For the New Testament writers, the Old Testament scriptures and the teachings of Jesus were key sources of authority and influence. When these influences are considered alongside each other, each can illuminate the other, deepening the New Testament writers¿ presentation of Jesus and our understanding of their interpretations. In Jesus and Scripture, Tom Parker examines the way in which Hebrews, James, and 1 and 2 Peter deal with these two different sources of authority, how they relate to each other, and what shifts have occurred historically and theologically within the writing of these texts. Treating the four epistles methodologically, Parker examines the particular ways in which each writer draws on the Hebrew scriptures. Ultimately, he argues convincingly that the nascent Jesus tradition, particularly via oral routes, influenced the way the Old Testament was processed by these various New Testament writers.
A Prayer for All Seasons contains the collects from the Book of Common Prayer. Starting with the collects for Morning Prayer, followed by those for Evening Prayer, and continuing with those for, Christmas, Easter, and other seasons and feasts, and for Saints¿ Days, and concludes with those for Holy Communion. While the prayers themselves date back to the times of Popes Leo I, Gelasius, and Gregory the Great, the wording of the collects was largely written by the sixteenth-century liturgical genius and Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, the main author of the Book of Common Prayer.The wonderful collects in the book are framed by early-twentieth-century wood engravings by Blanche McManus which augment and enhance the beauty of the language. Time and faith have hallowed the Book of Common Prayer as one of the supreme achievements of the English language with its splendour. In addition to a Foreword by the former Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, the book contains an introduction by Ian Curteis, and an Afterword by The Right Reverend Richard Chartres, former Bishop of London.
Every Sunday around the world, Christians offer money and in-kind gifts to the church, traditionally known as alms. This act produces questions about what it means to offer God a gift when God has offered humanity the greatest gift in Jesus Christ, or the balance of favour or gratitude in the giving of these gifts. These very questions, and more, have had a significant influence on the liturgy, particularly in the offertory, within Anglicanism.In Of Thine Own Have We Given Thee, Shawn O. Strout provides a comprehensive analysis of the offertory rites, including in his analysis other churches within the Anglican Communion, beyond the Church of England. Ordered historically, the book encompasses the sixteenth century through to current times, scrutinising the offertory and oblationary changes throughout their religious and historical contexts. Strout argues that the development of oblation in the offertory was neither arbitrary nor episodic but rather the result of sustained theological tension. Using liturgical theology¿s tools of historical, textual, and contextual analyses, the book examines why these developments occurred and their importance for the church today.
Based on the 1928 Bampton Lectures, The Vision of God was the first of Kenneth E. Kirk¿s three major books on moral theology. Drawing inspiration from the ascetic tradition of Christianity, Kirk advocates the priority of worship in ethical thought. Beginning with the sixth beatitude, he places the visio Dei front and centre throughout, placing himself in a eudaimonistic tradition that ranges from Irenaeus to Aquinas and the Shorter Catechism. Worship, he shows, offers the opportunity to discover and acknowledge something more valuable than the self, and thus contains the key to moral instruction. Although Kirk published an expanded ¿complete edition¿ of The Vision of God in 1931, he notes in the preface to the shorter text presented here that ¿what remains approximates to, though it is not quite identical with, the actual lectures as originally delivered.¿ The reader therefore has in their hands the essence of Kirk¿s thesis, which continues to prompt debate today.
Now available in English for the first time, Ysabel de Andiäs double exploration of Christian and Hindu mysticism provides a valuable addition to the field. Composed from lectures given in Benares in 2015 to priests of the Missions Étrangères de Paris, Mystery of God, Mystery of Christ combines the two main research interests that have defined de Andiäs career: first, an understanding of Christian mysticism as growing out of the Christian mystery of Christ and the sacrament, and secondly, the relationship between this and Hindu contemplative prayer as articulated by Jules Monchanin.Beginning with the Cappadocian fathers, de Andai traces the developing interpretation of Mystery through Christian thinkers from Origen and Gregory of Nyssa to Basil and Dionysios the Areopagite. From here, she begins to dovetail this study with an exploration of Hindu contemplation, relating the Carmelite mystic St John of the Cross to the Advaitist tradition, especially as expounded by Shankara. Throughout, her masterful understanding of both traditions is apparent. For English readers, her insight will provide a fresh perspective on this lively subject area.
