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The most fundamental question in existence is this: who is God? The answer to this question will define everything concerning you, and the world you live in. God has revealed himself to us, and he reveals to us his utter perfection. That is beautiful. This book is aimed to be a basic introduction to the doctrine of God, and particularly, the assurance his nature brings to us. When times have been hard for me, personally and in my job as a pastor, it has been refreshment in the nature of God that has been of immense benefit. Whether we have good or bad relationships with our fathers, seeing God as who he is: a perfect Father, is guaranteed to lift our souls beyond our limited, subjective circumstances. Let your soul sing as you discover, or are refreshed in, the perfection of our heavenly Father!

Human beings are inquisitive people. We all, quite rightly, like to explore the real world in its many fascinating dimensions. In particular, there are a few deep questions that most people face at some time in their lives: Who are we? Is there an overall purpose for our lives? What is good to believe? Why is there so much evil and suffering around? How is evil to be overcome and suffering accounted for? What best can help us to know how we should live? What is truth and how can we know it?For well over a millennium and a half the Christian Faith has guided the Western world and, more recently, other parts of the world in how to answer these and many other questions. However, its answers have also been strongly disputed, sometimes with hostile intent.In this book, Andrew Kirk argues strongly that the Christian Faith, in spite of all that has been thrown against it, still represents by far and away the best explanations for these profound enigmas of life. Here you will find convincing answers, and reasons why alternative ideas do not ultimately match the full realities of our existence.

Whilst Common Worship (2000) provides a Book of Common Prayer Communion (BCP) in modern English, sadly there is no such provision for the BCP baptism service. For some Anglican evangelicals this may not seem to be a particularly regrettable omission.There are those who might not be persuaded of the biblical mandate for baptising infants, whilst others might have concerns over some of the language used that may appear to affirm ''baptismal regeneration''. This booklet is an attempt not only to engage with those questions and concerns but also to proffer an enthusiastic support for the theology and liturgical content of the BCP Baptism service. It has a great emphasis on the covenantal grace of God which encourages Christian parents to "doubt not - but earnestly believe" in God''s faithfulness and mercy. In so doing it directs our primary focus to our promise-keeping God and not to ourselves.

We live in an age in which there is widespread confusion about matters to do with sex, marriage, and family life not only in society at large, but also within the Christian Church.The purpose of this new Primer is to address this confusion by providing clergy and laity alike with a basic introduction to what the Christian faith has to say about these matters. it is particularly designed to help Christians to understand the issues that will be discussed in the Church of England following the publication of the Living in Love and Faith material in late 2020.The Primer explains in clear terms the basis of a Christian approach to these matters, and then goes on to look at what Christianity has to say about marriage, singleness, friendship, intersex and transgender, sex outside marriage (including same-sex relationships), divorce and re-marriage, birth control and treatment for infertility.

This book provides a commentary on the message of Messiah. Handel’s great oratorio gives a marvellous portrayal of the Person and Work of Jesus Christ: the anticipation of his coming, his birth, his ministry, his sufferings and death, his resurrection and his ascension – plus also the proclamation of the Gospel to the world, and Christian assurance of resurrection life beyond death. The main focus of this study is the selection of Bible verses that make up the work, compiled by the librettist Charles Jennens. At the same time there is also a certain amount of comment on the music, showing how Handel’s distinctive skill contributes towards clearly expressing the message. The aim of the book is that readers may deepen their understanding of the Bible passages included in the work and enjoy Handel’s Messiah all the more – and as a result know Christ better.

There is no better handbook for Anglican ministry than the Anglican ordinal – the authorized liturgy for ordaining new ministers. The ordinal contains a beautiful, succinct description of theological priorities and ministry models for today’s Church. This booklet offers a simple exposition of the ordinal’s primary themes. Anglican clergy are called to public ministry as messengers, sentinels, stewards, and shepherds. They are asked searching questions and they make solemn promises. The Holy Spirit’s anointing is invoked upon their ministries, with the laying-on-of-hands, and they are gifted a Bible as the visual symbol of their new pastoral and preaching office. This booklet is a handy primer for ordinands and clergy, and all those responsible for their selection, training, and deployment.

The Athanasian Creed is now the neglected Creed. Most of the laity do not know about it, its theology is not well understood even by the clergy, and it is almost never used in services, even in conservative churches. This book's aim is to counter this neglect of the Athanasian Creed. Its five chapters: · Set out what kind of document the Creed is and when and why it was written; · Give a detailed commentary on the Creed, explaining clearly what it teaches and why what it teaches is true; · Explain why the Creed still matters today, not only because of its importance in the history of Christian theology and liturgy, but primarily because of the continuing significance of its teaching. · Explore how people in the Church of England today can be encouraged to make use of the Creed both in theological education and in the everyday life of their parishes.

