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SPCK Master Reference Bundle (224 vols.)

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, 1917–2016
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Overview

Founded in 1698, the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) is the publishing arm of the Anglican mission agency and the largest independent Christian publisher in the UK. Their vision is to create “a world where everyone is able to understand the Christian message and live the Christian life to the full.”

The Logos’ SPCK Master Reference Bundle (224 vols.) gathers together all of the SPCK titles currently available in the Logos format. When you purchase this collection, you’ll get:

  • 53 titles by N.T. Wright
  • 14 titles by Alister McGrath
  • 11 titles by John Polkinghorne
  • 7 titles by C.K. Barrett
  • 4 titles by Paul F. Bradshaw

Titles included feature rich commentary on select books of the Bible, theological reflections by some of the most respected Bible scholars of our time, resources designed to put the Word in its Jewish context, and studies meant to equip you to answer difficult questions posed by science.

  • Title: SPCK Master Reference Bundle
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 224
  • Pages: 47,165

New Testament for Everyone Series (18 vols.)

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Series: New Testament for Everyone
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 18
  • Pages: 4,080

The New Testament for Everyone Series (18 vols.) provides a series of guides to the books of the New Testament. N.T. Wright has undertaken a tremendous task: to provide guides to all the books of the New Testament, and to furnish them with his own fresh translation of the entire text.

Throughout the series, Wright’s own translation is combined with a highly readable discussion, with background information, useful explanation and interpretation, and thoughts as to how the text can be relevant to our lives today.

Individual Titles Included:

  • Matthew for Everyone, part 1
  • Matthew For Everyone, part 2
  • Mark for Everyone
  • Luke for Everyone
  • John for Everyone, part 1
  • John for Everyone, part 2
  • Acts for Everyone, part 1
  • Acts for Everyone, part 2
  • Paul for Everyone: Romans, part 1
  • Paul for Everyone: Romans, part 2
  • Paul for Everyone: 1 Corinthians
  • Paul for Everyone: 2 Corinthians
  • Paul for Everyone: Galatians and Thessalonians
  • Paul for Everyone: The Prison Letters
  • Paul for Everyone: The Pastoral Letters
  • Hebrews for Everyone
  • Early Christian Letters for Everyone: James, Peter, John, and Judah
  • Revelation for Everyone
This enterprise is probably the most exciting thing to have happened in Christian education in Britain for many years.

—Expository Times

Wright writes wonderfully, accessibly, and as smooth as fine chocolate.

—Ship of Fools website

Tom Wright is just about the most insightful and incendiary conversation partner for today’s preachers.

—William H. Willimon, author of Pastor: The Theology and Practice of Ordained Ministry

No other commentary series comes even close.

—The Christian Century

N.T. Wright is a professor of New Testament and early Christianity at St. Andrews University. Previously, he was the bishop of Durham. He has researched, taught, and lectured on the New Testament at McGill, Oxford, and Cambridge Universities. He is best known for his scholarly contributions to the historical study of Jesus and the New Perspective on Paul. His work interacts with the positions of James Dunn, E.P. Sanders, Marcus Borg, and Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Wright has written and lectured extensively around the world, authoring many books and numerous articles in scholarly journals and popular periodicals. He is best known for his Christian Origins and the Question of God series, of which four of the anticipated six volumes are finished.

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SPCK Library of Ministry (13 vols.)

  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 13
  • Pages: 2,276

Head pastor or new volunteer, anyone serving in ministry will benefit from the wisdom found in the SPCK Library of Ministry. Written by prominent Anglican ministers with decades of experience to draw upon, this collection is full of well-researched theory supported by practical experience. The authors’ ideas and exercises will challenge your compassion, professionalism, patience, and creativity. The time-tested tools offered by this library will inspire you and remain a practical reference for your congregation and leadership.

Individual Titles Included:

  • Community and Ministry: An Introduction to Community Work in a Christian Context by Paul Ballard and Lesley Husselbee
  • Supporting New Ministers in the Local Church: A Handbook by Keith Lamdin and David Tilley
  • Pioneer Ministry and Fresh Expressions of Church by Angela Shier-Jones
  • Being a Chaplain by Miranda Threlfall-Holmes and Mark Newitt
  • How to Make Great Appointments in the Church: Calling, Competence and Chemistry by Claire Pedrick and Su Blanch
  • Reader Ministry Explored by Cathy Rowling and Paula Gooder
  • Reflective Caring: Imaginative Listening to Pastoral Experience by Bob Whorton
  • Skills for Collaborative Ministry by Sally Nash, Jo Pimlott, and Paul Nash
  • Supporting Dying Children and Their Families: A Handbook for Christian Ministry by Paul Nash
  • Youth Ministry: A Multifaceted Approach by Sally Nash
  • Developing in Ministry: Handbook for Effective Christian Learning and Training by Neil Evans
  • Finding Your Leadership Style: A Guide for Ministers by Keith Lamdin
  • Tools for Reflective Ministry by Sally Nash and Paul Nash

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New Library of Pastoral Care (10 vols.)

  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 10
  • Pages: 2,192

The New Library of Pastoral Care is designed to meet the needs of those concerned with pastoral care, whether clergy or lay, who seek to improve their knowledge and skills in this field. Personal stories and case studies will prove useful to any who wish to understand the role of the pastor in today’s church. This collection draws upon research and experience from professional fields that particularly relate to pastors in their work: social work, counseling, psychotherapy, and community development. These volumes will clarify and strengthen the roles every pastor is sure to take on in ministry.

