Kenneth L. Parker – författare

Sabbatarianism is commonly treated as a puritan characteristic, a theological innovation formulated by precisionists in the 1580s and 1590s, and among the earliest issues dividing conformists and puritans. The English Sabbath challenges this orthodoxy. Using local, ecclesiastical and parliamentary evidence, as well as theological works, Dr Parker traces the origins of this doctrine to medieval scholastic theology and finds a broad consensus on the issue in the Elizabethan and Jacobean Church. Re-examining the Book of Sports controversies and the sabbatarian disputes of the 1630s, the author argues that Laudian propagandists triggered vigorous opposition by denying the orthodoxy of this long-established doctrine and calling its defenders innovators. This propaganda polarized opinion and made sabbatarianism one of the most cherished puritan causes during the Civil War. The book is a significant contribution to current re-appraisals of Tudor and Stuart religious history and to our understanding of the origins of the Civil War.

This collection of essays by a host of leading scholars of religion reflects on the urgent theological questions of our day. They present a worthy commendation of the life and academic career of William M. Shea—particularly his instinctive empathy for the 'other' and the contribution of multiple voices in our understanding of humanity, of religion, and of Christianity. These selections address contemporary challenges in the church, academy, and society, such as epistemology, culture, ecumenical/inter-religious dialogue, and the manifold nature of human religious experience.

These essays emerged from papers presented under the auspices of the American Academy of Religion. The contributors explored cases that highlight the development of “historical consciousness” in diverse Christian traditions from the early sixteenth century to the early twentieth century. Topics considered range from Erasmus of Rotterdam and Richard Simon to nineteenth-century Anglicanism, Catholicism, and European and American Protestantism. Like a mosaic—with many disparate parts—definite patterns begin to emerge. First, the contributors demonstrate that historical consciousness grew out of Christian scholarship, not eighteenth-century enlightenment thought. Second, they highlight how historical scholarship implicitly asserted the scholar’s authority to critique cherished assumptions about Christian truth. Finally, the essays explore how ecclesiastical authorities reacted to these critiques as challenges to their spiritual authority. This volume contributes to scholarship that explores Christianity’s role in modernity, the ongoing implications of historical controversies, and the importance of history in Christian theology.

In Your Grown-Up Faith: Blending the Three Elements of Belief, Kenneth L. Parker outlines a way of reflecting on religious experience that is all at once simple and profound. Originally created by Friedrich von Hugel in his work "e;The Mystical Element of Religion,"e; the three elements of belief are known as the Child's Way, the Youth Way, and the Adult's Way. Through our lived experience, these elements become more understandable as they help us become aware of, and develop, a mature faith.Parker brings these elements to life through the lived experience of John Henry Newman s Apologia Pro Vita Sua and other autobiographical reflections of the great nineteenth-century Anglican theologian. Parker, drawing from Newman and Hugel, emphasizes the power of these elements of belief, and the role they play in our developing faith. In this book we will explore the meaning of the Child s Way, the Youth s Way, and the Adult s Way in the life of the believer, and consider how these elements of religion balanced in our lives can lead to greater insight into our individual experience of the divine, and cultivate a sense of the importance of these elements in our own lived experience. Paperback

Richard Greenham was one of the most important and respected figures among the Elizabethan clergy. His contemporaries described him as the founder of a previously unknown pastoral art: the cure of cases of conscience. Despite his fame in the Elizabethan period as a model pastor, pioneer in reformed casuistry, and founder of one of the first rectory seminaries, scholars have made little use of his life and works in their study of Elizabethan religious life. This study restores Richard Greenham to the central place he held in the development of Elizabethan Reformed parochial ministry. The monograph-length introduction includes a biography, an analysis of his pastoral style, and a study of his approach to curing cases of conscience. The transcription of Rylands English Manuscript 524, cross-referenced with the published editions of the sayings, offers a useful source to scholars who wish to study the collecting and ’framing’ process of the humanist pedagogical tradition. The selection of early published works includes Greenham’s (unfinished) catechism, treatises on the Sabbath and marriage, and advice on reading scripture and educating children.

Richard Greenham was one of the most important and respected figures among the Elizabethan clergy. His contemporaries described him as the founder of a previously unknown pastoral art: the cure of cases of conscience. Despite his fame in the Elizabethan period as a model pastor, pioneer in reformed casuistry, and founder of one of the first rectory seminaries, scholars have made little use of his life and works in their study of Elizabethan religious life. This study restores Richard Greenham to the central place he held in the development of Elizabethan Reformed parochial ministry. The monograph-length introduction includes a biography, an analysis of his pastoral style, and a study of his approach to curing cases of conscience. The transcription of Rylands English Manuscript 524, cross-referenced with the published editions of the sayings, offers a useful source to scholars who wish to study the collecting and ’framing’ process of the humanist pedagogical tradition. The selection of early published works includes Greenham’s (unfinished) catechism, treatises on the Sabbath and marriage, and advice on reading scripture and educating children.

Richard Greenham was one of the most important and respected figures among the Elizabethan clergy. His contemporaries described him as the founder of a previously unknown pastoral art: the cure of cases of conscience. Despite his fame in the Elizabethan period as a model pastor, pioneer in reformed casuistry, and founder of one of the first rectory seminaries, scholars have made little use of his life and works in their study of Elizabethan religious life. This study restores Richard Greenham to the central place he held in the development of Elizabethan Reformed parochial ministry. The monograph-length introduction includes a biography, an analysis of his pastoral style, and a study of his approach to curing cases of conscience. The transcription of Rylands English Manuscript 524, cross-referenced with the published editions of the sayings, offers a useful source to scholars who wish to study the collecting and ’framing’ process of the humanist pedagogical tradition. The selection of early published works includes Greenham’s (unfinished) catechism, treatises on the Sabbath and marriage, and advice on reading scripture and educating children.