James Orr (theologian)
James Orr (1844–6 September 1913[1]) was a Scottish Presbyterian minister and professor of church history and then theology. He was an influential defender of evangelical doctrine and a contributor to The Fundamentals.
Biography
Orr was born in Glasgow and spent his childhood in Manchester and Leeds. He was orphaned and became an apprentice bookbinder, but went on to enter Glasgow University in 1865. In 1870, he obtained an M.A. in Philosophy of Mind, and after graduating from the theological college of the Presbyterian Church, he was ordained a minister in Hawick. In 1885 he received a D.D. from Glasgow University, and in the early 1890s delivered a series of lectures that later became the influential The Christian View of God and the World. He was appointed professor of Church history in 1891 at the theological college of the United Presbyterian Church. He was one of the primary promoters of the union of the United Presbyterian Church with the Free Church of Scotland, and he represented the United Presbyterians in the unification talks. After they joined in 1900, he moved to Free Church College (now Trinity College), as professor of apologetics and theology. He lectured widely in both Britain and the United States.
Views
Orr was a vocal critic of theological liberalism (of Albrecht Ritschl especially) and helped establish Christian fundamentalism. His lectures and writings upheld the doctrines of the virgin birth and resurrection of Jesus, and the infallibility of the Bible. In contrast to modern fundamentalists and his friend B.B. Warfield, he did not agree with the stronger position of Biblical inerrancy.[2] Like Warfield, but also unlike modern Christian fundamentalists, he advocated a position which he called "theistic evolution", but which would today be called progressive creationism.
Bibliography
- The Christian View of God and the World (1893) online version
- The Ritschlian Theology and the Evangelical Faith (1897)
- Neglected Factors in the Study of the Early Progress of Christianity (1899)
- Progress of Dogma (1902)
- David Hume (1903)
- Ritschlianism; Expository and Critical Essays (1903)
- New Testament Apocryphal Writings (London 1903); Protevangelium of James: on the birth of Mary | Gospel of Thomas: miracles of the infancy | Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew | Gospel of Nicodemus | Gospel of Peter | Acts of Paul and Thecla | The Falling Asleep of Mary. 182 pp.
- God's Image in Man and its Defacement in Light of Modern Denials (1905)
- Problem of the Old Testament Considered with Reference to Recent Criticism (1906)
- The Bible under Trial. Apologetic Papers in View of Present Day Assaults on Holy Scripture (1907) online version
- The Virgin Birth of Christ Hodder and Stoughton, London (1907)
- The Resurrection of Jesus (1908)
- Side-Lights on Christian Doctrine (1909)
- Revelation and Inspiration (1910)
- Sin as a Problem To-Day (1910)
- The History and Literature of the Early Church (1913)
- "The Holy Scriptures and Modern Negations", "The Early Narratives of Genesis", "Science and Christian Faith", and "The Virgin Birth of Christ", in The Fundamentals: A testimony to the truth, R.A. Torrey and A.C. Dixon (eds) (1917) online version
- The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ed.) (1939)
Notes
References
- Gary J. Dorien, The Remaking of Evangelical Theology, Westminster John Knox Press, 1998.
- George Eyre-Todd, "Rev. James Orr", in Who's Who in Glasgow 1909.
- Jeff MacDonald, "Book Review of A Call for Continuity: The Theological Contribution of James Orr", Layman Online, May 26, 2005.
- Gavin Basil McGrath, "James Orr's Endorsement of Theistic Evolution", Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 51.2 (June 1999): 114-121. This writer later repudiated theistic evolution and became an old earth creationist, "Intelligent Design from an Old Earth Creationist Perspective," Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 53.3 (Sept. 2006): 252-253; & "The Gap [School] ...," Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, 59 (Dec. 2007): 318-319
- Philip Schaff, "Orr, James", New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 1953.
- Glen G. Scorgie, A Call for Continuity: The Theological Contribution of James Orr, Regent College Publishing, 2004. (ISBN 1573833274)