Individual Titles Included:

  • Still, Small Voice: An Introduction to Pastoral Counseling by Michael Jacobs
  • Sin, Guilt and Forgiveness: The Hidden Dimensions of a Pastoral Process by Mary Anne Coate
  • Handbook of Pastoral Studies: Learning and Practicing the Christian Ministry by Wesley Carr
  • Letting Go: Caring for the Dying and Bereaved by Ian Ainsworth-Smith and Peter Speck
  • Swift to Hear: Facilitating Skills in Listening and Responding by Michael Jacobs
  • Valuing Age: Pastoral Ministry with Older People by James Woodward
  • The Integrity of Pastoral Care by David Lyall
  • The Pastor as Theologian: The Formation of Today’s Ministry in the Light of Contemporary Human Sciences by Wesley Carr
  • The Pastoral Care of People with Mental Health Problems by Marion Carson
  • Resilient Pastors: The Role of Adversity in Healing and Growth by Justine Allain-Chapman

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SPCK Alister McGrath Collection (10 vols.)

  • Author: Alister McGrath
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 10
  • Pages: 1,382

Anglican belief and practice allows that God communicates through his Word as well as through the beauty of his works. The trick, of course, is to keep the two sources of communication in balance. Nowhere is this balance better struck than in the writings of the atheist-turned-Anglican-clergyman Alister McGrath. McGrath takes Scripture very seriously as an unshakeable source of truth for belief. At the same time, McGrath recognizes that God also communicates through art and literature. Throughout these 10 books, McGrath draws on these two different sources to teach us more about God and about how to live in light of what he has communicated. McGrath also offers a thoroughgoing defence of God’s existence, again drawing not only evidence from Scripture but from the beauty of creation.

Individual Titles Included:

  • The Renewal of Anglicanism
  • SPCK Handbook of Anglican Theologians
  • Creation
  • Incarnation
  • Redemption
  • Resurrection
  • The Christian Vision of God
  • The Dawkins Delusion?
  • Mere Theology
  • Why God Won’t Go Away

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Select Works of C.K. Barrett (7 vols.)

  • Author: C.K. Barrett
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 7
  • Pages: 1,580

C.K. Barrett’s scholarship helped change the face of New Testament scholarship in the twentieth century. Barrett was a committed Methodist minister. Throughout his scholarly career, he never let his work get in the way of his pastoral calling. This deep commitment to pastoral care shows throughout Barrett’s work. Barrett is very careful to clothe his rigorous scholarship in language that is accessible and meaningful. For this reason, though he was critical of many other Christian traditions, he has earned a wide readership outside of his own denomination.

Individual Titles Included:

  • New Testament Background
  • Gospel according to John
  • Holy Spirit and Gospel Tradition
  • New Testament Essays
  • Gospel of John and Judaism
  • Essays on John
  • Essays on Paul

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Exploring the Old and New Testaments (6 vols.)

  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 6
  • Pages: 1,653

Exploring the Old and New Testaments (6 vols.) is a series of six textbooks which covers the Old and New Testaments, all written by authors who have extensive experience in teaching students in their first two years of university-level study. This series is perfect for someone looking for a survey of the Bible that can be as broad or immersive as you see fit. The series easily facilitates teaching the material to classes or small groups.

Each book provides an exploratory approach which encourages and enables students to engage the Scriptures for themselves, and not simply as passive learners. They offer activities and challenges at introductory and intermediate levels, together with key background information needed to enable students to work at the required level, and ideas for further thought and reading.

Individual Titles Included:

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SPCK Anglican Studies Collection (6 vols.)

  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 6
  • Pages: 1,445

The SPCK Anglican Studies Collection includes a careful selection of books that are essential to a proper understanding of the beliefs and practices of Anglicanism. The titles in this collection include works on ecclesiology, devotion, theology, and ordination. Whether you are new to the tradition or a cradle Anglican, this collection will enrich your understanding of the Church and your relationship with God.

Individual Titles Included:

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SPCK Introductions (6 vols.)

  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 6
  • Pages: 768

Philosophy is too often considered abstract and out of reach for the average person. Worse yet, some believe it to be dangerous or a stumbling block to the Christian religion. But the development of human thought, particularly as it applies to understanding faith and making daily decisions, is important for every person to consider. In an intelligent but accessible way, this series aims to introduce thinkers who have made significant contributions to Christian thought. Some are notable in religious history, and others are best known for their critical perspectives. Rahner, Weil, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Bonhoeffer, and Barth: none delivers the same message, yet all are relevant.

The SPCK Introductions series offers the perfect starting point for new learners, and is a valuable Christian perspective for serious students of philosophy. Simone Weil asserted that, ultimately, the thing we seek in literature, philosophy, and theology is not what we may learn about the author, but what we may learn about truth. Use the critical thinking of these gifted men and women to inspect and strengthen your own faith and understanding of Christianity.

Individual Titles Included:

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Modern Church Series (6 vols.)

  • Series: Modern Church
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 6
  • Pages: 608

The Modern Church Series seeks answers to the toughest questions facing Christianity in a postmodern world. These six volumes use new approaches to reach innovative and often unconventional conclusions on issues such as religious pluralism, immortality, sex, the Bible, and atonement. Whether you’re looking for answers yourself or seeking a better understanding of the lay of the theological land, this collection will help you think through varying perspectives on these challenging questions.

