William P. Paterson was born in 1860, and he was educated at Edinburgh's Royal High School. He then studied at Edinburgh University, finishing in 1883, and at Leipzig, Erlangen, and Berlin, 1883-1885. Paterson became Parish Minister of Crieff, Perthshire, in 1887, and then in 1894 he was appointed to the Chair of Systematic Theology at Aberdeen University. In 1903 came his appointment to the Chair of Divinity at Edinburgh University where he remained until 1934. In 1919, Paterson carried out the duties of the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. His publications included St. Paul's teaching (1903), and The rule of faith (1912). He edited German culture (1915), and edited with Dr. D. Watson Social evils and problems (1918). His sermons and Gifford Lectures were also published, and he wrote articles for dictionaries and encyclopaedias. The Very Rev. Professor William P. Paterson died on 10 June 1939.