John Dickie was a Scottish evangelist and writer.

Life

His father (a grocer) died when John was 15; his mother had died 4 years before. He and one sister were left orphans. In 1841 he entered the University of Glasgow

University of Glasgow

The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...

, and between 19 and 20 years of age “he was led to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as his all-sufficient Saviour”.

After finishing his university career he entered the Divinity Hall, but became ill with pulmonary consumption and went back to Irvine to carry on the grocery business with his sister. In 1848 he was told by a London doctor that he would not survive 12 months. He went home and stayed with his brother-in-law for four or five years, when he moved to Cairnryan

Cairnryan

Cairnryan is a small Scottish village in Dumfries and Galloway on the eastern shore of Loch Ryan. The village has been of vital importance in maritime history.-Ferry Port:...

 to teach in the Free Church

Free Church of Scotland (1843-1900)

The Free Church of Scotland is a Scottish denomination which was formed in 1843 by a large withdrawal from the established Church of Scotland in a schism known as the "Disruption of 1843"...

 school, but with his health failing again he returned to Irvine.

After a while he became a missionary in his native town, supported by John Watt, merchant, a godly Baptist

Baptist

Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

.

In 1858 he moved to Kilmarnock

Kilmarnock

Kilmarnock is a large burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland, with a population of 44,734. It is the second largest town in Ayrshire. The River Irvine runs through its eastern section, and the Kilmarnock Water passes through it, giving rise to the name 'Bank Street'...

 at the invitation of John Stewart and continued his evangelism there. At Kilmarnock he met John Todd (later in Dublin), to whom he later wrote many letters which were published in two books. Stewart and Dickie were involved in an Open Brethren

Open Brethren

The Open Brethren, sometimes called Christian Brethren or "Plymouth Brethren", are a group of Protestant Evangelical Christian churches that arose in the late 1820s as part of the Assembly Movement...

 assembly, where he preached regularly.

He wrote a number of tracts (Religious Tract Society

Religious Tract Society

The Religious Tract Society, founded 1799, 56 Paternoster Row and 65 St. Paul's Chuchyard, was the original name of a major British publisher of Christian literature intended initially for evangelism, and including literature aimed at children, women, and the poor.The RTS is also notable for being...

 and Drummond’s) with large circulation; contributed to periodicals including the Family Treasury; and wrote many poems and hymns.

In 1878 he returned from Kilmarnock to Irvine because of further ill-health, where he was cared for by his sister and her husband, Provost Watt, and their family. After his death in 1891, he was buried in Irvine Churchyard.

Published Writings

• Words of Faith, Hope and Love, from the Chamber of a Dying Saint (London, 1891).
• More Words of Faith, Hope, and Love (London, 1897). These two consist of letters written to John Todd from 1883 onwards.
• Unsearchable Riches, being meditations and letters from the chamber of a suffering saint (Kilmarnock, 1900).

External links

• J.T.: “John Dickie” (from Henry Pickering (ed.), Chief Men among the Brethren, London ²1931, pp. 157–160).