Andrew A. Bonar

Andrew Alexander Bonar (29 May 1810 in Edinburgh – 30 December 1892 in Glasgow) was a minister of the Free Church of Scotland, a contemporary and acquaintance of Robert Murray M'Cheyne and youngest brother of Horatius Bonar.

Life

He was born at Paterson's Court in the Broughton district of Edinburgh, the son of James Bonar (1758–1821), a solicitor with the Excise, and his wife Marjory Pyott Maitland (1753–1834). He was younger brother to James Bonar and Horatius Bonar.

Andrew Bonar studied divinity at the University of Edinburgh from 1831 and was ordained in 1835. His first position was as minister at Collace in Perthshire, from 1838 to 1856 (both in the Church of Scotland and the Free Church of Scotland). With Robert Murray McCheyne he visited Palestine in 1839 to inquire into the condition of the Jews there. Bonar joined the Free Church of Scotland in 1843. He served as minister of Finnieston Free Church, Glasgow, from 1856 till his death. In 1874, the University of Edinburgh conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Divinity. He was the Moderator of the Free Church's General Assembly for 1878/79.

Bonar was identified with evangelical and revival movements and adhered to the doctrine of premillennialism. During the visit of Dwight L. Moody to Britain in 1874 and 1875, Moody was warmly welcomed by Bonar, despite the latter receiving considerable criticism from other Calvinist ministers in the Free Church.

He died at his home, 20 India Street in Glasgow, on 30 December 1892. He is buried in Sighthill Cemetery in north Glasgow.