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Question #24
QUESTION: Who was Dean Burgon?
ANSWER: He was an outstanding 19th century Bible
scholar.
EXPLANATION: John William Burgon (1813-1888) was a
man of tremendous intellect and ranks among men such a Lancelot Andrews
(1555-1626) and Robert Dick Wilson (1856-1930) in scholarship. He became
the Dean of Chichester and has since been known as "Dean" Burgon.
Dr. Burgon was contemporary with Westcott and Hort. He was an advocate
of the Textus Receptus and was the nemesis of Westcott and Hort's feeble
arguments against it. He believed, unlike Westcott and Hort, in basing all
conclusions on the solid foundation of facts rather than
the sand of theory. He would leave no stone unturned in
his quest for truth and no blow undelivered in his defense of it.
His serious scholarship, quick wit and acid tongue drove Westcott and
Hort and all other Alexandrian scholars from the field of battle. His
arguments against the Alexandrian text and in favor of the last 12 verses
of Mark and other questioned portions have proven to be as unanswerable by
modem scholarship as they were to his contemporaries.
Today his name is as synonymous with the defense of the King James
Bible as the names of Hills, Fuller and Ruckman. He is not only known as a
champion of the Authorized Bible, but his works are an example of what
honest, objective and thorough
scholarship can produce.
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