John Brown of Haddington (1722-87), shepherd, minister, author and professor of theology, was one of the brightest evangelical lights in Scotland in the age of Moderatism. He was well-known for the liveliness of his preaching, and determined to preach 'as if I had never read a book but the Bible'. His name came to be inextricably linked with the scene of his life-long ministry in Haddington, yet his ministry also circled the Protestant world through his Self-Interpreting Bible. For this book, William Brown, his youngest son, gathered the family's memories of Brown and added these to his father's own short account of his life. While not the fullest biography of his subject, the resulting Life remains unexcelled in spiritual insight and wisdom. William Brown also included valuable additional writings by his father: selected letters, his Meditations on important Christian themes, and his Dying Advice to His Younger Children.
