Christopher Rowland (theologian)

Christopher Charles Rowland (born 1947) is a British priest and theologian, who has been Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford since 1991.

Life

Rowland was born in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, and was educated at Doncaster Grammar School. He then studied at Christ's College, Cambridge, and for ordination in the Church of England at Ridley Hall, Cambridge. He was ordained deacon in 1975 and priest in 1976, serving as curate at two parishes in the Newcastle upon Tyne area (Benwell 1975–1978, Gosforth 1978–1979). Between 1974 and 1979, he lectured in religious studies at Newcastle University, returning to Cambridge as a Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge in 1979. He was an assistant lecturer in divinity at the university from 1983 to 1985, then lecturer from 1985 to 1991.

In 1991, he was appointed Dean Ireland's Professor of the Exegesis of Holy Scripture at the University of Oxford, a post that carries with it a fellowship at The Queen's College, Oxford. He was appointed Canon Theologian of Liverpool Cathedral in 2005.

In 1998, he published "Radical Christianity: a reading of recovery", a book that covers the participation of Christians in social change throughout history.