Joseph M. Scriven

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Joseph M. Scriven

Joseph Medlicott Scriven (born September 10, 1819 in Banbridge , County Down , Northern Ireland , † August 10, 1886 in Port Hope on Lake Ontario , Canada ) was an Irish-Canadian teacher, preacher and hymn poet . He was best known for the song What a friend we have in Jesus . It is distributed worldwide, has been translated into many languages ​​and is one of the "most powerful spiritual songs of the revival movement ".

life and work

Addiscombe Military College
What a friend we have in Jesus / handwritten by Joseph Scriven

Joseph Medlicott Scriven was the second son of naval officer James Scriven and his wife Jane Medlicott. He had three brothers and two sisters: William (* 1817), George (* 1821), John (* 1823), Catherine Anne Mary (* 1825) and Jane (* 1828). The family was considered wealthy.

At the age of sixteen, Scriven began studying at Trinity College in Dublin , which he finished after almost two years without a degree. He moved in 1837 to the nearby London location Addiscombe Military College to hold off on a military deployment in India prepare. However, his health condition forced him to drop out of military training after two years. He enrolled again at Trinity College , which he finally graduated in 1842 with a Bachelor of Arts . Shortly after graduating from college, Scriven became engaged to a young woman who was also from Banbridge. The evening before the planned wedding in the summer of 1843, there was a fatal accident. When riding over a spell bridge, her horse shied and threw her off. She fell into the raging river and drowned. Scriven, who was waiting for them on the other side of the river, had to sit and watch the disaster. He became moody , and only rarely - writes his biographer W. J. Scott - did you see a smile on his face. Some biographers associate the fact that he emigrated to Canada shortly afterwards with this tragic event.

Shortly after the death of his fiancée, Scriven became acquainted with the Brethren Movement , which had emerged in the first decades of the 19th century and had its origin in Dublin. Initially, people met away from the traditional churches in a domestic setting to study the Bible together . In 1829 at the latest , a weekly supper was celebrated in these circles , which also included the dentist and later missionary Anthony Norris Groves . Groves believed "that believers who gather as disciples of Christ are free to break bread together as their Lord admonished them." The movement spread very quickly. When Scriven found her, she already had her center in Plymouth in the south of England , which is why her followers were also called Plymouth Brethren ( Plymouth Brethren ) in the early days . Some of the Scriven biographers justify his emigration with an alienation that is said to have taken place between him and his parents; The main reason was his affiliation with the Brethren movement.

On May 9, 1845 Joseph Scriven boarded the four-masted barque Perseverance and sailed with her to Montreal (Canada). His first Canadian residence was in Ontario location Woodstock , where he again joined a circle of the Brethren movement. He found accommodation in the house of the Courtney family, who also belonged to the Plymouth brothers and whose acquaintance he had already made in Dublin. Scriven fell ill after just a few months. Not wanting to be a burden to his hosts, he returned to Ireland via Quebec . He recovered and found shelter in Dundalk and a job as a private tutor at the home of military surgeon Bartley. In this role he accompanied the family on a long trip to the Middle East . Scriven visited Damascus among others and followed in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul . Scriven's biographer Foster M. Russell believed that the first lines of What a friend we have in Jesus were written in Damascus. Scriven wrote it down there under a strong inner impression and then sent it to his mother. However, there is no evidence for the veracity of his claim.

Upon his return, Scriven met a young woman in Plymouth. She was related to a family named Falconer, whom Scriven had met on his first visit to Canada. The relationship was short-lived, however, because she decided on another man and eventually married him. Nevertheless, Sciven remained on friendly terms with the two of them. The three of them traveled to Canada in 1847 and chose Woodstock as their place of residence.

This article or section needs to be revised. Details should be given on the talk page. Please help to improve it , and then remove this flag.

He earned his living as a teacher in both Woodstock and Brantford , where he later settled. In Brantford he even ran a private school in the first half of the 1850s. In addition to teaching, he preached in Christian meetings and in public places. This is probably where the text of the later song What a friend we have in Jesus was written , which became the hymn of international evangelical Christianity and has been translated into numerous languages. Scriven gave the poem, which was not originally intended for the public, but for his seriously ill mother, the title "Pray without ceasing" ("Pray without ceasing").

