Islay Burns (1817–1872) was a Scottish theologian and writer.
/ref>

Life

Burns was born on 16 January 1817 at the manse of Dun in Forfarshire, the son of William Hamilton Burns, parish minister in the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

, and his wife Elizabeth Chalmers. The family moved to

Kilsyth Kilsyth (; ) is a town and civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in North Lanarkshire, roughly halfway between Glasgow and Stirling in Scotland. The estimated population is 10,380. The town is famous for the Battle of Kilsyth and the religi ...

near Glasgow in his youth. He received the chief part of his education at the grammar school of

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

, under Dr. James Melvin, a celebrated teacher of Latin, and then studied divinity at

Marischal College Marischal College ( ) is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has been the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. The building was constructed for and is on long-term lease fr ...

and

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

, and the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

. He was ordained in 1843 to the charge of St. Peter's Free church, Dundee, in succession to Robert Murray M'Cheyne, a man of eminent spirituality and power. In 1863 he received an honorary degree of D.D. from the

, and in 1864 was chosen as Professor of Apologetics and Systematic Theology in the theological college of the Free Church, at Lynedoch Place in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. In this office he remained during the rest of his life. Burns was remarkable for a combination of evangelical fervour with width of culture and sympathy, a strong æsthetic faculty and a highly charitable spirit. To the diligent and successful discharge of his duties, first as a minister of the gospel and then as a professor, he added considerable literary activity. He died at home 4 Sardinia Terrace in Glasgow.

Publications

His chief writings were ''A Series of Essays on the Tractarian and other Movements in the Church of England'', published in the ''British and Foreign Evangelical Review'', ''History of the Church of Christ, with special reference to the delineation of faith and life'', ''The Pastor of Kilsyth'', which is a sketch of the life of his father and a memoir of his brother. A posthumous volume of ''Select Remains'' was published in 1874.

Family

He was brother of

William Chalmers Burns William Chalmers Burns (宾惠廉, 1 April 1815 – 4 April 1868) was a Scottish evangelist and missionary to China with the English Presbyterian Mission who originated from Kilsyth, North Lanarkshire. He was the coordinator of the Ove ...

. In 1845 he married Catharine Sarah Brown,Ayot St Peter website, ''Catherine Sarah Burns (née Brown)''
/ref> sister of Prof David Brown; their eight children included Rev Islay Ferrier Burns (1854–1924).

References

Citations

Sources

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Islay Scottish Calvinist and Reformed theologians 19th-century ministers of the Free Church of Scotland 19th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers 1817 births 1872 deaths Alumni of the University of Aberdeen