Individual Titles Included:

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SPCK Biblical Studies Collection Upgrade (5 vols.)

  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2014
  • Volumes: 5
  • Pages: 1,472

From a contemplative guide to the Song of Songs, to an examination of the Holy Spirit in the Old and New Testaments, the SPCK Biblical Studies Collection Upgrade gathers fresh insights that help you dig deeper into Scripture.

N.T. Wright provides a passionate case for putting the Psalms back at the center of Christian prayer and worship with his guide to praying the Psalms. Margaret Barker examines how temple tradition forms the background to John’s Gospel—highlighting how Jesus’ debates with the Jews centered on the great difference between the world of the second temple and the world of the first temple from which Christianity emerged. Jenni Williams investigates key narratives involving women in the Bible, showing how even so-called “texts of terror” have something valuable to teach women and men today. Graeme Watson presents a contemporary mystical reading of the Song of Songs, with reference to some later Christian poetry—including John Donne, George Herbert, and R.S. Thomas. And rounding off the collection, in A Biblical Theology of the Holy Spirit, an international team of scholars contribute to a comprehensive exploration of the role and work of the Holy Spirit, as witnessed in both the Old and New Testaments.

Individual Titles Included:

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Christian Origins and the Question of God Series (4 vols.)

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 4
  • Pages: 3,793

This collection contains the first four books of N.T. Wright’s highly-praised Christian Origins and the Question of God series. Included here are The New Testament and the People of God, Jesus and the Victory of God, The Resurrection of the Son of God, and the latest, Paul and the Faithfulness of God. As an important scholar of the New Testament and a prolific author and lecturer, Wright’s works have been highly influential in the study of Jesus, Paul, and early Christianity.

In the first volume of the series, Wright offers a historical, theological, and literary study of first-century Judaism and Christianity, beginning with an introduction to the historical and theological condition of the earliest Christians. Next, Wright contributes to the current quest for the historical Jesus, offering his own defense of Jesus’ historicity and its impact on Christian belief and practice in Jesus and the Victory of God. Wright then examines resurrection—both resurrection in general and of Jesus in particular—beginning with Paul, and working through the end of the second century in the third volume, The Resurrection of the Son of God. The highly anticipated fourth volume, Paul and the Faithfulness of God, is the mature summation of a lifetime of study. This landmark volume pays a rich tribute to the breadth and depth of the Apostle Paul’s vision, and offers an unparalleled wealth of detailed insights into his life, times, and impact.

Individual Titles Included:

  • The New Testament and the People of God
  • Jesus and the Victory of God
  • The Resurrection of the Son of God
  • Paul and the Faithfulness of God (2 parts)

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SPCK Prayer Collection (4 vols.)

  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 4
  • Pages: 512

Revitalize your prayer life with the SPCK Prayer Collection. Four volumes of wise words will encourage a more active prayer life and fortify your relationship with God. Guide family or community prayers, and get suggestions for prayers to soothe, encourage, excite, or console. Whether you’re a church leader or a layperson, you’ll find practical and scriptural wisdom to transform your prayer life.

Individual Titles Included:

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Christian Origins Collection (3 vols.)

  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 3
  • Pages: 896

Early Christianity has been a topic of much debate over the centuries. Understanding the subject is extremely vital in shaping our perspectives on Jesus, Christianity, and the church. The Christian Origins Collection (3 vols.) brings attention to the early Christian movement. With various perspectives from several biblical scholars, this collection breaks down early Christianity into various topics. These topics include the beginning of the Christian movement pertaining to Judaism, the historical Jesus and his resurrection, the Apostle Paul, the Gospels, and the early church. This collection also discusses whether Jesus’ followers in early church history worshipped him as a prophet or God.

Religious and historical convictions strongly affect the many perspectives people have on Jesus and Christianity. By introducing thoughtful insight and contrasting ideas in relation to early Christianity, the Christian Origins Collection (3 vols.) helps encourage you to reassess your views on the subject matter.

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SPCK Liturgical Studies Collection (3 vols.)

  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 3
  • Pages: 656

Public worship has evolved into diverse and beautiful traditions across Christendom. This collection brings together three works studying how baptism, the Eucharist, public prayer, church architecture, and other elements of worship have developed over the centuries. Paul Bradshaw’s works take a close look at the first few centuries of Christian worship and investigates the biblical and historical origens of the Eucharist and other sacraments. And Christopher Irvine’s Cross and Creation in Christian Liturgy and Art examines how the cross of Christ came to symbolize Christianity and the role it has played in Christian liturgy, art, and church architecture. From the Last Supper to today, these volumes are packed with insight into how Christian liturgy developed.

Individual Titles Included:

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SPCK Pauline Studies Collection (3 vols.)

  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 3
  • Pages: 560

The Apostle Paul was one of the most prominent leaders of the Christian faith. After converting to Christianity, Paul sought to spread the Gospel through his writings and missionary journeys. Though persecuted throughout his ministry, nothing stopped the apostle from spreading the gospel of Christ; several of his most valuable works were even written during his imprisonment! Thirteen epistles of the twenty-seven New Testament books are attributed to him and form the foundation of Christian living today.

