Gill, John, an eminent theologian and Biblical scholar, was born at Kettering, England, in 1697. He receiveil his education at the grammar-school in his native town. But the tuition of the scliool was only one of the means of education that he availed himself
of. "As sure as that John Gill is in the bookseller's shop," became a proverbial expression. He left school and began preaching at the age of nineteen, and was pastor successively of the Baptist churches in Higham- Ferrers and Kettering. In 1719 he was settled at Horsleydown, Southwark, where he ministered for fif- t3'-one years. He died in 1771. Short as was his term of preparatorj' study, he must have laid a good founda- tion, and have been diligent in his subsequent studies. He made himself an excellent Latin and Greek schol- ar, and a learned Orientalist. His Rabbinical studies were extensive and profound. The fruits of his learn- ing are chiefly deposited in his commentarj', a work valuable to consult, but so heavy and prolix in st^le as to repel any but very courageous readers. He was a voluminous author. For a time he exerted a com- manding influence in his own denomination, and en- joyed high consideration with the religious public gen- erally. In theology he was a Calvinist of the Supra- lapsarian type, and his peculiar doctrine concerning the relation of Christians to the law of God occasioned, though it scarcely justified, the charge of Antinomian- ism. His principal writings are, 1. Exposition of the Song of Solomon : — 2. Prophecies respecting the Messiah fu'Jilled in Jesus: — 3. The Cause of God and Truth; being an examination of the several passages of Scrip- ture made use of by Arminians (4 vols. 8vo, 1735 ; new ed. Lond. 18.38, 8vo) : — 4. Exposition of the New Testa^ ment (3 vols.) : — 5. Exposition of the Old Testament (G vols.) : — 6. Dissertation on the Antiquity of the Hebrew Languagi', Letters, Voicel Points, and Accents: — 7. A Bodi] of Doctrinal and Practical Divinity: — 8. Sermons and Tracts. He also wrote several treatises on Bap- tism, one of which, entitled Infant Baptism a Part and Pillar of Popery, has been republished in America. His Bodj' of Divinity has also had some circulation in this countrj', and has been abridged. He received the degree of doctor of divinity from the University of Glasgow. (L. E. S.)
Gill, William, one of the early Methodist minis^ ters in America, was born in Delaware (date unknown). He entered the itinerant ministry in 1777, filled a num- ber of important stations successfully, and died in 1789. He was a man "of very quick and solid parts," and, although he had not enjoyed great advantages of early education, he became so skilled in theology that Dr. Rush, of Philadelphia, pronounced him " the greatest divine he ever heard." — Minutes of Conferences, i, 33; Wakele}-, Heroes of Methodism, p. 199.
Gilles (Coloxna). See ^gidius, vol. i, p. 89. Gilles of Viterbo. See Egidio Antonixi.
Gilles, Pierre, a pastor of the Vaudois Church at La Tour, was born in one of the valleys of Piedmont in 1571. He was appointed to collect and arrange all the documents he could find on the origin, history, be- liefs, and religious customs of tlie Vaudois. He de- voted his entire life to this work, which he published at the age of seventj'-two. The title is Histoire eccle- siastique des eglises riformees recueillies en quelquei vallies du Piemont et circonvoisines, autrefois appelUei eglises Vaudoises (Geneve, 1644, 4to). — Hoefer, Nouv. Bing. Gencrale, xx, 544.
Gillespie, George, minister at Edinburgh, a learned Presbyterian divine. He was one of the four sent as commissioners from the Church of Scotland to the Westminster Assembly in 1643. He died in 1648. He wrote (1) Aaron's Rod blossoming, or the divine Or^ dinance of Church Government vindicated (Lond. 1646, 4to): — (2) The Arh of the Testament opened; a Treatise of the Covenant of Grace (Lond. 1661-77, 2 vols. 4to) ; besides other smaller treatises. A new edition of his entire works, edited 1)y Hetherington, was ])ublished at Edinburgh in 1846 (2 vols. 8vn\ with a memoir of his life. — Darling, Cyclop. Bibliog. i, 1258; Allibone, Diet, of Authors, i, 671.
GILLIES
872
GILPIN
Gillies, John, a Scotch divine, was liorn in 1712, ordained nuiiister of the New College Church, Glas- gow, in 17-12, and continued to labor there until his deatli in 171)0. His works are, Historical CnUecfions relating to remarkable Periods of the Success of the Gos- pel, etc. (Glasg. 1754, 2 vols. 8\'o):— The N. T., with devotional liefleclims (London, new ed. 1810, 2 vols. 8vo): — Life of \]'hiteji( Id (177-2, 8vo ; often reprinted): — J'Jssai/ on the Messianic Prophecies (Lond. 1773, Svo). Two supplements to the Historical Collections appeared in 17<jl and 1796; and a new edition of the original work, with the two supplements and an additional one hy n. 15onai-, appeared at Kelso, 1S45, Svo. — Darling, Ci/clojh Bibliof/r. i, 1200; Allibonc, Diet, of Authors, i, C72.
Gillies, John, LL.D., was born at Brechin, Scot- land, Jan. 18, 1747, and was educated at the Univcrsit}' of Glasgow. In 1793 he became historiographer royal for Scotland; in 1830 he removed to Clai)ham, near London, where he died, Feb. 15, 183G. He wrote sev- eral historical works, now of little value, and transla- ted several Greek authors, among them Aristotle (Ethics, Politics, Khetoric), ver}' badly.