Andrew Bonar

He was born in the Broughton district[2] of Edinburgh, the son of James Bonar (1758-1821), a solicitor with the Excise, and his wife Marjory Pyott Maitland (1753-1834).[3][4]

Andrew Bonar studied divinity at the University of Edinburgh from 1831 and was ordained in 1835. His first position was as minister at Collace in Perthshire, 1838 – 1856 (both in the Church of Scotland and the Free Church of Scotland). With Robert Murray McCheyne he visited Palestine in 1839 to inquire into the condition of the Jews there.[5] Bonar joined the Free Church of Scotland in 1843. He served as minister of Finnieston Free Church, Glasgow, 1856 till his death. In 1874, the University of Edinburgh conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Divinity.[6] He was the Moderator of the Free Church's General Assembly for 1878/9.

Bonar was identified with evangelical and revival movements and adhered to the doctrine of premillennialism. During the visit of Dwight L. Moody to Britain in 1874 and 1875, Moody was warmly welcomed by Bonar, despite the latter receiving considerable criticism from other Calvinist ministers in the Free Church.

He died at his home, 20 India Street in Glasgow, on 30 December 1892.[7] He is buried in Sighthill Cemetery in north Glasgow.[8]

His Glasgow house was demolished in the 1960s and is now the site of modern offices.

Andrew Bonar Law, the future British Prime Minister, was named after Andrew Bonar, whom Law's mother Eliza admired.

• A Narrative of a Mission of Inquiry to the Jews from the Church of Scotland in 1839 (Edinburgh, 1842) ISBN 1-85792-258-1
• Memoir and Remains of Robert Murray McCheyne (1845) ISBN 0-85151-084-1
• "The Biography of Robert Murray M'Cheyne"
• Commentary on Leviticus (1846) ISBN 0-85151-086-8
• Redemption Drawing Nigh, a defence of the premillennial advent (1847)
• The Development of the Antichrist (1853) online at
• The Life and Labours of Asahel Nettleton, with Bennet Tyler (1854) ISBN 0-85151-701-3
• The Visitor's Book of Texts or The Word Brought Near the Sick (Edinburgh, 1856) ISBN 978-1-84871-071-9
• Christ and his Church in the Book of Psalms (1859) ISBN 1-899003-65-7
• Bonar also edited Samuel Rutherford's Letters (1863); Letters of Samuel Rutherford, Religious Tract Society, London 1891 and wrote many tracts, pamphlets, and minor biographies.
• His daughter Marjory edited his Diary and Letters, his Reminiscences, Heavenly Springs (ISBN 0-85151-479-0) (Portions selected from his diary, letters, and sermons), and Wayside Wells (Thoughts for Sabbath evenings, selected from his writings and sermons).
• in-print publications include containing the Diary and Letters and the Reminiscences is:
• Bonar, Andrew A (1984). Bonar, Marjory (ed.). Andrew A Bonar: Diary and Life. Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust. ISBN 0-85151-432-4.

while the Reminiscences are available separately as:

• Bonar, Marjory (1999). Andrew A Bonar: The Good Pastor. Belfast: Ambassador Productions. ISBN 1-84030-045-0.

• Ferguson, Fergus (c. 1893). The Life of the Rev Dr Andrew A Bonar. Glasgow: John J Rae.

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Andrew Bonar

• Works by Andrew Bonar at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Andrew Bonar at Internet Archive

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: the article on "Bonar, Andrew Alexander" in Jackson, Samuel Macauley, ed. (1914). New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge (third ed.). London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls. The editors of the online edition at ccel.org have given permission for material from articles to be used in Wikipedia.