Further moves followed. From 1855 Scriven lived in Huron County . There he helped in the preaching ministry of the local Brethren Congregation, exercised pastoral care, and evangelized among railroad workers involved in building the Grand Trunk Railway . However, he not only preached, but tried to live according to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount . For him, this included sharing his own property with the less well-off, refraining from defense in the event of attacks and putting aside concern for his own needs in trust in God. Scriven was highly regarded by his contemporaries on the one hand, but was also considered eccentric on the other. In 1857 he moved to Bewdley , near Port Hope. He followed the invitation of the retired naval officer Robert Lamport Pengelly (1798-1875), who owned a larger estate there called Blockland . Scriven was to be the tutor to the officer's seventeen-year-old son.

It was in Bewdley that Scriven met Eliza Catherine Roche, a niece in law of his employer Pengelly.

Appreciations

Scriven memorial in the poet's birthplace

The writer Edward Samuel Caswell wrote in 1919 about Scriven's hymn What a friend we have in Jesus : “As beyond question the best-known piece of Canadian literature […]” (German: beyond question: the best-known piece of Canadian literature […] ).

A roadside memorial for Joseph M. Scriven is located on the side of the Rice Lake Road south of Bewdley, ON. The memorial, donated by admirers and friends, refers to the song poet's grave, which is 13 miles away, and names him, among other things, a philanthropist .

Scriven's birthplace, Banbridge, honored him several times. In the Holy Trinity Church there are two stained glass windows that are supposed to remember the songwriter. They are the work of student Louise McClann and date from 2002. The left picture shows Scriven at a watercourse; the songwriter's two fiancés can be seen in the background. The right picture shows Joseph Scriven in a sitting position and writing, possibly a reference to his poetic activity. In the lower part, both pictures each show two stanzas of the well-known Scriven song. The dedication says: "To the glory of God and in memory to Jeseph Medlicott Scriven". A memorial garden named after him was also dedicated to the songwriter . It is located on Downshire Place in Banbridge (see picture). In 2019, on the occasion of the 200th birthday of Joseph Scrivens, a celebratory event was held in Banbridge, which was also attended by high-ranking representatives from politics and the church.

Publications (selection)

  • Scriven's poem What a friend we have in Jesus was written around 1855. Without a statement of the author, it first appeared in Horace Lorenzo Hastings' collection of songs, Social Hymns: original and selected , which appeared in 1865. It was not until 1886 that Joseph Scriven was named as the author of his famous song in a second compilation brought in by Hasting.
  • Hymns and other Verses . Peterborough [Ontario?] 1869 ( Text Archive - Internet Archive )
  • "What a friend we have in Jesus" and other hymns with a sketch of the author by Rev. Jas. Cleland . W. Willamson, Port Hope 1895 ( hathitrust.org )

Literature (selection)

  • Hymn Writers of the Church. Scriven, Joseph . In: Christian Classics Ethereal Library , January 30, 2007
  • Jay Macpherson: Scriven, Joseph Medlicott . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . tape 11: 1881-1890 . University of Toronto Press, Toronto 1982, ISBN 0-8020-3367-9 ( English , French ).
  • Joseph Scriven, 1819–1886, humanitarian: a tribute edited and prepared by Support of Churches Committee, Kiwanis Club of Port Hope . Kiwanis Club (Port Hope), self-published, Port Hope 1960.
  • Albert Edward Bailey: The Gospel in Hymns . New York 1950. pp. 405-406
  • Kenneth W. Osbeck: 101 Hymn Stories. The Inspiring True Stories behind 101 Famous Hymns . Kregel Publucations, Grand Rapids n.d., pp. 276 f.

