Editing David Jenkins (bishop)

{{Short description|Bishop of Durham from 1984 to 1994}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| honorific-prefix = [[The Right Reverend]]
| name             = David Jenkins
| honorific-suffix = 
| title            = [[Bishop of Durham]]
| diocese          = [[Diocese of Durham|Durham]]
| term             = 1984–1994
| predecessor      = [[John Habgood, Baron Habgood|John Habgood]]
| successor        = [[Michael Turnbull (bishop)|Michael Turnbull]]
| other_post       = [[Honorary assistant bishop]] in [[Diocese of Ripon and Leeds|Ripon]] (1994–2016)<br />professor at [[University of Leeds]] (1979–1984)
<!---------- Orders ---------->
| ordination       = 
| consecration     = 6 July 1984<!---------- Personal details ---------->
| birth_date       = {{birth date|df=yes|1925|1|26}}
| birth_place      = [[Bromley]], Kent, England
| death_date       = {{death date and age|df=yes|2016|9|4|1925|1|26}}
| nationality      = British
| religion         = [[Anglicanism|Anglican]]
| spouse           = {{marriage|Stella Mary (Molly) Peet|1949|2008|reason=died}}
| children         = 4
| occupation       = 
| profession       = Theologian
| alma_mater       = 
}}
'''David Edward Jenkins''' (26 January 1925{{spaced ndash}}4 September 2016) was a [[Church of England]] [[cleric]] and theologian. He was [[Bishop of Durham]] from 1984 until 1994. After his retirement, he continued to serve as an [[honorary assistant bishop]] in the [[Diocese of Ripon and Leeds]].<ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1506074/Church-blessing-for-homosexual-vicar.html Church blessing for homosexual vicar] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171203135144/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1506074/Church-blessing-for-homosexual-vicar.html |date=3 December 2017 }}, ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', 22 December 2005</ref>

==Early life==
Jenkins was born in [[Bromley]], Kent, to Lionel Jenkins, who worked in a bank, and his wife Dora (née Page).<ref name=Telegraph_obit /><ref name=Guardian_obit /> His family were [[Methodism|Methodist]].<ref name=BBC_obit /> He was educated at [[St Dunstan's College]], [[Catford]].<ref name=Telegraph_obit>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/09/04/the-right-reverend-david-jenkins-bishop-of-durham--obituary/ |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |issue=((50,165)) |date=5 September 2016 |page=25 |title=The Right Reverend David Jenkins: Bishop of Durham who created a storm for the Church but was admired within his diocese |access-date=3 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418092722/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2016/09/04/the-right-reverend-david-jenkins-bishop-of-durham--obituary/ |archive-date=18 April 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Guardian_obit>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/04/david-jenkins-obituary |title=The Right Rev David Jenkins obituary |author=Dennis Nineham |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=4 September 2016 |access-date=8 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160907215640/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/04/david-jenkins-obituary |archive-date=7 September 2016 |url-status=live }}</ref> Having attended a Church of England ordination conference at [[Bangalore]] during his service in India, he took up a scholarship to enter [[Queen's College, Oxford]],<ref name=tcoc1 /> where he graduated in 1954.<ref name=whoswho />

During the [[Second World War]], he was [[conscription|called up]] in the autumn of 1943.<ref name=tcoc1>{{cite book|title=The calling of a cuckoo, not quite an autobiography|last=Jenkins|first=David E.|year=2002|publisher=Continuum|page=[https://archive.org/details/callingofcuckoo00davi/page/ xii]|isbn=0-8264-4991-3|url=https://archive.org/details/callingofcuckoo00davi/page/}}Introduction.</ref> He was commissioned in the [[Royal Artillery]] after officer training at [[Harrogate]] in April 1945.<ref name=tcoc2>{{cite book|title=The calling of a cuckoo|page=plate1}}Between pages 106-107.</ref> At the end of the war he was a staff officer at General Headquarters in [[India]].<ref name=tcoc3>{{cite book|title=The calling of a cuckoo|page=14}}</ref> In 1946 he was attached to the 10th Indian Field Regiment, [[Royal Indian Artillery]] before its disbandment.<ref name=tcoc4>{{cite book|title=The calling of a cuckoo.|page=xiii}}Introduction.</ref> He demobilised as a [[Captain (British Army and Royal Marines)|captain]] in 1947.<ref name=whoswho>{{cite book|title=Who's Who, 2012|date=19 January 2012|publisher=A and C Black|page=1201|isbn=978-1-408-14229-5}}</ref>

==Ordained ministry==
Jenkins trained for ordination at [[Lincoln Theological College]]. He was [[ordained]] in the [[Church of England]] as a [[Deacon#Anglicanism|deacon]] in 1953, and as a [[Priest#Anglican or Episcopalian|priest]] in 1954 by the [[Bishop of Birmingham]]. He served as curate at [[St Philip's Cathedral, Birmingham]].<ref name=crockford>{{cite book|title=Crockford's Clerical Directory, 2010–2011|year=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press|page=527|isbn=978-0-7151-1042-3}}</ref>

