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 Charle ...

minister and Hebraist.

Life

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

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

on 4 May 1822. In 1830 he was sent to

Kingswood School Kingswood School is a private day and boarding school in Bath, Somerset, England. The school is coeducational and educates over 1,000 pupils aged 9 months to 18 years. It was founded by John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, in 1748, and is the ...

. 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 located on Queen's Road in Richmond, London. The building is Grade II listed. It was a college for training ministers and missionaries between 184 ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. 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, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, Geden was stationed there, a colleague of

William Morley Punshon William Morley Punshon (29 May 182414 April 1881) was an English Nonconformist minister. Life Punshon was born at Doncaster, Yorkshire, was educated there, and, after spending a few years in business, at the Wesleyan College, Richmond. In 1845 ...

. After a year in Newcastle and

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

, he was moved to

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

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

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, through parts of Egypt, the

Sinai Peninsula The Sinai Peninsula, or simply Sinai ( ; ; ; ), 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 land bridge between Asia and Afri ...

, and

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

Dysentery Dysentery ( , ), 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 may include dehyd ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

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 Vers ...

, 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 The University of St Andrews (, ; abbreviated as St And in post-nominals) is a public university in St Andrews, Scotland. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest of the four ancient universities of Scotland and, f ...

. 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 (from Cornish language, Cornish ''Cambron'', "crooked hill") 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, C ...

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 (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 and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

. 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. The population of North Shields at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom cens ...

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

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

, 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 Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian census ...

, now in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

Notes

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Geden, John Dury 1822 births 1886 deaths English Methodist ministers Christian Hebraists English biblical scholars English magazine editors 19th-century English Methodist ministers People educated at Kingswood School, Bath