Web links

Wikisource: What a Friend We Have in Jesus (English)
Wikisource: Vilken vän vi har i Jesus (Swedish)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Biography Joseph M. Scriven . Imdb.com
  2. ↑ One of the German translations ( What a friend is our Jesus ) goes back to Ernst Heinrich Gebhardt .
  3. ↑ Quoted from Marco Hofheinz: “What a friend our Jesus is”. A theological approach to the doctrine of the threefold office of Christ . In: Theologische Zeitschrift (Ed. Theological Faculty of the University of Basel), No. 71, 2/2015, pp. 156–181, here: p. 156
  4. ↑ The data and facts in this section are based (unless otherwise stated) on WJ Scott: Joseph Medlicott Scriven (Humanitarian) 1819–1886. Bicentenary Celebration 8–15th September 2019 . Banbridge 2019 ( Scriven Booklet PDF). - A detailed (even if incomplete and not faultless) biographical article can also be found: Jay Macpherson: Scriven, Joseph Medlicott . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . tape 11: 1881-1890 . University of Toronto Press, Toronto 1982, ISBN 0-8020-3367-9 ( English , French ).
  5. ↑ Kenneth W. Osbeck: 101 Hymn Stories. The Inspiring True Stories behind 101 Famous Hymns . Kregel Publucations, Grand Rapids n.d., p. 276
  6. ^ "He [Scriven] became morose an was rarely ever seen to smile." - W. J. Scott: Joseph Medlicott Scriven (Humanitarian) 1819–1886. Bicentenary Celebration 8–15th September 2019 . Banbridge 2019, p. 3
  7. ↑ See, for example, Kenneth W. Osbeck: 101 Hymn Stories. The Inspiring True Stories behind 101 Famous Hymns . Kregel Publucations, Grand Rapids or JS 276
  8. ^ Gerhard Jordy: The Brethren Movement in Germany . Volume 1. Wuppertal 1979, p. 15.
  9. ↑ Friedrich Ludwig Middendorf : masting and rigging of ships. google Books, accessed February 17, 2020 .
  10. ↑ Lay Preacher Became “Saint” to Many . In: The Millbrook Highlighter . Millbrook, Ontario. Wednesday November 16, 1983; OurOntario.ca; Retrieved February 21, 2020 - This evidence is a written reproduction of a speech that Foster M. Russel gave on October 23, 1983 at St. Andrews United Church , Millbrook.
  11. ↑ Chris Fenner: What a friend we have in Jesus . Hymnologyarchive.com, created July 25, 2019, revised February 9, 2020; accessed on February 21, 2020
  12. ↑ Behind The Song "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" . Church.org; accessed on February 12, 2020
  13. ↑ Kenneth W. Osbeck: 101 Hymn Stories. The Inspiring True Stories behind 101 Famous Hymns . Kregel Publucations, Grand Rapids n.d., p. 276
  14. ^ Edward Samuel Caswell: Canadian singers and their songs . McClelland & Stewart, Toronto 1919, p. 10
  15. ^ Joseph Scriven - Bewdley, ON . Waymarking.com; accessed on February 13, 2020
  16. ↑ Banbridge, Seapatrick Holy Trinity Holy . Gloine.ie; accessed on February 13, 220. The images can be enlarged by clicking on them.
  17. ^ Doreen McBride: The Little Book of County Down . The History Press The Mill, Primscombe Port Stroud, Gloucestershire: 2018 ( books.google.de )
  18. ↑ Banbridge honors Joseph Scriven, writer of famous hymn 200 years on . Belfasttelegraph.co.uk; accessed on February 13, 2020
  19. ↑ Jay Macpherson: Scriven, Joseph Medlicott . In: Dictionary of Canadian Biography . tape 11: 1881-1890 . University of Toronto Press, Toronto 1982, ISBN 0-8020-3367-9 ( English , French ).
personal data
SURNAME Scriven, Joseph M.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Scriven, Joseph Medlicott (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Irish-Canadian teacher, preacher and hymn poet
DATE OF BIRTH September 10, 1819
PLACE OF BIRTH Banbridge , County Down, Northern Ireland
DATE OF DEATH August 10, 1886
Place of death Port Hope on Lake Ontario, Canada