TagRobert Candlish

The Son Abideth Ever, Pt. 2

Robert Candlish and Adam’s Primitive Relation to God
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The first article, published in the previous edition of The Master’s Trumpet, forces the consideration of the question as to the nature of divine fatherhood: What precisely is meant by fatherhood? And what does such a relationship entail for Adam? Robert Candlish claims that it is incumbent, not on himself, but on those who would affirm the primitive filial relation to “define exactly, or to describe particularly, the relation now in question.” However, he continues that “they are more inclined to deal in somewhat vague generalities.” Thomas Crawford retorts that this is an insufficient reason for Candlish to refrain from providing a definition, and furthermore, “Those who have hitherto affirmed the divine paternity as a natural relation, have never till now had any opponent to contend against.”

The Son Abideth Ever

Robert Candlish and Adam’s Primitive Relation to God
T
Robert S. Candlish (1806–1873) was a prominent figure in the Disruption of 1843, second in influence only to Thomas Chalmers. He served for many years as the minister in St. George’s Free Church in Edinburgh’s New Town. In the spring of 1864, Candlish delivered the first series of lectures from the recently established “Cunningham Lectureship,” in memory of the late Calvinist giant, William Cunningham, DD (1805–1861). Each lecturer had liberty to choose his own theological subject. Candlish’s choice was “The Fatherhood of God,” which he delivered in six lectures. His stated aim was to “bring out the import and bearing of the Scriptural doctrine respecting the Fatherhood of God as an influential element in Christian experience.”

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