Nick Spencer is Senior Fellow at the Theos think tank and holds visiting posts at St. John's College, Durham, University College London, and Bishop Grossteste University. He was written extensively on religion and politics, including Freedom and Order: History, Politics and the English Bible (2011) and The Political Samaritan: How Power Hijacked a Parable (2017).

'This work is vital and would be vital even if the pressures on welfare states were not so great… we will have the best chance of making good changes if we have thought carefully about what the wider purposes and foundations of our collective welfare provision really are. Nick Spencer's excellent book can be a great help in setting out a coherent Christian theological basis for just that work.' Sir Andrew Dilnot, from the Foreword

• Introduction: thinking the unthinkable about welfare; 1. What has Christianity to do with the welfare state?; 2. William temple and the origins of the 'welfare-state'; 3. Jacques Maritain and the right to welfare; 4. John Paul II and the social assistance state; 5. Rowan Williams and the big society; 6. A theological vision of welfare; Bibliography.

Nick Spencer is Senior Fellow at the Theos think tank and holds visiting posts at St. John's College, Durham, University College London, and Bishop Grossteste University. He was written extensively on religion and politics, including Freedom and Order: History, Politics and the English Bible (2011) and The Political Samaritan: How Power Hijacked a Parable (2017).

'This work is vital and would be vital even if the pressures on welfare states were not so great… we will have the best chance of making good changes if we have thought carefully about what the wider purposes and foundations of our collective welfare provision really are. Nick Spencer's excellent book can be a great help in setting out a coherent Christian theological basis for just that work.' Sir Andrew Dilnot, from the Foreword

• Introduction: thinking the unthinkable about welfare; 1. What has Christianity to do with the welfare state?; 2. William temple and the origins of the 'welfare-state'; 3. Jacques Maritain and the right to welfare; 4. John Paul II and the social assistance state; 5. Rowan Williams and the big society; 6. A theological vision of welfare; Bibliography.

Nick Spencer is Senior Fellow at the Theos think tank and holds visiting posts at St. John's College, Durham, University College London, and Bishop Grossteste University. He was written extensively on religion and politics, including Freedom and Order: History, Politics and the English Bible (2011) and The Political Samaritan: How Power Hijacked a Parable (2017).

'This work is vital and would be vital even if the pressures on welfare states were not so great… we will have the best chance of making good changes if we have thought carefully about what the wider purposes and foundations of our collective welfare provision really are. Nick Spencer's excellent book can be a great help in setting out a coherent Christian theological basis for just that work.' Sir Andrew Dilnot, from the Foreword

• Introduction: thinking the unthinkable about welfare; 1. What has Christianity to do with the welfare state?; 2. William temple and the origins of the 'welfare-state'; 3. Jacques Maritain and the right to welfare; 4. John Paul II and the social assistance state; 5. Rowan Williams and the big society; 6. A theological vision of welfare; Bibliography.