Gerald Bonner


Gerald Bonner was a conservative Anglican Early Church historian and scholar of religion, who lectured at the Department of Theology of Durham University from 1964 to 1988.

Early life

Gerald Ian Bonner was born in London in 1926. He was the child of Frederick John Bonner and Constance Emily Bonner. His father, an Indian Army veteran, died in 1931, leaving Constance to raise five-year-old Gerald and his three-year-old brother, Nigel, on a schoolteacher's salary.
Later in their lives, Gerald became a noted Early Church historian and scholar, while Nigel became a zoologist, and headed the Life Sciences Division of the British Antarctic Survey from 1974 to 1988.

Education and war service

At the age of ten, Bonner was awarded a scholarship to the Stationers' Company's School in Hornsey, where he was educated, from 1936 to 1944. However, in 1939, the school was evacuated to Wisbech for several years, due to World War II.
In 1944, at the age of eighteen, he joined the Army, serving as a wireless operator in Palestine with the First King’s Dragoon Guards before returning to England for officer training in 1947 and subsequently joining the regiment in its deployment to Libya.
After demobilization and a year of civilian employment, Bonner received an ex-serviceman's university grant making it possible for him to attend Wadham College, Oxford, where he studied modern history with Pat Thompson from 1949 to 1952. and was awarded First Class Honours. From 1952 to 1953 he undertook postgraduate research supervised by Fr. Thomas Corbishley, Master of Campion Hall.

British Museum

Bonner worked with the Department of Manuscripts at the British Museum, from 1953 until 1964, serving under Bertram Schofield and Theodore Cressy Skeat. This was a somewhat frustrating task, due to the backlog of uncataloged manuscripts which had accumulated during the war years. As a result, the staff were obliged to spend most of their time cataloguing mundane collections.
Some of his more interesting cataloging responsibilities included a tenth century Greek manuscript of the orations of the Cappadocian Father, St. Gregory Nazianzen, and the letters of David Livingstone.
The Crum Papers. proved of particular interest to Bonner, because of Crum's work compiling an authoritative Coptic dictionary. One of his colleagues at this time was Janet Backhouse
During his time at the museum, he published his seminal study of St. Augustine of Hippo in 1963, as a result of his independent scholarship.

Durham University

Bonner was invited to apply for a lecturership at Durham by Hugh Turner , whom he met at the Oxford Patristic Conference of 1963. He joined the Theology Department at Durham University in 1964, and served as resident historian, and teacher of church history until 1988.
At the time, the Department of Theology was heavily oriented to biblical studies. Bonner's appointment represented an attempt to expand expertise in early Church history. By the early 1970s, both Church history and theology had become accepted tracks for Durham theology students. Bonner's "option" for Augustine of Hippo in the Honours School of Theology was continued by his successor, Carol Harrison.
At the beginning of Bonner's tenure, the Department of Theology was "housed" in scattered rooms in different buildings. As the department grew, it acquired additional faculty members, many of whom were laypeople. It was necessary to consolidate, and to establish a departmental building.
As a result of this growth, the historic Abbey House, near the Cathedral, was designated to house the newly enlarged Department of Theology. Bonner moved from his old office, established his new office in the Abbey House.
Durham Cathedral hosts the tombs of both St. Cuthbert and St. Bede, both of whom are northern saints. Some of Bonner's theological work at the University was involved with their study.
Bonner's work on St. Bede reflected the fact that in 1964, early Northumbrian history was taught only by a archaeologist, Rosemary Cramp. The literary products of Northumbrian culture received little scrutiny. Building on the work of the Durham antiquarian Bertram Colgrave, Bonner undertook to promote greater understanding beginning with his 1966 Jarrow Lecture, entitled St. Bede in the Tradition of Western Apocalyptic Commentary.
He also organised the Bedan Conference of 1973, authored the catalogue for the 1974 Sunderland Exhibition on Bede, and edited a book of essays for the thirteenth centenary of Bede in 1976. His edits of the proceedings, were presented under the title "Famulus Christi"..
He also originated courses on St. Cuthbert, and presented a paper for the Cuthbert Conference of 1987.
Because he wished to ensure the appointment of a successor to his position, he decided to retire early, in 1988.

Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius

During his time at Durham University, Bonner also worked to support the Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius, and built connections with prominent Anglican and Orthodox churchmen.
In 1970, when the Fellowship was obliged at short notice to discontinue its annual summer conference at Broadstairs, he arranged for it to meet in Durham. During the conference, the Orthodox Liturgy of the Dormition was celebrated in the Galilee Chapel of Durham Cathedral, and Bonner delivered a paper on 'The Christian life of the Venerable Bede.'
Because of his work with Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius, Bonner maintained a association over the years with Eastern Orthodoxy. After his death, his entire patristic book collection was donated to the University of Sofia.

The Catholic University of America

Bonner served as Distinguished Visiting Professor of Early Christian Studies at the Catholic University of America from 1990-1994.

Theological views

He was openly critical of the theological pronouncements of David Jenkins, whose elevation to the see of Durham in 1984 he felt obliged to protest. Jenkins' selection as Bishop of Durham was controversial due to allegations that he held heterodox beliefs, particularly regarding the virgin birth and the bodily resurrection.
Bonner and Jenkins had shared a cordial academic acquaintance, as external examiners at each other's universities. Nonetheless, Jenkins' public pronoucements caused great disquiet, particularly within his own diocese. It was felt that Jenkins, as bishop-designate, was still speaking in his role as an academic theologian, and that he had not given proper and responsible consideration to the possiblity that his words might be construed as authoriative doctrine.
In a letter to The Times, Bonner wrote:
After reluctantly agreeing to stand for the General Synod of the Church of England in 1990, he resigned his seat following his appointment to the CUA professorship.

Legacy

At the request of church Canon Jones, the text from two of Bonner's lectures on St. Bede were posted above Bede's tomb.
Bonner maintained a association over the years with Eastern Orthodoxy, through the Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius. In 2016, in accordance with his wishes, Bonner's entire patristic book collection, amassed for more than fifty years, was donated to the University of Sofia, in Bulgaria. It now resides at the Patristic Library of the Library of Theology Faculty at Sofia University.
In 2019, Catholic University Department of History announced a grant in Bonner's honour, the Gerald Bonner Graduate Research Award. They noted that Bonner was "an internationally distinguished scholar of patristic studies," who published several important works.

Personal life

Gerald Bonner married Jane Bonner in 1967. Jane was a philologist educated at Bedford College, London and taught Early and Middle High German at the University of Sheffield. During their marriage she assisted Bonner in his understanding of theological German and was instrumental in organising the Bedan Conference.
They had two children, Jeremy and Damaris.
Jeremy Bonner is also a scholar of theology and religion.

Works