The SPCK Pauline Studies Collection (3 vols.) introduces the life, works, and mission of Paul the Apostle. It gives us a look into the political, social, and religious context of Paul’s origins and analyzes the role Scripture played in forming his thought. Though his teachings are well-known and have been some of the major influences of Christian thought and living, Paul’s works are still the in the forefront of major controversy. This collection also explores the obstacles Paul’s epistles have faced and defends his works in relation to Jesus’ teaching. In presenting all aspects of his works, ministry, and thought, this collection seeks to combat Pauline criticism with its solid study and to bring a new-found appreciation for the apostle and his works.

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SPCK Old Testament Introduction Collection (3 vols.)

  • Author: David Hinson
  • Series: SPCK International Study Guides
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 3
  • Pages: 702

The SPCK Old Testament Introduction Collection offers those embarking on a study of the Old Testament the tools to plot a course to the eternal truth lying within its ancient pages. In each of the three volumes, David F. Hinson provides a straightforward introduction to a different aspect of Old Testament study. History of Israel gives an account of the history of the Jews. The volume presents their relationship with God and the cultures around them, and investigates how both affected the Jews’ movements through history. The Books of the Old Testament explores the OT books themselves; their authoring, their canonization, and their present form. Theology of the Old Testament brings the light of the New Testament to bear on the OT books, showing that the ultimate end of OT theology is Christ Himself. Each volume is illustrated, and includes maps, time charts, photographs, and suggestions for further discussion and study.

The SPCK Old Testament Introduction Collection is part of SPCK’s International Study Guides series of books. Written by scholars with experience of the worldwide Church, the acclaimed Guides combine trustworthy scholarship with clarity, simplicity and non-technical language. Ecumenical in authorship and outlook, the Guides are ideal for first-year theology students, Bible study groups, multi-cultural classes, people for whom English is a second language, and anyone who needs a sound but accessible guide to the Bible and theology.

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SPCK Gospel Studies Collection (3 vols.)

  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 3
  • Pages: 494

The SPCK Gospel Studies Collection delivers concise yet penetrating analyses of the gospels of Mark and John. In each of these three masterfully executed introductions the authors draw from their extensive understanding of God’s Word to present the gospels like never before. Ruth Edward’s Discovering John addresses the important – and controversial – questions raised by this provocative gospel while offering a thorough and sturdy base for further study. In both Open Door on John and Open Door on Mark, Phillip McFadyen tackles the gospels in innovative and invigorating ways, including questions to provoke group or self reflection and “interviews” with the major figures in each gospel.

Whether you’re a new believer or just looking for a fresh perspective on the gospels, the SPCK Gospel Studies Collection will be a terrific addition to your electronic library.

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Lent for Everyone Collection (3 vols.)

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 3
  • Pages: 464

The Lent for Everyone Collection comprises three volumes of Lenten lectionary resources. Utilizing N.T. Wright’s For Everyone Bible translation, this collection covers the three years of the Revised Common Lectionary. Originally begun as a project to encourage Lenten reading in the diocese of Durham, England, the volumes in this collection have become popular resources for a much broader Christian audience. Wright’s accessible biblical translations and thoughtful reflections and prayers make this collection a valuable resource for getting the most out of the Lenten season.

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Twelve Months of Sundays (3 vols.)

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Series: Series Title (Series Abbreviation)
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 3
  • Pages: 424

Reflect on the Revised Common Lectionary with one of today’s greatest theologians—N.T. Wright. This three-volume collection assembles Wright’s celebrated columns from Church Times, Twelve Months of Sundays, for Year A, B, and C. It also includes thoughtful pieces for major festivals throughout the year.

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Lectionary Reflections Collection (3 vols.)

  • Author: Jane Williams
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 3
  • Pages: 404

The lectionary is intended to provide the church with a full and balanced reading plan for the entire Bible, and its texts have served as the basis for sermons, meditation, reflection, and personal devotions for millions of Christians around the world for almost 2,000 years.

The Lectionary Reflections Collection (3 vols.) brings together Jane Williams’ widely read and much enjoyed Church Times columns on the lectionary. This collection offers Williams’ reflections on the Sunday readings in the Revised Common Lectionary for Years A, B, and C. Each section gives the lectionary references and provides a thought-provoking starting point for exploring the readings, drawing out points of connection between them. Written in an engaging and inspiring style, Lectionary Reflections will prove invaluable in preparation for Sunday worship, or for personal or group Bible study throughout the year.

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The pieces here are intelligently written and useful for any preacher. . . . It is clear that Jane Williams is an engaging theologian.

—Kelvin Holdworth, provost of St. Mary’s Cathedral, Glasgow, Scotland

If God really is loving and teasing and forgiving, like he is in the stories Jesus tells, then we all have a chance.

—Jane Williams, visiting lecturer, King’s College

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Companion to Common Worship (2 vols.)

  • Author: Paul Bradshaw
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 2
  • Pages: 576

Launching on the first Sunday of Advent in 2000, Common Worship is an alternative liturgical text to the Book of Common Prayer. Paul Bradshaw’s Companion to Common Worship is a scholarly commentary on the entire Common Worship Text. Bradshaw surveys the origins and development of each rite in the text, from the New Testament to today. He also provides a detailed commentary on each rite as a whole, and its parts, while providing comparisons to parallel passages in the ASB and Book of Common Prayer. Whether you’re new to the Church or a dedicated student of liturgy, Companion to Common Worship provides everything you need to thoroughly understand the Common Worship text and the development of Anglican liturgy.

