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His scholastic gifts became apparent at an early age, when he went to King Edward's School Birmingham as a Foundation Scholar. At Peterhouse, Cambridge, he read classics, gaining first class honours in both parts of the Tripos, and then joined a gifted group of students at Mansfield College Oxford in 1939.
He was ordained minister of Highgate Congregational Church in 1943, but continued his postgraduate study and was awarded the D.Phil. degree in 1944. In 1946 he was invited to Canada, to the post of Professor of Old Testament Language and Literature at St Stephen's College, Edmonton, moving to Montreal in 1950 as Professor of New Testament Language and Literature at McGill University.
In 1959 John Marsh, then Principal of Mansfield College, invited him to return to Oxford as Senior Tutor at the College, with particular responsibility for New Testament studies. This was quickly followed by wider recognition, with appointment to the University's Grinfield Lectureship on the Septuagint and membership of the Apocrypha Translation Panel for the New English Bible, then in preparation. (Fifteen years later he again joined the Translation Panel for the Revised English Bible, this time on the New Testament group.)
During the 1960s he completed his Commentary on St Luke's Gospel for the "Pelican" series of Gospel commentaries (later republished in hard-back, with the rest of the original paper-back series, by SCM Press); and the first edition of his work on The Revelation, published in Black's New Testament Commentaries, which he revised only slightly for the second edition in 1984.
He was awarded a D.D. by Oxford University in 1966, and a Readership in Biblical Studies in 1969. In 1970 John Marsh retired from the Principalship of Mansfield College; and George Caird was invited to succeed him. A period of much activity beyond his teaching and research duties followed, during which he served as chairman of the University's Theology Faculty Board, membership of the REB translation panel already mentioned, and from 1975-76 a year as Moderator of the General Assembly of the United Reformed Church. He nevertheless found time to complete his commentary on four of the Pauline Epistles (Paul's Letters from Prison, published by OUP in the New Clarendon Bible series).
In 1977 he was appointed to the Dean Ireland Professorship of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture. This was a full-time appointment, and at the same time he was offered a Professorial Fellowship at The Queen's College, Oxford; he therefore resigned the Principalship of Mansfield College at this point. His writing continued, however, and as well as being Co-Editor of the Journal of Theological Studies, he completed a volume on The Language and Imagery of the Bible in 1980.
While serving as minister at Highgate, he married Viola Mary Newport (in 1945), His death in 1984 was sudden and unexpected, leaving his many colleagues, students and friends with a sharp sense of loss. His four children -- three sons and a daughter -- have continued their father's distinguished and distinctive contribution in their own spheres, notably in the fields of music and the theatre.
In his student days he was known to some of his contemporaries as "George the Poker", partly to distinguish him from a close friend and contemporary nicknamed "George the Hen" from the sound of an infectious laugh, and partly from his outward demeanor in public. His "poker-face", however, concealed a lively and unforgettable wit, which is remembered only with the deepest affection.
and several references to the biblical commentaries mentioned above.
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(See also GDM; Julian, p.415b)
At a very early age he was put by his father, who was secretary to the Bishop of Noyon, into theological training for service in the (Roman Catholic) Church, being given a post as a chaplain of Noyon Cathedral at the remarkable age of 12. Later he studied law at the Universities of Orleans and Bourges.
In his early twenties, however, he abandoned the Roman Catholic church, moved to Paris, and began to teach and preach as a reformer. His views aroused considerable opposition; and he left Paris first for Poitiers and then Basel, where he formed congregations of his own supporters.
In 1536 he found himself, apparently by accident, trapped by war conditions in Geneva while passing through the city, where an insurrection had occured against the authority of the bishop. calvin was persuaded to stay for a time; and after a brief banishment in Strasbourg between 1538 and 1541 he returned to play a prominent part in the establishment of a Reformed Church and a re-formed government in the city.
His Institutes of the Christian Religion, of which the first edition was published in 1536 while he was in Basel, established him as a formative influence for all time. The Institutes grew with his own theological development, expanding from the original six chapters to eighty in 1559. Equally influential for hymnody, however, was his encouragement of the metrical translations of the Psalter; and together with Clement Marot, Theodore Beze and the musician Louis Bourgeois he enabled the Franco- Genevan tradition of vernacular psalm-singing to take firm root. His influence on Reformed worship generally was no less important, and he ensured that the inseparability of Word and Sacrament in the liturgy was recognized and its theological basis secured.
