John Dury Geden (1822–1886) was an English

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles W ...

minister and Hebraist.

Life

The son of the Rev. John Geden, a Wesleyan minister, he was born at

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

on 4 May 1822. In 1830 he was sent to

Kingswood School (''In The Right Way Quickly'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent , religious_affiliation = Methodist , president = , head_label = Headmaste ...

. In 1836 he left school and concentrated on study and teaching. In 1844 Geden became a candidate for the Wesleyan ministry, and was sent to

Richmond Theological College Richmond Theological College (also called "Richmond College") was a Methodist (Wesleyan) college in Richmond, London. It was a college for training ministers and missionaries between 1843 and 1972. In 1902 the College became a part of the Univers ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

. After the standard three years' course, he was appointed assistant tutor in the College. By 1851, when the Methodist conference met in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

, Geden was stationed there, a colleague of William Morley Punshon. After a year in Newcastle and

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

, he was moved to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, where he spent three years in the Oxford Road circuit. On the death of

Jonathan Crowther Jonathan Crowther is a British crossword compiler who has for over 50 years composed the Azed cryptic crossword in ''The Observer'' Sunday newspaper. He was voted "best British crossword setter" in a poll of crossword setters conducted by '' ...

in January 1856, Geden filled the post of tutor at Didsbury College in Lancashire. Soon after his appointment to Didsbury he became joint editor of the '' London Quarterly Review'', founded in 1853, and contributed to its pages. He was also an occasional preacher in the surrounding district. In the autumn of 1863 Geden made a journey in the

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, through parts of Egypt, the

Sinai peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai (now usually ) (, , cop, Ⲥⲓⲛⲁ), is a peninsula in Egypt, and the only part of the country located in Asia. It is between the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the south, and is a l ...

, and

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

Dysentery Dysentery (UK pronunciation: , US: ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

permanently damaged his health. In 1868 he was elected to the Methodist Legal Hundred. In 1870 Geden was invited to become a member of the

Old Testament Revision Company The Revised Version (RV) or English Revised Version (ERV) of the Bible is a late 19th-century British revision of the King James Version. It was the first and remains the only officially authorised and recognised revision of the King James Versio ...

, and for many years travelled to London to participate. In 1883 failing health compelled him to retire. In January 1885 he received the honorary degree of D.D. from the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

. After a long illness, he died on 9 March 1886.

Works

Geden's preferred field of study was oriental literature and philology. In 1874, at the

Camborne Camborne ( kw, Kammbronn) is a town in Cornwall, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 20,845. The northern edge of the parish includes a section of the South West Coast Path, Hell's Mouth and Deadman's Cove. Camborne was formerl ...

Methodist conference, he delivered the fifth Fernley lecture, on ''The Doctrine of a Future Life as contained in the Old Testament Scriptures'', opposing the view that the teaching is not to be found in the

Old Testament The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...

. It was published by the Wesleyan Conference office. In 1878 he published in the same way ''Didsbury Sermons'', orthodox in content.

Family

Geden was twice married: first, to Elizabeth, daughter of Solomon Mease of

North Shields North Shields () is a town in the Borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. Since 1974, it has been in the North Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wea ...

; and secondly, to Eliza Jane, daughter of the Robert Hawson of

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, whom he also survived. With his first wife he had two sons and a daughter. The elder son became an architect; the younger son Alfred Shenington Geden (1857–1936) became a missionary to India, and ran Royapettah College, now in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Geden, John Dury 1822 births 1886 deaths English Methodist ministers Christian Hebraists British biblical scholars English magazine editors 19th-century English Methodist ministers