Morison, James

(1816–93)

   Sect Founder.

   Morison was born in Bathgate, Scotland, and he was educated at the University of Edinburgh. He became a licensed minister of the United Secession Church (the denomination originally founded by Ebenezer erskine), but he was suspended from his duties in 1841 because he was teaching that Jesus Christ made atonement for all, not just for the Elect. In response, he founded the Evangelical Union in 1843 in Kilmarnock where his preaching attracted huge congregations.

   In 1851, he moved his headquarters to the Dundas Street Church in Glasgow and he founded a theological hall in the city. Among his works were commentaries on the Gospels of matthew and mark and an exposition on the ninth chapter of St paul’s Epistle to the Romans. The Union became an association of independent theological Churches, most of which joined the Congregational Union of Scotland in 1897.

   H. Escott, A History of Scottish Congregationalism (1960);

   W.H.O. Smeaton, The Life of James Morison (1901).