Robert Baillie (1602-1662)
James Dodson
Biographical Sketch
Robert Baillie was born in Saltmarket, Glasgow, Scotland, April 30, 1602. He was the eldest son of a town merchant and burgess of Glasgow, James Baillie. He attended the University of Glasgow, graduating in 1620, with an M.A. After a stint as a tutor to the son of the Earl of Eglinton, he was ordained to the pastorate of Kilwinning, on May 25, 1631. In 1638, the year Presbyterianism was restored to Scotland, he represented the Presbytery of Irvine at the Glasgow Assembly. In 1639, he served as chaplain to the regiment of Lord Eglinton, during the Bishop’s Wars. During this period, he was involved in the controversy with the prelates, and wrote several condemning their prayer book, liturgies, and other rituals. In 1642, he was translated to the Tron Kirk in Glasgow. In Glasgow he was made professor of Divinity together with David Dickson. In 1643, he was selected to be one of the Scottish divines sent to the Westminster Assembly. He wrote “Ladensium αὐτοκατάκρισις: the Canterburian's Self-Conviction,” (1640, 3rd ed. 1641); “A Parallel or Brief Comparison of the Liturgie with the Masse-Book,” (1641); “An Antidote against Arminianisme,” (1641); “Dissuasive from the Errours of the Time,” (1645); and, what he considered his greatest work, “Operis Historei et Chronologei Libri Duo,” (1663). He also composed numerous lesser works, including several sermons. In 1661, he was made principal of the University of Glasgow and he died in August, 1662.
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