The Calling of a Cuckoo

The autobiography of one of Britain`s most outstanding and controversial clergymen. The true story of The Church of England's enfant terrible. In February 1984 David Jenkins, Professor of Theology at Leeds University, received an invitation from the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, to become Bishop of Durham. His tenancy of the See was to become one of the most controversial in its history. He hit the headlines as the 'unbelieving bishop'...
More Description

The autobiography of one of Britain`s most outstanding and controversial clergymen.

The true story of The Church of England's enfant terrible.

In February 1984 David Jenkins, Professor of Theology at Leeds University, received an invitation from the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, to become Bishop of Durham.

His tenancy of the See was to become one of the most controversial in its history. He hit the headlines as the 'unbelieving bishop' after his expositions of the Virgin Birth and the Resurrection. When York Minster burst into flames days after his consecration his notoriety was assured.

Enthroned at the time of the bitter miners' strike of 1984 to 85, the new bishop preached to his Durham community on the Cost of Hope. From then on he was a marked man among the Tory establishment; according to Mrs Thatcher, a cuckoo in the establishment nest.

David Jenkins accepted the invitation to become Bishop of Durham at the age of sixty in the belief that it was the continuation of a calling to preach the Good News that he had followed since he was a schoolboy. As he writes- 'While the controversy around me was at its height, I soldiered on in faith. Now, in retirement, the question is- how did I ever come to believe in all this? Since God is known personally and through persons, this account of mine has to be a set of personal reflections. SoI make this attempt to explain to myself - and perhaps to others - my continuing and deepening faith in God.'