Image: Rt Rev David Jenkins arriving at the office of NACODS (PA Images / Alamy)
David Jenkins didn’t just spark debate—he ignited it. As today’s Church hesitates on the sidelines of public life, his fearless truth‑telling and instant, uncompromising clarity feel more vital than ever. In an age of contested facts and cautious voices, Jenkins’ boldness is the challenge we still need, writes Richard Truss.
David Jenkins, thou shouldst be living at this hour. There are now so many issues, problems, and fears preoccupying us, both within the Church and in the wider world, that we could do with Jenkins’ insight, directness, and courage to help address them. We have entered a largely unforeseen age when even truth is a disputed concept, with a church which is too often mired in self-preoccupation.
Jenkins was, from the moment of the announcement of his appointment to be Bishop of Durham, the go-to person for the press and wider media for comment. In his hands even theology itself became a newsworthy matter: think of the furore over his statements on the Virgin Birth and the physical Resurrection. He only to repeat what was by then more or less accepted theology for shockwaves to resound through the nation.
His views on the wider political scene equally were heard and provoked debate. At this time I was Chaplain to Thames Television, and on my visits there, what had been usually quite ordinary mundane conversations with members of staff there, were suddenly transformed by Jenkins’ utterances into provocative events: What did I think of his views on the Miners’ strike or on the veracity of the resurrection accounts? I was put on the spot, but God was for once on the agenda. I can’t think of anyone since who has got the nation discussing religion in the way that Jenkins did.
Today, within the church we seem too often to have stepped back from the front line of public engagement with the wider world, both in addressing contemporary issues and in transmitting a relevant earthed faith. To say this is not entirely fair as some bishops and those such as Malcolm Brown in his time at Church House have done their best to keep a social theology high on the Church’s agenda. But sometimes reactions and input seem to take too much consideration and compromise and therefore comes too late to make an impact. It is no doubt right to consult and to look for consensus before making a pronouncement, but Jenkins had sufficient confidence in his overall social and theological foundation to make instant and therefore newsworthy comments. In our age of twenty-four-hour news programmes and of ever-widening social media, we surely need those who can speak into the current debates with immediate effect.
As to theology, again with notable exceptions, we seem to have gone backwards. So for some very able theologians it would seem too often that they have failed to embrace the elementary conclusions of what was once called biblical criticism. Along with this a recent theological fashion has been to disparage the Enlightenment. Of course the Enlightenment was often in practice unenlightened, but when it comes to one of its fundamental outcomes, universal human rights, it has bequeathed us a legacy which, whilst being under constant threat, is vital for human wellbeing.
Jenkins was at heart an Enlightenment man, not in hankering after some nostalgic return to the eighteenth century, but because for him the whole point of human life was to look for truth at all times, to uphold the value and thus the rights of all, and to see that enlightenment is a continual process which entails being open to the creativity of art and imagination and to the advances of science. Here the church cannot afford to be a wary bystander or a block on progress, but an engaged participant in what for all, Christian and non-Christian alike, is a journey of faith.
The Pattern of God is a bold theological reappraisal of David Jenkins, exploring his radical faith, public witness, and enduring relevance for Church and society. Available now in paperback and e-book.
