William Lindsay Alexander. I.
Scottish Christianity is best known in the world in its Presbyterian dress, but of course there are other varieties of it. One of the oldest is Scottish Congregationalism, now sadly all but swallowed up in what is generally known as the United Reformed Church. Scottish Congregationalism has produced a number of notable men, one of the chief of whom was William Lindsay Alexander.
William Lindsay Alexander was the son of William Alexander and Elizabeth Lindsay. He was born at Leith, the port of Edinburgh, on 24th August 1808. William Alexander came from Moffat, and in his youth he had studied for the Congregational ministry, but serious health problems prevented his entering the ministry, or even completing his theological course. Instead he entered into business with an Edinburgh wine merchant. At the same time he joined the Church assembling at the Tabernacle under the pastorate of J.A. Haldane, embracing Baptist views. Mr. Alexander was a liberal giver to Christian work, and he brought up his son in the fear of the Lord.
William Lindsay Alexander was educated at first in the local schools, then at the University of Edinburgh. From there he moved to the University of St. Andrews. He profited greatly from the lectures of Thomas Chalmers in Moral Philosophy.
During his time at St. Andrews, Alexander joined the Congregational Church at Leith, thus declaring that he could not share his parents' Baptist views. Still, he often attended his parents' Church.
At St. Andrews, Alexander first began to preach in public. A number of small local Congregational Churches were without pastors, and were supplied by the Church to which Alexander belonged. He was an enthusiastic preacher, and his father seems to have persuaded the pastor of the Church to which he belonged to allow William Lindsay Alexander to preach in Swinton Row Baptist Church, Edinburgh.
In 1827, William Lindsay Alexander entered the Glasgow Theological Academy of the Scottish Congregational Churches, which was taught at that time by Rev. Dr. Ralph Wardlaw and Rev. Greville Ewing. He did not seem to get on well there, and he moved to take the post of Classical Tutor of the Blackburn Theological Academy, Lancashire. Alexander was soon teaching a lot more than the Classics - and he was not yet twenty!
But W.L. Alexander was not going to remain a tutor in a theological academy. Although he wanted to become an academic, God closed every door in his face. Alexander decided to study for a medical career. That failed too, but still Alexander resisted the call to the ministry.
We shall, God willing, see how God disposed next time.
William Lindsay Alexander was the son of William Alexander and Elizabeth Lindsay. He was born at Leith, the port of Edinburgh, on 24th August 1808. William Alexander came from Moffat, and in his youth he had studied for the Congregational ministry, but serious health problems prevented his entering the ministry, or even completing his theological course. Instead he entered into business with an Edinburgh wine merchant. At the same time he joined the Church assembling at the Tabernacle under the pastorate of J.A. Haldane, embracing Baptist views. Mr. Alexander was a liberal giver to Christian work, and he brought up his son in the fear of the Lord.
William Lindsay Alexander was educated at first in the local schools, then at the University of Edinburgh. From there he moved to the University of St. Andrews. He profited greatly from the lectures of Thomas Chalmers in Moral Philosophy.
During his time at St. Andrews, Alexander joined the Congregational Church at Leith, thus declaring that he could not share his parents' Baptist views. Still, he often attended his parents' Church.
At St. Andrews, Alexander first began to preach in public. A number of small local Congregational Churches were without pastors, and were supplied by the Church to which Alexander belonged. He was an enthusiastic preacher, and his father seems to have persuaded the pastor of the Church to which he belonged to allow William Lindsay Alexander to preach in Swinton Row Baptist Church, Edinburgh.
In 1827, William Lindsay Alexander entered the Glasgow Theological Academy of the Scottish Congregational Churches, which was taught at that time by Rev. Dr. Ralph Wardlaw and Rev. Greville Ewing. He did not seem to get on well there, and he moved to take the post of Classical Tutor of the Blackburn Theological Academy, Lancashire. Alexander was soon teaching a lot more than the Classics - and he was not yet twenty!
But W.L. Alexander was not going to remain a tutor in a theological academy. Although he wanted to become an academic, God closed every door in his face. Alexander decided to study for a medical career. That failed too, but still Alexander resisted the call to the ministry.
We shall, God willing, see how God disposed next time.
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