Horatius Bonar (19 December 1808– 31 July 1889), a contemporary and acquaintance of Robert Murray M’cheyne was a Scottish churchman and poet. He is principally remembered as a prodigious hymn-writer.

Life

The son of James Bonar, Solicitor of Excise for Scotland, he was born and educated in Edinburgh. He came 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.

In 1853 Bonar earned the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity from the University of Aberdeen.

Bonar’s wife, Jane Catherine Bonar, died in 1876. He died at this home, 10 Palmerston Road in the Grange, 31 July 1889. They are buried together in the Canongate Kirkyard in the lair of Alexander Bonar, near the bottom of the eastern extension.

Service

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.

Works

He was a voluminous and highly popular author. He also served as the editor for “The Quarterly journal of Prophecy” from 1848 to 1873 and for the “Christian Treasury” from 1859 to 1879. In addition to many books and tracts wrote a number of hymns, many of which, e.g., “I heard the voice of Jesus say” and “Blessing and Honour and Glory and Power,” became known all over the English-speaking world. A selection of these was published as Hymns of Faith and Hope (3 series). His last volume of poetry was My Old Letters. Bonar was also author of several biographies of ministers he had known, including “The Life of the Rev. John Milne of Perth” in 1869, and in 1884 “The Life and Works of the Rev. G. T. Dodds”, who was married to Bonar’s daughter and who died in 1882 while serving as a missionary in France.
His hymns, which number over 140, include:
All That I Was
Fill thou my life, O Lord, my God
I heard the Voice of Jesus say
I Was a Wandering Sheep
Thy way, not mine, O Lord
Here, O my Lord, I see Thee face to face
A few more years shall roll
Come Lord and tarry not
O love of God, how strong and true
Some of his books include:
Words to Winners of Souls. Nabu Press. 2011. ISBN 978-1-24772-723-3.
The Everlasting Righteousness. Banner of Truth. 1996. ISBN 978-0-85151-655-4.
God’s Way of Holiness. Christian Focus Publications. 1999. ISBN 978-1-85792-503-6.
How Shall I Go to God. Baker Book House. 1977. ISBN 978-0-8010-0713-2.
Night of Weeping. Christian Focus Publications. 1999. ISBN 978-1-85792-441-1.
God’s Way of Peace ISBN 1-4590-9630-4
Follow the Lamb ISBN 0-906731-63-1
Light & Truth: Bible Thoughts and Themes on The Acts & Larger Epistles– commentary on Acts, Romans, and 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians ASIN B002ZJRS9K
Light & Truth: Bible Thoughts and Themes on Revelation - commentary on the Book of Revelation ASIN B002ZRQ55U

References

Wikipedia—https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatius_Bonar