Is Britain a broken society? Written in accessible language that speaks directly into church, public sphere and also academy it enters the current political, economic and social policy/civil society debates concerning the values and directions of British society. It covers religion and the public square, wellbeing and happiness in the public square, the new economics, faiths and social welfare, a new political manifesto.

Challenging Religious Studies represents a breakthrough in our understanding and development of the practices, ethics and theories of religious studies through engagement with the world of daily life and its breath-taking transformation since 1800, as revealed particularly in living standards, life expectancy and subjective wellbeing. Together with the equally disturbing growth of inequalities between and within nations, this constitutes the profound paradox of development. What is of particular interest is the book's rigorous treatment of the question why religion is better at delivering greater subjective wellbeing and how it does so. To build such arguments always involves engaging with key related disciplines, experiences and practices, including economics, psychology, sociology and economic history. But it will also increasingly offer religion the opportunity to participate in such developments but always and increasingly through collaboration with other such disciplines and experiences, and always with the objective of furthering the greater wellbeing of all people in and through their environments.

An Original Twelfth Century Tale Of King Arthur's Day.

Transfiguring Capitalism began in the British tradition of relating religion and capitalism, and developed into a four-year enquiry into the contribution of religion to global change. The result is a powerful justification of religion's resurgent role in a global context alongside empires, capitalism and globalization. Elaborating religion's contribution to contemporary life involves conversations with international and multidisciplinary debates about happiness and well-being, in addition to a detailed exposition of faith-based initiatives in partnerships and as distinctively different. Examples are drawn from across the world, including from other faiths. The final part collects key elements of the religious contribution for the future, including reflections on what it means to be human, an interpretation of personal and common good ethics, a consideration of typologies and traditions, and the elaboration of fresh understandings of faithful economics from ethical to theological economies. It is out of all this material that a new stage in British Christian Social Ethics is developed as the transfiguration of capitalism, not least in a critical and innovatory conversation with neo-Marxist views of the empire of global capitalism. John Atherton is retired canon theologian of Manchester Cathedral, honorary lecturer of Manchester University, and secretary of the William Temple Foundation. He has written numerous books and is joint editor of Crucible, the Christian journal of social ethics. He holds doctorates from Manchester and Uppsala, Sweden. This magisterial volume is a splendid resource for all interested in Christian social ethics, and in particular the Anglican tradition springing from R.H.Tawney and William Temple. John Atherton, the leading exponent of this approach today, is at the height of his powers. He takes social science seriously and deploys theological insights and challenges lucidly and helpfully. Duncan Forrester, Professor Emeritus, University of Edinburgh In this impressive book John Atherton gives a thorough analysis of economic globalization and the transformation of capitalism. He demonstrates the contributions of religion and Christian anthropology in dealing with moral issues raised by the global economy. This is an outstanding and thought-provoking study on political economy and Christian social ethics. Carl-Henric Grenholm, Professor of Ethics, Uppsala University, Sweden

Can the urban church survive? Are churches relevant to public life? These two questions drive John Atherton's thoughtful, sometimes searing and ultimately optimistic study. In secular Britain and Western Europe, churches seem increasingly marginalized from the processes of public discussion, decision-making and policy formation. That marginalization mirrors their marginalization in people's lives, which is most acute in parts of the city populated by those excluded from the main streams of a society's common or public life. It is John Atherton's genius to bring these two issues together: the marginalization of churches and of particular groups in society. Hence, the future of church and its relevance to public life is to be worked out through active concern and commitment in places where other people and groups are marginalized. John Atherton uses a wide range of disciplines to establish this vision, including political philosophy, economics, feminist ethics and theology. His aim is to reconnect Christianity to people and public life by reformulating theology and church (as examples to other disciplines and institutions facing change). This is a perceptive study of how the urban church could disappear in a few decades, and what the options for change are if it embraces a new strategy. This study draws on John Atherton's forty years of ministry in urban areas and teaching political philosophy in universities, and has an unparalleled overview of urban ministry. 'John Atherton brings together his long experience of ministry in Manchester and his wide reading. He connects the local and the global, the theological and the political, examining with passion the "double whammy" of marginalized churches in marginalized communities. Those engaged in campaigning for the poor, in responding to globalization in its many forms, and in seeking the revitalising of the urban church will all find John Atherton challenging many assumptions and giving them an even stronger and broader set of convictions to lend power to their efforts: Peter Selby, Bishop of Worcester 'John Atherton's new book arises out of disciplined reflection on his own deep grappling with economic and social issues and the role of the churches over several decades. This is a rich, honest and realistic book which examines bravely the challenges of the marginalization of millions in our global village, of the poor and minority groups in affluent societies, and of the church and Christian faith in the West. And Atherton has the courage, in dialogue with the best contemporary social theory, to point a way forward. This book deserves to be widely read and discussed. I commend it very warmly: Duncan B. Forrester, Emeritus Professor of Christian Ethics and Practical Theology, New College, The University of Edinburgh.