David Wenham (born 1945) is a British theologian and

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

clergyman, who is the author of several books on the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

Early life and education

David Wenham was born in 1945, the son of theologian

John Wenham John William Wenham (1913 – 13 February 1996) was an Anglican biblical scholar, who devoted his professional life to academic and pastoral work. Two of his four sons, Gordon Wenham and David Wenham, are also noted theologians. Career Wenham wa ...

. He was brought up in

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county *Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in No ...

and

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

. He studied theology at

Pembroke College, Cambridge Pembroke College (officially "The Master, Fellows and Scholars of the College or Hall of Valence-Mary") is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college is the third-oldest college of the university and has over 700 ...

, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1967; as per tradition, his BA was later promoted to a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

(MA Cantab) degree. He undertook doctoral research under

F. F. Bruce Frederick Fyvie Bruce (12 October 1910 – 11 September 1990), usually cited as F. F. Bruce, was a Scottish biblical scholar who supported the historical reliability of the New Testament. His first book, ''New Testament Documents: Are They ...

at the

University of Manchester , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

, completing his Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree in 1970. He is a brother of

Gordon Wenham Gordon J. Wenham (; born 1943) is a Reformed British Old Testament scholar and writer. He has authored several books about the Bible. Tremper Longman has called him "one of the finest evangelical commentators today." Early life and education Wen ...

Career

Academic career

After becoming the Theological Students' Secretary with the

UCCF Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship (UCCF) is a UK-based charity that was founded in 1928 as the Inter-Varsity Fellowship of Evangelical Unions. UCCF's dual aims are: #To advance the evangelical Christian faith amongst students, gr ...

he taught at

Union Biblical Seminary Union Biblical Seminary (UBS) is a theological seminary founded by Wesleyan and Methodist denominations in Pune, India. UBS started as a Marathi-medium Bible School opened by the Free Methodist Church and was finally established in 1953 and i ...

in India before returning to become the Director of

Tyndale House Tyndale House is a Christian publisher in Carol Stream, Illinois. History Tyndale was founded in 1962 by Kenneth N. Taylor in order to publish his paraphrase of the Epistles, which he had composed while commuting to work at Moody Press in C ...

's Gospels Research Project. Whilst in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

he completed part-time ordination training at

Ridley Hall, Cambridge Ridley Hall is a theological college located on the corner of Sidgwick Avenue and Ridley Hall Road in Cambridge (United Kingdom), which trains men and women intending to take Holy Orders as deacon or priest of the Church of England, and member ...

, before moving to the staff of

Wycliffe Hall Wycliffe Hall is a Church of England theological college and a permanent private hall of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is named after the Bible translator and reformer John Wycliffe, who was master of Balliol College, Oxfo ...

in the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. He was the tutor in

from 1983 to 2007 and served under four different principals. He was also dean (2002 to 2005) and vice principal (2005 to 2006). In 2007, he was appointed as Senior Tutor in New Testament at

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

, Bristol. His brother

also lectures there on a part-time basis. From 2008 to 2012, he was also vice principal of the college. Since 2012, he has been a part-time tutor in the New Testament. He is particularly interested in questions to do with the origins and historical reliability of the

gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

. He is involved in helping people to understand the first century context of Jesus and the early church, and to get students to be intelligently and responsibly excited about the

(and equipped to teach it to others). He has written many publications including "The Parables of Jesus" (IVP), a guide to the teaching of Jesus and his most recent book "Paul and Jesus: the true story" (SPCK/Eerdmans) an introduction to Paul, looking at questions of history and theology in the book of

Acts The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...

, Paul's letters and the

Ordained ministry

In 1981, Wenham began part-time training at

, an

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

theological college A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

, in preparation for

ordained ministry Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform vario ...

. He was ordained in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

as a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

in 1984 and as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

in 1985. From 1996 to 2002, he was a

non-stipendiary minister Self-supporting ministers (SSMs), previously called non-stipendiary ministers or non-stipendiary priests (NSMs), are religious ministers who do not receive a stipend (i.e. payment) for their services and therefore financially support their own mi ...

(NSM) in the

Benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

of Shelswell in the

Diocese of Oxford The Diocese of Oxford is a Church of England diocese that forms part of the Province of Canterbury. The diocese is led by the Bishop of Oxford (currently Steven Croft), and the bishop's seat is at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. It contains m ...

. From 2003 to 2007, he was an NSM at St Michael's Church,

Cumnor Cumnor is a village and civil parish 3½ miles (5.6 km) west of the centre of Oxford, England. The village is about 2 miles (3.2 km) south-west of Botley and its centre is west of the A420 road to Swindon. The parish includes Cumnor ...

. between 2007 and 2013, he concentrated on his academic career and did not hold any dedicated ministry positions. He returned to St Michael's Church, Cumnor in 2013, and serves as a NSM in his semi-retirement.

Personal life

David is married to Clare and they have two adult sons.

Books

*''Gospel Perspectives''. Continuum International Publishing Group, 1984. *''The Parables of Jesus''. Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1989. *''Paul: Follower of Jesus or Founder of Christianity?''. Cambridge: Eerdmans, 1995. *D. Wenham and S. Walton. ''Exploring the New Testament'' (2 Volumes). London: SPCK: 2001. *''Paul and Jesus: The True Story''. London: SPCK, 2002. *''Did Paul Get Jesus Right? The Gospel According to Paul''. Oxford: Lion, 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wenham, David 1945 births Living people Christian writers Alumni of Ridley Hall, Cambridge British theologians 20th-century English Anglican priests 21st-century English Anglican priests Alumni of Pembroke College, Cambridge Alumni of the University of Manchester Staff of Trinity College, Bristol