James MacKnight (1721-1800) was a Scottish minister and theological author, serving at the Old Kirk of Edinburgh (

St Giles Cathedral St Giles' Cathedral (), or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended until the early 16th century; significant alteratio ...

). He is remembered for his book Harmony of the Gospels and as

Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week in Edinburgh every year. After chairing the Ass ...

in 1769.

Life

He was born on 17 September 1721 in the manse in

Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier * Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia * Irvine Island * Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada * Irvine, Alberta * Irvine Inlet, Nunavut Scotland *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotlan ...

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

the son of Elizabeth Gemmill of Dalraith (d.1753) and her husband, Rev William Mackneight (sic) (d. 1750), the parish minister. The family appear to have originally been called McNaughtane or McNaughton, and came from the Scottish Highlands via Ireland. He was educated in Irvine then received a theological bursary from the Exchequer and studied theology at 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 ...

from 1735 and graduating in 1743 before travelling to Europe to undertake further studies at the

University of Leyden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange as a Protestant institution, it holds the distinction of being the oldest university in the Neth ...

, a recognised centre for theological study. Around 1745, having been licensed to preach as a minister of 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 ...

by the Presbytery of Irvine, he became an assistant at the Chapel of Ease in the

Gorbals The Gorbals is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, and former burgh, on the south bank of the River Clyde. By the late 19th century, it had become densely populated; rural migrants and immigrants were attracted by the new industries and e ...

in south

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 ...

. A few years later he assisted the Rev Alexander Ferguson in

Kilwinning Kilwinning (, ; ) is a town in North Ayrshire, Scotland. It is located on the banks of the River Garnock in Ayrshire, west/central Scotland, about southwest of Glasgow. Kilwinning's neighbours are the coastal towns of Stevenston to the west an ...

Church before finally in 1753 receiving his own church, at

Maybole Maybole (, ) is a town and former burgh of barony and police burgh in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It had an estimated population of in . It is situated south of Ayr and southwest of Glasgow by the Glasgow and South Western Railway. The town is ...

not far from his home town of Irvine. In 1759 the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

awarded him an honorary doctorate (DD). In 1769 he was translated from Maybole to

Jedburgh Jedburgh ( ; ; or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Roxburghshire. History Jedburgh began as ''Jedworð'', the "worth" or enclosed settlem ...

in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

. In the same year he was elected

Moderator of the General Assembly The moderator of the General Assembly is the Chair (official), chairperson of a General Assembly (presbyterian church), General Assembly, the highest court of a Presbyterian or Calvinism, Reformed church. Kirk sessions and presbytery (church pol ...

. In November 1771 he was translated again, to

Lady Yester's Kirk Lady Yester's Kirk was a parish church of the Church of Scotland and one of the burgh churches of Edinburgh. Founded in 1647, it served the south-eastern part of Edinburgh's Old Town until its union with Greyfriars Kirk in 1938. Margaret, Lady Y ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

. In 1778 he made his final move, to the Old Kirk of Edinburgh, one of the four parishes contained in

. During this period he befriended the Rev Robert Henry. In 1784 he became joint collector of the Ministers' Widows' Fund.''Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae''; by Hew Scott He died at home at 11 Nicolson Street in Edinburgh on 13 January 1800. As St Giles lacks a graveyard he is buried in St Cuthbert's Churchyard at the west end of

Princes Street Princes Street () is one of the major thoroughfares in central Edinburgh, Scotland and the main shopping street in the capital. It is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, Edinburgh, New Town, stretching around 1.2 km (three quar ...

. The grave lies on a main dividing wall to the north of the church. The main central marble tablet is highly eroded and reference to him is now only visible on the side tablets. The graves of his family surround him.

Publications

*''A Harmony of the Four Gospels'' (1756) (revised 1763) *''The Truth of the Gospel History'' (1763) *''The Epistle to the Thessalonians'' (1787) *''The Epistles of St Paul'' (1787) *''A New Literal Translation from the Original Greek, of All the Apostolical Epistles'' (in six volumes) *'' The Sacred Writings of the Apostles and Evangelists of Jesus Christ: Commonly Styled the New Testament''

Family

In April 1754 he married Elizabeth McCormick (1728-1813), daughter of Samuel McCormick, General Exaniber of Excise in Edinburgh. They had four sons: * Samuel MacKnight WS (1757-1807) * James MacKnight (1759-1793) *

Thomas MacKnight Thomas Macknight (15 February 1829 – 19 November 1899) was an English editor of Ireland's leading Liberal newspaper, the ''Northern Whig'' in Belfast, a biographer and publisher. He an originator of the two nations theory in 1896, which ar ...

(1762-1836) who was also a minister and rose to the highest level 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 ...

in 1820. His son later wrote his biography.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:MacKnight, James 1721 births 1800 deaths People from Irvine, North Ayrshire 18th-century ministers of the Church of Scotland 18th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers Moderators of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 18th-century Scottish people Alumni of the University of Glasgow Leiden University alumni Scottish expatriates in the Netherlands