George David Henderson (26 March 1888 – 28 May 1957) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

and 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 ...

.George David Henderson
, University of Glasgow website. Retrieved 19 January 2021.'Dr. G. D. Henderson', ''The Times'' (30 May 1957), p. 12.

Early life and career

He was born in

Ayr Ayr ( ; ; , meaning "confluence of the River Àir"), is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. A former royal burgh, today it is the administrative centre of South Ayrshire Council, and the historic county town of Ayrshire. With ...

to Rev. Robert Henderson, who was minister of Flowerhill

manse A manse () is a clergy house inhabited by, or formerly inhabited by, a minister, usually used in the context of Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and other Christian traditions. Ultimately derived from the Latin ''mansus'', "dwelling", from '' ...

in Airdrie. He was educated at the

High School of Glasgow The High School of Glasgow is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private, co-educational day school, day school in Glasgow, Scotland. The original High School of Glasgow was founded as the Cathedral school, choir school of Glasgow Cathedra ...

and the universities of

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and

Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 in ...

. In 1910 he was awarded a first class honours MA in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

from

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

. He also received from Glasgow a MB (1914), a

D.Litt. Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or '), also termed Doctor of Literature in some countries, is a terminal degree in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. In the United States, at universities such as Drew University, the degree ...

(1931) and a DD (1935).

Paris University The University of Paris (), known metonymically as the Sorbonne (), was the leading university in Paris, France, from 1150 to 1970, except for 1793–1806 during the French Revolution. Emerging around 1150 as a corporation associated with the ca ...

awarded him a DTheol. in 1954. Henderson worked as an assistant minister in

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 ...

and

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

before he was appointed minister of

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

in 1916. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he was chaplain to the forces in

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

, a post he held until 1920. From 1922 to 1924 he served in Glasgow Patrick St. Mary's and in 1924 he became regius professor of divinity and church history at the

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 ...

. In 1924 he married Jennie Holmes McCulloch and they had two sons. Henderson's historical writings focused primarily on Scottish Church history. In 1937

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

published a collection of his essays under the title ''Religious Life in Seventeenth-Century Scotland''. His work on 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 Sc ...

, ''Heritage: A Study of the Disruption'', was published in its centenary year. Henderson's 1951 volume ''The Claims of the Church of Scotland'' was written after he received a request from Scottish churchmen to write a Scottish equivalent of ''The Claims of the Church of England'' by

Cyril Garbett Cyril Forster Garbett (6 February 1875 – 31 December 1955) was an Anglican bishop and author. He was successively Bishop of Southwark (1919–32), Bishop of Winchester (1932–42) and Archbishop of York (1942–55). Early life Garbett was ...

, the

Archbishop of York The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers the ...

. Henderson's biography of the 18th-century Scottish writer

Andrew Michael Ramsay Sir Andrew Michael Ramsay (9 July 16866 May 1743), commonly called the Chevalier Ramsay, was a Scotland, Scottish-born writer who lived most of his adult life in France. He was a baronet in the Jacobite peerage. After visiting the Catholic a ...

was published in 1952. Henderson also served in the Church of Scotland; he was Moderator of the

Synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

of Aberdeen, Moderator of Aberdeen Presbytery, and

convener The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

of the Church of Scotland Colonial and Continental Committee. Henderson was

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 1955. After his death, ''

The Scottish Historical Review ''The Scottish Historical Review'' is an academic journal in the field of Scottish historical studies. It covers Scottish history from the early to the modern period, encouraging a variety of historical approaches. It superseded ''The Scottish ...

'' said that Henderson's "contributions to the history of the Church were always distinguished for their wide scholarship and critical judgment clothed with a warm humanity". ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' stated that Henderson was "one of the greatest Church historians Scotland ever produced, and in almost all his prolific writings was concerned to maintain and expand the Presbyterian doctrine of worship and government as that had developed down four centuries". A collection of his essays, ''The Burning Bush: Studies in Scottish Church History'', was published posthumously.'Reviewed Work: The Burning Bush by G. D. Henderson', ''The Journal of Theological Studies'', New Series, Vol. 10, No. 2 (October 1959), pp. 450-453.

Works

Books

*''The Scottish Ruling Elder'' (London: James Clarke, 1935). *''The Scots Confession, 1560, and Negative Confession, 1581'', introduction by G. D. Henderson (Edinburgh: Church of Scotland, Committee on Publications, 1937). *''Religious Life in Seventeenth-Century Scotland'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1937). *''The Kirk Through the Centuries'' (Edinburgh: Church of Scotland, Committee on Publications, 1937). *''The Church of Scotland: A Short History'' (Edinburgh: Church of Scotland Youth Committee, 1939). *''Heritage: A Study of the Disruption'' (Edinburgh and London: Oliver and Boyd, 1943). *''The Founding of Marischal College, Aberdeen'' (Aberdeen University Studies, No. 123, Aberdeen University Press 1947). *''Church and Ministry: A Study in Scottish Experience'' (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1951). *''The Claims of the Church of Scotland'' (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1951). *''Chevalier Ramsay'' (London: Thomas Nelson, 1952). *''Presbyterianism'' (Aberdeen: Aberdeen University Press, 1954). *''The Burning Bush: Studies in Scottish Church History'' (Edinburgh: Saint Andrew Press, 1957).

Articles

*'Scotland and the Synod of Dort', ''Nederlands archief voor kerkgeschiedenis/Dutch Review of Church History'', Nieuwe Serie, Vol. 24 (1931), pp. 1–24. *'Review: Knox's History of the Reformation', ''The Scottish Historical Review'', Vol. 29, No. 108, Part 2 (Oct., 1950), pp. 182–188. *'Priesthood of Believers', ''Scottish Journal of Theology'', Vol. 7 (1954), pp. 1–15.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, George David 1888 births 1957 deaths People from Ayr People educated at the High School of Glasgow Humboldt University of Berlin alumni University of Jena alumni Alumni of the University of Glasgow Academics of the University of Aberdeen 20th-century Scottish historians 20th-century ministers of the Church of Scotland 20th-century Scottish Presbyterian ministers