John Willison (other)
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John Willison (1680 – 3 May 1750) was an evangelical minister of 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 ...
and a writer of
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 ...
literature.


Life

His father was laird of a small property near Stirling, where John Willison was born. He was inducted to the parish of Brechin as minister in 1703. In 1718 he moved to a charge in
Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
. His treatise on the
sanctification Sanctification (or in its verb form, sanctify) literally means "to set apart for special use or purpose", that is, to make holy or sacred (compare la, sanctus). Therefore, sanctification refers to the state or process of being set apart, i.e. " ...
of the Lord's day was in response to the policies of James VI and the
Episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United State ...
clergy. It provoked a reply from James Small, an Episcopalian, which was answered by Willison in his ''Letter from a Parochial Bishop to a Prelatical Gentleman''. After this, he wrote a devotional work: ''A Sacramental Directory''. Small replied to his earlier ''Letter'', upon which Willison published ''An Apology for the Church of Scotland''. He then moved on to political topics with ''A Letter to an English Member of Parliament''. After the ejection of
Ebenezer Erskine Ebenezer Erskine (22 June 1680 – 2 June 1754) was a Scotland, Scottish minister whose actions led to the establishment of the First Secession, Secession Church (formed by dissenters from the Church of Scotland). Early life Ebenezer's father, ...
and his fellow-ministers for opposition to
patronage Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...
, Willison attacked their exclusion in a sermon to the
Synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...
of
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and Mearns in 1733 (published as "The Church's Danger"). He tried to win them back and a majority was gained in the General Assembly of 1734 as a healing measure. As a result, Willison was sent to
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as part of a deputation to labour for the repeal of patronage, but they were only successful insofar as they gained some important concessions. Erskine and his colleagues were not satisfied and formed a separate presbytery in 1739 (see United Presbyterian Church of Scotland for Seceders history). In 1737 he wrote one of his most famous and most reprinted works ''The Afflicted Man's Companion'', and also an explanation of the Shorter
Catechism A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...
called ''An Example of Plain Catechising''. Other catechetical pieces published by Willison at different times were ''The Mother's Catechism'' (a famous and much used young children's catechism) and ''The Young Communicant's Catechism''. In 1742 he published another much printed work, ''The Balm of Gilead'' which includes twenty-four discourses, twelve of them relating to The Lord's Supper. In 1744 there followed his ''Fair and Impartial Testimony'' on the state of the Church of Scotland. During the Jacobite rebellion of 1745, having published in the same year ''Popery Another Gospel'', he was threatened by soldiers of the
Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...
army while conducting service in the church building and for a few weeks had to preach in private houses. His last publication was ''Sacramental Meditations and Advices'' (1747).


Selected writings

* ''Treatise Concerning the Sanctification of the Lord's-Day'' (1712 or 1713) * ''A Letter from a Parochial Bishop to a Prelatical Gentleman in Scotland, concerning the Government of the Church''(1714) * ''A Sacramental Directory: or, a Treatise concerning the Sanctification of a Communion-Sabbath'' (1716) * ''An apology for the Church of Scotland : against the accusations of prelatists and Jacobites, particularly the reflections of J.S. late incumbent at Forfar'' (1719) * ''A letter to an English member of Parliament : from a gentleman in Scotland, concerning the slavish dependencies, which a great part of that nation is still kept under, by superiorities, wards, reliefs, and other remains of the feudal law, and by clanships and tithes'' (1721) * ''The Church's danger, and the minister's duty declared, in a sermon preach'd at the opening of the Synod of Angus and Mearns'' (1733) * ''The Afflicted Man's Companion'' (1737) * ''An Example of plain Catechising upon the Assembly's Shorter Catechism'' (1737) * ''The balm of Gilead, for healing a diseased land '' (1742) * ''A fair and impartial testimony : essayed in name of a number of ministers, elders, and Christian people of the Church of Scotland, unto the laudable principles, wrestlings and attainments of that Church; and against the backslidings, corruptions, divisions, and prevailing evils, both of former and present times'' (1744) * ''Sacramental meditations and advices for the use of communicants : in preparing their hearts, and exciting their affections, on sacramental occasions ; and a Christian directory, consisting of forty scripture directions, proper for all those intending heaven'' (1747)


Sources

* Biographical introduction to John Johnstone's reprint of "The Afflicted Man's Companion"
COPAC


External links



Etext of "The Young Communicant's Catechism"

Etext of "A Fair and Impartial Testimony"

John Willison biography

Includes Etext of Willison's "Five Sacramental Sermons"

Two booklets currently in print reprinting parts of Willison's writings under the titles "Directions for Christians" and "Meditations on the Lord's Supper"

Sample from "An Example of Plain Catechising"

Letter from Willison about the Cambuslang Revival {{DEFAULTSORT:Willison, John 1680 births 1750 deaths Clergy from Stirling 18th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland Scottish evangelicals Scottish religious writers