Henry Drummond

Henry Drummond was born on August 17, 1851, in Stirling, Scotland. His father was a seed merchant and an elder in the church, and the family was prosperous. He was a bright boy who loved nature and books. He studied at the University of Edinburgh, where he took degrees in arts and science. He also studied theology at New College in Edinburgh and was licensed to preach by the Free Church of Scotland. He was a young man of charm and quick wit, with a fine mind and a keen interest in science.

In 1873, the American evangelist D. L. Moody and the singer Ira Sankey came to Edinburgh to hold meetings. Drummond was drawn to the work and became a helper. He was among the university students who took part in the meetings, and he came to know Moody well. He was moved by the evangelist's warmth and his practical approach. He worked with Moody for a time and traveled to America to take part in his campaigns. He became a leader in the student movement and spoke to groups of young men in universities across Britain and America.

He was appointed as a lecturer in natural science at the Free Church College in Glasgow, and in 1884 he became a professor. He sought to show that the discoveries of science did not conflict with the Christian faith. In 1883, he published Natural Law in the Spiritual World, a book that tried to find parallels between the laws of nature and the laws of the spiritual life. It was a great success and sold hundreds of thousands of copies. He was one of the first to take the theory of evolution seriously and to try to find a place for it within the faith. He argued that God works through natural processes.

His best-known work was a short address on the thirteenth chapter of the first letter to the Corinthians, called The Greatest Thing in the World, which he first gave at a conference in 1884 and published in 1890. It is a simple and beautiful talk on love. It has been read by millions and has been translated into many languages. Its title became a phrase in common use. He also wrote Tropical Africa, after a journey on the continent in 1883, and The Ascent of Man, in 1894, which set out his views on evolution and cooperation.

He was known as a man of great charm and warmth. People of every kind loved to be in his company. He had a gift for putting people at ease. He was also criticized by some who thought that his views on science and Scripture were too liberal. He did not hold to a strict view of the Bible, and he was suspected by the more conservative in the Free Church. He kept his faith in Christ and said that he was an evangelist at heart.

He did not marry. In the 1890s, his health began to fail, and he suffered from a painful illness of the bones. He bore it with patience. He spent his last years in suffering and died on March 11, 1897, in Tunbridge Wells, England, at the age of forty-five. His life shows how a scientist can be a witness of Christ, and how a simple talk on love can last for generations.