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Exploring the New Testament (2 vols.)

  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 2
  • Pages: 638

The Exploring the New Testament Collection are two textbooks which cover the New Testament, both written by authors who have extensive experience in teaching students in their first two years of university-level study. This series is perfect for someone looking for a New Testament survey that can be as broad or immersive as you see fit. The series easily facilitates teaching the material to classes or small groups.

Each book provides an exploratory approach which encourages and enables students to engage the Scriptures for themselves, and not simply as passive learners. They offer activities and challenges at introductory and intermediate levels, together with key background information needed to enable students to work at the required level, and ideas for further thought and reading.

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Theology of Weakness Collection (2 vols.)

  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 2
  • Pages: 324

The Theology of Weakness Collection couples two compelling volumes in disability studies, working towards theological understanding of disability. Author, social commentator, and academic, Roy McCloughry makes the latest theological thinking about disability accessible to a wide audience in The Enabled Life, reminding readers that God does not want us to conform to society’s stereotype of normal, but to celebrate diversity by delighting in who we are. In Arthur’s Call, Frances Young reflects on 45 years of caring for her severely disabled son. Her thoughtful volume offers profound insights into the vocation and ministry of persons with severe disabilities, as well as hope and help for all who struggle with faith in the face of unremitting suffering. With keen insight and sensitivity, these authors bring light to the challenges and callings of people at the heart of the kingdom of God.

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Margaret Barker Temple Theology Collection (2 vols.)

  • Author: Margaret Barker
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 2
  • Pages: 248

The Margaret Barker Temple Theology Collection helps readers bridge the theological and historical gap between the Old Testament and the New, and between Judaism and Christianity. These penetrating studies examine the evolution of the cultural traditions which began centuries before Christ was born, yet influenced the development of Christian theology and practice. Barker draws heavily from the Old and New Testaments—especially the book of Hebrews—along with Apocalyptic literature in order to construct the worldview of the earliest Christians.

In this historical and theological study, Barker shows how the Temple theology of early Christianity traces its origins to the First Temple. She draws heavily from the book of Hebrews, the book of Revelation, and various biblical and extra-biblical Apocalyptic literature. By examining the historical and theological understanding of the covenant, atonement, resurrection and the Kingdom of God, Barker outlines the implications of Temple theology for faith and practice today.

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Christian Belief for Everyone (2 vols.)

  • Author: Alister McGrath
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 2
  • Pages: 256

In the Christian Belief for Everyone collection, celebrated intellectual Alister McGrath brings the historic Christian faith to life. With a philosophical flavor, Faith and the Creeds studies how the faith has been passed down through the centuries, providing a solid introduction to Christianity as expressed in the creeds. The Living God deciphers the profound nature of God, the almighty creator, and how we relate to him. These volumes are an exciting introduction to Christianity for the curious, and provide engaging material for those seeking to communicate the ancient faith to new generations.

Individual Titles Included:

  • Faith and the Creeds
  • The Living God

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New Testament for Everyone Upgrade (2 vols.)

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Series: New Testament for Everyone
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 2
  • Pages: 288

The New Testament for Everyone Upgrade supplements N.T. Wright’s enormously popular series with two additional volumes, written in the same fresh, engaging, and readable style. In these volumes, Wright covers the essential topics of wisdom and prayer in the New Testament, offering insight from his wealth of study and experience. Wright includes his own compelling translations of the passages he examines, as well as a highly readable discussion and explanations, designing these volumes to be accessible, helpful, and full of practical wisdom for readers today. Each volume also includes discussion questions, ideal for group study or personal devotional study.

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Invitation to the Bible Collection (2 vols.)

  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Volumes: 2
  • Pages: 277

The Invitation to the Bible Collection offers you novel perspectives on the Word of God – whether you’re a new believer or have been a Christian all your life.

These two volumes examine different aspects of Bible study. Invitation to the Bible presents an introduction to the Scriptures that concerns itself less with a survey of the contents of the Bible and more with an account of what the Bible is and how to read it in ways that are life-giving and lead to a fuller understanding of God. Beyond the Quiet Time is a guide to practicing true spirituality, discovering the full richness of your faith, and developing ways of keeping your faith alive and growing. It provides practical guidance towards initiating or reinvigorating a reflective, quiet time of Bible study.

For all who yearn for a fresh perspective on the Bible, the Invitation to the Bible Collection will be an invaluable boon to your study of the Scriptures.

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A New Eusebius: Documents Illustrating the History of the Church to AD 337, Second Edition

  • Editors: J. Stevenson, revised by W.H.C. Frend
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 1987
  • Pages: 430

A New Eusebius has held an unrivaled position as the standard source book for students of the early patristic period. Stevenson has gathered an impressive compilation of documents, including the Martyrdom of James, the Flight of the Christians from Jerusalem, and Persecution by Domitian, from such writers as Eusebius, Clement of Rome, Ignatius, Polycarp, Justin, and Irenaeus. These primary sources, covering church history up to AD 337, are invaluable for those who desire to understand early church history. In this new edition, Professor W.H.C. Frend has incorporated vital documents that were not available when the original collection was compiled. The notes and references have been amended and updated where necessary, and the entire book has been restructured with documents grouped under helpful subject headings which follow a broadly chronological sequence.

