From 2006 to 2011 researchers at Heythrop College and the Oxford Centre for ecclesiology and Practical Theology (OxCEPT, Ripon College Cuddesdon) worked on a theological and action research project: "Action Research - Church and Society (ARCS). 2010 saw the publication of Talking About God in Practice: Theological Action research and Practical Theology (SCM), which presented in an accessible way the work of ARCS and its developing methodology. This turned out to be a landmark study in the praxis of Anglican and Catholic ecclesiology in the UK, showing how theology in these differing contexts interacted with the way in which clergy and congregations lived out their religious convictions. This book is a direct follow up to that significant work, authored by one of the original researchers, providing a systematic analysis of the impact of the "theological action research" methodology and its implications for a contemporary ecclesiology. The book presents an ecclesiology generated from church practice, drawing on scholarship in the field as well as the results of the theological action research undertaken. It achieves this by including real scenarios alongside the academic discourse. This combination allows the author to tease out the complex relationship between the theory and the reality of church. Addressing the need for a more developed theological and methodological account of the ARCS project, this is a book that will be of interest to scholars interested not only Western lived religion, but ecclesiology and theology more generally too.

Since the onset of the global economic crisis, everyone has a view on how to fix capitalism - everyone, it seems, except the Church of England. Given the widespread diagnosis of moral malaise in the marketplace, one might have expected the established religion of the UK to provide more leadership. In spite of its quietness in recent public debate, the Church in fact has a lot to say on the matter. Eve Poole examines the formal views and actions of the Church of England in the run up to the financial crisis, as well as the arguments of leading Church of England bishops, academics and business people. She highlights the richness and distinctiveness of the arguments emanating from the Church with regard to capitalism and the market, but also points to some flaws, gaps and significant silences. Poole urges the Church to stand up and be counted in taking its proper place in re-shaping the global economy. She also offers theologians a new framework for engaging in public theology.
This book is an indispensable guide to the thorny issues in respect of morals and the market. Students and scholars of theology, as well as economists and business people concerned with the wider ethical repercussions of their work, will be excited to discover a unique and sagacious voice above the mud-slinging that has characterized the mainstream of contemporary comment on the credit crunch.

The Reception of John Chrysostom in Early Modern Europe explores when, how, why, and by whom one of the most influential Fathers of the Greek Church was translated and read during a particularly significant period in the reception of his works. This was the period between the first Neo-Latin translation of Chrysostom in 1417 and the final volume of Fronton du Duc's Greek-Latin edition in 1624, years in which readers and translators from Renaissance Italy, the Byzantine Empire, and the Basel, Paris, and Rome of a newly-confessionalised Europe found in Chrysostom everything from a guide to Latin oratory, to a model interpreter of Paul. By drawing on evidence that ranges from Greek manuscripts to conciliar acts, this book contextualises the hundreds of translations and editions of Chrysostom that were produced in Europe between 1417 and 1624, while demonstrating the lasting impact of these works on scholarship about this Church Father today.

The year 2015 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the close of the Second Vatican Council. This volume provides an analysis of Vatican II, the most decisive and far-reaching event in the modern Catholic Church. Explicating pivotal elements of the Council, its decision-making process and the deep consequences of its final decisions, Massimo Faggioli contributes an accessible presentation of the significance of Vatican II for the church and its life in the modern world beyond the boundaries of the Roman Catholic Church. As the Council, since its conclusion, has been subjected to various interpretations-a matter of not little controversy-the volume explores the contours of subsequent interpretation and variations in approach, especially those that have marked the eras of John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Despite these controversies, however, the Council lives on, the author argues, in theology, especially the ad intra and ad extra dimensions of reform in the liturgy, the church and the modern world, and religious freedom, continuing to have global impact on Catholics and non-Catholics.

Born about the year AD 200, Thascus Caecillius Cyprianus was the scion of an ancient and noble Roman family living in North Africa. A convert to Christianity in mid-life, Cyprian was acclaimed bishop of Carthage during a time of intense Empire-wide persecution by the Roman imperial authorities under the emperor Decius. In the twelve year span between his conversion and his martyrdom in AD 258 during the reign of Valerian, Cyprian wrote some of the most important foundational documents of the ante-Nicene Church. This volume contains the entirety of Saint Cyprian's writing--13 treatises and all of his correspondence, 82 letters in all. It also includes "The Life and Passion of Saint Cyprian" by his companion, Pontius the Deacon, as well as the minutes of the Seventh Council of Carthage over which Cyprian presided. His writings encompass the major issues of his day including the Roman persecutions, the unity of the Church, dealing with those who renounced the faith under threat from the state (the lapsi), the Novatian heresy and the rebaptism controversy. His correspondents included the most illustrious men of the early Latin Church, including three Popes--Cornelius, Stephen I, and Sixtus II. Read and cited frequently by theologians down through the ages, Saint Cyprian's writings are of surpassing authority and were considered works of genius "brighter than the sun" by Saint Jerome. Aside from their obvious ecclesiastical import, the works of Cyprian also offer a detailed and unique glimpse into Roman society at the height of the anti-Christian persecutions and demonstrate the growth and struggles of the early Church during a time of intense external political pressure. Based on the translation originally published as part of The Ante-Nicene Fathers 1885], this new edition includes a new introduction, updated commentary, an updated bibliography, and several new appendices including "The Quotable Cyprian."

