James Buchanan

1804-1870. Scottish theologian. Born in Paisley, he studied at Glasgow University, was briefly minister of Roslin, then in 1828 was inducted to the large and influential parish of North Leith, where his evangelical preaching attracted great crowds. In 1840 he became minister of the High Church (St. Giles'), Edinburgh. At the 1843 Disruption,* in common with most of his fellow Evangelicals, he left the established church and became minister of St. Stephen's Free Church, Edinburgh. In 1845 he was appointed professor of apologetics at New College, and two years later he succeeded Thomas Chalmers* in the chair of systematic theology. Buchanan's works include Faith in God and Modern Atheism Compared (2 vols., 1855) and The Doctrine of Justification (1866).