Lutterworth Press – serie

A collection of the legends surrounding St Joseph of Arimathea and his association with Glastonbury and other parts of England.Reprinted by popular demand, this book tells the story of St Joseph of Arimathea and the legend of his journey to Britain as a metal merchant seeking tin. Tradition states that on this journey he was accompanied by none other than Jesus, who at this stage was a young boy. This title reveals the events of St Joseph's time at Glastonbury, and explores the legend behind this intriguing story. Britain is proverbially rich in monuments of the past, but of all the ancient places with outward and visible links with antiquity this little Somerset town is unique. For it is not only bestowed with visible evidences, wrought in stone, of generations long departed, but it is also steeped in fascinating legend and tradition. One of these later traditions states that Glastonbury was the very cradle of English Christianity, where an infant church was planted by those who personally knew Jesus. This is a truly fascinating and innovative perspective on the story of St Joseph of Arimathea, which promises to enthral the reader.

Drawing inspiration from C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia as a resource for children's character development at home and in school.In this engaging and practical book Mark Pike and Thomas Lickona show how C.S. Lewis' wisdom for nurturing good character, and his much-loved Chronicles of Narnia, inspire us to virtue. Drawing upon the Judeo-Christian virtues of faith, hope and love and 'Narnian' virtues such as courage, integrity and wisdom, they present an approach to contemporary character education validated by recent research. An introduction to C. S. Lewis' thought on character and faith is followed by practical examples of how to use well-known passages from the Narnia novels as a stimulus for rich character development at home and in the classroom.

A controversial, detailed examination of the decisive events of the Falklands war, providing an important reassessment of the Battle of Goose Green.Although much has been written about the battle of Goose Green during the Falklands War, never before have its events been dissected so thoroughly and objectively, nor illuminated so clearly in the terms of current debate in NATO armies on tactical command systems as in this book. The British success at Goose Green was described by the then-Chief of the General Staff as a feat of arms and gallantry probably unsurpassed in the glorious history of the British army; how true a picture is given by such descriptions, both official and unofficial? Using factual analysis and in-depth interviews with participants, the author demonstrates that the battle in fact highlighted serious flaws in the British armyís command culture. His knowledge of recent attempts to reform the army's command system, and of the ongoing tactics debate, allows Fitz-Gibbon to elucidate the two basic models of command system identifiable in the Falklands war. Restrictive control, traditionally preferred in the British army and still the accepted doctrine in 1982, holds that military action can be planned in detail in advance and expected to run according to plan as long as subordinates merely obey their orders. Directive command, on the contrary, recognises that the chaos of battle cannot be controlled without overwhelming material superiority, and therefore seeks to establish a more flexible system within the framework of an overall plan. Applying this distinction to Goose Green, Fitz-Gibbon shows that the British achieved much greater success when departing from the army's usual methodology - after the death of H Jones - than when adhering to the practices taught at officer training establishments. The worrying conclusion drawn from this assessment is that inaccurate reporting, and the unquestioning glorification of its performance, have hindered the army's efforts at modernising its command system, with serious consequences in past wars, and for future conflicts. This very readable book offers fascinating insights into how history is written and how armies often fail to learn from their experiences.

A short study of the effects upon design, principally architecture, of the Reformation and the associated rejection of imagery in worship.A study of the effects upon design, principally architecture, of the Reformation and the associated rejection of imagery in worship. The Plain Style examines both the development of aesthetic theory and its practical applications in a number of different environments. The Author traces the way in which ideas about simplicity, clarity and lack of ornamentation expressed themselves in art and architecture, and uses an extensive range of examples, from the British Isles, and particularly Northern Ireland, and from North America. In doing so he shows how Protestant, and especially iconoclastic Puritan, ideology influenced design. The external impact was reflected in an inner change in the psychic landscape, and its applications were therefore to be found well beyond the visual. The book, heavily illustrated with examples, shows how the effect can be found in areas like machinery design, and the impact of ‘the Plain Style’ on Puritan ideas and, for example, on Shaker furniture design.The study is divided into six chapters, moving from broader issues, such as an imageless worship and thought, to more specific areas. In his discussion of Ulster Protestant culture, Brett dismantles the conception that deep cultural contrasts exist between Protestants and Republicans. The author does not just depict the differences between Protestant and Republican cultures, but more importantly, the ways in which the seeming contrasts are manipulated. Indeed, it is through such a wide scope of topics that Brett emphasises a more creative Protestant lineage, in order to break down what Brett views as self-destructive models of thought within Protestant and Republican communities.While the literary and rhetorical aspects of the Plain Style have been studied, the author breaks new ground with this important book on the visual aesthetics of the Plain Style and makes a valuable contribution to cultural history and to the history of ideas.

