Over many years W. R. Matthews (who was successively Professor of the Philosophy of Religion at King's College London, Dean of Exeter and Dean of St Paul's) wrote copiously on both philosophy and theology in books, lectures and sermons. Although associated with the movements known as 'modernism' and 'liberal Protestantism' he was essentially a Christian Platonist who moreover was theologically orthodox on all vital points. Professor Owen quotes widely from Dr Matthews' published writings on The Concept of God, Religion and Reason, and Christology and Ethics. He brings out their significance both for an understanding of the ways in which religious thought developed in the first half of this century and for the light they shed on questions discussed by theologians today.

Before his death in October of 1996, Huw Parri Owen, the Oxford-trained Emeritus Professor of Christian Doctrine at King's College, London, completed three books in addition to several he had previously published. Two of those three have since been lost; the third, The Basis of Christian Prayer, is now available posthumously for the very first time. In this work, H.P. Owen is concerned not only with the practice of prayer, but likewise with its objective structure and content. Perhaps most significantly, he deals at length with the theological and philosophical questions that prayer raises. Proceeding from both biblical and philosophical standpoints, and encompassing as many elements of prayer as possible, Owen addresses the various forms of vocal prayer (adoration, thanksgiving, confession, petition, and intercession), the Lord's Prayer, meditation, contemplation, and mystical prayer. Additionally, he covers such topics as prayer and belief, prayer and religious experience, the language of prayer, and the place of the emotions in prayer. Combining the analytic precision of a trained philosopher with the insight and sensitivity of a seasoned veteran in the Christian faith, The Basis of Christian Prayer is a unique and invaluable resource for the reflective life.