John William (Dean) Burgon:
Biography
(1813-1888)
Source: Wikipedia
Burgon was born at Smymna in August 1813, the son of a Turkey merchant,
who was a skilled numismatist and afterwards became an assistant in the
antiquities department of the British Museum.
After a few years of business life, Burgon went to Worcester College,
Oxford, in 1841, gained the Newdigate prize, took his degree in 1845,
and won an Oriel fellowship in 1846. He was much influenced by his
brother-inlaw, the scholar and theologian Henry John Rose (1800-1873).
Burgon made Oxford his headquarters, while holding a living at some
distance. In 1863 he was made vicar of St Mary’s, having attracted
attention by his vehement sermons against
Essays and Reviews.
In 1867 he was appointed Gresham professor of divinity at Oxford. In.
1871 he published a defence of the genuineness of the twelve last verses
of St Mark’s Gospel, based on textual analysis and manuscript evidence.
He now began an attack on the proposal for a new lectionary for the
Church of England, based largely upon his objections to the false
principles for determining the authority of MS. readings adopted by
Westcott and Hort, which he assailed in a memorable article in the
Quarterly Review for 1881. This, with his other articles, was reprinted in 1884 with great documentation - under the title of
The Revision Revised.
In 1876 Burgon was made dean of Chichester. He produced many articles
and books dealing with textual issues of the New Testament, and dealing
with New Testament manuscripts and New Testament Greek. Many people do
not realize that he was among those who personally examined Codex
Vaticanus, and then wrote a critique of it.