Norfolk's churches are home to some of the highest-quality and best-preserved medieval stained glass in Britain. Panels produced in the county's extensive and long-lasting workshops, centred in the historically important city of Norwich, can be found in some 270 buildings, including churches, museums and country houses. Moreover, recent research has revealed for the first time the original location of many of the panels now dispersed around the county. In Stories in Glass, Paul Harley and David King reveal these treasures to a new audience. Harley's exquisite photographs are set alongside historical and artistic explanations that illuminate the social, economic and religious background to the windows we see today. With 200 colour images, and maps showing the locations of the windows discussed, this beautifully illustrated guide will appeal to the explorer and collector alike.
Katharine Briggs made an indelible mark on the world of folklore with her compilation of the Dictionary of British Folktales in the English Languages, while her subsequent Dictionary of Fairies confirmed her already distinguished place among British Folklorists. Briggs¿s initial academic interest while at Oxford University was in seventeenth-century literature and the Civil War. Upon leaving Oxford she pursued amateur dramatics and worked for the Guide Movement, and during the Second World War she served in the Women¿s Auxiliary Air Force. It was here, perhaps, that her personality fully matured; among other activities she delighted her fellows with her remarkable gift for story-telling. After the war, her career as a folklorist began to blossom. As if to make up for lost time, she spent the last twenty years of her life writing and lecturing almost continually. As well as her books on folklore, she gained renown for her children¿s books Kate Crackernuts and Hobberdy Dick. She was responsible for revitalising the Folklore Society and as its President, she laid the foundations of the Society as it is today. Hilda Davidson¿s biography brings to life a remarkable woman whose combination of academic excellence and natural gift for narrative found her friends all over the world.
In this collection of essays, Michel René Barnes offers a new reading of the character and development of Latin Trinitarian theology in the fourth and fifth centuries. Although Augustine is the principal focus, he is treated here as an inheritor of an earlier Latin tradition. Antecedent theologians, most notably including Marius Victorinus, are given a revised interpretation, and Augustine himself is explored from multiple angles.At every turn, developments in Augustine¿s thought are shown to be a response to the anti-Nicene theologies of the period. Most significantly, this view decries the modern ¿systematic¿ tendency to engage with Augustine only though a simplified version of late-nineteenth-century categories. This accusation invites the question of how far modern theology can actually engage with Patristic theology at all, but Barnes offers a way forward.
With the theme of relationship receiving renewed attention in a variety of areas, theological expressions of the subject are also being brought back into the spotlight. Although the concept of a personal relationship with God is a common Christian expression, it is often poorly defined. Here, Michael Berra draws on the Swiss theologian Emil Brunner to redefine and rehabilitate the analogy of relationship.Basing his study primarily on Brunner¿s seminal work Truth as Encounter, Berra proposes that relationship ought to be the central motif for the whole of theology. He investigates the theme in light of modern relationship science, arguing that God-human interaction categorically meets the definition of a relationship, and that it is existentially intended to be intimate. Scholars and church leaders will find in Berräs approach a refreshing voice in this dynamic field.
T.F. Torrance¿s Conflict and Agreement in the Church gathers together his most influential essays and articles on topics relating to ecumenism. Himself involved heavily in the ecumenical movement, he wrote that ¿ours must be the task of learning together again how to confess, like the early Church, faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and God in all its breadth and length and height and depth, and therefore in the overflowing love of God.¿ Out of this conviction grew a comprehensive doctrine of the Church ¿in which our differences are lost sight of because they are destroyed from behind by a masterful faith in the Saviour of men.¿In this second volume, Torrance¿s thought on inter-denominational cooperation in light of the Church¿s mission is presented. He begins by suggesting that ¿the lines of conflict and agreement in the Church coincide less and less with the frontiers of the historic communions¿. This opens the door for greater union between those communion, but also exposes significant challenges to unity within them. Addressing the major debates on the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist, along with the priesthood and biblical exegesis, Torrance proposes a constructive way forward sealed by ¿reconciliation in the Body and Blood of Christ¿.
