22
June 1680 A.D. Scottish
Minister and Secessionist, Mr. (Rev.) Ebenezer Erksine, Born.
Two sources here: (1) Mr. Graves and (2) Mr. Wiki.
Graves, Dan. “Ebenezer Erskine (1680 to
1754).” Christianity.com. N.d. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/birthdays/06-22.html.
Accessed 3 May 2014.
Ebenezer Erskine (1680 to 1754)
Presbyterian
Ebenezer Erskine Censured.
Birth of Ebenezer Erskine in
Dryburgh, Berwickshire. He was a "Marrowman," one of the evangelicals
who was deeply impressed by a book titled Marrow of Modern Divinity. Disgusted
that wealthy patrons decided which clergyman would be hired in many churches,
he called for local election of pastors. He was censured for this view. With
other pastors, he founded the Secession Church and was deposed from the Church
of Scotland.
22
June 1680 A.D. Birth of
Scottish Minister & Secessionist from Church of Scotland, Rev. Ebenezer
Erskine
Ebenezer Erskine (22 June 1680 – 2 June 1754) was a Scottish minister whose actions led to the establishment of the Secession
Church (formed by dissenters from the Church of Scotland).
Ebenezer's father, Henry Erskine, served as minister at Cornhill-on-Tweed, Northumberland, but was ejected
in 1662 under the Act of Uniformity. and imprisoned for several years. Ebenezer and his brother Ralph were both born during this difficult period in his father's life. After
the Glorious Revolution of 1688 Henry was appointed to the parish of Chirnside, Berwickshire.
In 1703, after studying at the University of
Edinburgh, Ebenezer was ordained as minister of Portmoak, Kinross-shire. A year later, he
married Alison Turpie.[1] They remained in
Portmoak for 28 years, until, in the autumn of 1731, he moved to the West
Church, Stirling.
Some time before this, at the General
Assembly of 1722, a group of men including Ebenezer had been
rebuked and admonished for defending the doctrines contained in the book The
Marrow of Modern Divinity. In 1733, a sermon he preached on lay patronage at the Synod of Perth led to new accusations
being levelled against him. He was compelled to defend himself from rebuke by
appealing to the General Assembly, but the Assembly supported his accusers.
After fruitless attempts to obtain a hearing, he, along with William Wilson of
Perth, Alexander Moncrieff of Abernethy and James Fisher of Kinclaven, was suspended from the ministry by the Commission of Assembly in November
of that year.
In protest against this sentence, the
suspended ministers constituted
themselves as a separate church court, under the name
the "Associate Presbytery". In 1739 they were summoned to appear before the General Assembly,
but did not attend because they did not acknowledge its authority. They were
deposed by the Church of Scotland the following year.
In the following years a large number
of people joined their communion. The Associate Presbytery remained united
until 1747, when a division took place over how the church should respond to a
new oath required of all burgesses. Erskine joined with the "burgher" section, becoming their professor of theology. He continued to preach to a large and influential congregation in
Stirling until his death. He was a very popular preacher and a man of
considerable force of character. He was noted for acting on principle with
honesty and courage. In 1820 the burgher and anti-burgher sections of the Secession Church were reunited, followed, in 1847 by their
union with the relief synod as the United Presbyterian
Church of Scotland.
The majority of Erskine's published
works are sermons. His Life and Diary (edited by the Rev. Donald Fraser)
was published in 1840. His Works were published in 1785.
In the United
States, part of the Associate Presbyterian Church united with
most of the Reformed
Presbyterian Church in 1782, forming the Associate Reformed
Presbyterian Church. This denomination, which continues
today, operates Erskine College and Seminary in Due West, South Carolina.
Notes
References
- A.R. MacEwen The Erskines. (Ebenezer and Ralph Erskine). Edinburgh: Oliphant, Anderson and Ferrier, 1900, ("Famous Scots Series")
- "Erskine, Ebenezer." A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen Volume 1. Thomas Thomson, ed. Glasgow: Blackie&Son, 1875.
No comments:
Post a Comment