Kategoria BISAC: Religion >> Theology

Anglicanism can be wonderful, mystifying and infuriating. For some it is an expression of the Church catholic, going back to the early Church and the apostles. For others it is a pragmatic compromise dating from Henry VIII's dynastic ambitions. Some see Anglicanism today as self-destructing, torn apart by internal pressures.

Paul Avis expounds an Anglicanism that is both catholic and reformed and open to fresh insight. On this interpretation, what is distinctive about Anglicanism is its understanding of the Church and of authority. These issues are addressed in relation to the...

A fascinating and insightful volume collecting together the key writings of Joseph Ratzinger, some of them yet untranslated, from his youthful and more progressive writings, to his 'transition period' following his disillusionment with the aftermath of Vatican II, to his time as Prefect of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith down to 2005. The emphasis will be upon Joseph Ratzinger as 'private theologian', his many writings released in a personal capacity for such will chart the formation of and comment upon the official statements and texts released under his name in a...

Jacques Derrida: a name to strike fear into the hearts of theologians. His ideas have been hugely influential in shaping postmodern philosophy, and its impact has been felt across the humanities from literary studies to architecture. However, he has also been associated with the specters of relativism and nihilism. Some have suggested he undermines any notion of objective truth and stable meaning.

Derrida is now increasingly seen as a major contributor to thinking about the complexity of truth, responsibility and witnessing. Theologians and biblical scholars are engaging as never...

This book is a collection of essays by leading theologians and church leaders on the implications of the proposed Anglican Covenant, which has been offered as a solution to the recent crises facing worldwide Anglicanism. At the Anglican Primates' meeting in February 2007 a draft Covenant was commended for study by the constituent churches of the Anglican Communion. This book presents a sober and dispassionate discussion of the theology and politics behind the Covenant. The writers represent a number of different theological traditions and disciplines within and beyond Anglicanism. What...

The French philosopher Alain Badiou (born 1937), is one of the main representatives of a recent philosophical homage to Saint Paul. Yet, Badiou is not a believer in the traditional sense, let alone a Christian philosopher. On the contrary, he rejects transcendence and pleads for a radical this-worldliness.

This does not mean, however, that his work is of no use to theologians, though a theological engagement with him will necessarily take some time. This book takes the first steps in that direction. It focuses on Badiou's ontology, because his challenge to theology, and more in...

For a long time scholarship has been seeking the origins of Christian worship in the synagogue. In this new major book, Margaret Barker traces the roots of Christian worship back to the Jewish temple. By proposing a temple setting, a great deal more can be explained, and the existing rather limited resources can be more fruitfully used. By working with a great variety of sources (canonical, extra-canonical and Fathers, all presented here in tranlsation), it is possible to reconstruct something of the early Christian world view, which shows the Church as the conscious continuation of the...

The study of liturgy has received criticism from scholars and practitioners alike: the academic discipline of liturgiology has been compared to the hobby of stamp collection, and proponents for liturgical renewal argue that worship must be made more accessible and relevant.
Bryan Spinks has been an important moderating voice in this discussion, reminding both academic and ecclesial communities that Christ is made known in the liturgical riches of the past as well as in contemporary forms of the present. Inspired by Spinks' work, this volume brings together biblical,...

Scholarship in early Christianity has long focused on themes of theological doctrine on the one hand, and anthropology on the other. Doctrinal study has generally concentrated on the rise of Trinitarian language and Christological questions, while anthropological studies explore early perceptions of human nature, sin and redemption. This has produced standard chronologies of doctrine, dividing early Christian history into distinct, if interrelated periods of history in the development of these views.

Building on current scholarship, this volume re-assesses such an approach to early...

This study examines the collects assigned to the Sundays and major feasts of the proper seasons in the ordinary and extraordinary forms of the Roman rite. The Latin collects assigned to each day in the typical editions of the respective missals are compared and contrasted both with their respective sources and with one another. Pertinent discussions and decisions of the Consilium study groups responsible for the post-Vatican II revisions of the liturgical calendar and Mass collects are also presented and considered.

The goal of the study is to determine whether the two sets of...

This study examines the collects assigned to the Sundays and major feasts of the proper seasons in the ordinary and extraordinary forms of the Roman rite. The Latin collects assigned to each day in the typical editions of the respective missals are compared and contrasted both with their respective sources and with one another. Pertinent discussions and decisions of the Consilium study groups responsible for the post-Vatican II revisions of the liturgical calendar and Mass collects are also presented and considered.

The goal of the study is to determine whether the two sets of...