Robert Patterson

Ordained in the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Robert Patterson was born in 1829 and spent much of his ministry in the American Midwest. Reference sources available here describe him as an Irish-born clergyman who studied for the ministry in Philadelphia, was licensed to preach in 1851, ordained in 1852, and later served pastorates in Cincinnati and Chicago.

He is best known as the author of Fables of Infidelity and Facts of Faith, a book that challenged atheism, rationalism, and other forms of religious doubt. Another work associated with him, The Errors of Evolution (1885), shows how directly he engaged with the scientific controversies of his time, especially debates over Darwinism and the origin of life.

For listeners interested in 19th-century religious thought, Patterson offers a clear example of a writer trying to answer modern intellectual challenges from a firmly Protestant point of view. His books are less about quiet devotion than about argument, persuasion, and the struggle to defend belief in a rapidly changing world.