Essays analysing the development of 18th-20th century children's literature, and the role played by the Religious Tract Society and the Lutterworth Press.A collection of essays based on the Children's Books History Society study conference marking the bicentenary of the Religious Tract Society and the Lutterworth Press. The book analyses the children's literature it produced, charting the development of the genre from the evangelical tract through to the popular school story, spanning the period from the late eighteenth to the mid-twentieth centuries. It shows how publishing worked within the context of a missionary society with a global reach. The book details the nature and development of the tract genre both in Britain and America, before looking at the range of RTS and Lutterworth output of children's titles, including its movement into magazine publishing. The work studies the two great magazines for which the RTS and Lutterworth were known to generations of children, the Boy's Own Paper and the Girl's Own Paper, as well as other magazines, such The Child's Companion. There are also chapters on popular tracts, such as The Dairyman's Daughter, and successful authors, from Hesba Stretton and Mrs Walton to W.E. Johns and Laura Ingalls Wilder. These essays explore how, in order to reflect an increasingly secular age, the subject matter widened, providing more non-fiction in its periodicals as well as an increasingly broad range of fiction, mostly secular in nature. It was also necessary for the Society to alter its didactically religious tone in order to present its Christian values with more subtlety. With chapters on subjects as diverse as American religious tracts, boy's school stories, secular publishing for girls and the presentation of gender roles, this collection is a major contribution to publishing history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Contributors include Brian Alderson, Mary Cadogan, Aileen Fyfe and Anne Thwaite.

A study of the art and poetry of one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, exploring the nature and the origins of his use of symbolism.Dante Gabriel Rossetti is amongst the most famous figures of the Victorian era. An eminent artist and a founder member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, his art and life have fascinated scholars for decades. However, despite an existing acknowledgement of Rossetti's use of symbolism, specialists have neglected to analyse its nature and its sources, as well as its content. In The Stream's Secret, Rodger Drew highlights a facet of the artist's work that has hitherto gone largely unexplored. By offering a comprehensive analysis of Rossetti's paintings and poetry, Drew shows that the artist widely employed themes and motifs drawn from the Hermetic magical system which later developed into Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry. The author connects this symbolism to a comprehensive European tradition dating from Plato and Pythagoras, through the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance and later periods. This deep insight into Rossetti's works allows the reader to gain a better understanding of the existing bond between Rossetti's paintings and his poetry, as well as to appreciate the importance of symbolism as a language in the artistís ouvre. More generally, Drew gives his reader an overall view of the use of symbolism in the art of the Aesthetic Movement. Drew's work is a fully original study of Rossetti's Symbolism, and an essential resource for teachers, researchers, and Art History students, and for anyone interested in the Pre-Raphaelite Movement. This is a fundamental guide to a proper understanding of late 19th century art.

An illuminating study of the great German educationalist's philosophy that guided play is the most important learning tool for young children.This book considers Friedrich Froebel's work and ideas in the light of the continuing debate over methods of primary education, raising the old conflict between child-centred and traditional education; concern about the role of teacher in the classroom; and the renewed challenge of 'play' as a tool of education. To Froebel, play provided the means for a child's intellectual, social, emotional and physical development. Froebel believed that the education of a child began at birth, and that parents and teachers played a crucial role in helping children in this activity. 'Play is a mirror of life' - he wrote, leading to self discipline and respect for law and order. The events of Froebel's life are carefully documented in A Child's Work, together with their influence on his ideas and their spread. The author shows how the early death of Froebel's mother and a home lacking in love were to provide the impetus behind one of Froebel's overriding aims: the fostering of family life. The shaping of his educational thought and philosophy through contact with the ideas of other educators, especially his 'spiritual father' Pestalozzi, and philosophers such as Kant, Hegel and Krause, is examined. Froebel's continuous reassessment of the function of play in a child's life came to fruition in the concept of the Kindergarten and the creations with which he peopled it. Illustrations from original sources complement the thorough explanations of these educational innovations in the book. From the soft ball on a spring, the simplest of the Gifts, to the unravelling of more complex ideas in the Mother Songs, Froebel incorporated the various facets that he saw as important in play: the notion of the symbolic and the surmise, the tension between the known and the unknown, the development of physical dexterity and care for the environment. As we continue to shift towards an emphasis on a more formal, more restrictive and less creative mode of education, it is an appropriate time to re-examine Froebel's contribution to educational thinking, which was revolutionised by his ideas. His respect for a child as an independent, searching and creative person learning through his own actions, and for the teacher as facilitator and guide, led to monumental changes. Froebelís legacy challenges us to examine the assumptions underlying current trends in education, and our attitude towards educating young children.

