John Bowker (theologian)
John Westerdale Bowker was born on the 30th of July 1935. He attended St John's School in Leatherhead before studying at Worcester College and Ripon Hall, both part of Oxford University. His path shifted from pure academia to active service when he joined the Royal West African Frontier Force. This national service took him to northern Nigeria where he worked directly with local communities. The experience grounded his later academic work in real-world human contexts rather than abstract theory alone. After serving, he became the Henry Stevenson Fellow at the University of Sheffield in 1961. That role marked his transition into full-time theological study and teaching.
Bowker arrived at Cambridge as Dean of Chapel for Corpus Christi College in 1962. By 1965 he held a lecturer position within the Faculty of Theology there. It was during this period that he successfully introduced religious studies as a formal subject of study at the university. Prior to his efforts, theology dominated the landscape while comparative religion remained peripheral or absent. He served as Assistant Lecturer starting in 1965 and then as Lecturer by 1970. Later appointments included returning to Cambridge as Dean of Chapel for Trinity College between 1984 and 1991. These roles allowed him to build institutional structures that supported the new discipline across decades.
In 1974 Bowker accepted an appointment as Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Lancaster. This move expanded his influence beyond the traditional English academic centers. Two years later he returned to Cambridge but also took on international responsibilities. In 1986 he became an adjunct professor at both the University of Pennsylvania and North Carolina State University. His career included invitations to lecture at prestigious institutions like Georgetown University and Newcastle University. He delivered the Wilde lectures at Oxford and the Riddell lectures at Newcastle. From 1992 until 1997 he held the title of Gresham Professor of Divinity at Gresham College in London. These positions connected British scholarship with American universities and global audiences.
Bowker engaged deeply with claims made by Richard Dawkins regarding belief systems. Between 1992 and 1993 he gave lectures at Gresham College analyzing the idea that God is a mental virus. He collaborated with Quinton Deeley who was then a student working on biogenetic structuralism before becoming a psychiatrist. Bowker argued that such accounts were far removed from actual evidence and data. He questioned why only certain behaviors produced by religious ideas should be labeled diseased. The observer making these judgments remained highly relative rather than objective. In his 2005 book The Sacred Neuron he suggested faith and reason are not opposing functions. Recent discoveries in neuroscience reveal how human minds process ideas into beliefs.
His bibliography spans over fifty years of writing and editing work. Titles include World Religions: The Great Faiths Explored and Explained published in 2006. He edited The Cambridge Illustrated History of Religion which appeared in 2002. Other significant works cover specific traditions like What Muslims Believe released in 1995. His book Religion Hurts: Why Religions do Harm as well as Good came out in 2018. Earlier publications included Jesus and the Pharisees from 1973 and Problems of Suffering in Religions of the World from 1970. These texts range from biblical scholarship to comparative religion and sociobiology. They reflect his dual commitment to theological tradition and scientific inquiry throughout his career.
Continue Browsing
Common questions
When was John Bowker born and where did he study?
John Westerdale Bowker was born on the 30th of July 1935. He attended St John's School in Leatherhead before studying at Worcester College and Ripon Hall, both part of Oxford University.
What role did John Bowker hold at Cambridge starting in 1962?
Bowker arrived at Cambridge as Dean of Chapel for Corpus Christi College in 1962. By 1970 he held a lecturer position within the Faculty of Theology there after introducing religious studies as a formal subject of study at the university.
Where did John Bowker serve as Professor of Religious Studies from 1974 to 1986?
In 1974 Bowker accepted an appointment as Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Lancaster. Two years later he returned to Cambridge but also took on international responsibilities including becoming an adjunct professor at both the University of Pennsylvania and North Carolina State University in 1986.
What book did John Bowker publish in 2005 regarding neuroscience and faith?
In his 2005 book The Sacred Neuron he suggested faith and reason are not opposing functions. Recent discoveries in neuroscience reveal how human minds process ideas into beliefs according to this work.
Which books did John Bowker write about Islam and religion between 1995 and 2018?
Other significant works cover specific traditions like What Muslims Believe released in 1995. His book Religion Hurts: Why Religions do Harm as well as Good came out in 2018.