Published in 1875, Rent Veil was written by Scottish theologian and poet Horatius Bonar. Bonar's Rent Veil treats a variety of topics, most directly the atonement. The title refers to Christ and Christ's body. Bonar claims that without the broken ("rent") body of Christ, there would still be a barrier ("veil") between persons and God. With Christ's death, there is the possibility of the forgiveness of sins. In Bonar's interesting treatment of the atonement, he also makes some intriguing points regarding the relationship of the Old Testament to the New Testament. Throughout, Bonar supports his points with liberal quotations from Scripture. The final third of his book provides an instructive call for believers. In it, Bonar extols believers to, and describes for them, the kinds of people God desires--worshipers, temples, priests, and kings. Despite being published over a hundred years ago, Bonar's prose is surprisingly up-to-date and easy to follow. For an interesting treatment of the atonement, one can do no better than Bonar's Rent Veil.
Tim Perrine
CCEL Staff Writer
This edition features an artistic cover, a new promotional introduction, an index of scripture references, and links for scripture references to the appropriate passages.
The son of James Bonar, Solicitor of Excise for Scotland, he was born and educated in Edinburgh. He comes from a long line of ministers who have served a total of 364 years in the Church of Scotland. One of eleven children, his brothers John James and Andrew Alexander were also ministers of the Free Church of Scotland. He had married Jane Catherine Lundie in 1843 and five of their young children died in succession. Towards the end of their lives, one of their surviving daughters was left a widow with five small children and she returned to live with her parents. Bonar's wife, Jane, died in 1876. He is buried in the Canongate Kirkyard.
In 1853 Bonar earned the Doctor of Divinity degree at the University of Aberdeen.
He entered the Ministry of the Church of Scotland. At first he was put in charge of mission work at St. John's parish in Leith and settled at Kelso. He joined the Free Church at the time of the Disruption of 1843, and in 1867 was moved to Edinburgh to take over the Chalmers Memorial Church (named after his teacher at college, Dr. Thomas Chalmers). In 1883, he was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland.... Show more