A thought provoking study exploring the nature of Anglican identity from the Middle Ages to the present through the lives of 16 influential men and women.The worldwide Anglican movement is a vibrant and flourishing, if sometimes troubled, international phenomenon. In recent decades it has experienced exponential growth, especially in parts of Africa and Asia, where dynamic evangelism and church planting are often seen. Yet for their historic roots, Anglicans across the globe continue to look back to one small but long-established province, the Church of England. The Anglican movement, at its best, has always been about people rather than structures or institutions. So this book introduces sixteen influential men and women from the Church of England, spread over the centuries from the early middle ages to the present day. They range from the celibate monk (Bede) to the married mother of eighteen children (Susanna Wesley); the innovative scientist (Robert Boyle) to the captivating poet (Frances Ridley Havergal); the urbane scholar (C.S. Lewis) to the popular preacher (Richard Sibbes and David Watson); the visionary bishop (Thomas Cranmer and J.C. Ryle) to the tenacious politician (William Wilberforce and Lord Shaftesbury). All sought to be faithful followers of Christ within the Church of England. But what were their theological passions and convictions? How did they understand their Anglican identity? These vignettes are not mini-biographiesbut fresh and thought-provoking explorations of the heart of faith.

A major and ground-breaking analysis of the role played by religion in the life and work of the poet T.S. Eliot.Barry Spurr's eagerly-awaited, definitive study of T.S. Eliot's Anglo-Catholic belief and practice shows how the poetís religion shaped his life and work for almost forty years, until his death in 1965. The author examines Eliot's formal adoption of Anglo-Catholicism, in 1927, as the culmination of his intellectual, cultural, artistic, spiritual and personal development to that point. This book presents the first detailed analysis of the unique influence that Anglo-Catholicismís doctrinal and devotional principles, and its social teaching, had on Eliot's poetry, plays, prose and personal life. An informed presentation and discussion of Anglo-Catholicism at the time of Eliot's conversion and through the subsequent decades of his Christian faith and practice. Significant new material from correspondence and diaries which sheds light on Eliot's thought, poetry and prose. This book is essential reading for all scholars and readers of T.S. Eliot and his circle; for students and devotees of Anglo-Catholicism, and scholars of the interaction between literature and theology, especially in the twentieth century. It will also be of use to senior and Honours-level undergraduates and postgraduate research students working in the fields of Modernism and its principles and belief systems, and for students of religion, especially Western Christianity and Anglicanism.

A re-examination of the First Book of Samuel and its treatment of Saul, shedding new and unexpected light on the character of the first King of Israel.A thorough re-examination of the First Book of Samuel and its treatment of Saul, showing that Saul's central role in the development of the kingdom of Israel has been misunderstood by generations of scholars. Spurred on by a childhood fascination with the Tanakh, which brought to his attention the discrepancy between the English rendering of Samuel 21:19 and the original Hebrew, Green builds upon recent research to show that later authors revised 1 Samuel with the specific intention of defaming Saul. In the process, these revisionist authors glorified the character of David, and have significantly distorted the true nature of events.Green systematically works through the Biblical text, highlighting its illogical chronology, and drawing attention to apocryphal incidents, before reconstructing a more plausible sequence for the story. Both a fresh analysis of a maligned figure and a comprehensive guide to the First Book of Samuel, Green's interpretation returns Saul to his rightful place as the first "Lord's Anointed", true King and one genuine messiah of all Israel.

