The combination of catholic spirituality and biblical criticism, which has characterised liberal Catholicism in the Church of England found in John Fenton a notable, if somewhat eccentric exponent.

John Charles Fenton was born in 1921 into a very clerical family. He was educated at St Edward’s School, Oxford, and then read theology at Queen’s College, Oxford, as a conventional and rather pious Anglo-Catholic. This was to some extent modified, first under the influence of the somewhat irreverent chaplain (V. K. Johnson), by the teaching of his New Testament tutor, R. H. Lightfoot, and by the development of his own warm humanity, sense of fun and Rabelaisian humour. A keen oarsman, he became acting captain of the Oxford University Boat Club, but wartime conditions deprived him of his Blue.

During his training at Lincoln Theological College he came under the influence of the Warden, Eric Abbott (later Dean of Westminster), from whom he learnt habits of disciplined prayer and a love of the medieval mystics. Yet his humanity and radicalism kept pace with his piety.

He was ordained in 1944 and, after a short, poverty-stricken curacy in Wigan, he returned to teach at Lincoln Theological College, where he began a lifelong ministry of teaching, chiefly of the New Testament.

After a short spell as Rector of Wentworth, he was appointed Principal of Lichfield Theological College in 1954. He was given the task of liberalising a comically fussy regime, and presiding over a lively community of young and more mature ordinands. His concern to challenge their faith was misunderstood by some as an attempt to destroy it, but most were able to discern the Christian commitment underlying the questioning,

In 1965 he was appointed Principal of St Chad’s College, Durham. The college stopped training ordinands and became a college of the university with a particular emphasis on theology and Christian formation. Fenton was ideal for effecting these changes because he combined a real understanding of secularism with a prayerful life. It was at Durham, too, that he enhanced his reputation as a preacher, whose sermons were radical, simple, witty and marked by a freshness of approach to the scriptural texts. His stimulating preaching was attractive to conservative and radical minds, and led to a series of exegetical articles, which he wrote for several years in The Church Times. It was also at Durham that he developed an eccentricity of appearance — large frame, flowing locks, untidy cassock and billowing cloak. A bad back caused him to walk with a stoop.

Fenton inspired a great deal of affection from students and colleagues. He was interested in individuals, an excellent listener, tolerant, lovable and benign. Yet the affection was tinged with awe, for there was a darker, more troubled, even subversive, side to his character. He would make surprise remarks, which were mischievous to the point of perversity. A cathedral congregation was disturbed to hear that God hated them, and readers of Theology were amazed to read an interpretation of the narratives of the Lord’s Supper which appeared cannibalistic.

In 1978 Fenton became a canon of Christ Church, Oxford. This was an ideal and productive appointment. A year later Eric Heaton became Dean of Christ Church and, realising that the cathedral needed its own administration as distinct from the college, appointed Fenton to be sub-dean with administrative responsibilities for the cathedral.

In that capacity he strengthened relations with the diocese and became much loved in the college community; he also made himself indispensable as the tutor for the Honour School Theology, sometimes teaching 20 hours a week. He held the post for 13 years, retiring only when he was 70. He did this in order to pay for the education of his second family. Even after retirement he continued to make himself available to the diocese and the wider church, offering his potent brew of scholarship and piety, mixed with radicalism. In 2001 he was awarded a Lambeth DD. His writings include commentaries on St Matthew and St Johns and two Pauline Epistles. He published 15 books as well as many articles in journals.

In 1945 he had married Mary (Tonia) Ingoldby and they had four children, including James who became Professor of Poetry at Oxford. She died in 1960. In 1963 he married Linda Brandham and they had three children. She and all seven children survive him.

The Rev Canon John Fenton, Canon of Christ Church, Oxford, 1978-91, was born on June 5, 1921. He died on December 27, 2008, aged 87