Erskine, Ralph -
(1685-1752)
Short Biography
Erskine, Ralph "perhaps lacked some of the impressiveness
of his brother, [Ebenezer,] yet Robert Mackenzie rightly says of him in his
book "John Brown of Haddington" [Banner of Truth, 1964] that he was '. . .
gentler, more ideal, more mystical than his brother, fond of music and
proficient on the violin.'
Ralph was not one of the original Seceders of
1733 although he had been closely associated with his brother's stand on the
'Marrow' controversy, patronage and the Simson case. However in 1740 when he
was finally deposed by the General Assembly, he threw in his lot with his
brother and the Associate Presbytery.
In 1711 he had been appointed as
Minister of the Second Charge at the famous Dunfermline Abbey and in 1716 he
became Minister of the First Charge of that Church.
That he was a scholar
and a theologian of considerable ability can be shown by the fact that his
collected Works in ten volumes passed through many editions. Gospel Sonnets,
his best known work, was first published in 1734."
Alasdair B. Gordon
At present none of his works are in print.
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