A challenging and timely examination of the philosophical and ideological assumptions that underlie modern Western culture and politics.In his new book, John Elsom considers the drama of international politics from the viewpoint of a theatre critic, someone who sits in life's stalls and takes notes in semi-darkness. He relates how grand narratives of human behaviour grew from the insights of Darwin, Descartes and the ancient Greek philosopher, Plato, to become "the unacknowledged state religion of the West, High Modernity". He argues that the primary aim of most European ministries of culture, together with Western media companies, is to promote aspects of this faith.With a dazzling range of examples, from George Bush's New World Order to the war in Iraq, the Peace Process in Northern Ireland and John Birt at the BBC, Dr. Elsom describes how the faith in High Modernity has permeated Western habits of mind. High Modernity may alarm those who do not share its Enlightenment beliefs, but it reassures others who want to believe that the future is something that "we can, and must, control", according to the mission statement for the Millennium Dome.Essential reading for anyone willing to open their minds to the realities of international differences in modern politics, this book will challenge readers' perceptions of the world they live in and the role of High Modernity in Western politics and culture.

Second edition of an authoritative illustrated guide to medieval churches in Suffolk, including an encyclopaedic glossary of historical and architectural terms.Suffolk is a county renowned for the beauty of its many parish churches, but for the average visitor the physical language in which they speak, that of stained glass, engraved fonts, and hammer-beamed roofs, is bewildering. Now available in an updated, single volume, the Guide to Suffolk Churches provides a way into this fascinating world, its architecture and history. From bells to pulpits to centuries-old graffiti found in window sills, each church unfolds from sealed tome to open book in Mortlockís hands. Accompanying the entries there is an extensive glossary/index and two useful appendices. From carvings of woodwoses to weeping chancels, the meaning of idiosyncracies and uniformities alike across the county are laid out in clear, engaging prose. New photographs, line drawings, and a detailed map ensure that neither the greatest of artefacts nor the smallest of churches can be accidentally overlooked. Written in a voice as knowledgeable as it is enthusiastic about Suffolk and its churches, the guide is incomparable in both the thoroughness and charm with which it unlocks more than one thousand years of history across the countyís hundreds of churches. There is no visit to any parish church in Suffolk, no matter how well informed the visitor, that would not be more enjoyable and informative for having Mortlock along.

One of the most notable features of the current philosophical climate is the resurgence of interest, at school and university, in the Philosophy of Religion. With his extensive teaching experience at both these levels, Dr Michael Palmer has created another invaluable aid for all students and instructors working in this area. This two-volume anthology is the most comprehensive compilation of major writings now available to the public, while its user-friendly structure makes it particularly important for students at differing levels of attainment. The book includes comprehensive introductions to each topic, detailed analysis of each essay, biographical information about individual philosophers, wide-ranging bibliographies and examination questions. The result is the most important aid to study in this area now on the market, which will be an invaluable resource for students, teachers and the general reader alike.

An extensively illustrated and detailed biographical dictionary, providing an invaluable source of information on the contribution of female British artists.The most comprehensive volume of its kind, Gray's Dictionary of British Women Artists offers extensively-researched biographies of some of the most significant female contributors to British art.This volume will make a valuable contribution to the study of art history. It will also provide readers with significant insight into a long-neglected aspect of history - the lives and achievements of women artists. Each entry provides key biographical information, as well as (where possible) commentary on the artist's studies, lifestyle, travels and family. Entries also detail significant works, exhibitions and membership of societies. Gray's introduction provides a useful context to the biographies.

The definitive study of the artist and writer C.R.W. Nevinson, making a major contribution to the understanding of intellectual culture in 20th-century Britain.The first comprehensive study of the life and work of C.R.W. Nevinson, an important painter and writer whose name is re-emerging to take its rightful place among the established icons of art and literature in early 20th century England. Numerous previous accounts remember Nevinson solely as a Futurist and war painter. However, in recent years there has been a revival of academic interest in his role in the inter-war period and the Second World War, and with it, the need for a full study of his life and works. Painter, social commentator, novelist and society host, Nevinson can now be remembered as one of the most prominent and distinguished artists of his generation. In this interdisciplinary work, Walsh presents a thorough analysis of Nevinsonís artistic achievements, explaining his problematic relationships with contemporaries like Wyndham Lewis, Roger Fry, Amadeo Modigliani, H.G. Wells and George Bernard Shaw. This book gives the reader a wider understanding of the changing cultural landscape of Britain between 1889 and 1946 and introduces the figure of C.R.W. Nevinson in context, providing an objective and captivating account of his explosive and multi-layered personality.

