Adam Gib was a Scottish

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

 religious leader, head of the Antiburgher section of the Scottish Secession Church.

Gib was born in the parish of Muckhart, Perthshire

Perthshire

Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...

. He studied literature and theology

Theology

Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...

 at the University of Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...

 and at Perth

Perth, Scotland

Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...

, and was licensed as a preacher in 1740. His eldest brother being a prodigal son, Adam succeeded to the paternal estate, but burned the will when his brother promised to reform. In 1741 he was ordained minister of the large Secession congregation of Bristo Street, Edinburgh

Edinburgh

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

. In 1745 he was almost the only Edinburgh minister who continued to preach against rebellion while the troops of Bonnie Prince Charlie were occupying the town. When, in 1747, the Associate Synod, by a narrow majority, decided not to give full immediate effect to a judgment which had been passed in the previous year against the lawfulness of the Burgess Oath, Gib led the protesting minority, who broke off and formed the Antiburgher Synod

Synod

A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...

 (April 10) in his own house in Edinburgh.

It was chiefly through Gib's influence that the Antiburghers decided, at subsequent meetings, to summon to the bar their Burgher brethren, and to depose and excommunicate them for contumacy

Contumacy

Contumacy is a stubborn refusal to obey authority or, particularly in law, the wilful contempt of the order or summons of a court The term is derived from the Latin word contumacia, meaning firmness or stubbornness....

. Gib's action in forming the Antiburgher Synod led, after prolonged litigation, to his exclusion from the building in Bristo Street where his congregation had met. In 1765 he made his response to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland

Church of Scotland

The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....

, which had stigmatized the Secession as threatening the peace of the country. From 1753 till within a short period of his death, he preached regularly in Nicolson Street church, which was constantly filled with an audience of two thousand persons. His dogma

Dogma

Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, or a particular group or organization. It is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted, or diverged from, by the practitioners or believers...

tic and fearless attitude in controversy earned for him the nickname "Pope Gib."

Principal publications:

• Tables for the Four Evangelists (1770, and with author's name, 1800)
• The Present Truth, a Display of the Secession Testimony (2 vols., 1774)
• Vindiciae dominicae (Edin., 1780).