[2][3] Having attended a Church of England ordination conference at Bangalore during his service in India, he took up a scholarship to enter Queen's College, Oxford,[5] where he graduated in 1954.
[11] In addition to his teaching appointments Jenkins had been Examining Chaplain to the Bishops of Lichfield (1956–69), Newcastle upon Tyne (1957–69), Bristol (1958–84), Wakefield (1978–84) and Bradford (1979–84).
[6] His selection as Bishop of Durham was controversial due to allegations that he held heterodox beliefs, particularly regarding the virgin birth and the bodily resurrection.
[2][3][4] Between his selection and consecration, he said in an interview: "I wouldn't put it past God to arrange a virgin birth if he wanted.
"[13] According to his BBC obituary, he considered "the resurrection was not a single event, but a series of experiences that gradually convinced people that Jesus's life, power, purpose and personality were actually continuing.
[4] Three days after his consecration as bishop on 6 July 1984, York Minster was struck by lightning, resulting in a disastrous fire which some interpreted as a sign of divine wrath at Jenkins's appointment.
[4] In 1989 he made an extended appearance on the television discussion programme After Dark, alongside among others Steven Rose, Frank Cioffi, Dorothy Rowe and Michael Bentine.
This led him to write at length about what he saw as the intellectual deficiencies of economic theory and market theorising and its pseudo-theological character.
[4] In 2006, Jenkins was banned from preaching in some of his local churches after reportedly "swearing" in a sermon, using the words "bloody" and "damn".
[2][3] He wrote numerous books on Christian theology which include: He also gave the Bampton Lectures on the Incarnation at Oxford.