John Caird (theologian)

John Caird[lower-alpha 1] FRSE (1820–1898) was a Scottish theologian. He entered the Church of Scotland, of which he became one of the most eloquent preachers. He served as the Principal of the University of Glasgow from 1873 until 1898.

The Very Reverend John Caird FRSE
Born	(1820-12-15)15 December 1820 Greenock, Scotland
Died	30 July 1898(1898-07-30) (aged 77) Greenock, Scotland
Office	Principal of the University of Glasgow (1873–1898)
Spouse(s)	Isabella Glover ( m. 1858)
Relatives	Edward Caird (brother)
Ecclesiastical career
Religion	Christianity (Presbyterian)
Church	Church of Scotland
Ordained	1845
Academic background
Alma mater	University of Glasgow
Influences	G. W. F. Hegel
Academic work
Discipline	Theology
School or tradition	British idealism
Institutions	University of Glasgow
Notable works	An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion (1880)
Influenced	Bernard Bosanquet John Watson

Life

He was born in Greenock on 15 December 1820, the son of John Caird of Caird and Co. and Janet Young. His younger brother was Edward Caird.

He was educated at Greenock Grammar School, and then attended the University of Glasgow (MA 1845).

After being a minister at Newton-on-Ayr, at Lady Yester's Church, Edinburgh (1847–1849), and at Errol, Perthshire (1849–1857), Caird was transferred to Park Church, Glasgow (1857–1862). He married Isabella Glover in 1858.

In 1862 he became Professor of Divinity at the University of Glasgow, and in 1873, following the death of Thomas Barclay,[1] became Principal of the university, a post he held for 26 years, until 1898.[2]

The University of Glasgow made him a Doctor of Divinity in 1860 and the University of Edinburgh awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1884.

A sermon on Religion in Common Life, preached before Queen Victoria, made him known throughout the Protestant world. He wrote An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion (1880), and Spinoza (1888).[3]

Caird delivered the 1892–1896 Gifford Lectures at the University of Glasgow, entitled The Fundamental Ideas of Christianity.

In 1897 he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

He died on 30 July 1898 in Greenock and is buried in Greenock Cemetery.[2]

Notes

1. Pronounced /kɛərd/.

References

1. http://www.gashe.ac.uk:443/isaar/P0348.html
2. http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf
3. Bayne, Thomas Wilson (1901). "Caird, John" . Dictionary of National Biography (1st supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co.

Attribution

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Cousin, John William (1910). A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. London: J. M. Dent & Sons – via Wikisource.

External links

• Works by or about John Caird at Internet Archive
• Biography and Summary of Gifford Lectures by Dr Brannon Hancock

Academic offices
Preceded by Alexander Hill	Professor of Divinity at the University of Glasgow 1862–	Succeeded by William Purdie Dickson
Preceded by Thomas Barclay	Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow 1873–1898	Succeeded by Robert Story
Preceded by Max Müller	Gifford Lecturer at the University of Glasgow 1892–1896	Succeeded by Alexander Balmain Bruce