JOHN

See also:

• BROWN
• BROWN, CHARLES BROCKDEN (1771-181o)
• BROWN, FORD MADOX (1821-1893)
• BROWN, FRANCIS (1849- )
• BROWN, GEORGE (1818-188o)
• BROWN, HENRY KIRKE (1814-1886)
• BROWN, JACOB (1775–1828)
• BROWN, JOHN (1715–1766)
• BROWN, JOHN (1722-1787)
• BROWN, JOHN (1735–1788)
• JOHN BROWN (1784–1858)
• BROWN, JOHN (1800-1859)
• BROWN, JOHN (1810—1882)
• BROWN, JOHN GEORGE (1831— )
• BROWN, ROBERT (1773-1858)
• BROWN, SAMUEL MORISON (1817—1856)
• BROWN, SIR GEORGE (1790-1865)
• BROWN, SIR JOHN (1816-1896)
• BROWN, SIR WILLIAM, BART
• BROWN, THOMAS (1663-1704)
• BROWN, THOMAS (1778-1820)
• BROWN, THOMAS EDWARD (1830-1897)
• BROWN, WILLIAM LAURENCE (1755–1830)

BROWN (1784–1858)  , Scottish divine, grandson of the last-named, was born at Whitburn, Linlithgowshire, on the 12th of July 1784 . He studied at Glasgow university, and afterwards at the divinity hall of the " Burgher " branch of the " Secession " church at Selkirk, under the celebrated George Lawson . In 18o6 he was ordained minister of the Burgher congregation at Biggar, Lanarkshire, where he laboured for sixteen years . While there he had an interesting controversy with Robert Owen the socialist . Transferred in 1822 to the charge of Rose Street church, Edinburgh, he at once took a high rank as a preacher . In 1829 he succeeded James Hall at Broughton Place church, Edinburgh . In 1835 he was appointed one of the professors in the theological hall of the Secession church, and, great as was his ability as a preacher and pastor, it was probably in this sphere that he rendered his most valuable service . He had been the first in Scotland to use in the pulpit the exegetical method of exposition of Scripture, and as a professor he illustrated the method and extended its use . To him chiefly is due the abandonment of the principle of interpretation according to the " analogy of faith," which practically subordinated the Bible to the creed . Brown's exegesis was marked by rare critical sagacity, exact and extensive scholarship, unswerving honesty, and a clear, logical style; and his expository works have thus a permanent value . He had a considerable share in the Apocrypha controversy, and he was throughout life a vigorous and consistent upholder of anti-state-church or voluntary " views . His two sermons on The Law of Christ respecting civil obedience, especially in the payment of tribute, called forth by a local grievance from which he had personally suffered, were afterwards published with extensive additions and notes, and are still regarded as an admirable statement and defence of the voluntary principle .

The

part he took in the discussion on the Atonement, which agitated all the Scottish churches, led to a formal charge of heresy against him by those who held the doctrine of a limited atonement . In 1845, after a protracted trial, he was acquitted by the synod, From that time he enjoyed the thorough confidence of his denomination (after 1847 merged in " the United Presbyterian church "), of which in his later years he was generally regarded as the leading representative . He died on the 13th of October 1858 . His chief works were: Expository Discourses on First Peter (1848); Exposition of the Discourses and Sayings of our Lord (185o); Exposition of our Lord's Intercessory Prayer (1850); • The Resurrection of Life (1851); Expository Discourses on Galatians (1853); and Analytical Exposition of the Epistle to the Romans (1857) . See Memoir of John Brown, D.D., by John Cairns (186o) .