Robert Douglas

Who was Robert Douglas?

Robert Douglas was the only minister of the Church of Scotland to be Moderator of the General Assembly five times.

Douglas officiated at the coronation of Charles II at Scone in 1651. During the ceremony he preached a sermon which said that it was the monarch's duty to maintain the established religion of Scotland and to bring the other religions in Britain into conformity with it. Douglas assisted in the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, and afterwards was offered the bishopric of Edinburgh if he would accept the introduction of episcopacy into Scotland. He refused, and was latterly simply Pastor of Greyfriars Kirk in Edinburgh and then Minister of the Parish of Pencaitland until his death.