Alexander Whyte

Alexander Whyte was born on January 13, 1836, in Kirriemuir, Scotland. His mother was unmarried, and he was raised in poverty, which carried a heavy stigma in that place and time. His grandmother, a woman of firm faith, took a large part in raising him. He was apprenticed to a shoemaker and for years worked at the bench while reading in every spare hour. He was determined to learn, and in time he won his way to the University of Aberdeen and then to New College in Edinburgh to train for the ministry of the Free Church.

He was ordained in 1866 and served for a few years in Glasgow. In 1870 he went to Free St George's Church in Edinburgh as assistant to the great preacher Robert Candlish. When Candlish died soon afterward, Whyte became the sole minister. He remained there for thirty-seven years. The church was one of the most prominent in Scotland, and its congregation included professors, lawyers and the poor. He preached with fire and with great earnestness, and he was known for his practice of searching the heart.

He spent long hours in the study and would not preach until he had given the text his best effort. He read widely, in the Puritans, in the mystics and in the writers of the Roman Catholic and Anglican traditions. This was unusual for a Free Church minister, and some thought it dangerous. He studied Teresa of Avila, Lancelot Andrewes and William Law, and he wrote about them with respect. He did not hold their errors but valued what they taught about prayer and the holiness of God.

His most widely read work is Bible Characters, a series of sermons that go through the figures of the Old and New Testaments and show what they teach about the human heart. He also wrote Bunyan Characters, drawn from The Pilgrim's Progress, and he wrote on the life of Samuel Rutherford. His sermons were known for their searching power. He pressed on his hearers the knowledge of their own sin, and he often spoke of his own failures. He once said that he never entered a pulpit without feeling the weight of his sins. He believed that the preacher must be broken before he can bring others to Christ.

His severity concerning sin sometimes weighed on those who heard him. Some found him too gloomy, and others found his emphasis on guilt hard to bear. He was also a man of tender feeling who cared for the poor and was close to his family. He and his wife Jane had several children. He was also known for his humor and his love of books.

In 1909 he was made principal of New College, and he held that post until 1918. He remained a force in the church. He died on January 6, 1921, in Edinburgh, a week before his eighty-fifth birthday. His life shows what can be done by a boy of no advantages who gives himself to the Word, and his preaching reminds us that the way to grace is through an honest look at our own hearts.