LP-33-Robert Milligan

Robert Milligan

ROBERT MILLIGAN was born in the county of Tyrone, Ireland, July 25, 1814. He came with his parents to America in 1815, and lived in Trumbull County, Ohio, for several years. In 1831, he entered Zelienople Academy, in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and, in 1833, entered the Classical Academy at Jamestown, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, then under the Presidency of Mr. John Gamble, a distinguished graduate of the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. In this academy, he completed a very thorough course of Latin and Greek, and devoted some time to the elements of English literature and mathematics.

He was strictly educated in the standards of the Associate Reformed Presbyterians--his father being a ruling elder in the Church--and, in 1835, became a member of the Associate Presbyterian body, and was greatly esteemed for his piety and faithfulness by all who knew him. In 1837, he opened a classical school at Flat Rock, in Bourbon County, Kentucky, and, while engaged at that point, some of his students were in the habit of asking him for the exact meaning of sundry passages in the Greek Testament, and, for the first time, he was thus providentially made to realize the great responsibility of the man who presumes to interpret for others the oracles of God. He resolved to divest himself of all the bias and prejudice of his previous education, and to know the will of God as it is revealed to us in the original Greek and Hebrew, and to make that will the rule and guide of his life. He accordingly re-examined the whole grounds of his religious faith, and the result was, that, in March, 1838, he was immersed by Elder John Irvine, of the Church at Cane Ridge, Bourbon County, Kentucky. In 1839, he entered Washington College, Pennsylvania, where, in 1840, he received the degree of A. B., and, in 1843, the degree of A. M. In 1840, one session before he graduated, he was elected by the Board of Trustees of Washington College to the vacant Chair of English Literature. In this department he labored nine and a half years, in the meantime, however, giving instruction in the Latin and Greek classics, as well as in English literature. He was transferred, in 1850, to the Chair of Chemistry and Natural History, in the same college, and, in 1852, resigned this position, and accepted the Chair of Mathematics in the State University of Indiana; but, at the request of the Board, he was soon transferred to the Chair of Chemistry, Natural Philosophy, and Astronomy. In 1854, he accepted the Chair of Mathematics in Bethany College, and, the following year, was made an Elder of the Church at Bethany, and became co-editor of the "Millennial Harbinger." In all these departments his labors were highly appreciated, and Bethany College and the Church there were never more prosperous than while he was connected with them. In 1859, he accepted the Presidency of Kentucky University, and the Chair of Sacred History and Mental and Moral Philosophy. In these positions he labored most earnestly and faithfully, managing the University with such prudence that it was not suspended a single day, at a time when almost all other institutions of learning in the State were closed, on account of the civil war. When, in 1866, the University was moved to Lexington, he was, at his own request, relieved from the Presidency of the University, and his labors confined to the College of the Bible. The Board unanimously elected him Professor of Sacred Literature, and Presiding Officer of that college. He still occupies that position, and is doing a great and good work in preparing young men for the ministry. Eternity alone can reveal the value of his services in his present department of labor.

It will be seen, by this brief record of events, that President Milligan’s active life has been chiefly occupied in teaching, and, furthermore, that he has taught nearly every branch in the college curriculum. The immense amount of labor necessary to prepare for all these departments has severely taxed his constitution, which, though never very rugged, is now seriously impaired. Nothing dispirited, however, he continues to labor on in the cause of Christ with a zeal and constancy that acknowledge no discouragements. His connection with the various colleges, already referred to, was of great advantage to him, and gave him an unusually large experience among different classes of distinguished men, and this experience is now of great value to him in discharging the duties of his present position.

President Milligan is a ripe scholar, an excellent preacher, and, as a teacher, has no superior in all the land. He has written considerable for the periodicals of the Disciples, and has recently published a valuable work, entitled "Reason and Revelation; or, the Province of Reason in Matters Pertaining to Divine Revelation." This work is intended for schools, colleges, and private families, and is destined to have an extensive circulation, and will certainly do much good in giving the public proper views concerning the origin, character, and interpretation of the Word of God.