The Lord Our Shepherd'' (). This is an exposition of

Psalm 23 Psalm 23 is the 23rd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "The Lord is my shepherd". In Latin, it is known by the incipit, "". The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and a boo ...

, originally given to the

Evangelical Movement of Wales The Evangelical Movement of Wales, formed in 1948, came to light as a counter move by reformed Christians to the liberal theology which was gaining influence into the Protestant denominations of Wales during the 20th century. The Movement is a f ...

in 1979. MacMillan drew on his 12 years of experience as a shepherd to argue that the shepherd theme pervades the entire psalm. MacMillan wrote a number of other books including ''Wrestling with God'' () consisting of addresses on the life of

Jacob Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...

given to the

in 1983, ''Jesus: Power Without Measure'' (), ''Restoration in the Church'' () and ''The God of All Grace'' (). MacMillan had five children with his wife, Mary."Personal Testimony," in J. Douglas MacMillan, ''The Lord Our Shepherd'' (Bryntiron: Bryntirion Press, 2003), 29.

References

1933 births 1991 deaths Converts to Presbyterianism 20th-century Ministers of the Free Church of Scotland Alumni of the University of Aberdeen People from Lochaber Historians of Christianity 20th-century Scottish historians British historians of religion {{christianity-historian-stub