J. Douglas MacMillan (30 September 1933 – 3 August 1991) was a British

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

minister in the Free Church of Scotland.

Life

MacMillan was born the youngest of six children, on the

Ardnamurchan Ardnamurchan (, ) is a peninsula in the ward management area of Lochaber, Highland, Scotland, noted for being very unspoiled and undisturbed. Its remoteness is accentuated by the main access route being a single track road for much of its l ...

peninsula in

Argyll Argyll (; archaically Argyle; , ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county of western Scotland. The county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975 and most of the area ...

. He was converted at the age of 21, and studied 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 ...

and at the

Free Church College Edinburgh Theological Seminary, formerly known as the Free Church College, is a theological seminary in Edinburgh connected to the Free Church of Scotland. It traces its origins back to the foundation of New College, Edinburgh at the time of ...

. After his ordination, he ministered at St. Columba in Aberdeen (1966–1974) and St Vincent Street in Glasgow (1974–1982), before taking up an appointment as Professor of

Church History Church history or ecclesiastical history as an academic discipline studies the history of Christianity and the way the Christian Church has developed since its inception. Henry Melvill Gwatkin defined church history as "the spiritual side of t ...

at the Free Church College. Since 1994, the biennial MacMillan Lecture in Evangelism has been held at that institution in his honour. According to Hywel Jones, MacMillan's preaching was marked by "powerful originality and strong orthodoxy". He is best known for his book ''The Lord Our Shepherd'' (). This is an exposition of

Psalm 23 Psalm 23 is the 23rd psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "The Lord is my shepherd". In Latin, it is known by the incipit, "". The Book of Psalms is part of the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and ...

, originally given to the

Evangelical Movement of Wales The Evangelical Movement of Wales, formed in 1948, came to light as a counter move by reformed Christians to the liberal theology which was gaining influence into the Protestant denominations of Wales during the 20th century. The Movement is a f ...

in 1979. MacMillan drew on his 12 years of experience as a shepherd to argue that the shepherd theme pervades the entire psalm. MacMillan wrote a number of other books including ''Wrestling with God'' () consisting of addresses on the life of

Jacob Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...

given to the

in 1983, ''Jesus: Power Without Measure'' (), ''Restoration in the Church'' () and ''The God of All Grace'' (). MacMillan had five children with his wife, Mary."Personal Testimony," in J. Douglas MacMillan, ''The Lord Our Shepherd'' (Bryntiron: Bryntirion Press, 2003), 29.

References

1933 births 1991 deaths Converts to Presbyterianism 20th-century ministers of the Free Church of Scotland 20th-century British Presbyterian ministers Alumni of the University of Aberdeen People from Lochaber Historians of Christianity 20th-century British historians British historians of religion {{christianity-historian-stub