The Holy Mountain of Athos is a self governing monastic republic on a peninsula in Northern Greece. Standing on the shores of the Aegean Sea is one of the twenty ruling monasteries that comprise the republic, that of St Panteleimon, known in Greek as the Rossikon. It's building, fully restored in recent years, can accommodate up to 5,000 men, reflecting the scale of the settlement at its apogee in the nineteenth century and prior to the Bolshevik revolution in Russia. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 it has experienced a strong revival and is now one of the most numerous of the twenty. But the vast buildings that can be seen today are really only a reflection of the history of the past two centuries. Much less well known is the fact that the history of a Russian presence on Athos goes back more than one thousand years. This is the first comprehensive account of this in the English language. The author has been able to draw from previously inaccessible archival materials in gathering the wealth of information he shares in this work. The history of the community is not described in geographical isolation but shown as interacting with the much wider worlds of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires and the modern nation state of Greece, together with that of the Russian homeland whose political character is constantly evolving. There are shown to be three distinct phases in this history: From the tenth to the twelfth centuries when Russian Athonites inhabited the ancient Russian Lavra of the Mother of God, also known as Xylourgou. Then the six hundred years from the mid-twelth to the mid-eighteenth century when the ancient Monastery of St Panteleimon was the Russian house on Athos, more commonly referred to as Nagorny or Stary Rusik. Finally the most recent 250 years, that are naturally covered in greater depth thanks to the wider availability of sources. Amongst the themes explored in the book are ethnic relations, the Pan-Orthodox ideal, the role of money and political pressure, sanctity and heroism in adversity, and the importance of historical memory and precedent. The author seeks to arbitrate fairly between often strongly opposing ethnic viewpoints. It examines in detail the fluctuating fortunes of the monastic community of St Panteleimon during the past 250 years when its ethnic identity was frequently questioned. It is a history that has been blighted by Greek-Russian quarrels, mass deportation of dissenting brethren, troubles in the Caucasus, and even tangential implication in the present-day dispute between the Ecumenical and Moscow Patriarchates over Ukraine. This text will be invaluable to both academic historians and the general educated reader who does not possess specialist knowledge. It is complimented by a timeline, glossary, comprehensive bibliography, index, full colour illustrations and photographs.

LIVING IN GOD'S KINGDOM This book has been written to help people harmonize their lives with God, the Creator of the vast Kingdom called heaven and earth. The book starts with the creation story and walks you through the Fall of man in the Garden of Eden, with Satan lurking around to disrupt the lives of people today as he did to the first man, Adam. The victory of Jesus over Satan is aptly described. The book is directed to believers and other users for purposes of - Counseling and in preaching the Word of God. Understanding the tactics of Satan and his final end. Understanding spiritual warfare and building a prayerful life. Helping youths to discover the plan of God earlier in their lives. Helping backsliders to rediscover the love of God and connect back to God. Witnessing to agnostics and the unenlightened and re-directing them back to God. Helping everyone to be accountable to God. About the Author Joseph Agbi is a diligent Bible student, who through deep commitment has uncovered a lot of treasures in the Word of God. Evangelism and reaching the world with the Gospel is his passion. Guided by divine wisdom, knowledge and understanding (WKU), he combines his calling as a Bible Teacher with his secular practice as a Professional Engineer in Edmonton, Canada. He is the founder of "Christ Our Wisdom and Power Missions" (www.christwisdom.org), and has written many articles on various subjects of the Bible. Mr. Agbi has a Masters Degree in Structural Engineering from the University of Alberta and a Masters in Business Administration from University of Benin, Nigeria. He is married to Esther Agbi and they are blessed with two children, Deborah and David.

Between the seventh and eleventh centuries, Christian worship on the Iberian Peninsula was structured by rituals of great theological and musical richness, known as the Old Hispanic (or Mozarabic) rite. Much of this liturgy was produced during a seventh-century cultural and educational program aimed at creating a society unified in the Nicene faith, built on twin pillars of church and kingdom. Led by Isidore of Seville and subsequent generations of bishops, this cultural renewal effort began with a project of clerical education, facilitated through a distinctive culture of textual production. Rebecca Maloy's Songs of Sacrifice argues that liturgical music-both texts and melodies-played a central role in the cultural renewal of early Medieval Iberia, with a chant repertory that was carefully designed to promote the goals of this cultural renewal. Through extensive reworking of the Old Testament, the creators of the chant texts fashioned scripture in ways designed to teach biblical exegesis, linking both to patristic traditions-distilled through the works of Isidore of Seville and other Iberian bishops-and to Visigothic anti-Jewish discourse. Through musical rhetoric, the melodies shaped the delivery of the texts to underline these messages. In these ways, the chants worked toward the formation of individual Christian souls and a communal Nicene identity. Examining the crucial influence of these chants, Songs of Sacrifice addresses a plethora of long-debated issues in musicology, history, and liturgical studies, and reveals the potential for Old Hispanic chant to shed light on fundamental questions about how early chant repertories were formed, why their creators selected particular passages of scripture, and why they set them to certain kinds of music.