He was chaplain and [[Fellow (Oxbridge)|Fellow]] of [[Queen's College, Oxford]] (1954–1969), and a [[lecturer]] in theology at the [[University of Oxford]] (1955–1969). He also worked for the [[World Council of Churches]] and the [[William Temple (archbishop)|William Temple]] Foundation. He was appointed Professor of Theology at the [[University of Leeds]] in 1979, and was made [[Emeritus Professor]] when he left Leeds in 1984.<ref>[http://www.leeds.ac.uk/calendar/emeritus.htm University of Leeds, List of Emeritus Professors] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926134723/http://www.leeds.ac.uk/calendar/emeritus.htm |date=26 September 2012 }}</ref> In addition to his teaching appointments Jenkins had been Examining Chaplain to the Bishops of [[Bishop of Lichfield|Lichfield]] (1956–69), [[Bishop of Newcastle (England)|Newcastle upon Tyne]] (1957–69), [[Bishop of Bristol|Bristol]] (1958–84), [[Bishop of Wakefield (diocese)|Wakefield]] (1978–84) and [[Bishop of Bradford (diocese)|Bradford]] (1979–84).<ref name=whoswho />

==Bishop of Durham==

His selection as Bishop of Durham was controversial due to allegations that he held [[heterodoxy|heterodox]] beliefs, particularly regarding the virgin birth and the bodily resurrection.<ref name=Telegraph_obit /><ref name=Guardian_obit /><ref name=BBC_obit /> Between his selection and consecration, he said in an interview: "I wouldn't put it past God to arrange a virgin birth if he wanted. But I don't think he did."<ref name=Guardian_obit /> His widely quoted comment about the resurrection of Christ being "just a conjuring trick with bones" is a misrepresentation;<ref name=Guardian_obit /><ref name=Davie_2006>{{cite journal |jstor=23999084 |title=Religion in Europe in the 21st Century: The Factors to Take into Account  |author=Grace Davie |journal=European Journal of Sociology |volume=47 |page=279 |year=2006   }}</ref> his actual words as recorded on television say the reverse: the resurrection is ''not'' a conjuring trick with bones. The original line appears to have been "[the Resurrection] is real. That's the point. All I said was 'literally physical'. I was very careful in the use of language. After all, a conjuring trick with bones proves only that somebody's very clever at a conjuring trick with bones."<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/profile-the-one-true-bishop-of-durham-dr-david-jenkins-retiring-scourge-of-sacred-cows-1392030.html "Profile: The one true Bishop of Durham: Dr David Jenkins, retiring scourge of sacred cows"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120828145405/http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/profile-the-one-true-bishop-of-durham-dr-david-jenkins-retiring-scourge-of-sacred-cows-1392030.html |date=28 August 2012 }}, ''[[The Independent]]'', 5 February 1994</ref> According to his BBC obituary, he considered "the resurrection was not a single event, but a series of experiences that gradually convinced people that Jesus's life, power, purpose and personality were actually continuing."<ref name=BBC_obit />

Nonetheless, Jenkins' public pronouncements caused great disquiet, particularly within his own diocese. As a result of doubts concerning his elevation to bishop, a petition signed by more than 12,000 people was submitted to the Archbishop of York.<ref name=BBC_obit/>

Three days after his consecration as bishop on 6 July 1984, [[York Minster]] was struck by lightning, resulting in a disastrous [[York Minster fire|fire]] which some interpreted as a sign of divine wrath at Jenkins's appointment.<ref name=Telegraph_obit /><ref name=Davie_2006 /><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=xf89AAAAIBAJ&sjid=fUkMAAAAIBAJ&pg=4856%2C1619430 Dr Runcie discounts 'wrath of God' theory], ''[[The Glasgow Herald]]'', 10 July 1984</ref>

As a bishop, Jenkins was known for his willingness to speak his mind.<ref name=BBC_obit>{{cite news|title=Bishop David Jenkins obituary: A controversial cleric|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37093551|access-date=4 September 2016|publisher=BBC|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160904182054/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-37093551|archive-date=4 September 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1989 he made an extended appearance on the television discussion programme ''[[After Dark (TV series)|After Dark]]'', alongside among others [[Steven Rose]], [[Frank Cioffi]], [[Dorothy Rowe]] and [[Michael Bentine]].

After leaving office in 1994 he continued to voice his opinions, such as in a BBC interview in 2003.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/breakfast_with_frost/2718597.stm |title=BBC Breakfast with Frost Interview, 2 February 2003 |date=2 February 2003 |access-date=15 December 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070903090007/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/breakfast_with_frost/2718597.stm |archive-date=3 September 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Political views==

Jenkins also became identified with opposition to the policies of the [[Margaret Thatcher|Thatcher]] and [[John Major|Major]] governments and subsequently was a critic of [[New Labour]].<ref name=BBC_obit /> He argued that what these governments shared was a dogmatic faith in the market<ref name=Chase_2000>{{cite journal |jstor=40722034 |title=Review: ''Market Whys and Human Wherefores: Thinking About Markets, Politics, and People'' by David Jenkins  |author=Edward Chase |journal=[[Challenge (economics magazine)|Challenge]] |year=2000 |volume=43 |pages=118–20   |doi=10.1080/05775132.2000.11472174 |s2cid=157737289 }}</ref> which had many pseudo-religious elements to it. This led him to write at length about what he saw as the intellectual deficiencies of economic theory and market theorising and its pseudo-theological character.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}}

