New Zealand’s oldest man Sir Lloyd Geering dies aged 108

Sir Lloyd Geering, a theologian and New Zealand's oldest man, has died at the age of 108. His family stated he passed away on Thursday morning at the Bob Scott Retirement Village in Lower Hutt.

Geering was famously involved in a 1967 heresy trial by the Presbyterian Church after he denied the physical resurrection of Jesus and the immortality of the soul. The charges were ultimately withdrawn or dismissed, and he was declared not guilty of doctrinal error.

A theologian and former Dunedin Presbyterian minister, he served as the principal of Knox College during the 1960s. He later became the founding Professor of Religious Studies at Te Herenga Waka / Victoria University.

He was knighted in 2009 and was a member of the Order of New Zealand. A private natural burial will be held at the Wellington Natural Burial cemetery in Makara, with a public memorial to be organised at St Andrew’s Church in Wellington.

Where reports differ

• Reports differ on whether the heresy charges were dismissed or withdrawn by the church.

Compiled from reports by The Press, 1News, Otago Daily Times and NZ Herald.