An illuminating study of the literary qualities of the English Bible, with particular emphasis on the Authorised (King James) Version.Tom Henn's classic work represents an important and illuminating reading for the student of English literature and religion, the general reader of the Bible and the Bible lover. Based on the King James (Authorised) Version of the Bible, Dr Henn looks critically at the epic, narrative, lyric and dramatic qualities of the sacred texts. He examines the Bible's unique forge of style and the imagery which so profoundly give the Bible its Biblical character. The Bible's immense variety, its capacity to speak to the heart and mind of the reader, its powerful readability and above all its sense of the eternal, are all brought into Henn's masterly work. As Henn says: 'The Bible has been burned deeply into the fabric of the life and literature of the English-speaking peoples. Its proverbs and its parables, its episodes sacred or profane, have been expounded in drama and poetry from the earliest written English.'

An expanded edition of the classic introduction to the development of Western Philosophy, from the Ancient Greeks to the 20th century.First published in English in 1976, Hirschberger's A Short History of Western Philosophy is a condensed history of philosophy from the Pre-Socratics through to the 1960s. This new edition follows the division of the original text into four parts: Ancient Philosophy, Medieval Philosophy, Modern Philosophy (17th and 18th century), and 19th and 20th century Philosophy. The new version contains a new preface and introduction, and a new fifth part on Analytical Philosophy in the 19th and 20th century period by the editor Clare Hay. Hirschberger writes from a moral/theological perspective and dismisses Analytical Philosophy as failing to cast light on the human condition. Clare Hay helps the reader to further analyse Hirschberger's writings and highlights the importance of Analytical Philosophy as the starting point for the development of computing and artificial intelligence. Artificial Intelligence has opened new lines of thought and raised new moral questions still to be discussed in this so-called non-ideological age.

A lively and accessible guide to the development of the novel, emphasising a thematic approach to the conventions and variety of the form.As George Watson playfully observes, the story is the best thing about a novel. The deliberately ambiguous title of his book reflects the fact that it combines a study of the art of narrative with the history of the novel as a literary form, since its emergence some three centuries ago. Employing a thematic approach, the author moves from one aspect of narrative to another rather than discussing novelists chronologically. The book considers various kinds of novels, such as the memoir novel and discusses issues such as the presentation of dialogue, the creation of scenes, tense and time and the relationship between the novel and history. Arguments are illustrated by well-known rather than obscure works, or novels likely to be familiar to students who take this book as a starting-point for the modern study of narrative. The reader is presented with a clear picture of how the novel has evolved and how its chief conventions have developed and changed since the seventeenth century. This new and revised edition brings back to life this invaluable and straightforward work on the technique of the novel, which first appeared in 1979.

A significant study of the background to Kilvert's diary and his influences, presenting new insights into the writer and the culture in which he wrote.Why do I keep this voluminous journal?' - Francis Kilvert asked himself. 'Partly because life appears to me such a curious and wonderful thing that it almost seems a pity that even such a humble and uneventful life as mine should pass all together away without some such record as this...' Kilvert's Diary was an effort to tell the story of his life as well as to picture rural society, which Victorians were prone to idealise. Kilvert's loving portraits of landscapes and country characters were often juxtaposed with the grimmest scenes of squalor and suffering. John Toman presents here the first thorough examination of Kilvert's writing and offers a complete revaluation of the man and his work, tracing the literary and religious influences that brought him to write in the way that he did. This study takes account of Kilvert's education at his uncle's school, his reading of travel guides, and his devotion to such figures as Wordsworth, William Barnes, and the Revd. Frederick Robertson, his visits to key locations, his parochial work, the role played by Romanticism and Evangelicalism in his outlook, and the significance of walking as the driving force of his writing. For those unfamiliar with the Diary, Kilvert's Diary and Landscape is an ideal introduction; it will also take those who already know and love Kilvert back to his diary with renewed interest and deepened insight. This new study has much to offer readers interested in cultural and landscape history, literature, religion and the Victorian period.'It is hoped that this study of Kilvert and landscape, which may be regarded as the second part of a revaluation of the diarist that began with my Kilvert: The Homeless Heart (2001), contributes to our appreciation of his complexity.'From the author's introduction.

