Henry Scougal was born in Scotland in 1650. The son of the Bishop of Aberdeen, he flourished under rigorous teaching to become Professor of Philosophy at King's College, Aberdeen. In 1672, Scougal was ordained minister in Auchterless and, after a year, returned to King's College as Professor of Divinity. He continued in this office until his death in 1678.

The Life of God in the Soul of Man is, in reality, a letter of doctrine and encouragement to a friend wavering in the faith, and was never intended for publication. Scougal dwells on three points in his epistle: the nature of true religion, the excellency and advantage of true religion, and the basic elements of true religion. As a whole, this writing reflects his peculiar marriage of scholarship to faith, learning to love. His was what one would call a practical piety, and he would assert it can only come from the life of God in the soul of man. (Introduction by Jenn Raimundo)