Overview

Charles Cowan, advocate of science, art, and social science, spent thirteen years as a Member of Parliament and over thirty years as a founding member and advocate of the Sustention Fund Committee of the newly formed Free Church of Scotland. Within fifty years the fledgling denomination had built 730 new churches, 400 manses, 500 schools and a new theological college, in addition to paying the salaries of all its clergy through its Sustentation Fund. Cowan's legacy is deeply felt in the country of Scotland and the church today.

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9781781912690

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Reviews

""Don MacLeod navigates an ocean of detailed evidence with consummate skill... A page-turner and eye-opener. -- Sam McKinstry (Professor of Business and Financial History, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley) In telling this tale, Macleod has vividly brought to life the story of a man who was gregarious and generous. This book is a splendid example of the best kind of history. -- Sandy Finlayson (Director of Library Services & Professor of Theological Bibliography, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania ) Don MacLeod has used a wealth of primary sources... to recreate the life of a leading lay champion of the Free Church of Scotland. -- David Bebbington (Professor of History, University of Stirling, Stirling) This book, with its detailed yet highly readable story, sets the pattern for others to follow. It is high-class biography, accurate and broad in scope, yet immensely interesting and informative. -- Allan Harman (Research Professor of Old Testament, Presbyterian Theological College, Melbourne, Australia) Perhaps the best biography I have read for some time. Well written, extensively researched and highly informative. -- English Churchman Newspaper ... An important but often forgotten fact that emerges throughout this highly readable biography is the central role played by gifted elders in the birth and growth of the Free Church of Scotland... Get this book and read it. -- The Monthly Record- Free Church of Scotland Magazine ... this account of both Free Church and the individual man of business is both fascinating and sobering. This biography demonstrates that it is possible to be scholarly and also readable. -- Evangelicals Now

Donald Macleod has done us a great service in this biography. Well researched, using fresh material...Readers of biography are in for a treat, and students of church history will see the Disruption for what it was: a church crisis that absorbed and impacted the lives of real people. Iain D. Campbell Minister, Point Free Church of Scotland, Isle of Lewis In telling this tale, Macleod has vividly brought to life the story of a man who was gregarious and generous. This book is a splendid example of the best kind of history, because from its pages emerges a flesh and blood figure who touched the lives of many of his contemporaries. Sandy Finlayson Director of Library Services & Professor of Theological Bibliography, Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Don Macleod navigates an ocean of detailed evidence with consummate skill, deep contextual knowledge and commendable narrative drive, bringing us a major, holistic, insight into the life and times of a Scotsman whose life typifies a complex and deeply serious age, as yet too little understood. A page turner and eye-opener. Sam McKinstry Professor of Business and Financial History, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley Charles Cowan was a significant actor in the most important event of Scottish history during the nineteenth century, the Disruption of the Church of Scotland that in 1843 created the Free Church, free from state interference in its mission of preaching the gospel. Cowan, a prosperous paper manufacturer, was returned as M. P. for Edinburgh, defeating the famous man of letters T. B. Macaulay and becoming the voice of the Free Church in parliament. Don MacLeod has used a wealth of primary sources, including diaries and the press, to recreate the life of a leading lay champion of the Free Church of Scotland. David Bebbington Professor of History, University of Stirling, Stirling This is a fascinating account by a skilled biographer who highlights the many aspects of Cowan's

... An important but often forgotten fact that emerges throughout this highly readable biography is the central role played by gifted elders in the birth and growth of the Free Church of Scotland... Get this book and read it.--The Monthly Record Magazine of the Free Church of Scotland

Author Information

A. Donald MacLeod is Research Professor of Church History at Tyndale Theological Seminary, Toronto, Ontario. He is married to Judith and they have two sons and 5 grandchildren. His website is adonmacleod.com.

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