Horatius Bonar

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Horatius Bonar
File:Horatius Bonar - Project Gutenberg eText 13103.jpg
Born (1808-12-19)19 December 1808
Edinburgh, Scotland
Died Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.
Nationality Scottish
Occupation churchman, poet

Horatius Bonar (19 December 1808 – 31 July 1889) was a Scottish churchman and poet.

Life

The son of James Bonar, Solicitor of Excise for Scotland, he was born and educated in Edinburgh. He came from a long line of ministers who have served a total of 364 years in the Church of Scotland. One of eleven children, his brothers John James and Andrew Alexander were also ministers of the Free Church of Scotland. He had married Jane Catherine Lundie in 1843 and five of their young children died in succession. Towards the end of their lives, one of their surviving daughters was left a widow with five small children and she returned to live with her parents. Bonar's wife, Jane, died in 1876. He is buried in the Canongate Kirkyard.

In 1853 Bonar earned the Doctor of Divinity degree at the University of Aberdeen.

Service

He entered the Ministry of the Church of Scotland. At first he was put in charge of mission work at St. John's parish in Leith and settled at Kelso. He joined the Free Church at the time of the Disruption of 1843, and in 1867 was moved to Edinburgh to take over the Chalmers Memorial Church (named after his teacher at college, Dr. Thomas Chalmers). In 1883, he was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland.

Works

He was a voluminous and highly popular author. He also served as the editor for "The Quarterly journal of Prophecy" from 1848 to 1873 and for the "Christian Treasury" from 1859 to 1879. In addition to many books and tracts wrote a number of hymns, many of which, e.g., "I heard the voice of Jesus say" and "Blessing and Honour and Glory and Power," became known all over the English-speaking world. A selection of these was published as Hymns of Faith and Hope (3 series). His last volume of poetry was My Old Letters. Bonar was also author of several biographies of ministers he had known, including "The Life of the Rev. John Milne of Perth" in 1869, - and in 1884 "The Life and Works of the Rev. G. T. Dodds", who had been married to Bonar's daughter and who had died in 1882 while serving as a missionary in France.

His hymns include:

  • Fill thou my life, O Lord, my God
  • I heard the Voice of Jesus say
  • I Was a Wandering Sheep
  • Thy way, not mine, O Lord
  • Here, O my Lord, I see Thee face to face
  • A few more years shall roll
  • Come Lord and tarry not
  • O love of God, how strong and true

Some of his books include:

References

  • "The Life and Works of Horatius Bonar CD-Rom". This contains virtually all the extant writings of this author, along with much biographical material. LUX Publications. Retrieved 2007-07-23.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  • Julian, John (June 1907). A Dictionary of Hymnology. London: John Murray. pp. 161–162.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  • Bailey, Albert Edward (1950). The Gospel in Hymns. New York: Charles Scribner's sons. pp. 451–455.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  • Heath Christian Book Shop Charitable Trust. "Horatius Bonar 1808-1880". Retrieved 2007-02-17.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>
  •  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). [https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikisource.org%2Fwiki%2F1911_Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica%2FBonar%2C_Horatius "Bonar, Horatius" ] Check |ws link in chapter= value (help). Encyclopædia Britannica. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 197.<templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>

External links

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