George Garden

1649-1733

Episcopalian Minister

Church of Scotland Wiki, DNB

The course of events prior to prosecution

George Garden was ordained by Bishop Scougall in 1677 as a priest in the Scottish Episcopal Church. He succeeded his father as minister of the church at Forgue in Aberdeenshire [Wiki] in 1674 and, in 1679, he was appointed to the church of St Machar, Aberdeen, the city's Cathedral, from which, in November 1683, he moved to the church of St. Nicholas, also in Aberdeen. By this point he was also a Doctor of Divinity. 

The gatehouses to St Macher, Aberdeen

In the words of the supposed old Chinese curse, he was doomed to live in interesting times. (Though the phrase could be from Yorkshire - here).

The Revolution of 1688, and the institution of the presbyterian Church of Scotland as the State church, was not to Garden's liking.  1692 he was deposed from his post by the Scottish Privy Council for 'not praying for their Majesties, William and Mary.' (DNB) and deprived of his benefice the following February.

Garden was theologically suspect not so much for his politics but because of his public and enthusiastic support of the teachings of Antoinette Bourignon [wiki]. He translated and published several of her works. In 1699 he published, anonymously, An Apology for M. Antonia Bourignon in which he described and endorsed her idiosyncratic teachings. (Not found online). 

Engraving: wikimedia commons, here.

Trial and conviction

In consequence, and in 1700, a commision of the Church of Scotland's highest court summoned Garden before them. 

He defended himself publicly with the argument that Bourignon's work conveyed the essential purpose of Christianity: to return humanity to God's love - and that other aspects of her writings did not contradict this theme. He was suspended from office and cited to appear before the following year's General Assembly.

In March 1701, however, Garden failed to appear as demanded before the Synod of the Church of Scotland. In his absence the Assembly received the report of the committee they had appointed alongside quotations from his Apology. They judged that the work contained 

"a mass of dangerous, impious, blasphemous, and damnable errors; and, therefore, by their unanimous vote, did, and by these presents do, condemn the said book called "An Apology for M. Antonia Bourignion;" and for preventing the spreading of errors therein contained, the General Assembly did, by their unanimous vote, and hereby do, seriously p.306 / 307 recommend to all Synods and Presbyteries within this National Church, and particularly to the Synods of Aberdeen and Perth, to advert to, and inquire anent the spreading of the said errors, and to use all effectual methods for preventing the said errors, …"  (Acts of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, … March 5, 1701, pp. 306-308 here.)

The particular points of complaint were:

1. Denying the permission of sin in the world, and that damnation and vengeance had been inflicted for it.

2. Ascribing to Christ a two-fold human nature: one from Adam, one from Mary.

3. Denying the decrees of Election and Reprobation, and the leading of these Acts of Grace and Sovereignty with a multitude of odious and blasphemous aspersions, particularly wickedness, cruelty, and respect of persons.

4. Asserting that each person is born with a good and an evil spirit in them 

5. Asserting that person's will is unlimited, and each has some quality by which to unite with God.

6. Denying God's prescience.

7. Asserting that Christ had in him a corrupt human nature and a rebellion in his human side against God's will.

8. Asserting that a state of perfection was possible in this life, as was purification in the life to come; that birth takes place in heaven; 

9. That there were no true Christians in the world,

10. and several other errors.

All of which, and the fact that he had not appeared as summoned, led the Synod to confirm the sentence of suspension against him made by the earlier Commission. That afternoon he was deposed as a minister of the Church of Scotland. Sentence was to be declared publicly from the pulpit of every church in the Synod of Aberdeen. 

Garden ignored the order and many of his congregation who still supported episcopacy stood with him. 

Subsequently

In 1703 Garden published a lavish edition of the works of Dr. John Forbes (wiki) which he loyally dedicated to Queen Anne (wiki), at the same time attacking the new presbyterian regime in Scotland. 

However, on the Queen's death in 1714, Garden reverted to his previous Jacobite allegiance which, in 1715, saw him briefly restored to the church of St Nicholas. On 29 December 1715 he and his brother went to Fetteresso, Kincardineshire, and presented James Stuart, the Old Pretender, with an address from the episcopalian clergy of Aberdeen. The address was subsequently printed and later used in evidence against him.

In March 1716, when support for the Stuarts had evaporated, he was arrested and imprisoned. On 27 June that year, he was once again deposed by the Aberdeen Presbytery. He fled the city and by October that year he was safely in the Netherlands.  While there he took up medicine, training at the university of Leiden. He returned to Aberdeen five years later. 

On his death in January 1733 Garden was buried in St Macher's churchyard, his old home.