author
Robert Flint
1838–1910
A Scottish theologian and philosopher, he spent much of his career asking how religious belief could stand up to modern thought. His books range across theology, philosophy, and sociology, with a clear aim to make big questions feel serious and approachable.
1 Audiobook
Theism; being the Baird Lecture of 1876
by Robert Flint
About the author
Born in Dumfriesshire in 1838, Robert Flint was educated at local schools before studying arts and divinity at the University of Glasgow. He was licensed to preach in the Church of Scotland in 1858 and served in Aberdeen and then Kilconquhar, building a reputation as a gifted preacher and thinker.
Flint moved into academic life while still quite young, becoming professor of moral philosophy and political economy at St Andrews in 1864. In 1876 he was appointed professor of divinity at the University of Edinburgh, a post he held until 1903. Alongside his university work, he became widely known for lectures and books that explored the relation between faith, philosophy, science, and society.
He wrote on subjects including theism, anti-theistic theories, history of the philosophy of history, and sociology. What makes his work still interesting is the breadth of it: he was not only a churchman, but also a scholar trying to meet the intellectual challenges of his age directly and thoughtfully.