The Diary and Letters of Edward Irving

Book excerpt: The nineteenth-century Scottish theologian and church leader Edward Irving has been the subject of a remarkable resurgence of interest among historians and theologians in recent decades. A friend of Thomas Carlyle and a household name in his lifetime, Edward Irving became involved with a group headed by the scion of Drummonds Bank who were convinced there was to be an imminent second coming. Irving became caught up in this idea, and it not only changed his life but resulted in his expulsion from the Scottish Presbysterian Church. His life journey, including his personal loves and losses and early death in 1834, we can trace from his short diary, kept as a young man, and his letters, published here for the first time.