Life

He was the son of Thomas Forbes, a burgess of Aberdeen

Aberdeen

Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....

, descended from the Corsindac branch of that house, by his wife, Janet, the sister of Dr. James Cargill. Born at Aberdeen in 1585, he was educated at the Marischal College

Marischal College

Marischal College is a building and former university in the centre of the city of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland. The building is owned by the University of Aberdeen and used for ceremonial events...

, graduating A.M. in 1601. Very soon after he held the chair of logic in the same college, but resigned it in 1606 to pursue his studies on the continent. He travelled through Poland, Germany, and Holland, studying at several universities, and meeting Scaliger

Scaliger

The noble family of the Scaliger were Lords of Verona. When Ezzelino III was elected podestà of the commune in 1226, he was able to convert the office into a permanent lordship...

, Grotius, and Vossius. Returning after five years to Britain, he visited Oxford, where he was invited to become professor of Hebrew, but he pleaded ill-health.

Ordained, probably by Bishop Peter Blackburn

Peter Blackburn

Peter Blackburn was a Scottish scholar and prelate. Born in Glasgow, he became a lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Glasgow.On 2 September 1600, King James VI of Scotland provided him as Bishop of Aberdeen, attaching to the appointment a seat in the Parliament of Scotland - an innovation...

 of Aberdeen, he became minister successively of two rural Aberdeenshire parishes, Alford and Monymusk

Monymusk

Monymusk is a planned village in the Marr area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland which was almost entirely rebuilt in 1840, although its history dates back to 1170.It is a site for fishing on the nearby River Don.-External links:* *...

; in November 1616 (pursuant to a nomination of the general assembly) he was appointed one of the ministers of Aberdeen; and at the Perth assembly in 1618 was selected to defend the lawfulness of the article there proposed for kneeling at the holy communion. In the same year, in a formal dispute between him and Aidie, then principal of Marischal College, he maintained the lawfulness of prayers for the dead. Such doctrines would not have been tolerated elsewhere in Scotland, but in Aberdeen they were received with favour, and on Aidie's enforced resignation in 1620 the town council of the city, who were patrons of Marischal College, made him the principal, specifying that he should continue his opreaching.

In the end of 1621 he was chosen one of the ministers of Edinburgh. His zeal for the observance of the Perth articles was distasteful to many, and when he taught that the doctrines of the Catholics and the Reformed could in many points be easily reconciled, there was disorder. Five of the ringleaders were dealt with by the privy council; but Forbes felt that his ministry at Edinburgh was a failure, and more trouble arising from his preaching in support of the superiority of bishops over presbyters, he returned to Aberdeen, where in 1626 he resumed his former post.

In 1633, when Charles I was in Scotland for his coronation, Forbes preached before him at Holyrood

Holyrood, Edinburgh

Holyrood is an area in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Lying east of the city centre, at the end of the Royal Mile, Holyrood was once in the separate burgh of Canongate before the expansion of Edinburgh in 1856...

, and his sermon so pleased the king that he declared the preacher to be worthy of having a bishopric created for him. Shortly afterwards the see of Edinburgh was erected; Forbes was nominated to it, and was consecrated in February 1634. In the beginning of March he sent an injunction to his clergy to celebrate the Eucharist

Eucharist

The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...

 on Easter Sunday to take it themselves on their knees, and to minister it with their own hands to every one of the communicants. When Easter came he was very ill, but he was able to celebrate in St. Giles' Cathedral

St. Giles' Cathedral

St Giles' Cathedral, more properly termed the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is the principal place of worship of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh. Its distinctive crown steeple is a prominent feature of the city skyline, at about a third of the way down the Royal Mile which runs from the Castle to...

; on returning home he took to bed, and died on the following Saturday, 12 April 1634, aged 44. He was buried in his cathedral; his monument was afterwards destroyed, but a copy of the inscription is in William Maitland's History of Edinburgh.

He was married, and left a family, of whom one, Arthur, is said to have become Professor of Humanities at St. Jean d'Angel, near La Rochelle, while another, Thomas, entered the Catholic Seminary, the Scots College, Rome, and eventually entered the service of Cardinal

Cardinal (Catholicism)

A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...

 Carlo Barberini

Barberini

The Barberini are a family of the Italian nobility that rose to prominence in 17th century Rome. Their influence peaked with the election of Cardinal Maffeo Barberini to the papal throne in 1623, as Pope Urban VIII...

Works

Forbes himself published nothing, but in 1658 a posthumous work, Considerationes Modestae et Pacificae Controversiarum de Justificatione, Purgatorio, Invocatione Sanctorum Christo Mediatore, et Eucharistia, was published from his manuscripts by T. G. (Thomas Sydeserf, bishop of Galloway). Other editions appeared at Helmstadt (1704) and Frankfort-on-the-Main (1707); while a third, with an English translation by Dr. William Forbes, Burntisland (Oxford, 1856), forms part of the Anglo-Catholic Library. In parts fragmentary, it deals with the imperial question of the Christian church: reunion of the church on a catholic scale. Forbes also wrote Animadversions on the works of Bellarmine, which was used by his friend and colleague at Marischal College, Robert Baron

Robert Baron

Robert Baron was a Scottish theologian and one of the so-called Aberdeen doctors. He is commemorated in the Calendar of saints of the Scottish Episcopal Church on 28 March.-Life:...

, but the manuscripts seem to have perished in the 'troubles' which so soon began. A summary of his sermon before Charles I is given in the folio edition (1702-3) of the works of Dr. John Forbes

John Forbes (theologian)

John Forbes of Corse was a Scottish minister and theologian, one of the Aberdeen doctors, noted for his eirenic approach in church polity and opposition to the National Covenant.-Life:...

.