The Interpretation of Prophecy. Patrick Fairbairn, Banner of Truth Trust, 552 pp, price £12.95.
Patrick Fairbairn (1805-1874) served a number of parishes in the Church of Scotland and early identified himself with the Evangelical and Non-Intrusion Party in that Church. In 1843, while minister of Salton, East Lothian he cast in his lot with the Free Church of Scotland at the Disruption of 1843. Latterly, Fairbairn was Principal of the Free Church College, Glasgow. In 1845 he published “Typology of Scripture” which has gone into several editions and which has been acclaimed as “a work on the subject which for grasp of principles, soundness of judgment, and solid, though unostentatious learning, has not been surpassed, if ever equalled, by any similar performance.” The volume presently under review, “The Interpretation of Prophecy”, was published in 1856 as a sequel to “Typology of Scripture” and what was said of the latter could well be said of this book also. The book consists of two parts. In Part I, Fairbairn deals with what he calls the essential nature of prophecy, the proper sphere of prophecy, the interconnected and progressive character of prophecy and other topics relating to his major objective of establishing principles of investigation and interpretation. In Part II he considers the application of principles to past and future fulfilments of prophecy. Fairbairn’s work has been appreciated and commended over the years as a sound biblical approach which is free from extreme and fanciful views on the interpretation of prophecy.
The first chapter of Part II, in which he emphasises the strength and value of the “connected and cumulative character” of Old Testament prophecy in contending for the doctrine of the person of Christ and the nature of the Messianic kingdom, is perhaps one of the most valuable and instructive chapters for the general reader. There are 12 appendices on a variety of topics related to prophecy which add to the value of the book. The book, although undoubtedly scholarly and particularly useful for ministers and divinity students, is certainly not beyond intelligent laymen.
The Banner of Truth Trust has yet again placed the Christian public in its debt by making this beautifully produced book available at such a reasonable price.
D. R. M.
Dictionary of Scottish Church History and Theology. Editors: Nigel M. de S. Cameron, David F. Wright, David C. Lachman, Donald E. Meek. T & T Clark, Edinburgh, 1993. xx + 906 pp. £39.95.
This volume fills a significant gap in the ecclesiastical literature of Scotland. Historians have waited a long time for such a dictionary, so the seven or more years of its preparation has felt like the years Jacob served for Rachel. The result is not disappointing. Considering the constraints upon a one volume dictionary, a wide range of subjects have been covered. More than 280 international scholars have contributed several thousand entries. Many short entries, usually with a bibliography, will make this work an invaluable tool for Scottish studies, and there are occasional longer entries.
The Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland gets significant coverage in various articles, and not altogether unfavourably, considering the author of several of the articles is an A.P.C. minister. Partisan slanting is probably inevitable, but it is passing strange that a Free Presbyterian minister could not be found to contribute those sections concerning ourselves. This probably reveals the bias in the ecclesiastical world which would like to see the A.P.C. wearing the Free Presbyterian mantle. However, an Edinburgh-based ecclesiastical scholarly world is liable to be disappointed in this hope. As month succeeds month, the A.P.C. claim to be the true Free Presbyterian Church is being treated with derision by those who know the A.P.C. abandonment of Free Presbyterian principles.
There is an interesting emphasis on the Protest Question in the few entries associated with the Free Presbyterian Church and the A.P.C. This may be a hint that the Rev. Angus Morrison, the A.P.C. contributor (billed as the minister of Gilmore Place Church), would like to bring in the Protest Question to the origin of the A.P.C. It would be no surprise if this was his intention. The A.P.C. need desperately to find something more substantial than their present contentions in order to convince on-lookers. However, he need not trouble himself. If the history of the twentieth century is anything to go by, the A.P.C. can learn from the propaganda machine which has managed to smear the reputation of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland wherever it has gone. With such weapons, who needs arguments?
The Dictionary’s editors struggled with the subject of whether or not to include living persons. Eventually they included “a restricted list of figures deemed of major significance whose principal contribution, as we could judge, had already been made.” So Lord Mackay appears. his ecclesiastical contribution, needless to say, is his role in the causation of the A.P.C. I am not so sure he will be pleased with the balance of this entry.
The contention of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland concerning the 1892 Free Church Declaratory Act has been won. Recent scholarship of the late nineteenth century has come round more or less uniformly to acknowledge that the Declaratory Act of 1892 effectively changed the church’s relationship to the Westminster Confession of Faith. This is the Dictionary’s position. Kenneth Ross, in his contribution on Declaratory Acts (United Presbyterian, 1879, and Free Church, 1893), writes: “The statements drawn up by these two churches, ostensibly to clarify their relation to the Westminster Confession of Faith, in fact marked the end of unreserved subscription to the Confession’s ‘whole doctrine’. . . . a significant body of Highland people seceded to form the FPC and many more became seriously disaffected. The Highlanders’ perception was accurate. . . . It signalled the exchange of the old Calvinistic doctrinal position for a more liberal understanding of the faith.” However the article makes no mention of the worldwide Declaratory Act movement. Our Centenary Committee originally intended to include a chapter on this, possibly with the history of creedal subscription, in the recently published Free Presbyterian centenary volume, One Hundred Years of Witness. However, it proved to be too extensive for such a composite volume and it is now intended to publish it separately, D.V.
The Dictionary contains short articles on early Free Presbyterian ministers, including Donald Macfarlane, Donald Macdonald, Neil Cameron, Donald Beaton, John Radasi, John Tallach and James Fraser.
It may be construed as pedantry to notice too many corrections, but one would expect that Lord Mackay’s friend and minister would, by now, known how to spell his name. This Dictionary is a very welcome addition to Scottish studies.
Donald M. Boyd