Henry Scougal (1650–1678) 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 ...

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

, minister and author. Henry Scougal was the second son of Patrick Scougal and Margaret Wemys. His father held the position of

Bishop of Aberdeen The Bishop of Aberdeen (originally Bishop of Mortlach, in Latin Murthlacum) was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Aberdeen, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th-century cleric named Nech ...

for more than 20 years. Henry's younger brother was James Scougal, Lord Whitehill. From his infancy, Scougal was raised with religion. From his youth, Scougal spent his free hours in reading, meditation and prayer. He especially enjoyed studying the historical passages of the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

. In 1665 Scougal entered King's College,

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, after graduation, was promoted to the office of professor of philosophy. In 1672, Scougal was ordained and appointed minister of a church 20 miles from

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 ...

, where he served for one year before returning to take the office of professor of divinity at King's College, where he taught for five years. He spoke

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, and a few Asian languages. Scougal produced a number of works while a pastor and professor of divinity at King's. His most recognized work, ''The Life of God in the Soul of Man'', was originally written to a friend to explain

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

and give spiritual counsel. This work was almost universally praised by the leaders of the

Great Awakening The Great Awakening was a series of religious revivals in American Christian history. Historians and theologians identify three, or sometimes four, waves of increased religious enthusiasm between the early 18th century and the late 20th cent ...

, including

George Whitefield George Whitefield (; 30 September 1770), also known as George Whitfield, was an English Anglican minister and preacher who was one of the founders of Methodism and the evangelical movement. Born in Gloucester, he matriculated at Pembroke Coll ...

, who said he never really understood what true religion was until he had digested Scougal's treatise. On 13 June 1678 Scougal died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

Works

*''De Objecto Cultus Religiosi'' (Aberdeen, 1674) *''The Life of God in the Soul of Man'' (London, 1677) edited by

Gilbert Burnet Gilbert Burnet (18 September 1643 – 17 March 1715) was a Scottish people, Scottish philosopher and historian, and Bishop of Salisbury. He was fluent in Dutch language, Dutch, French language, French, Latin language, Latin, Greek language, Gree ...

, 1691, 1707, 1742, 1751, 1753, other editions, Inter-Varsity Fellowship edition 1961, and a French translation in 1727; also edition (with portrait and Life) by James Cooper, D.D., Aberdeen, 1892 *''Reflections and Meditations'' (Aberdeen, 1740) *''Essays, Moral and Divine'' (Aberdeen, 1740) *''Sermons'' (Glasgow, 1751) *''Sermons'' (Aberdeen, 1773) He is said to have left in manuscript three Latin tractates — "A Short System of Ethics," "A Preservative against the Artifices of Roman Missionaries," and the first chapter of "The Pastoral Care". These were not printed, and the MSS. have disappeared.

Bibliography

*Reg. of Deeds, Durie, cvii., 28th Dec. 1705 ; *Butler's Henry Scougal and the Oxford Methodists (Edinburgh, 1899) *Orem's Hist, of Aberdeen, 178 *Works (Aberdeen, 1759, 1765, 1773; London, 1818; Glasgow, 1830).

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External links

* * * Scottish Christian theologians Alumni of the University of Aberdeen 17th-century deaths from tuberculosis 1650 births 1678 deaths Tuberculosis deaths in Scotland {{Christian-theologian-stub