He is not known as a hymn-writer, apart from his indirect influence through the production of the Genevan Psalters; the attribution to him of "I greet thee, who my sure Redeemer art", is still regarded as doubtful. But the importance of his theological writing and preaching and his practical influence on the development of Reformed worship cannot be overestimated.
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Her father was a Presbyterian minister in Canada, and she was born and brought up there, taking her first degree, in English Literature, at McMaster University, Hamilton. Later she moved to California with her first husband, and in 1970 completed an M.A. in Sociology at the University of Southern California, followed by Ph.D. a year later. She then became a lecturer in Sociology at the University of La Verne, California, retiring in 1992 with the title of Professor Emerita but continuing her research into childhood trauma.
She began writing (and publishing) verse at an early age; and she reports that to write a hymn was one of her childhood aims, although some years elapsed before she returned to this task (in 1965, with "God who stretched the spangled heavens"). Two of her hymns were included in Canadian Hymn Book 1971 (over her then married name of Arnott).
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(See also DNB; Julian pp.200b-201a)
- [ Father of peace, and God of love ]
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The post of organist of York Minster passed successively from father to son through four generations of the Camidge family; John the Younger, for many years assistant to his father Matthew (1764-1844), held the office 1842-48. He suffered a paralytic stroke while playing the organ in 1848 and never played again.
Like his father and his grandfather (John the elder, 1734-1803), he is best known as a composer of chants.
(See also DNB; GDM)
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(See also Julian p.202a)
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(See also Julian p.1618b)
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He first came to notice with the publication of a collection of poems in 1713. His gifts were apparently literary rather than musical; he was chiefly a writer of plays, burlesques and ballads, and from 1732 until his death wrote opera libretti for J.F.Lampe to set to music. A collection of 100 of his ballads was published in 1740 and his dramatic works in 1743. For a time he was a singer at Drury Lane Theatre; a `psalm- raiser' ( = parish clerk; see note below) at Lincoln's Inn Chapel 1714-17; and briefly librarian of the Middle Temple. He wrote the words of `Sally in our alley', and also an original tune for them though this has long been superseded by a traditional melody. The actor Edmund Kean was his great-grandson.
(See also DNB; GDM; OCEL; OCM - where it is stated that he died by suicide)
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- [ Lord of the Dance ]
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(See also DNB; Julian pp.214b-215a)
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(See also DNB; Julian pp.215b-216a)
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(See also DAB; Julian pp.216 & 1619b-1620a)
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(See also Julian p.217a)
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(See also DNB; DWB; OCWL)
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(Most of the reference books and Companions which mention her - including Julian and DNB - spell her first name as `Elizabeth'.)
(See also DNB; Julian pp.218b, 1556a & 1620a)
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(See also Julian p.219a)
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(See also DNB; OCEL)
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His family moved to the USA in 1905. He took a degree in psychology at Stanford University, and was then Youth Work Director in San Luis Obispo, California, for three years. Ordained to the Prebyterian ministry in 1929, he served Calvary Presbyterian Church, Berkeley (14 years); Trinity Community Presbyterian Church, North Hollywood (16 years); and Celtic Cross United Presbyterian Church, Citron Heights (5 years). After retirement in 1965 he had several part-time appointments.
He inaugurated the television programme `Capitol and Clergy' in 1962, and wrote many hymns.
Obituary in The Hymn Vol.47 No.3 July 1996 transcribed below. (Copyright not yet cleared)
Frank von Christierson, a prominent Ammerican hymn writer and long-term member of The Hymn Society [ of America ], died on April 24, 1996, in Roseville, California.
Born in Lovisa, Finland, in 1900, von Christiersen graduated from Stanford University and San Francisco theological Sminary. He served for 14 years as pastor of Calvary Presbyterian Church, Berkleley, and subsequently began new churches in North Hollywood and Citrus Heights, California. After retirement he was interim pastor for a number of churches in Nevada and California.
Many of von Christierson's texts were first published by the Hymn Society, including `Break forth, O living light of God', `Christ is risen, raise your voices', and `As saints of old their first fruits brought'. These and other texts appear in a number of English-language hymnals; his hymns have also been translated into Norwegian and Portuguese. A collection of his hymns, poems, and meditations, Make a Joyful Noise: Hymns and Verses by Frank von Christierson was published by Q.E.D. Press in 1987. In recognition of his activities as a hymn writer, von Christierson was named a `Fellow of the Hymn Society' in 1982.
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End of Biographies C1. Return to Top . . .
(The Rejoice & Sing Enchiridion:edited by David Goodall; last amended 26/4/03)