John Charles Fenton (5 June 1921 – 27 December 2008) was a British

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 ...

priest and New Testament scholar. He was Principal of

Lichfield Theological College Lichfield Theological College was founded in 1857 to train Anglican clergy to serve in the Church of England. It was located on the south side of the Cathedral Close in Lichfield, Staffordshire and closed in 1972. Notable staff * Cecil Cherrin ...

from 1958 to 1965, Principal of St Chad's College,

Durham University , mottoeng = Her foundations are upon the holy hills (Psalm 87:1) , established = (university status) , type = Public , academic_staff = 1,830 (2020) , administrative_staff = 2,640 (2018/19) , chancellor = Sir Thomas Allen , vice_chan ...

from 1965 to 1978, and a Canon of

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

from 1978 to 1991.

Early life and education

Fenton was born on 5 June 1921 in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, England, to Cornelius O'Connor Fenton and his wife Agnes Claudina Fenton (née Ingoldby). His father was a

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

. He was educated at St Edward's School, then an all-boys

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

boarding school in Oxford. In 1940, he matriculated at

Queen's College, Oxford The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, ...

to study theology. He was taught by the college chaplain, V. K. Johnson, and 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 ...

R. H. Lightfoot Robert Henry Lightfoot (30 September 1883 – 24 November 1953) was an Anglican priest and theologian, who was Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford from 1934 to 1949. Life Lightfoot was the young ...

. He had come to Oxford a staunch

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglican ...

, but had his horizons broadened and was strongly influenced by the

theology of Søren Kierkegaard The theology of Søren Kierkegaard has been a major influence in the development of 20th century theology. Søren Kierkegaard (1813–1855) was a 19th-century Danish philosopher who has been generally considered the "Father of Existentialism". ...

. He graduated from 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 ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

(BA) degree in 1943: as per tradition, his BA was 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 Oxon) degree in 1947. Then, from 1943 to 1944, he trained for Holy Orders at Lincoln Theological College, a Church of England theological college in the

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

tradition.

Career

Fenton's ecclesiastical career was mainly focused on teaching and working within the

's theological colleges. However, he also served in parish ministry, and wrote a substantial number of books for academic and general audiences. Fenton was

ordained 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 va ...

in the

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 1944 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 1945. He served his curacy at All Saints Church, Hindley in the Diocese of Liverpool from 1944 to 1947. He then returned to Lincoln Theological College, where he had trained for ordination, having been appointed its chaplain in 1947 and promoted to sub-warden in 1951. At the college, he taught mainly on the

. He returned to parish ministry, and was

Vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

Wentworth Wentworth may refer to: People * Wentworth (surname) * Judith Blunt-Lytton, 16th Baroness Wentworth (1873–1957), Lady Wentworth, notable Arabian horse breeder * S. Wentworth Horton (1885–1960), New York state senator * Wentworth Miller (born 1 ...

in the

Diocese of Sheffield The Diocese of Sheffield is an administrative division of the Church of England, part of the Province of York. The Diocese of Sheffield was created under George V on 23 January 1914, by the division from the Diocese of York (along with that pa ...

between 1954 and 1958. In 1958, Fenton began his career as a senior member of the church hierarchy, having been appointed Principal of Lincoln Theological College. Lincoln was a community of both young more mature ordinands: in addition to teaching them the New Testament, he saw it as his duty to challenge their faith. In 1965, he left Lincoln for the last time having been appointed Principal of

St Chad's College, Durham , motto_English = Not what you have, but who you are , scarf = , established = 1904 , principal = Margaret Masson , senior_tutor = Eleanor Spencer-Regan , undergraduates = 409 , postgraduates = 150 , website = , coordinates = , location_map ...

, which was both a theological college and a college of the university. During his time in charge of St Chad's, the college ceased its formal training of ordinands for the Church of England, and he led its integration into the wider university with students reading for all degrees offered by

Views

A scholar of the New Testament, he did not superscribe to Biblical literalism: "he understood 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 ...

to consist largely of the teaching material of the earliest Christian communities, rather than historical or biographical fact". He believed that layers of later hands had to be stripped back from the Bible, and that the

first-century The 1st century was the century spanning AD 1 ( I) through AD 100 ( C) according to the Julian calendar. It is often written as the or to distinguish it from the 1st century BC (or BCE) which preceded it. The 1st century is considered part of t ...

context of Christ's teaching had to be recognised to truly understand them.

Works

Books

* * * * * * * * *

Articles and Chapters

* *

References

1921 births 2008 deaths 20th-century English Anglican priests New Testament scholars Clergy from Liverpool People educated at St Edward's School, Oxford British biblical scholars Anglican biblical scholars Staff of Lichfield Theological College Principals of St Chad's College, Durham Academics of Durham University {{DurhamU-stub