The classic commentary on the Ephesians, with a revised text and translation.Written whilst in prison in Rome, the Epistle to the Ephesians has been perceived as St. Paul's most important work, as it is not addressed to a specific church or city, but was intended as a circular, to be taken by Tychicus, and read in all the churches willing to accept this the new word of God. This book addresses the most important elements of the teaching of St. Paul, and specifically the inclusion of the gentiles in what had initially been a church for Jews. It was this teaching which had led to St. Paul's imprisonment, and yet he took the opportunity to spread his message despite the consequences he faced. In St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, Robinson provides a context for the Epistle, establishing a framework in which it can be read and understood. This book also includes a paraphrase of the Epistle, which is of particular value to students who are not familiar with the Greek language. This is a classic and comprehensive commentary on the Ephesians, which is well constructed and easy to follow.

A remarkable book demonstrating how to use natural energies for the effective healing of many ailments.This book demonstrates how to use 'nature's finer forces' for the effective healing of many ailments. The wisdom and experience of many pioneers in the healing arts is presented in this volume in simplified and practical form. Theory, equipment and instructions for use in practice are all included for most of the methods presented. The methods recommended are all completely constructive; the effects are beneficial only no risk or harm as the energies involved are gentle and natural. This book will be of interest to laymen and doctors alike. It covers a fascinating range of methods, each of which has proven highly successful in practice. Topics covered include: Natural Energies from the Earth and Sun, from Visible or Invisible Light, the Atmosphere, Elemental and Chemical Energies, and from Artificial Contrivances, and deals with such treatments as Homeopathy and Orgone Treatment. The book includes contributions by George Starr White, George Wilson, Samuel Hahnemann and his successors, and Wilhelm Reich.

A classic account of the life and teaching of Sundar Singh, the high-caste Sikh who converted to Christianity.Appasamy's biography of Sundar Singh, a high-caste Sikh who became a Christian, is a classic account of his life and teaching. For many years before his disappearance in Tibet, the Sadhu had moved in and out of that forbidden land on his evangelistic journeys, persecuted, imprisoned and assaulted. He became famous throughout India, Europe and America for his saintly character, his mystical vision and his zeal for the Christian faith. He entered the forbidden land of Nepal, was seized, stripped and his body covered with leeches, but he endured his torture with singing. His forty days in the Indian forest during which he lost his sight and speech, his long journeys on foot, his Himalayan mountain adventures, his ceaseless witness to the Christian faith are all related in this definitive biography by his friend Appasamy. 'His tall, well-built figure,' says Appasamy, 'clad in orange robe with a scarf of the same colour thrown across his shoulders, made people think of what Jesus may have looked like when He was on this earth.' Here is the story of a great disciple who endured hardship, fought a good fight and then moved into the silence of Tibet.

Applying the methods of social history to the early Church, this book illuminates the lives of the first believers through composite biographical portraits.What did the early Christians wear? What did they eat? What did they talk about over the dinner table? What recreations did they enjoy? These are among the questions answered in this study, which reveals the social background to the first five hundred years of the Church's development, through six vividly recounted, biographical portraits. Applying the methods of the social historian to the early Church, the author describes the daily life of the first believers, personifying the general facts and depicting them in these composite portraits of specific individuals, who are taken as representatives of different strands of early Christian life. Clement, a philosopher and teacher in Alexandria at the end of the 2nd century; Paul of Samosata, A.D. 268, who taught heretically in Antioch; Virginia, A.D. 304, whose last day on earth is set against the background of Diocletian's persecutions; Diogenes, a sexton of Rome John Chrysotom, A.D. 400, a great Bishop of the Church; John Cassian, a friend of Chrysotom and resident of Marseilles. The author uses contemporary documents and authorities to construct the biographies, which animate and illuminate the early development of the Church. By conducting the reader through the daily routines of these individuals, the past is recreated as a living reality.

The biography of one of the leaders of the Evangelical Movement at the start of the 19th century.The biography of one of the leaders of the Evangelical Movement at the beginning of the nineteenth century. As the son of Henry Venn of Huddersfield and friend of Charles Simeon, William Wilberforce, Henry Thornton, and Hannah More, John Venn tends only to be remembered because of his relationship to them, but his avoidance of the limelight should not lead to an underestimation of his influence. As Rector of Clapham, Venn was the prototypically effective nineteenth-century town parson, but through his role as first Chairman of the Church Missionary Society and as Chaplain to the Clapham Sect his influence was felt on the wider Church. Full use has been made of the Venn Family Papers and other original sources, including letters and diaries.