T.F. Torrance¿s Conflict and Agreement in the Church gathers together his most influential essays and articles on topics relating to ecumenism. Himself involved heavily in the ecumenical movement, he wrote that ¿ours must be the task of learning together again how to confess, like the early Church, faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and God in all its breadth and length and height and depth, and therefore in the overflowing love of God.¿ Out of this conviction grew a comprehensive doctrine of the Church ¿in which our differences are lost sight of because they are destroyed from behind by a masterful faith in the Saviour of men.¿In this second volume, Torrance¿s thought on inter-denominational cooperation in light of the Church¿s mission is presented. He begins by suggesting that ¿the lines of conflict and agreement in the Church coincide less and less with the frontiers of the historic communions¿. This opens the door for greater union between those communion, but also exposes significant challenges to unity within them. Addressing the major debates on the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist, along with the priesthood and biblical exegesis, Torrance proposes a constructive way forward sealed by ¿reconciliation in the Body and Blood of Christ¿.
In this third volume of papers from Thomas Merton¿s conferences during his decade (1955-1965) as novice master at the Cistercian Abbey of Gethsemani, his insight into the liturgical pattern of the Christian year and beyond is presented in fresh detail. Merton¿s own commitment to this central dimension of Christian life is clear, and nowhere more so than in his work introducing students to the patterns that would mark their lives as monks.Though dating from the period just before the liturgical reforms of Vatican II, Merton's commentaries remain pertinent. The thoroughly annotated text is preceded by an extensive introduction situating this material in the context of Merton's lifelong writing on liturgy. Moreover, as his former student Br. Paul Quenon notes in his foreword, this context is one deeply rooted in Merton¿s understanding of Scripture. ¿These notes . . . take us into one man's lifetime of reflection and seasoned experience of the Church Year.¿
In his characteristic accessible and clear style, R.H. Warring offers a guide for the radio amateur to many of the things one ought to know when tackling a radio project. Warring describes and illustrates the design and working characteristics of the basic electronic ¿blocks¿ from which radio receivers can be constructed and shows the reader how to incorporate additional simple circuits, such as volume and tone controls, and automatic gain control, to build upon these basic blocks. Straightforward calculations are provided to determine the values of components like resistors, capacitors and inductances to optimise your results.Building and Designing Transistor Radios will equip you with the skills and knowledge properly to understand transistor radios. Special attention is paid to the transistor, the most important component, which the author provides insightful advice on. By understanding the operating characteristics of the radiös different elements, the reader can learn how to devise circuits so that they perform most efficiently. With 80 diagrams, no excessively complicated circuitry, and minimal mathematical calculations included, this book first published in 1977 remains perfect for amateurs and enthusiasts.
Some of the greatest works of Western literature have been inspired or influenced by powerful Christian themes. In this fresh evaluation of this relationship and its development over the last two millennia, Ambrose Mong studies a series of authors representative of the changing epochs. Augustine, Dante and Milton all wrote to serve the needs of the Christian community, and combine their religious themes with scholarly excellence. Meanwhile Shakespeare¿s plays and Coleridge¿s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, though not specific to the Christian faith, nevertheless betray the dominant Christian values and imagery of their time. Finally, in Dostoevsky¿s The Brothers Karamazov and Greene¿s The Power and the Glory, Christianity is put under scrutiny, reflecting the increasing insecurity of its place in society. Throughout, Mong also shows that the themes in these works are to a certain extent universal. Creation, sin, suffering and forgiveness are perennial human concerns, beyond the exclusive purview of Christianity, and these texts serve to challenge Christian assumptions as much as they are influenced by them. Always thorough and sensitive to the unique context of each writer, Mong¿s analysis provides an important grounding in the way Western literature has shaped and been shaped by the religion of its day.
