A monument to Dods erected at Belford bore an inscription written by Rev Prof James MacLagan D.D.
A leading contributor to the Edinburgh Christian Instructor under the editorship of Andrew Mitchell Thomson, he wrote a critique on the views of Edward Irving on the incarnation of Christ (January 1830).
Irving wrote a letter to Dods, stating that he had not read his paper, but inviting him to correspond with him on the subject.
Dods published his views at length in a work entitled On the Incarnation of the Eternal Word, the second edition of which appeared after his death with a recommendatory notice by Thomas Chalmers.
[2] His daughter Mary Frances Dods (1825-1892) married Rev George Wilson of Glenluce (1823-1899) a noted archaeologist.