William Cunningham (theologian)

William Cunningham (2 October 1805 – 14 December 1861) was a Scottish theologian and co-founder of the Free Church of Scotland.[1]

Not to be confused with William Cunningham (economist).

The Reverend

William Cunningham
Cunningham in 1847
OccupationPastor, theologian
Theological work
Tradition or movementPresbyterianism

Life

Cunningham was born in Hamilton, Lanarkshire and studied at the University of Edinburgh. He was ordained a minister in the Church of Scotland, and in 1830 was ordained to a collegiate charge in Greenock, where he remained for three years. In 1834 he was transferred to the charge of Trinity College Kirk, Edinburgh. His removal coincided with the commencement of the period known in Scottish ecclesiastical history as the Ten Years' Conflict, and he left the Church of Scotland in the Disruption of 1843 to become one of the founders of the Free Church of Scotland, alongside Thomas Chalmers and Robert Smith Candlish.[2]

Towards the end of 1843 he visited America to make the case for the Free Church and he raised some money there, having already received the degree of D.D. from Princeton University.[3][4] Cunningham was appointed Professor of Theology at the New College, Edinburgh, before transferring to the chair of Church History in 1845, replacing Rev David Welsh.[5] He succeeded Thomas Chalmers as Principal in 1847, serving in that position until his death, and was appointed moderator of the Free Church General Assembly in 1859.[2]

Cunningham specialised in historical theology, and wrote a two volume work on the subject.[6][7] An open source audio narration of the book is available.[8] He also wrote The Reformers and the Theology of the Reformation. William Garden Blaikie suggested that he was the "ablest defender of Calvinism in his day" and that the "gentleness of his personal character was a striking contrast to his boldness and vehemency in controversy."[9] Cunniingham has been described as a scholar and controversialist.[10] According to the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, "his ... sympathies combined with his evident desire to be rigidly impartial qualifying him to be an interesting delineator of the more stirring periods of church history, and a skilful disentangler of the knotty points in theological polemics."[2]

Cunningham's grave at Grange Cemetery, Edinburgh

In later life Cunningham lived at 17 Salisbury Road in south Edinburgh.[11] He died in Edinburgh and is buried beneath a large sarcophagus-style grave in the Grange Cemetery alongside the north path.

Family

In 1834 he married Janet Deniston (1810-1888).[12]

Memorials

A marble bust of Cunningham, sculpted by William Brodie stands in New College in Edinburgh.[13]

Portraits by William Bonnar,[14] Sir John Watson Gordon,[15] and Edward Burton[16] are held by the National Gallery of Scotland.

References
  1. Wylie, James Aitken (1881). Disruption worthies : a memorial of 1843, with an historical sketch of the free church of Scotland from 1843 down to the present time. Edinburgh: T. C. Jack. pp. 193–200. Retrieved 18 August 2018.
  2.  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cunningham, William". Encyclopædia Britannica. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 633.
  3. Brown, Thomas (1883). Annals of the disruption. Edinburgh: Macniven & Wallace. pp. 545–550. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  4. Chisholm 1911.
  5. "William Cunningham". Banner of Truth Trust. Retrieved 10 September 2014.
  6. Cunningham, William (1864). Historical theology : a review of the principal doctrinal discussions in the Christian church since the apostolic age (Vol 1 ed.). Edinburgh: T. and T. Clark. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  7. Cunningham, William (1863). Historical theology; a review of the principal doctrinal discussions in the Christian church since the apostolic age (Vol 2 ed.). Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  8. Cunningham, William. "Historical Theology". Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  9.  Blaikie, William Garden (1885–1900). "Cunningham, William (1805-1861)". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  10. Bayne, Peter (1893). The Free Church of Scotland : her origin, founders and testimony. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark. pp. 334–338. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  11. Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1860-61
  12. Ewing, William Annals of the Free Church
  13. "info" (PDF). orapweb.rcahms.gov.uk. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  14. "William Cunningham". Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  15. "William Cunningham". Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  16. "Rev. William Cunningham, 1805 - 1861. Theologian". Retrieved 15 September 2018.

Further reading
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