In Worship, Its Theology and Practice, Jean-Jacques von Allmen establishes the broader framework of a doctrine of worship, to then see how it can be applied in practice. The book¿s two parts, ¿Problems of Principle¿ and ¿Problems of Celebration¿, allow for a holistic approach to worship in all its forms. Covering a wide range of liturgical study, von Allmen places regular Sunday worship in its historical and theological context, affirming its nature as the ¿recapitulation of the history of salvation¿ and a sacred sign of Christ¿s presence, while fully acknowledging its practical role in building the Church. In this new edition, von Allmen¿s work is brought up to date with a Foreword by Ronald Andrew Rienstra. There is also a new index, enabling scholars to locate key concepts and themes with ease. At its core, Worship, Its Theology and Practice remains acutely relevant, with its vision of an experience of worship comprised of deeper participation and simple obedience to Jesus Christ.
In clear and concise fashion, A Companion to the Bible provides explanation of many terms and key themes within the Bible. Grounding the definitions with textual references, Jean-Jacques von Allmen enriches our theological understanding by concentrating on a limited number of longer articles with abundant cross-referencing. This approach allows for a greater depth in knowledge for all readers.Written in an accessible style, this book is for layfolk and scholars alike. As von Allmen himself writes, the book¿s aim is to facilitate this ¿one thing needful¿ - to encounter, through Holy Scripture, Jesus Christ the Word of God.
In To Will and To Do, twentieth-century French thinker Jacques Ellul presented his landmark theological contribution, yet the full text has never before been available in English. Incorporating recent insights on Ellul, and benefitting from the discovery of a lost manuscript, this new publication remedies this, combining a fresh translation of Volume One with a first English translation of Volume Two. Together, the two volumes constitute the first part of Ellul's planned four-part treatment of Christian ethics. In Volume Two, Ellul examines the origin of the problem of Good and Evil, surveys the contemporary morality of Western society, and provocatively sketches the paradox of an impossible and yet necessary Christian ethics. In Volume Two, he carries this discussion forward, outlining the characteristics and conditions of Christian ethics, and analysing the relationship between ethics, the legal texts of the Bible, and dogmatic theology. He concludes by reimagining the theological use of the ¿analogy of faith¿ for scriptural interpretation. Throughout, Ellul remains in dialogue with Karl Barth, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Paul Ricoeur and others, helping to cement To Will and To Do as a major intervention in twentieth-century theological ethics.
What will be the final destiny of humanity? At God¿s final judgement, will all be saved, or only a few? How does Christian eschatology affect Christian political action in the here and now? And what is the destiny of each individual facing the prospect of earthly death? In these essays, Sergius Bulgakov brings the resources of scripture and tradition to bear on these vital questions, arguing for the magnificent final restoration of all creatures to union with God in a universal salvation worthy of the infinite scope of Christ's redemption. Combining practical theology with doctrinal questions, Bulgakov provides on the one hand insight into how Christians can strive to bring God's kingdom to earth in anticipation of the peace and justice of the heavenly Jerusalem. On the other, he offers profound theological reflections on the nature of human death and Christ's accompaniment of all humans in their dying, based on his own near-death experience. Although originating firmly within the Russian Orthodox tradition, Bulgakov¿s sensitive and incisive writing will shed new light for all on eschatology in all its facets: personal, political, and universal.
Is the mind just a by-product of the brain? Or is mind the fundamental reality, which creates matter? In The Priority of Mind, Keith Ward mounts a definitive defence of mind as prior to matter. In an accessible style, he unpacks the sources and abilities of the mind, situates it in the wider world, or cosmos, and proposes a relation between mind and virtue, and the nature of mind after death. Along the way, he explores the different philosophical approaches to the mind-matter question taken by thinkers over time, settling on idealism as the teaching of most classical philosophers, and as most consistent with modern science. Lay readers and scholars alike will relish Ward¿s clear, methodical exposition, and his counterarguments against the materialist narrative that dominates much of popular philosophical thinking today.