Here is a first-rate introduction to the history and doctrine of the early Church, a work of scholarship which will serve theologians and historians alike for a long time to come.

—Church of England Newspaper

This book can be warmly recommended to anyone who wishes to learn from primary sources the story of the early church.

—Baptist Times

J. Stevenson (d.1983) was a fellow of Downing College, Cambridge.

W.H.C. Frend (1916–2005) was chair of ecclesiastical history of Glasgow University, a fellow of the British Academy, and a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. He was the author of Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church and The Rise of Christianity.

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An Introduction to the Old Testament: Exploring Text, Approaches, and Issues

  • Author: John Goldingay
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2016
  • Pages: 400

This introduction to the Old Testament is written to cover all key components of most OT courses and also to help students to think for themselves about key issues of interpretation.

Built upon John Goldingay’s decades of studying and teaching the Old Testament, this introduction is unusual in that it sets out background information, notes interpretative possibilities, raises questions and suggests approaches to the text. This introduction has the feel of a workbook, encouraging students to investigate the Old Testament, both critically and prayerfully, for themselves.

John Goldingay is David Allan Hubbard Professor of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. His books include Models for Scripture, Models for Interpretation of Scripture, Walk On, and commentaries on Psalms, Isaiah, and Daniel.

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Barefoot Prayers: A Meditation a Day for Lent and Easter

  • Author: Stephen Cherry
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2013
  • Pages: 144

Stephen Cherry’s latest book is a sequence of beautifully crafted prayer-meditations, providing simple yet profound spiritual nourishment for the Lenten season. Barefoot Prayers gives an engaging introduction to the different ways that prayer can work in the lives of the busiest of Christians.

Like the Psalms in honesty and depth, these are poems that can help us pray, and prayers that can awaken us to the poetry in everyday life.

—Dame Laurentia Johns, Benedictine nun, Stanbrook Abbey

The title of this book says it well. Step into the Lenten season with shoes off, feeling the ground of life with senses fully alert to daily encounters in vulnerable ways. Stephen Cherry is a wise and gracious spiritual guide whose prayers magnificently touch the wide range of human experience.

—Sheryl Shenk, spiritual director and founder, Blue Ridge Ministries, Harrisonburg, VA

These quiet, free-form poetic meditations lead readers to find ways to pray about everything, from the busyness of an ordinary day to the great mysteries of Good Friday and Easter.

—Holly Ordway, professor of English, Houston Baptist University

These are prayers with the all-too-rare quality of being freshly minted and imagined in a different register. They’re evocative, playful, and searching, and they demand a return visit.

—John Pritchard, bishop of Oxford

Stephen Cherry is director of ministerial development and parish support in the diocese of Durham, and a Residentiary Canon of Durham Cathedral. His publications include Barefoot Disciple: Walking the Way of Passionate Humility, Healing Agony: Reimagining Forgiveness, and Beyond Busyness: Time Wisdom for Ministry.

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Behind the Gospels: Understanding the Oral Tradition

  • Author: Eric Eve
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2013
  • Pages: 224

In Behind the Gospels, Eric Eve provides a critical introduction to a major storm center of debate in New Testament studies: oral tradition and memory theory. Eve gives both a helpful survey of the scholarly literature and original proposals for clarifying and advancing our understanding of these key issues. He explores the media contrast model, the rabbinic model, informal controlled oral tradition, and much more, offering judicious assessments of recent influential studies by Richard Bauckham, James D. G. Dunn, Richard Horsley, and Kenneth E. Bailey among others. Scholarly, engaging, and clearly written, Eve’s study is a useful gem among many texts on the subject—a great place to begin or deepen your study of the oral tradition and the New Testament.

Eve surveys the major proposals, offers critical and constructive commentary, and makes appropriately nuanced suggestions of his own. On this topic, his work is now the place to start.

—Dale C. Allison, Jr., professor of New Testament, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary

Eric Eve has written a magnificent guide to one of the most exciting areas in Gospels studies today—oral tradition and memory theory.

—Chris Keith, professor of New Testament and early Christianity, St Mary’s University College, London

This is a foundational book both for Jesus research and for our understanding of the literary history of the New Testament.

—Gerd Theissen, professor emeritus of New Testament, University of Heidelberg

Eric Eve is fellow and tutor in theology at Harris Manchester College, Oxford. He has published a number of articles and other short pieces on various aspects of the Gospels and Jesus—usually related either to miracles or to the Synoptic Problem and is also the author of The Jewish Context of Jesus’ Miracles and The Healer from Nazareth.

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Biblical Hebrew for Beginners

  • Author: Dan Cohn-Sherbok
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2003
  • Pages: 134

Biblical Hebrew for Beginners shows you how to master fundamental Hebrew in clear, simple steps. Starting from scratch with the Hebrew alphabet, Dan Cohn-Sherbok leads you through the essentials of Biblical Hebrew and has you reading the Bible in Hebrew from the very first lesson. There are simple exercises (including answers), a word list, and plenty of examples throughout. Whether you are studying in a group or by yourself, this book will make the words of the Bible come alive in a way you never imagined before.

Have you ever wondered what Adam really said to Eve? Or what God said to Job? Cohn-Sherbok’s presents the basics of Biblical Hebrew with a clarity not seen in many other introductory texts on the subject. His explanations are concise but informative, requiring no background knowledge in grammatical terminology or linguistic notation. Learning Hebrew can be easy—and fun—with Biblical Hebrew for Beginners.

