This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. An Intellectual Biography of David Smith Cairns (1862-1946) Marlene Elizabeth Finlayson A thesis submitted for the Degree of Ph. D. University of Edinburgh 2014 An Intellectual Biography of David Smith Cairns (1862-1946) – Abstract This thesis explores the formative influences, development and impact of the theology of David Smith Cairns, Scottish minister, academic and writer, during the high point of British imperial expansion, and at a time of social tension caused by industrialisation. In particular, it describes and evaluates his role in the Church’s efforts to face major challenges relating to its relationships to the different world religions, its response to the First World War, and its attitude to the scientific disciplines that called into question some of its longstanding perceptions and suppositions. Examination of Cairns’s life and work reveals an eminent figure, born into the United Presbyterian Church and rooted in the Church in Scotland, but operating ecumenically and internationally. His apologetics challenged the prevailing assumptions of the day: that science provided the only intellectually legitimate means of exploring the world, and that scientific determinism ruled out the Christian conception of the world as governed by Providence. A major feature of his theology was the presentation of Christianity as a ‘reasonable’ faith, and throughout his life he maintained a particular concern for young people, having endured his own crisis of faith when a student in Edinburgh. He enjoyed a decades long involvement with the Student Christian Movement and the World Student Christian Federation, based on a mutually enriching relationship with one of its leading figures, the renowned American evangelist John Raleigh Mott. As chair of Commission IV of the 1910 World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh, Cairns spearheaded efforts to encourage the Church to redefine its role in relation to the different world religions, and to adopt a fulfilment theology that allowed for a dialogical rather than confrontational model of mission. As leader of a Y.M.C.A. sponsored interdenominational enquiry into the effects of the First World War on the religious life of the nation and attitudes to the Churches, Cairns reported on the Churches’ failure to engage with a large section of the population, and in particular with the young men at the Front. The resulting report offered an important critique of the Church and its vision in the early twentieth century, and provided a call for reform and renewal in Church life, with an emphasis on the need for social witness. The thesis concludes that in these three major areas Cairns provided a prophetic voice for the Church as it entered the twentieth century and faced the challenges of that time. I declare that this thesis has been composed by me and that it is my own work. It has not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification. Marlene Finlayson Contents Acknowledgements Introduction (1) Chapter 1: Religious inheritance and spiritual crisis, 1862-1880 (6) • The early years at home • Ecclesiastical roots • Theological inheritance • Family heritage • Parental influence • Spiritual crisis Chapter 2: Breakdown and restoration, 1880-1892 (37) • Following in the family tradition • Theological education in the United Presbyterian Church • The William Robertson Smith case and its outcome • Collapse of faith • Egypt – a search for new foundations • New light – the influence of Newman Smyth • Return to university life • Henry Drummond and the religious awakening in the university • United Presbyterian hall and Marburg Chapter 3: Building on the new foundations, 1892-1906 (75) • Probationer – Morningside, Burnmouth and Selkirk • The search for an ideal • First charge • A nascent apologetics • Returning health • Marriage • Reaching out to a wider academic public • Christianity in the Modern World (1906) Chapter 4: Defending the faith - describing the Kingdom, 1907-1915 (111) • The task of apologetics • The intellectual milieu in Aberdeen • Helen’s illness and death • Chairing Commission IV, Edinburgh 1910 • Involvement in the Student Christian Movement • The Christian Evidences Lectures in Cambridge (published 1918 as The Reasonableness of the Christian Faith) • Home life Chapter 5: Conflict, power and Kingdom, 1916-1923 (150) • Cairns’s response to escalating militarism • War work with the YMCA, including at Le Havre and Rouen • Convener of The Army and Religion an Inquiry and its Bearing upon the Religious Life of the Nation (1920) and author of its report • Beyond the war: contribution to Religion and Life: The Foundations of Personal Religion (1923), based on lecture series at Oxford • Moderator of the United Free Church, 1923 Chapter 6: Explorations in the Nature of the Kingdom, 1924-1946 (187) • Travels to the Far East, 1927 • The search for a new Christian theology of the world • Influence of Lily Dougall and Alfred George Hogg • Thoughts on immortality • A mature apologetics The Faith That Rebels (1928) and The Riddle of the World (1937) • Retirement and move to Edinburgh 1937 • World War II Conclusion (234) Bibliography (242) Acknowledgements Special thanks are due to Professor Stewart J. Brown who supervised my research, and to my husband Duncan for his support throughout. Thanks go to staff in the following libraries: Anne Clarke and Philippa Bassett in Special Collections at the University of Birmingham; Kathryn McKee in St. John’s College Cambridge library; Dr Diana M. Henderson at The Scots at War Trust, Queen’s College, Cambridge; staff at New College library, Edinburgh; Martha Smalley and Joan Duffy, Yale Divinity School library. I am particularly grateful for the sustained help of staff at the Wolfson Reading Room, University of Aberdeen and to Martin Cameron, Librarian at Highland Theological College. Thanks to the following who shared resources, knowledge and experience, and gave pointers or encouragement along the way: Rev. Duncan Finlayson Ms. Moyra McCallum Rev. Robin Boyd Ms. June Brown of Stichill Juline Baird and Rachel Hosker, archives at Hawick Hub Susan Elliot at Ednam Primary School Rev. John Fulton, General Secretary of the United Free Church of Scotland Dr. Rose Drew, University of Glasgow. Finally, my thanks to the following: Dr. Doug Gay, University of Glasgow, for introducing me to David Smith Cairns Lis Macdougall, granddaughter of D.S. Cairns, for her hospitality in Aberdeen The Spalding Trust and The Hope Trust for generous financial assistance. 1 David Smith Cairns (1862-1946) Introduction When, in the autumn of 1937, in his seventy-fifth year, David Smith Cairns retired from the Chair of Christian Dogmatics in the University of Aberdeen, many felt that a permanent memorial should be made to honour his thirty-year connection with the University. During the discussions about the form which the memorial should take, the Professor of Biblical Criticism, James A. Robertson, remarked, ‘Stone, perhaps, rather than canvas, might be chosen to represent David Cairns. No medium less massive could so well convey his nobility, his profundity, his calm.’1 For most of his time in Aberdeen, Cairns had taught in Christ’s College, in Alford Place, where the United Free Church trained its clergy, and it was decided that a refurbishment of the College would be a fitting tribute to him as its former Principal, and that a portrait of him might be placed in the College Hall.2 A letter appealing for funds to implement the scheme included the following tribute to Cairns. Few teachers in our generation have had so wide and lasting an influence on youth as our honoured friend. He was beloved by the students who sat at his feet, and far and wide on every continent he is known and revered for his work in connection with the Student Christian Movement. As a writer of many books in his own special field of Theology, he has an international reputation; as a Church-man, his eminence was recognised by his elevation to the Moderator’s Chair of the United Free Church of Scotland in 1923; as a citizen of Aberdeen, he took a prominent part in every movement which made for righteousness; and as a Christian thinker, he has been in close contact with men in many lands, by whom he is held in honour for his fine humanity and wisdom. All who have the privilege of his friendship have found in him a wise counsellor, a great-hearted comrade, and a man of charity and humble faith.3 An impressive list of eminent figures, described as ‘friends of Principal Cairns’, commended the appeal, including civic, ecclesiastic and academic dignitaries from Scotland, England, India, and America, as well as representatives of the Student Christian Movement, the World Student Christian Federation and the International Missionary Council. 1 Douglas W. Simpson, The Fusion of 1860: A Record of the Centenary Celebrations and a History of the University of Aberdeen 1860-1960 (London and Edinburgh, 1963), 236. 2 This portrait, painted in 1940 by Gordon D. Shields (1888-1943), is stored in the Marischal Museum of the University of Aberdeen. 3 ‘Retirement of Principal D.S. Cairns, O.B.E., D.D., L.L.D.