George Salmon

1819-1904. Anglican divine. Born at Cork, Ireland, son of a Protestant linen merchant, he had a brilliant career at Trinity College, Dublin, and this led to a lifetime in the college as fellow (1841), professor (1866), and finally provost from 1888. He had been ordained in the Church of Ireland in 1845. He pursued two separate academic disciplines. Internationally recognized as a mathematician, he was also widely known for his theological writings. A strong Protestant, he cooperated with Archbishop Whately* in Cautions for the Times (1853), an answer to the Tractarians.* His widely read Infallibility of the Church (1889) was a brilliant, trenchant exposition of Roman claims which he answered with clarity, learning, and humor. His Introduction to the New Testament (1885) punctured several extravagantly liberal theories concerning Christian origins. He later questioned successfully many of the less happy hazards of Hort's Greek NT text. An able administrator, Salmon's financial acumen aided the Church of Ireland after the shock of disestablishment.