John Stephen Bowden (17 May 1935 – 6 December 2010) was an English

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 ...

priest, publisher, and theologian.

Life

Born on 17 May 1935 in Halifax, Yorkshire, Bowden was educated at St Paul's School, London, and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where he came under the influence of Christopher Evans. He was ordained as a priest in the Diocese of Southwell in 1962. Bowden was a lecturer in theology at the University of Nottingham when, in 1966, he was appointed managing director of the religious publisher

SCM Press SCM Press is a British publisher of theology, originally linked to the Student Christian Movement. The company was purchased by Hymns Ancient and Modern in 1997. In 2018 ''Church Times'' reported that 100 titles from SCM Press and Canterbury ...

, which published works by leading continental theologians such as

Martin Hengel Martin Hengel (14 December 1926 – 2 July 2009) was a German historian of religion, focusing on the "Second Temple Period" or "Hellenistic Period" of early Judaism and Christianity. Biography Hengel was born in Reutlingen, south of Stuttgart, i ...

, Gerd Theissen, Edward Schillebeeckx, Hans Küng, and Jürgen Moltmann. He held the post until his retirement in 2000. He translated a number of theological works, including Martin Noth's ''Exodus'',

Aloys Grillmeier Aloys Grillmeier (1 January 1910 – 13 September 1998) was a German Jesuit priest, theologian and cardinal-deacon of the Catholic Church. Pope John Paul II created him cardinal-deacon of San Nicola in Carcere on 26 November 1994. Life Aloys ...

's ''Christ in Christian Tradition'',

's ''Judaism and Hellenism'' (1975), and

Henning Graf Reventlow Henning Graf Reventlow, full name Henning Lothar Gert Count Reventlow (September 22, 1929 – September 9, 2010) was a German Protestant theologian, Old Testament scholar and university professor. He wrote numerous books on religion. His book ''The ...

's ''The Authority of the Bible and the Rise of the Modern World'' (1985). Winner of the

Schlegel-Tieck Prize The Schlegel-Tieck Prize for German Translation is a literary translation award given by the Society of Authors in London. Translations from the German original into English are considered for the prize. The value of the prize is £3,000.

twice, for the Hengel and Graf Reventlow translations, in total Bowden translated more than 200 books and authored a number himself. Bowden died of

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

on 6 December 2010 and was survived by his wife and their three children.

References

1935 births 2010 deaths 20th-century Anglican theologians 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English Anglican priests 20th-century English theologians 20th-century English translators Academics of the University of Nottingham Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Deaths from cancer in the United Kingdom Deaths from prostate cancer English book publishers (people) English male non-fiction writers English translators German–English translators People educated at St Paul's School, London People from Halifax, West Yorkshire Writers from Yorkshire 20th-century English businesspeople {{publish-bio-stub