Abstract
The purpose of this study is to focus upon the life and work
of a man who was pre-eminently successful as a minister to
students. There are many men who have had a student "following"
from time to time. But John Kelman's ministry to the students
at the University of Edinburgh stands apart, I believe, from all
other such ministries in this century as unique in originality,
power and sustained appeal.
I have found it best to keep the "biographical details simple
and factual and to bear down upon the message that Kelman formulated for his great student congregations. Thus, I have
neglected almost everything that was right or left of his student
work unless it had a clear bearing upon his peculiar message to
young people. In the background chapter I have attempted to
draw a simple sketch of the religious movements which had an
influence upon the religious life of students at the University
of Edinburgh in the opening years of the twentieth-century; and
I thought it well to set out in this chapter the facts about
Kelman's call to the Operetta House to become Brummond's successor,
Thee was ever present a temptation to dwell at length upon a
comparison of Kelman's message with that of Henry Drummond whom
he resembled in so many ways. But that is not within the scope
of this thesis and I have only drawn the two men together in a
few brief remarks in the concluding chapter. The reader will
find that the usual "background" material for a study such as
this, trends in theological thought, scientific research,
literature and so on, have "been woven into the chapters on
Kelman's religious message and his use of literature in the
service of religion.