The Latin phrase lex orandi, lex credendi ('the law of praying is the law of believing') is a phrase which is often used in Anglican theological discussion, but which needs careful unpacking if its meaning is to be properly understood.In this study Martin Davie provides such unpacking. He traces the history of the phrase back to its origins in the work of St. Prosper of Aquitaine in the fifth century, explains what it means and gives examples of how it has been both used and misused in the Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican traditions. His conclusion is that when it is rightly understood the principle lex orandi, lex credendi provides a useful tool for assessing both a church's liturgy and its doctrine. It reminds us that a church's liturgical practice needs to cohere with its doctrine and both need to be in line with Scripture. He also argues that the use of this tool shows us that not only are proposals for marking same-sex relationships unacceptable, but so also is the new proposal to use liturgy to mark gender transition. Martin Davie is a theological consultant for the Church of England Evangelical Council and the Oxford Centre for Religion and Public Life. He also teaches doctrine at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford

Synods are gatherings of church officers that convene for the purpose of deliberating what church policy should be. Their agenda may include resolving disputes that have arisen as well, as making plans for the future development of the life of the church. They are typically representative bodies, though who they represent varies from time to time and from church to church. They have been held from the very earliest days of Christianity, and for many centuries they were understood to be assemblies of bishops. That is still the case in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, but Anglican practice is much broader in scope, including clergy and laity as well. Modern synods also meet on a regular basis and operate according to a fixed constitution. They share some features in common with those of other times and places, but they are not direct descendants of any particular ancient tradition. There is no form of Anglican synodical government beyond the level of the national church, a fact that has become increasingly problematic in the worldwide Anglican Communion. Reform of the national synodical structure and the development of an effective form of synodical government that will be regarded as authoritative by the entire Communion are the greatest challenges we face today and it is these that this essay seeks to address.

Anglicans across the globe place a great deal of importance on the Reformation texts that were prepared for their churches as England broke free from Roman Catholic control in the sixteenth century. The most well known of these texts are the Book of Common Prayer and the Thirty-Nine Articles, both of which are still used extensively throughout the Anglican Communion. However, these were only two of the documents that served the wide, and carefully integrated, program of religious reform in the Reformation years. Alongside them were other equally authoritative texts prepared to form children in the basics of the faith, guide ongoing patterns of private devotion, model healthy biblical interpretation, expound core doctrines, and much more. This handbook offers an introduction to the full suite of doctrinally determinative documents of the English Reformation. It supplies an orientation to each family of documents, as well as to the individual texts that were   sanctioned by the church, state and crown. In addition to descriptions of the texts, there is also a brief history of each type of formulary, discussions of their varied purposes, and lists of key references for further reading. The Anglican Church can only benefit from a fuller understanding of its own documentary heritage. Anglican Foundations is an unparalleled resource that offers students, ordinands, and all committed Anglicans the ideal orientation to the doctrinal texts of the English Reformation.          

How do we discern a “true” church? Given the current ecclesiastical climate this is an increasingly pressing question. This study looks at how William Perkins, a great seventeenth century Church of England theologian, responded to this issue. Particular focus is given to his understanding of the distinctions between the visible and invisible church, and the marks of a “true” church, namely, word, sacraments and discipline. Judged against these marks, Perkins argued passionately that the Church of England was “a true church of God”.He also, in line with traditional Reformed ecclesiology, allowed significant doctrinal and practical decline before a church ceased to be a “true” church. The criteria he outlined for leaving a church amounted to nothing less than the obstinate and persistent overthrow of cardinal Christian doctrine and worship.Perkins' careful teaching calls us to consider our response to declension in the church today. Ultimately his ecclesiology calls us to have a high view of the unity of the visible church, and in many causes to labour for recovery rather than to leave.

