Alexander Black (theologian)

The Reverend Alexander Black
Alexander Black by Hill & Adamson
Personal details
Born	18 January 1789
Died	27 January 1864 (aged 75)
Minister of Tarves
In office 1 April 1818 – 20 October 1831
Divinity Chair, Marischal College, Aberdeen
In office 20 October 1831 – 14 June 1843
Professor of New Testament Exegesis, New College, Edinburgh
In office 1844–1856

Alexander Black (18 January 1789 – 27 January 1864) was a Scottish Presbyterian minister and professor of Exegetical Theology in New College, Edinburgh. Black was a native of Aberdeen, where he received his education, first at the Grammar School, and afterwards at Marischal College. After passing through the Divinity Hall, he was appointed assistant to Dr Ross, East Church, Aberdeen, and he was subsequently presented to the Parish Church of Tarves, as successor to Duncan Mearns. Upon the death of David Brown, Black in 1831 became his successor in the Professorship of Divinity in Marischal College. His knowledge of Hebrew and the cognate tongues procured him, in 1839, a place in a deputation sent by the General Assembly to Palestine. At the disruption, Black attached himself to the Free Church, and in 1844 was appointed to the chair of Exegetical Theology in the New College, Edinburgh, from which he retired in 1856. He was a versatile linguist who, it is said, could converse in nineteen languages and correspond in twelve.