A comprehensive and classic study, tracing the story of the translation of the Bible into English, from its beginnings to the mid-20th century.The Bible in the English language is among the great achievements of all time, not only as a masterpiece of inspired writing but as a witness to the place of the Scriptures in the life of the English-speaking peoples, and Bruce's work, recognised for 30 years as the best on its subject, documents its history and shows the impact of some of the translations on the use and development of the English language. Formerly The English Bible, this comprehensive study of the various English translations of the Bible is again available in paperback. The author traces the story from the earliest partial translations in Saxon times, through Wycliffe, Tyndale and The King James Version, to the publication of such contemporary versions as The New English Bible, The New American Standard Version, The Living Bible, and The Good News Bible. Authoritative and highly readable, this remains one of the standard works on its subject.

A major work on the Book of Common Prayer by the leading 19th-century theologian and social thinker.The theology of the leading 19th century theologian and social thinker F.D. Maurice was rooted firmly in the communal action of the Book of Common Prayer. For him the Prayer Book is the key to any understanding of Anglican ecclesiology, and also provides the grounding for his social views. His practical and traditional approach was in keeping with the general spirit of English society.

The formal and mature statement of the theology underlying the social beliefs of the influential 19th-century English liberal thinker.F.D. Maurice is now recognised as the most influential nineteenth-century English liberal thinker. Theological Essays, first published in 1853, is the formal and mature statement of the theological beliefs that underlie his social thinking. He was more than a man of brilliant intellect he was utterly dedicated and his religious beliefs were ground in the mill of his own experience. Maurice was never afraid to look unpleasant facts in the face, and his intellectual honesty challenges modern man no less than it did his own generation. His theology remains relevant, for he was always painfully conscious of the stresses and strains, failures and anxieties that make up day-to-day human experience.

The last and most important work of the 17th-century mystic, his wide-ranging interpretation of Genesis and the nature of mystical experience.Boehme was born in 1575. He received little if any formal education and was apprenticed to a shoemaker at Goerlitz in Saxony. From an early age he seems to have been devoted to the study of the Bible as well as having a growing, inner, sense of the reality of God. Walking one day in the fields, when he was twenty-five years old, the mystery of creation was suddenly opened to him, and 'in a quarter of an hour I saw and knew more than if I had been many years at the university ... and thereupon I turned my heart to praise God for it.' He puzzled as to why such revelations should be given to him, who sought only the love of God. Ten years later he began to record what he received, and thus was born The Aurora, his first book, finished in 1612. At once his work found both friends and enemies. To the struggles of the former to understand him, we owe the gradual development of his capacity to convey and express more and more of that which he had received. Persecution by the Primate of Goerlitz made him leave home and settle in Dresden, where he died in 1624. Written in 1623, when his powers of expression had developed to their full, Mysterium Magnum is central to his work. Taking the form of an interpretation of Genesis, it outstrips its apparent confines, explaining the popularity of his work among followers as varied as Hegel, Law, Blake and Berdyaev. From the first sentence it leads to the heart of the experience of all mystics: 'When we consider the visible world with its essence, and consider the life of the creatures, then we find therein the likeness of the invisible spiritual world, which is hidden in the visible world as the soul in the body; and we see thereby that the hidden God is nigh unto all and, through all, and yet wholly bidden to the visible essence.'

The mature expression of the theology and religion of the 18th-century spiritual thinker.William Law is best remembered today for his Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life. To those interested in his spirituality, however, other works have greater impact, in particular The Spirit of Prayer and The Spirit of Love, which are considered the finest and most appealing. In the years in which they were written, his vision had reached its fullest and most characteristic development, and his literary power was at its height. It is in these books that the profound influence of Jacob Boehme can be most clearly seen. His great synthesis of the mystical outpourings and orthodox Christian theology, provide an English spiritual classic. Law's understanding and interpretation of mysticism was more original than traditional, being dynamic and creative. He believed in the life of God working from within, and the flame of divine love being a link with and an understanding of God. He conceived that mysticism was a matter of life, that relied on willing rather than knowing, and that ultimately rested on trust in God. Despite holding no official position he was widely regarded in his own time and later as a spiritual guide, and his trilogy The Spirit of Prayer, The Spirit of Love and The Way to Divine Knowledge was the mature expression of his theology and religion.