David Jenkins was born on 26 January 1925 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK. He was married to Mollie Peet. He died on 4 September 2016 in Barnard Castle, Teesdale, County Durham, England, UK.
He was the Bishop of Durham from 1984 until 1994. He served during the miners' strike in the 1980s and often joined the miners on their marches. He was called the "unbelieving bishop" after saying he did not believe God would have arranged a virgin birth and the resurrection. He was a professor of theology at the University of Leeds, and before that, a fellow and chaplain of Queen's College, Oxford.