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 t ...

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 partic ...

, publisher, and

theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

Life

Born on 17 May 1935 in

Halifax, Yorkshire Halifax () is a minster and market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Calderdale in West Yorkshire, England. It is the commercial, cultural and administrative centre of the borough, and the headquarters of Calderdale Council. In the 15th cent ...

, Bowden was educated at

St Paul's School, London (''By Faith and By Learning'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent school Public school , religion = Church of England , president = , h ...

, and

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12t ...

, where he came under the influence of Christopher Evans. He was ordained as a priest in the

Diocese of Southwell The Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham is a Church of England diocese in the Province of York, headed by the Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham. It covers all the English county of Nottinghamshire and a few parishes in South Yorkshire. It i ...

in 1962. Bowden was a lecturer in theology at the

University of Nottingham , mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom , established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status , type = Public , chancellor ...

when, in 1966, he was appointed

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especiall ...

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, ...

, Gerd Theissen,

Edward Schillebeeckx Edward Cornelis Florentius Alfonsus Schillebeeckx (November 12, 1914–December 23, 2009) was a Belgian Catholic theologian born in Antwerp. He taught at the Catholic University in Nijmegen. He was a member of the Dominican Order. His books on ...

Hans Küng Hans Küng (; 19 March 1928 – 6 April 2021) was a Swiss Catholic priest, theologian, and author. From 1995 he was president of the Foundation for a Global Ethic (Stiftung Weltethos). Küng was ordained a priest in 1954, joined the faculty o ...

, and

Jürgen Moltmann Jürgen Moltmann (born 8 April 1926) is a German Reformed theologian who is Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology at the University of Tübingen and is known for his books such as the ''Theology of Hope'', ''The Crucified God'', ''God in Creat ...

. He held the post until his retirement in 2000. He translated a number of theological works, including

Martin Noth Martin Noth (3 August 1902 – 30 May 1968) was a German scholar of the Hebrew Bible who specialized in the pre-Exilic history of the Hebrews and promoted the hypothesis that the Israelite tribes in the immediate period after the settlement in Can ...

'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 The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christia ...

'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 su ...

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