Candlish, Robert Smith

CANDLISH, ROBERT SMITH: One of the founders and a leader of the Free Church of Scotland; b. in Edinburgh Mar. 23, 1806; d. there Oct. 19, 1873. He studied at Glasgow (M.A., 1823), and at the divinity hall 1823–26; was licensed in 1828 and served as assistant of St. Andrews, Glasgow, and of Bonhill, Dumbartonshire; in 1834 he became minister of St. George's, Edinburgh, where his talent as a preacher soon made him famous. In 1839 he publicly identified himself with the party in the Church of Scotland which afterward became the Free Church, and in all the public proceedings prior to the disruption in 1843, especially in the debates in the General Assembly, took a leading part; after the disruption he was foremost in organizing and developing the Free Church. His eloquence in debate, his business tact, and his high character enabled him to retain the high position he had gained in spite of a somewhat sharp and abrupt manner, and a tendency to what some considered diplomatic management. On the death of Dr. Chalmers in 1847 he was appointed to succeed him as professor of divinity in New College, Edinburgh, but declined the appointment, preferring to continue minister of St. George's; in 1862, however, he became principal of New College, the duties involving little labor. He was the chief organizer and extender of the school system of the Free Church, which was afterward incorporated 380with the national system of education; and one of the founders of the Evangelical Alliance in 1845. He was a voluminous author, although his books did not attain a very large circulation; among his writings were: Contributions Towards the Exposition of the Book of Genesis (3 vols., Edinburgh, 1843–62; rev. ed., 2 vols., 1868); Scripture Characters and Miscellanies (London, 1850); Examination of Mr. Maurice's Theological Essays (1854); Life in a Risen Saviour, discourses on I Cor. xv. (Edinburgh, 1858); The Two Great Commandments, sermons on Romans xii. (London, 1860); The Atonement, its Reality, Completeness, and Extent (1861); The Fatherhood of God, the first course of Cunningham lectures at New College, Edinburgh, 1864 (5th ed. enlarged, 2 vols., Edinburgh, 1890); The First Epistle of John Expounded in a Series of Lectures (1866); Discourses Bearing upon the Sonship and Brotherhood of Believers (1872); Sermons, with memoir (1873); and The Gospel of Forgiveness, a series of discourses (1878).

Bibliography: W. Wilson, Memorials of R. S. Candlish, Edinburgh, 1880 (with a concluding chapter on his character as a theologian by Robert Rainy, his successor as principal of New College); Jean L. Watson, Life of R. S. Candlish, London, 1882.