For learning Hebrew, the best way is to have an expert by your side. Here is the next best thing - Hebrew without such an aid and without tears! I commend the book warmly.

—Lord Coggan (former Archbishop of Canterbury)

Rabbi Dan Cohn-Sherbok received a Doctorate in Philosophy from Cambridge University and a Doctorate of Divinity from the Hebrew Union College. He is Professor of Judaism at the University of Wales, Lampeter, and is the author or editor of over 70 books including The Jewish Heritage, The Blackwell Dictionary of Judaica, Modern Judaism, Judaism and Other Faiths, and World Religions and Human Liberation.

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C.S. Lewis and Friends: Faith and the Power of Imagination

  • Editors: David Hein and Edward H. Henderson
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2011
  • Pages: 176

C.S. Lewis is one of the best loved and most engaging Christian writers of modern times, and he continues to be a powerful defender of the faith. In his imaginative fiction, his genius finds its fullest expression and makes its most lasting theological contribution. Lewis and his group of friends—famously known as the “Inklings”—employed powerfully creative imaginations to explore the profundities of Christian thought and their struggles with their faith. This book contains illuminating essays on C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, Dorothy L. Sayers, Rose Macaulay and Austin Farrer.

C.S. Lewis and Friends is particularly strong on the subjects of faith, reason, and their relation. What members of Lewis’s circle have to say on these topics is of contemporary relevance at every turn. . . . The authors of this book typically strike just the right balance between a survey of the figure at the heart of the particular chapter and a presentation of some specific examples of their theological interests. . . . The result is an ideal, more theological, book to put alongside Humphrey Carpenter’s group biography The Inklings.

—Church Times

David Hein is professor and chair of religion and philosophy at Hood College. He is also the author of Noble Powell and the Episcopal Establishment in the Twentieth Century.

Edward H. Henderson is professor of philosophy at Louisiana State University. He is the coeditor, with Brian Hebblethwaite, of Divine Action: Studies Inspired by the Philosophical Theology of Austin Farrar.

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Christmas, the Original Story

  • Author: Margaret Barker
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2008
  • Pages: 192

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In Christmas, the Original Story Margaret Barker explores the nature of the Christmas stories and the nature and use of Old Testament prophecy. Beginning with John’s account, it then goes on to include Luke and Matthew, the apocryphal gospels, and the traditions of the Coptic Church, to throw light upon wise men and their gifts, the character of Herod, Matthew’s use of prophecy, the holy family in Egypt.

This book also discusses the stories we get from the Infancy Gospel of Jesus and the development of the Orthodox Christmas icon, as well as the Christmas story and the Mary material in the Koran.

Margaret Barker is an independent biblical scholar who has been developing her Temple Theology for many years, most recently as the basis for a theology for the environment. She is a former president of the Society for Old Testament Study, a member of the Ecumenical Patriarch’s Symposium on Religion, Science and the Environment and a Methodist local preacher.

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Christology: Key Readings in Christian Thought

  • Editors: Jeff Astley, David Brown and Ann Loades
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2009
  • Pages: 144

This book brings together a range of key primary texts on the doctrine of Jesus Christ. Editors Jeff Astley, David Brown, and Ann Loades present rigorous academic examination of specific aspects of Christology: the development of classic Christology from its biblical roots through patristic debates, responses to the modern distinction between the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith, the understanding of incarnation as kenosis, and the critical and constructive developments of liberation and feminist theologies. Each chapter also includes topics for further discussion.

Jeff Astley is director of the North of England Institute for Christian Education and an honorary professorial fellow in the University of Durham. He is coeditor of the Problems in Theology series.

David Brown is Van Mildert Professor of Divinity at the University of Durham and a canon of Durham Cathedral. His books include Choices, Invitation to Theology, The Divine Trinity, and a collection of sermons, The Word to Set You Free. He is also coeditor of the Problems in Theology series.

Ann Loades is emeritus professor of divinity in the University of Durham and coeditor of the Problems in Theology series.

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Creation, Power and Truth: The Gospel in a World of Cultural Confusion

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2013
  • Pages: 128

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In Creation, Power and Truth, Tom Wright invites readers to consider the crucial ways in which the Christian gospel challenges and subverts the intellectual, moral, and political values that pervade contemporary culture. He asks searching questions about three defining characteristics of our time: neo-gnosticism, neo-imperialism, and postmodernity.

Employing a robust trinitarian framework, Wright looks afresh at key elements of the biblical story while drawing out new and unexpected connections between ancient and modern worldviews. The result is a vigorous critique of common cultural assumptions and controlling narratives, past and present. Creation, Power and Truth is a compelling read for all who want to hear, speak, and live the gospel of Christ in a world of cultural confusion.

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Creeds, Councils and Controversies: Documents Illustrating the History of the Church, AD 337–461, New Edition

  • Editors: J. Stevenson, revised by W.H.C. Frend
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 1989
  • Pages: 431

For over 40 years, Creeds, Councils and Controversies has been an essential primary source book for students of the later patristic period. Like its predecessor, A New Eusebius it documents the history of the early church, covering AD 377 to 461. Stevenson offers Persecution in Persia, The Council of Antioch, The Creed of Jerusalem and The Synod of Ashtishat. Authors of these documents include Athanasius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Marcellinus, Theodoret, Gregory of Nazianzus, Jerome, Augustine, and Bede. Professor Frend has regrouped the documents in their historic settings. For example, Jerome’s writings are placed together as are those writings that recount the controversies in which Augustine and Cyril of Alexandria were involved. Nearly 40 documents have been added to this new edition and the notes and bibliography have been updated.

