FORBES, JOHN: Scotch theologian; b. May 2, 1593; d. at Corse (19 m. w. of Dumfries), Kirkcudbrightshire, Apr. 29, 1648. He studied at King's College (Aberdeen), and at Heidelberg, Sédan, and other Continental universities, and in 1619 was ordained at Middelburg, returning in the same year to Aberdeen, where his father was bishop. In 1620 he was appointed professor of divinity in King's College, Aberdeen, where he was conspicuous for his defense of episcopacy. He succeeded to his father's estate of Corse in 1635, and two years later was an advocate of the project to unite the Reformed and Lutheran churches. In 1638, however, he refused to sign the National Covenant, and despite the protests of the synod was ejected from his professorship by the General Assembly. He accepted the Presbyterian form of government, but the Solemn League and Covenant, sanctioned in 1643, forced him to leave Scotland, and from 1644 until 1646 he resided in Holland. He then returned to his native country, and spent the remainder of his life at Corse. Forbes, who was irenic in temperament, was the author of Irenicum amatoribus veritatis et pacis in Ecclesia Scoticana (Aberdeen, 1629) and Institutions historico-theologicœ de doctrina Christiana (Amsterdam, 1645), as well as of a number of minor writings. His complete Latin works, including several posthumous treatises and a Latin translation of his diary, were edited by G. Garden (2 vols., Amsterdam, 1702-03).