Donald Macleod (theologian)

Not to be confused with A. Donald Macleod.

Donald Macleod (born 24 November 1940 in Ness, Lewis) is a Scottish theologian.

Macleod studied at the University of Glasgow and the Free Church College before being ordained as a minister of the Free Church of Scotland in 1964. He served as professor of systematic theology at the Free Church College from 1978 to 2011, and as principal from 1999 to 2010.

In 1996, Macleod was cleared of allegations that he had sexually assaulted four women. The Sheriff court found that "the women had all lied in the witness box to further the ends of Professor Macleod's enemies in the Free Church of Scotland." A number of people who believed Macleod should be put on trial by the General Assembly then formed the Free Church Defence Association and ultimately a new denomination, the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing). However, Johnston McKay notes that although on the surface the split was about Donald Macleod, he believes it was about theology, since Macleod belonged to the more "modernising" wing of the Free Church.

In 2011, a Festschrift was published in Macleod's honour. The People's Theologian: Writings in Honour of Donald Macleod (ISBN 1845505840) included contributions from Richard Gaffin, Derek Thomas, and Carl Trueman.