His book ''Market Whys and Human Wherefores: Thinking Again About Markets, Politics, and People'' was an extended layman's critique of economic theory and its application to policy, in which he described himself as an 'anxious idiot'<ref name=Chase_2000 /> using the latter term in its original meaning of an ordinary person with no professional expertise.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=rDT_wqBJjkgC&q=Market+whys+and+human+wherefores+:+thinking+again+about+markets,+politics+and+people ''Market Whys and Human Wherefores: Thinking Again About Markets, Politics, and People''], David Jenkins, Cassell, 2000, pages 10–11</ref> It nevertheless diagnosed many of the problems with economic theory and its application to a deregulated economy that would later be seen as prescient in the light of the global economic crisis of 2007 onwards.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}} In ''Dilemmas of Freedom'', he also challenged the idea that markets created freedom.<ref>''Dilemmas of Freedom'', University of Southampton, 1989</ref> In ''Price, Cost, Excellence and Worth: Can the idea of a university survive the force of the market?'' he similarly questioned whether they were compatible with the idea of a university<ref>[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Price-cost-excellence-worth-university/dp/1873125100?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0 ''Price, cost, excellence and worth: Can the idea of a university survive the force of the market?''], Centre for the Study of Theology in the University of Essex, 1991</ref> while in ''The Market and Health Care'', he addressed the issue of health care in a similar vein.<ref>[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Market-Health-Care-David-Jenkins/dp/1870126092?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0 ''The Market and health care''], University of Edinburgh, Centre for Theology and Public Issues, 1990</ref>

==Controversies==

In 2005, he became one of the first clerics in the [[Church of England]] to participate to the public blessing of a civil partnership between two homosexual men, one of whom was a Church of England priest.<ref name=BBC_obit />

In 2006, Jenkins was banned from preaching in some of his local churches after reportedly "swearing" in a sermon, using the words "bloody" and "damn".<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110604110530/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article620772.ece Bishop banned from pulpit for swearing], ''[[The Times]]'', 27 August 2006</ref> In 2002 he published his memoir ''The Calling of a Cuckoo: Not Quite an Autobiography''.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=U4hwX_ZubjoC&q=The+calling+of+a+cuckoo+:+not+quite+an+autobiography ''The Calling of a Cuckoo: Not Quite an Autobiography''], David Jenkins, A&C Black, 2003</ref>

==Personal life==
In 1949, Jenkins married Stella Mary Peet, known as Mollie. She died in 2008. The couple had two sons and two daughters.<ref name=Telegraph_obit /><ref name=Guardian_obit /> His daughter Rebecca<ref>[http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/features/latest/8957332.Family_affair/ Family affair] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006061042/http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/features/latest/8957332.Family_affair/ |date=6 October 2012 }}, ''[[Northern Echo]]'', 6 April 2011</ref> was his assistant and PR officer while he was the Bishop of Durham.<ref name=Guardian_obit /> Jenkins died on 4 September 2016 at the age of 91.<ref name=Telegraph_obit /><ref name=Guardian_obit />

==Selected works==
He wrote numerous books on Christian theology which include:
*''Guide to the debate about God''   original edition 1966 (2nd ed.   Cambridge; Cambridgeshire : Lutterworth Press, 1985.)
*''The glory of man'',   London : SCM Press, 1967
*''Living with questions Investigations into the theory and practice of belief in God'', London: SCM Press, 1969
*''What is Man'', London : SCM Press 1970, 1985
*''The contradiction of Christianity'', London : S.C.M. Press, 1976 (based on the Edward Cadbury Lectures given at the University of Birmingham in 1974)
*''The God of freedom and the freedom of God'', London : The Hibbert Trust
*''God, miracle and the Church of England''   London : SCM, 1987
*''God, Jesus and life in the spirit''   London : SCM Press, 1988
*''God, politics and the future'', London:   SCM Press 1988
*''Still living with questions'',  London : SCM, 1990
*(with Rebecca Jenkins) ''Free to Believe'',  London : BBC Books, 1991.
He also gave the [[Bampton Lectures]] on the [[Incarnation (Christianity)|Incarnation]] at Oxford.<ref>Biography on [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930014611/http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9353903 Biography.com]</ref>

==See also==
*[[Anglican views of homosexuality]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

{{wikiquote}}

{{Bishops of Durham}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jenkins, David Edward}}
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:2016 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Lincoln Theological College]]
[[Category:People educated at St Dunstan's College]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Queen's College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Leeds]]
[[Category:Bishops of Durham]]
[[Category:20th-century Church of England bishops]]
[[Category:People from Bromley]]
[[Category:Royal Artillery officers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Denial of the virgin birth of Jesus]]
[[Category:20th-century Anglican theologians]]
[[Category:21st-century Anglican theologians]]