Bishops, Saints and Politics: Anglican Studies

Description

This book is a collection of closely-related yet distinct chapters, each of which presents an account of particular thinkers, themes or debates in their historical context and in the light of today's concerns. The book is divided into three parts: Part One, Bishops and Authority; Part Two, Pluralism, Politics and History; and Part Three, Believing and Discipleship. It presents the fruit of a long period of theological research into different historical periods, but with a distinct focus on theology in the early twentieth century. Although each chapter can be read as history of theology, and each addresses historical debates in their own terms, at the same time each is concerned to relate historical issues to contemporary problems faced by the Anglican Communion and the Church of England today.

Mark Chapman is Vice-Principal of Ripon College Cuddesdon, Oxford, and a Reader in Modern Theology at the University of Oxford, UK. He has written widely on modern church history, ethics and theology. His books include Ernst Troeltsch and Liberal Theology (Oxford), The Coming Crisis (Sheffield), Blair's Britain (DLT) and Anglicanism: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford).

"This is a truly magnificent study of Anglican thought. In itself it embodies the best features of that tradition - balanced and judicious, at once understated and passionate. With a rare talent for bringing to life even the highest and driest, Mark Chapman has given us a valuable background guide to the current travails of the Anglican communion." - George Newlands, University of Glasgow, UK -- George Newlands, University of Glasgow, UK "Bishops, Saints and Politics is a timely and far-reaching collection of essays by one of the most accomplished scholars of historical theology in Anglicanism...There are thus very important lessons in these stories for those of us who, while we might not be English men, are seeking to live faithfully with the differences now embodied in the contemporary world-wide Anglican Communion." - Rev. Ian T. Douglas, Ph.D., Angus Dun Professor of Mission and World Christianity, Episcopal Divinity School, USA -- The Rev. Ian T. Douglas, Ph.D., Angus Dun Professor of Mission and World Christianity, Episcopal Divinity School, USA As an example of the creative and sensitive use of both history and historical theology, this book is a significant achievement. -- Political Theology