Patrick Fairbairn

Who was Patrick Fairbairn?

Patrick Fairbairn was a Scottish minister and theologian. He was born in Greenlaw, Berwickshire, and began studying at the University of Edinburgh at the age of 13. He graduated in 1826 and commenced work as a tutor in Orkney. Fairbairn was granted the living of North Ronaldshay in 1830 and remained there for six years. After that time, he pastored churches in Bridgeton, Glasgow, and Salton, East Lothian.

After the Disruption of 1843, Fairbairn joined the Free Church of Scotland. In 1853, the General Assembly appointed him Professor of Theology at the Free Church Theological College in Aberdeen. When the Free Church College was founded in Glasgow in 1856, Fairbairn became its Principal and Professor of Church History and Exegesis—positions he held until his death in 1874. He was elected Moderator of the General Assembly in 1864.

In 1845, Fairbairn wrote The Typology of Scripture. MacLehose noted that this was "one of the most important theological works of its day," and suggested that it "appeared at a time when Scotland was singularly barren in theological scholarship, and gained for its author a great reputation, not only in his own country but also in England and America."