John Colquhoun, an Evangelical Calvinist to be Remembered

Perhaps the name John Colquhoun is not familiar to you. If it is not hopefully this post will serve as a somewhat suitable introduction to stir up interest in his work. John Colquhoun (pronounced "Cal-houn") (1748–1827) "was a minister in the Church of Scotland whose sermons and writings reflect those of the Marrow brethren of the Secession church. Colquhoun’s writings are theologically astute and intensely practical. He wrote on the core doctrines of the gospel, particularly on experiential soteriology." He "pursued his literary, philosophical, and theological course for ten years" at the University of Glasgow from 1768-1778. Colquhoun was licensed to preach in the Church of Scotland in the Presbytery of Glasgow in 1780. In 1781 he accepted a call to a church in Stirling where he "continued to labor with all diligence and faithfulness so long as his health and strength remained." Though he was well loved and well respected "it was not until 1813 that Mr. Colquhoun appeared as an author." His first publication was Spiritual Comfort . This was followed by the 1815 edition of "On the Law and the Gospel," the 1818 printing of "On the Covenant of Grace," the 1819 release of "A Catechism for the Instruction and Direction of Young Communicants," his 1822 published volume "On the Covenant of Works," the 1824 edition of "A view of Saving Faith from Sacred Records," an 1825 Collection of the Promises of the Gospel , and finally the 1826 edition of "A View of Evangelical Repentance from the Sacred Records." Colquhoun also added his name to a list of ministers who recommended Thomas Bell’s 1814 edition, A View of the Covenant of Works and Grace and a Treatise on the Nature and Effects of Saving Faith . By the titles and the proximity of these ministers in the Church of Scotland it may be safely assumed that one of the them influenced the other. John Colquhoun died on November 27, 1827 at 80. He was married twice but never had any children. A volume of his Sermons was published posthumously in 1836. John Colquhoun was a theologian and pastor who deserved to be remembered in the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. He faithfully served his Lord and Master, and through his writings continues to find usefulness in the church today.

Reformation Heritage is soon to release Colquhoun’s A Treatise on the Law and Gospel .

Here is an except from this work:

The law and the gospel are the principal parts of divine revelation; or rather they are the center, sum, and substance of all the other parts of it. Every passage of sacred Scripture is either law or gospel, or is capable of being referred either to the one or to the other . . . If then a man cannot distinguish aright between the law and the gospel, he cannot rightly understand so much as a single article of divine truth. If he does not have spiritual and just apprehensions of the holy law, he cannot have spiritual and transforming discoveries of the glorious gospel; and, on the other hand, if his view of the gospel is erroneous, his notions of the law cannot be right.