Donald Maclean DD by Rev G N M Collins BD (Lyndsay & Co)
Dr Lloyd-Jones very
first foreword was for a biography, that of the Free Church
Professor, Dr Donald MacLean (1869-1943)
Foreword
It is to me a very high
privilege to be asked to write a foreword to this account of the life
of Principal Maclean. For he had not only given me the right of
regarding him as a friend, but had also by the unconscious exercising
of the charm of his rich personality made of me one of his most
ardent admirers.
I had the joy of meeting
him on many occasions, but what will always stand out in my memory is
the week in March 1941 which I spent in his home as his guest. It was
a quite unforgettable experience for I not only got to know him
intimately but through him, and as the result of h1s truly
oecumenical spirit I had the pleasure of meeting a number of other
"Scots Worthies". It would be a very easy matter to write
of him as the perfect host, but more important matters call for
comment.
I have nothing to add to
the portrait which the deft and accurate artist, Mr Collins, has
painted so perfectly. I can but select and emphasise certain
particular features.
The first impress1on left
on anyone who met Principal Maclean was the natural dignity, coupled
with charm, of his personality. He was one of nature’s gentlemen,
with that additional something that can only be supplied by Celtic
blood! At one and the same time one was conscious of strength, and
almost severity, and yet shining throughout the sterner aspect, was
the element of grace and graciousness. His voice was rich and deep,
and his tendency to intone as he spoke made his conversation in a
very literal sense "music to mine ears".
He at once suggested all
one had ever read or heard of the Covenanters. He belonged to them,
was one of them, and gloried in them. But at the same time one
realised that he was abreast of the times and fully alive to
everything round about him.
But one had not been long
in his company before realising that the most important thing about
him was his great concern for the Truth, and his special zeal for the
propagating of the Reformed Faith. That was the great passion of his
life, and in a very short time he always turned the conversation in
that direction.
Above everything else,
however, what was most striking about him was the way in which he
combined absolute loyalty to the Truth as expressed in the
Westminster Confession of Faith with a marked catholicity of spirit.
It never ceased to
impress me that one who had passed through and had taken a prominent
part in, the troubles and controversies in the Church in Scotland
that led to the events of 1900 to 1906 should have emerged from it
all without any trace of bitterness. His was truly that type of love
that "hopeth all things" and which enables one to hate
error and heresy without feeling or displaying personal animosity
towards those guilty of them.
To him the Truth as he
saw it, and accepted it, was so clear and inevitable that he found it
difficult to believe that others could rest finally in any other
position. This, it seems to me, was the explanation of his attitude
towards those who in the past twenty years have been travelling in
the direction of traditional Reformed doctrine. He was not only
tolerant towards them but actively encouraged them. sometimes at the
risk of offending those who shared his own views, believing as he did
that eventually they would come the whole way.
All this and especially
in his position as editor of the Evangelical Quarterly marked him out
as a leader of quite exceptional importance and especially so in view
of the present world and theological situation. Furthermore, as Mr
Collins brings out so clearly, his knowledge of other lands and his
friendships with the leaders of Reformed theology everywhere led many
of us to look to him as the almost indispensable link in the post war
years between British and Continental Evangelical Protestants.
There seems to be no one
who, in terms of character and spirit and knowledge and experience,
can take his place.
But we believe with him
that God's ways are always perfect, and that though he has been taken
from us, the cause which he so loved, and for which he laboured so
constantly and valiantly, will triumph and prevail.
His memory will remain
with all who had the privilege of knowing him as a constant stimulus
and encouragement. And should
we ever tend to become hard and bitter we shall be rebuked by the
recollection of the gracious personality and captivating smile of Dr
Donald Maclean.
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
London
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