Probably there has never been a generation more determined to achieve peace than our own. The multiplicity of organisations which have been formed in recent years to seek to deal with international and civil unrest, industrial strife, and conflicts within the home bear witness to this fact. And yet the situation appears to grow steadily worse. The reason lies in the fact taht men and women have failed as individuals first to make their peace with God, their Maker. From this alone will flow the much sought peace between man and man. Horatius Bonar's long life spanned most of the last century, and for well over fifty years he execised an active and powerful ministry in Scotland. Nowadays he is most remembered as a hymn-writer, but his tracts and books still prove their worth and enjoy a wide circulation.
The son of James Bonar, Solicitor of Excise for Scotland, he was born and educated in Edinburgh. He comes from a long line of ministers who have served a total of 364 years in the Church of Scotland. One of eleven children, his brothers John James and Andrew Alexander were also ministers of the Free Church of Scotland. He had married Jane Catherine Lundie in 1843 and five of their young children died in succession. Towards the end of their lives, one of their surviving daughters was left a widow with five small children and she returned to live with her parents. Bonar's wife, Jane, died in 1876. He is buried in the Canongate Kirkyard.
In 1853 Bonar earned the Doctor of Divinity degree at the University of Aberdeen.
He entered the Ministry of the Church of Scotland. At first he was put in charge of mission work at St. John's parish in Leith and settled at Kelso. He joined the Free Church at the time of the Disruption of 1843, and in 1867 was moved to Edinburgh to take over the Chalmers Memorial Church (named after his teacher at college, Dr. Thomas Chalmers). In 1883, he was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland.... Show more