David Broughton Knox was one of the most influential Anglican leaders in the second half of the twentieth century. His long service as principal of Moore Theological College, Sydney, had an impact much further afield than that city. Along with this, the unique place Sydney Diocese has in the Anglican Communion has been significantly shaped by Knox’s ministry and theological priorities. This volume is the result of a conference held in 2016 to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of Knox’s birth. Theologians who were personally taught by Knox, along with those who belong to a younger generation, contribute to this work by critically engaging with various aspects of Knox’s theology and legacy. Subjects include the atonement, ecclesiology, sacramentology as well as the shaping of a theological institution. These academic contributions are complemented by personal accounts and anecdotes of Knox’s influence on some of the most influential evangelical leaders and academics in the world. Contributors include Peter Jensen, Glenn Davies, Paul Barnett, Mark D. Thompson, Graeme Goldsworthy, Graham Cole, D. A. Carson, Andrew Leslie, Chase Kuhn, Edward Loane and Robert Doyle.

The Bible describes a fallen world and fallen humanity, in which minds are darkened. We reject God, and suppress the truth about him. How, then, can we know him at all? In other words, what are the noetic effects of sin? During the Reformation, doctrines of total depravity and the effects of the fall on the whole person re-emerged, with consequent implications for epistemology. If minds are fallen, how can we expect to know anything accurately? The purpose of this study is to start to answer that question by looking at some of the epistemology we find emerging from the writings of John Calvin and Martin Luther.  Kirsty Birkett is Latimer Research Fellow at Oak Hill College, where she is responsible for Learning Architecture and Educational Development, and teaches Ethics, Philosophy and Church History. Her many publications cover the whole area of relationships between science and religion. She has also written on psychology, feminism and the family for both a popular and academic audience. 

The secular world is well aware of the problems of stress. Of recent decades a great deal of attention and research has been devoted to understanding what those who cope well with stress actually do; and, as a result, how to help others learn to do the same things. The psychological construct that has been developed to describe what secular researchers are looking for is ‘resilience’. What the literature reveals, however, is that our created natures thrive on spiritual values. What fosters resilience, the qualities and strategies that resilient people demonstrate, are things like religion, altruism and belief in the good. Sometimes these ideas can sit oddly with the naturalistic, pluralistic framework of secular socio-scientific research. However, within a Christian framework. It should not be surprising that what works is just that sort of lifestyle that God created us to have. Nothing will make Christian ministry easy in this fallen world, dealing with the sinful people that we all are. However we are blessed with resources that perhaps we take too lightly, and could be paying more attention to. We have a gracious God who has revealed truths about the world that make a difference to us – how we feel and how we cope, as well as how we believe and act. Most of all, unlike the secular world, we have a real hope that makes positive thinking entirely rational.Kirsty Birkett is Latimer Research Fellow at Oak Hill College, where she is responsible for Learning Architecture and Educational Development, and  teaches Ethics, Philosophy and Church History. Her many publications cover the whole area of relationships between science and religion. She has also written on psychology, feminism and the family for both a popular and academic audience.

To oversee Christ’s flock is ‘a noble task’ but also a difficult task. The responsibilities and expectations of the job are numerous and weighty. Skills in leadership and management, the ability to communicate effectively in a variety of settings, the need to be a competent listener and counsellor – these things and more are required of those who exercise pastoral oversight, even of a small congregation. And as pastors seek resources to assist them in their vocation, it is no wonder that many have found great benefit from the insights of the social sciences. The problem, however, is the seeming lack of connection between the doctrine and exegesis of the Scriptures on the one hand, and the theology and practice of ministry on the other.The chapters that follow do not claim to offer an extensive critique or response to this issue. Rather, as they address some of its aspects, each reflects the belief that authentic pastoral ministry is grounded in the ministry of the word of God.  Each chapter was first delivered as a lecture at the 2015 School of Theology held at Moore Theological College. The contributors are Lionel Windsor, Peter Orr, Mark Thompson, David Peterson and Keith Condie.

The celebration of the 350th anniversary of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer has helped to stimulate a renewed interest in its teaching and fundamental contribution to Anglican identity. Archbishop Cranmer and others involved in the English Reformation knew well that the content and shape of the services and doctrine set out in the Prayer Book were vital ways of teaching congregations biblical truth and the principles of the Christian gospel.However, the Prayer Book Catechism is a neglected educational resource for the Church of England. For centuries it provided the framework for instructing young Christians in the basics of Christian belief and behaviour, but in recent years it has come to be almost forgotten.This new study describes the place of the Catechism in the Prayer Book and how the Catechism came to be written. It then expounds the teaching of the Catechism and explains its continuing value as a basis for teaching the fundamentals of the Christian faith in basics groups and confirmationclasses.MARTIN DAVIE is a theological consultant for the Church of England Evangelical Council and the Oxford Centre for Religion in Public Life. He also teaches doctrine at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford.