FERGUSON, FERGUS: Evangelical Union of Scotland; b. at Glasgow Sept. 6, 1824; d. there Nov. 3, 1897. At the age of fourteen he entered Glasgow University and was graduated (B.A.) at the end of six sessions (M.A., some years later). He then studied at the (Congregational) Glasgow Theological Academy under Ralph Wardlaw until 1844, when, with eight other students, he was expelled for not believing in the doctrine of unconditional election and the special and irresistible influence of the Holy Spirit. His studies were completed in the Theological Hall of the Evangelical Union (q.v.) under James Morison (q.v.), and he was ordained pastor of a newly formed church of the Evangelical Union in Glasgow in Mar., 1845. The church grew under Ferguson's ministration and a new building was twice found necessary. He became a leader of his denomination and was professor of New Testament exegesis and literature in the Theological Hall. His preaching was popular and he was honored as one of the most useful citizens of Glasgow. For some years he edited the Evangelical Repository and he published many popular volumes, including Bible Election (Glasgow, 1854); Letters on the Principal Points of a Calvinistic Controversy (1854); A Treatise on Peace with God (1856); Holiness; or what we should be and do (1862); Sacred Scenes; Notes of Travel in Egypt and the Holy Land (London, 1864); The History of the Evangelical Union (1876; A Popular Life of Christ (1878); From Glasgow to Missouri and Back (Glasgow, 1878); The Character of God (London, 1881); The Patriarchs (1882).

WILLIAM ADAMSON.