A virgin birth and “a conjuring trick with bones”?

A Christmas and Easter tradition on social media seems to be to refer back to the infamous Bishop of Durham, Rev Dr David Jenkins who in the 1980s allegedly denied the virgin birth and the resurrection of Jesus. I say allegedly because I note that there have been significant attempts to defend Jenkins. Those defences run along the lines that:

• He was misquoted or taken out of context.
• His aim was to encourage people to think more deeply. He was being provocative in order to strengthen faith through questioning
• He was the victim of an attack by right-wing/Thatcherite media because of his political views.

The last point is fascinating from a historical/cultural perspective because I doubt that even the right-wing media would be too interested in the theological niceties of the debate today. They would tell a Bishop to stay out of politics if he was seen as too left-wing…