Free Church Theology 1843–1900

This chapter explores the theology of key scholars of the Free Church of Scotland from 1843 until 1900, when only a small remnant continued as the Free Church after its union with the United Presbyterian Church. Divided into two parts, the first section looks at the theology of the Disruption fathers, Thomas Chalmers, Robert S. Candlish, William Cunningham, and George Smeaton. The second part deals with the subsequent generation of Free Church theologians, in particular with a group known as the ‘believing critics’. Influenced by new developments on the continent, scholars, such as William Robertson Smith and Marcus Dods, challenged the church with their focus on historical criticism in biblical studies. Delineating the distinctive features of individual theologians as well as taking into account the broader landscape of nineteenth-century Scotland, the chapter attempts a fresh perspective on theological debates within the Victorian Free Church.