Paton James Gloag (1823–1906) was a Scottish minister and theological author. He was

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the ministers and elders of the Church of Scotland, minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week i ...

in 1889.

Life

Born in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

on 17 May 1823, he was the eldest son of William Gloag (died 1856), a banker in Perth, by his wife Janet (Jessie) Burn (died 1864), daughter of John Burn, WS of Edinburgh.

William Gloag, Lord Kincairney William Ellis Gloag, Lord Kincairney (7 February 1828 – 8 October 1909) was a Scottish judge. Life Born in Perth on 7 February 1828, he was son of William Gloag, a banker in Perth, by his wife Jessie, daughter of John Burn, writer to the Signe ...

was his younger brother, and his eldest sister was Jessie Burn Gloag, who founded a

ragged school Ragged schools were charitable organisations dedicated to the free education of destitute children in 19th century Britain. The schools were developed in working-class districts. Ragged schools were intended for society's most destitute children ...

in Perth. Educated at

Perth grammar school Perth Grammar School is a secondary school in Perth, Scotland. It is located in the Muirton district of Perth at the junction of Bute Drive and Gowans Terrace. The catchment serves the area to the north of Perth between Murthly and Methven whi ...

, then studied divinity at

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...

from 1841. Due to 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 ...

he relocated to

St Andrews University (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

and completed his degree there. He was licensed to preach in 1846 and from 1848 to 1857 was minister of Dunning a remote village in southern

Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...

. In 1860 he moved to

Blantyre Blantyre () is Malawi's centre of finance and commerce, and its second largest city, with an enumerated 800,264 inhabitants . It is sometimes referred to as the commercial and industrial capital of Malawi as opposed to the political capital, L ...

and in 1871 he moved to

Galashiels Galashiels (; sco, Gallae, gd, An Geal Àth) is a town in the Scottish Borders with a population of around 12,600. Its name is often colloquially shortened to "Gala". The town is a major commercial centre for the Borders region with extensive ...

, in place of Rev

K. M. Phin Kenneth Macleay Phin (1816–1888) was a Scottish minister who served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1877. He ran the Church of Scotland’s Home Mission Scheme. As a church campaigner and pamphleteer he was ...

. In 1879 he delivered

The Baird Lecture ''The Baird Lecture'' is a lectureship that was endowed by James Baird to promote the Christian religion. History and endowment In 1873 James Baird established The Baird Trust and gave into its care £500,000 to be used for aggressive Christian ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

on the topic of “The Messianic Prophecy” He made several trips to Germany where he befriended

August Tholuck Friedrich August Gottreu Tholuck (30 March 1799 – 10 June 1877), known as August Tholuck, was a German Protestant theologian, pastor, and historian, and church leader. Biography Tholuck was born at Breslau, and educated at the gymnasium and ...

. In 1892 he gave up his parochial duties and went to

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

to concentrate on writing. In 1896 he accepted a post of professor of

Biblical criticism Biblical criticism is the use of critical analysis to understand and explain the Bible. During the eighteenth century, when it began as ''historical-biblical criticism,'' it was based on two distinguishing characteristics: (1) the concern to ...

Aberdeen University , mottoeng = The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom , established = , type = Public research universityAncient university , endowment = £58.4 million (2021) , budget ...

. Gloag was influenced by the writings of

John Pye-Smith John Pye-Smith (25 May 1774 – 5 February 1851) was a Congregational minister, theologian and tutor, associated with reconciling geological sciences with the Bible, repealing the Corn Laws and abolishing slavery. He was the author of many ...

. He was an advocate of

gap creationism Gap creationism (also known as ruin-restoration creationism, restoration creationism, or "the Gap Theory") is a form of old Earth creationism that posits that the six-''yom'' creation period, as described in the Book of Genesis, involved six lit ...

. On 9 January 1906 he died in his Edinburgh home, 28

Regent Terrace Regent Terrace is a residential street of 34 classical 3-bay townhouses built on the upper south side of Calton Hill in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. Regent Terrace is within the Edinburgh New and Old Town UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed ...

Calton Hill Calton Hill () is a hill in central Edinburgh, Scotland, situated beyond the east end of Princes Street and included in the city's UNESCO World Heritage Site. Views of, and from, the hill are often used in photographs and paintings of the ci ...

, a very large Georgian townhouse.Edinburgh and Leith Post office Directory 1904-5 However, he is buried in the small parish churchyard of Dunning, next to his parents. A memorial stained glass window was erected to his memory in St Pauls Parish Church in Galashiels.

Family

In 1867 he married Elizabeth Stobie Lang (1840–1914), daughter of Rev Gavin Lang of

Glasford Glasford is a village in Peoria County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,022 at the 2010 census. Glasford is part of the Peoria, Illinois Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Glasford or Glasco as it was called in 1868, was named fo ...

. They had no children.

Artistic recognition

In 1889, whilst Moderator, he was painted by George Reid RSA.

Publications

*''A Treatise on Justification'' (1850) *''A Treatise on Assurance of Salvation'' (1853)
''The Primeval World: A Treatise on the Relations of Geology to Theology''
(1859) a reaction to “

On the Origin of Species ''On the Origin of Species'' (or, more completely, ''On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life''),The book's full original title was ''On the Origin of Species by Me ...

” *''The Resurrection'' (1862) *''Practical Christianity'' (1866) *''Commencing on the Acts of the Apostles'' (1870) *''Introduction to the Pauline Epistles'' (1874) *''St James and St Jude'' (1881) *''Commentary on the Epistle of St James'' (1883) *''Exegetical Studies'' (1884)
''Introduction to the Catholic Epistles''
(1887) *''Commentary on the Thessalonians'' (1887) *''Introduction to the Johannine Writings'' (1891) *''Life of St John'' (1892) *
Introduction to the Synoptic Gospels
' (1895)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gloag. Paton James 1823 births 1906 deaths Alumni of the University of St Andrews Christian creationists Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland Scottish non-fiction writers 19th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland 20th-century Ministers of the Church of Scotland