¿Merton still matters¿, writes Paul R. Dekar about Cistercian monk Thomas Merton. Calling people to act justly, love kindness and walk humbly, Merton used his contemplative practice to see beyond what disrupts and divides us from one another to find the truth of our common humanity - unity in our creation in the image of God. In Thomas Merton and the New World, Dekar focuses primarily on two issues of concern to our current world. First, he studies Merton¿s warnings of the abuse that stems from unmindful and irresponsible use of technology, and its ecological devastation. Second, he examines Merton¿s thinking on racial injustice in the mid-1960s through his correspondence with his allies and contemporaries - James Baldwin, for example.Using Micah 6:8 to arrange Merton¿s focus on justice, lovingkindness, and humility, with input from Merton¿s dialogue with Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Rachel Carson and others, Dekar demonstrates just how prophetic and transferable Merton¿s teachings remain.
Kairos is used in the New Testament to signify a pivotal moment in history: a critical time of judgement and opportunity where chaos must be faced and one must change their ways before it becomes irreparable. Confronted by the Covid-19 pandemic and mandatory isolation, John de Gruchy felt a similar need to adapt and respond. In doing so, he found a deepening in his desire for authentic humanity, genuine community, and the opportunity affirm his conviction that true humanity is rooted in God, wisdom, and the struggle for justice.Mixing theology, history, anecdote, spirituality, social commentary, and practical suggestions, This Monastic Moment reflects on this period, and argues that now is the opportune time to embrace the opportunity God has given to receive the coming kingdom in greater fullness. This urgency echoes St Benedict of Nursiäs call to ¿listen¿, ¿wake up¿, and ¿run¿ while there is still light before ¿the darkness of death¿. With consideration given both to contemplation and action, to prayer and justice, de Gruchy¿s own personal pilgrimage provides the tools to embark upon, or aid, your own.
The story of how the map of New Zealand emerged is a fascinating one. The first full map of the islands was published in London in 1773, which might seem the natural starting point, but over the preceding 150 years, fragments of charts and intelligence about New Zealand ricocheted around various parts of the world. In A Draught of the South Land, Paul Moon provides the first comprehensive account of this piecemeal process. Moon¿s investigation covers several continents over more than a century, and reveals the personalities, blunders, strategic miscalculations, scientific brilliance, and imperial power-plays that were involved. Above all, he examines the roles played by explorers and traders, M¿ori and European rulers, scientific societies and military groups, as well as specialist cartographers and publishers. At a time when maps as colonial tools, enablers of trade and objects of curiosity are being studied anew, his careful analysis and engaging narrative will be of interest to scholars everywhere.
In Philip of Spain and the Netherlands, C.J. Cadoux discusses the expression of moral judgements regarding leading figures in major historical events. Indeed, Cadoux, using the case of the Dutch Revolt, questions whether it is possible at all to assess moral quality without adequate knowledge of the relevant facts, at least.First published in 1947, Cadoux¿s approach presents all history, whether national or personal, from a disinterested approach. This consistency of approach allows for a clear and concise depiction of events and persons that is not skewed by an overbearing opinion. He posits that in the great struggle between Spain and the Netherlands in the sixteenth century, a new ethic of Christian mercy is discernible. Cadoux concludes his book by asking the reader ¿in whose behaviour there can be seen some promise of better and humaner things?¿, reinforcing the inherent difficulty that remains when passing moral judgement.
Since antiquity, theology has frequently gone hand in hand with the study of the heavens. Speculation regarding the plurality of worlds, and the possibility of intelligent life beyond Earth, has posed questions for, and been stimulated by, Christian theology. Advancements in astronomy and astrophysics now reveal a vast universe containing trillions of galaxies. Each new exoplanet discovered brings with it a new context in which to consider the place of humanity, and the role of divinity in relation to creatures. In particular, the Christian doctrines of the incarnation and redemption must be understood afresh in light of the likelihood of extraterrestrial life.In Exotheology, Joel L. Parkyn examines the twin historic developments in scientific and theological thought on extraterrestrials from antiquity to the twenty-first century. In doing so he demonstrates a consistent pattern of theological formulations that allow for a distinct relation between Christianity and extraterrestrial life, but this has so far been without sufficient resolution. Applying concepts from anthropology, psychology and sociology to putative extraterrestrials, he explores in new depth the implications of contact, and argues for a ¿divine pedagogy¿ of potential modalities of supernatural presence and action with extraterrestrial intelligences.
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