TagWilliam Cunningham

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.”