Heresy was the most feared crime in the medieval moral universe. It was seen as a social disease capable of poisoning the body politic and shattering the unity of the church. The study of heresy in late medieval England has, to date, focused largely on the heretics. In consequence, we know very little about how this crime was defined by the churchmen who passed authoritative judgement on it.
By examining the drafting, publicizing, and implementing of new laws against heresy in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, using published and unpublished judicial records, this book presents the first general study of inquisition in medieval England. In it Ian Forrest argues that because heresy was a problem simultaneously national and local, detection relied upon collaboration between rulers and the ruled. While involvement in detection brought local society into contact with the apparatus of government, uneducated laymen still had to be kept at arm's length, because judgements about heresy were deemed too subtle and important to be left to them. Detection required bishops and inquisitors to balance reported suspicions against canonical proof, and threats to public safety against the rights of the suspect and the deficiencies of human justice.
At present, the character and significance of heresy in late medieval England is the subject of much debate. Ian Forrest believes that this debate has to be informed by a greater awareness of the legal and social contexts within which heresy took on its many real and imagined attributes.

ABOUT THE BOOK: Forged by Conviction is a never before written, chronologically accurate account of the birth and prominent rise of the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia. Meet the colorful personalities who helped to define and mobilize this great movement for God's glory. Discover how both church planting and decentralization helped to carve what would become the foundation of one of America's most modern day struggles for biblical inerrancy. Learn of the controversial and often courageous struggle of many Southern Baptist men and women who were seemingly cast as renegades by the liberal establishment. See how their obedience to God and bold faith in Jesus Christ enabled them to witness their dreams-initially written on a napkin at a local restaurant-blossom into a great organization known as the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia. **** ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Jeffrey Pinder has been in full-time ministry for over twenty-five years. Aligned with the SBCV since its inception in 1996, he has had a unique vantage point from which to observe its early beginnings. He holds three advanced degrees, including a doctorate from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and Graduate School. Jeff, his wife Cheryl, and their twin sons, John and Caleb, live in Port St. Joe, Florida.

This book engages thinkers from different religious and humanist traditions in response to Pope Francis's pronouncements on interreligious dialogue. The contributors write from the perspectives of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism, and Humanism. Each author elaborates on how the pope's openness to dialogue and invitation to practical collaboration on global concerns represents a significant achievement as the world faces an uncertain future. The theological tension within the Catholic double commitment to evangelization on the one hand, and dialogue on the other, remains unresolved for most writers, but this does not prevent them from praising the strong invitation to dialogue-especially with the focus on justice, peace, and ecological sustainability.