Moderates, in church terms is, normally, though not exclusively, used to refer to an important party of clerics in the Church of Scotland during the 18th century. They are often contrasted with Evangelicals, though this is very much a simplification. Most members of both parties considered themselves orthodox Christians and the leaders – Principal Robertson for the Moderates and his Edinburgh University colleague, John Erskine for the Evangelicals – had a very warm and mutually respectful relationship.