Patrick Fairbairn
Encyclopedia
Patrick Fairbairn was a Scottish minister and theologian. He was born in Greenlaw
Greenlaw
Greenlaw is a small town situated in the foothills of the Lammermuir Hills on Blackadder Water at the junction of the A697 and the A6105 in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. Greenlaw was first made the county town of Berwickshire in 1596, and was the first town to take on this role since the...

, Berwickshire
Berwickshire
Berwickshire or the County of Berwick is a registration county, a committee area of the Scottish Borders Council, and a lieutenancy area of Scotland, on the border with England. The town after which it is named—Berwick-upon-Tweed—was lost by Scotland to England in 1482...

, and began studying at the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...

 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
Bridgeton, Glasgow
Bridgeton is a district to the east side of Glasgow city centre. It is bounded by Glasgow Green to the west, Dalmarnock to the east and south and Calton to the north-west at Abercromby Street/ London Road...

, and Salton, East Lothian
East Saltoun and West Saltoun
East Saltoun and West Saltoun are separate villages in East Lothian, Scotland, about 5 miles south-west of Haddington and 20 miles east of Edinburgh.- Geography :...

.

After the Disruption of 1843
Disruption of 1843
The Disruption of 1843 was a schism within the established Church of Scotland, in which 450 ministers of the Church broke away, over the issue of the Church's relationship with the State, to form the Free Church of Scotland...

, 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
Moderator of the General Assembly
The Moderator of the General Assembly is the chairperson of a General Assembly, the highest court of a presbyterian or reformed church. Kirk Sessions and Presbyteries may also style the chairperson as moderator....

 in 1864.

In 1845, Fairbairn wrote The Typology of Scripture. MacLehose (1886) 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."

Fairbairn's work on typology
Typology (theology)
Typology in Christian theology and Biblical exegesis is a doctrine or theory concerning the relationship between the Old and New Testaments...

 was followed by Prophecy viewed in its Distinctive Nature, its Special Functions, and Proper Interpretation (1856) and Hermeneutical Manual; or, Introduction to the exegetical study of the Scriptures of the New Testament (1858). He also wrote commentaries on Ezekiel
Book of Ezekiel
The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah and preceding the Book of the Twelve....

 and the Pastoral epistles
Pastoral epistles
The three pastoral epistles are books of the canonical New Testament: the First Epistle to Timothy the Second Epistle to Timothy , and the Epistle to Titus. They are presented as letters from Paul of Tarsus...

, and edited the Imperial Bible Dictionary.

Fairbairn was "large and imposing in appearance," but "modest and retiring in his habits and feelings." He was married three times, but little is known of his private life because Fairbairn "asked his friends not to allow his biography to be written, and destroyed letters and other documents which might have led them to a disregard of his wish."

Walker (1964) suggested that Fairbairn's "zeal for ascertaining and propagating the truth of God ... continued steadfastly with all the vigour of his powerful intellect until the closing days of his life."
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