Martin Sutherland – författare

A study of the Baptist Churches in New Zealand. This groundbreaking work identifies key tensions and developments which shaped Baptist life from colonial experiences to the present day. It provides a compelling insight into the nature of Baptist identity.

Fifty years after his death, C. S. Lewis fascinates his readers still. Well established as a key figure in children''s literature he is increasingly recognized as a significant Christian thinker. The authors in this volume are from a wide range of Christian traditions--testimony to the reach and significance of Lewis''s legacy. The essays return to Lewis''s devotional and theological works, assessing their place in his own thought and in the theology of the twentieth century. Lewis emerges as an insightful and creative theologian whose ideas continue to surprise in their sophistication and fecundity. Indeed, it is suggested that he represents a way of doing theology--"mere theology"--which suggests ways in which Christian thought may reengage the complex cultural debates of the contemporary world.

The book is a collection of twenty-one essays discussing how Baptists throughout the world have related to other Christians and to other institutions and movements over the centuries. The theme of this collection of twenty-one essays, 'Baptists and Others', includes relations with other Christians and with other institutions and movements. What, the authors ask, has been the Baptist experience of engaging with different groups and developments? The theme has been explored by means of case studies, some of which are very specific in time and place while others cover long periods and more than one country. In the first half the contents are arranged by period. The first section examines early Baptists, the second nineteenth-century Baptists in Britain and America and the third Baptists in the twentieth century. The second half turns to various parts of the world. There is a section on Australia, another on New Zealand and a third on Asia and Africa. The overall picture is one of a complicated series of relationships as Baptists defined themselves as different from other bodies and yet, especially in the twentieth century, tried to co-operate in mission and ecumenical endeavour. 'Baptists are often regarded as enthusiastic separatists and unenthusiastic ecumenists. These essays, based on hard evidence rather than passing impressions, are a necessary correction to superficial prejudices and show the reality to be much more complex and nuanced, as well as varied over time and place. The book is a smorgasbord of delights. Yet, readers should avoid the temptation to pick and choose from the menu, ensuring rather that each offering is digested so they enjoy a balance and nutritious meal.' Derek Tidball