Anyone interested in the early days of Christianity or in the later Roman Empire will find this book attractive to browse in. Every lecturer on the period will be grateful for the opportunity to refer his hearers to this admirable collection.

—Times Literary Supplement

J. Stevenson (d.1983) was a Fellow of Downing College, Cambridge.

W.H.C. Frend (1916–2005) was chair of ecclesiastical history of Glasgow University, a fellow of the British Academy, and a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London. He was the author of Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church and The Rise of Christianity.

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Encountering Scripture: A Scientist Explores the Bible

  • Author: John Polkinghorne
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2010
  • Pages: 108

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Encountering Scripture provides a fresh look at the Bible from the analytical and rational perspective of a scientist. It tackles the big themes of the Bible and the questions a modern Western thinker might bring to it. The nuanced, rational, and honest approach will be appreciated by any reader with an open and enquiring mind.

Issues of Scripture and authority, contradiction, and ambiguity are tackled with characteristic clarity, and the theological challenges of the Old Testament, the Gospels, and the writings of St. Paul are addressed with energy.

John Polkinghorne’s belief that God’s creation helps make itself at every level allows him to fit into one picture evolution and its costliness and the Christian redemptive answer to human and natural evil.

—Times Literary Supplement

John Polkinghorne is past president and now fellow of Queens’ College, Cambridge. Former professor of mathematical physics at Cambridge University, he is a priest and canon theologian of Liverpool Cathedral. He won the Templeton Prize for Science and Religion in 2002. His books have been translated into 18 languages so far.

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Evangelical Faith and the Challenge of Historical Criticism

  • Editors: Christopher M. Hays and Christopher B. Ansberry
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2013
  • Pages: 256

Many introductions to biblical studies describe critical approaches, but they do not discuss their theological implications. This timely resource discusses the relationship between historical criticism and Christian theology, encouraging evangelical engagement with historical-critical scholarship. Charting a middle course between wholesale rejection and unreflective embrace, the book introduces evangelicals to a way of understanding and using historical-critical scholarship that doesn’t compromise Christian orthodoxy. The book covers eight of the most hotly contested areas of debate in biblical studies, helping readers work out how to square historical criticism with their beliefs.

Contributors

  • Stephen Lane Herring, biblical Hebrew lector, Oxford Center for Hebrew and Jewish Studies
  • Jerry Hwang, lecturer, Singapore Bible College
  • Amber Warhurst, lecturer in biblical studies, King College, Bristol, Tennessee
  • Seth B. Tarrer, author, Reading with the Faithful
  • Casey A. Stine, college lecturer in Old Testament, Oriel College, Oxford
  • Edward W. Klink III, associate professor of New Testament, Talbot School of Theology
  • David Lincicum, university lecturer in New Testament, Oxford
  • Michael J. Daling, staff, Community Fellowship Church, West Chicago, Illinois
  • Aaron J. Kuecker, associate professor of theology, LeTourneau University
  • Kelly D. Liebengood, assistant professor of biblical studies, LeTourneau University
This carefully argued book urges evangelical Christians to reexamine the potential of historical-critical biblical criticism. The book’s essays make this case with unusually discriminating attention to biblical texts, critical treatments of these texts, theological implications of the treatments, and self-conscious historical awareness for both biblical eras and our own day. The authors seek not universal acceptance of what they propose so much as fresh evangelical engagement with questions involving the methods of biblical criticism—and therefore with Scripture itself. In this aim they succeed admirably.

—Mark Noll, professor of history, University of Notre Dame

Hays and Ansberry provide evangelical students with something they rarely see: a discussion of the major critical issues in biblical studies combined with a respectful, discerning appreciation for the biblical text as scripture. Too often students must choose between academic rigor and personal belief. A well-written volume treating these issues is a rare gift to a new generation of students now looking at many of these issues for the very first time. The editors have chosen their topics well, and they have recruited a skilled team of writers to bring it to successful completion.

—Gary M. Burge, professor of New Testament, Wheaton College

The contributors accept with grace and honesty the inescapable theological challenges to evangelicalism inherent in such engagement and exhibit the courage to give both faith and historical criticism the respect they deserve. This volume is a welcome addition to the growing number of evangelical voices calling for a reassessment of an evangelical doctrine of Scripture, not as an attack but for the end goal of supporting and enriching the evangelical movement.

—Peter Enns, professor of Old Testament and biblical hermeneutics, Westminster Theological Seminary

Chris Hays and Chris Ansberry engage in the courageous task of showing how evangelical scholars can soberly address the hot-potato issues in biblical scholarship, even appropriate many critical insights, without selling out on what evangelicals traditionally believe. . . . This is the type of discussion on faith and criticism that evangelical scholarship has needed for years. Thankfully, an intellectually rigorous and theologically sensitive approach to these matters is finally upon us!

—Michael Bird, lecturer in theology, Ridley Melbourne College of Mission and Ministry, Australia

A project like this is long overdue. Our students need to read essays and books that will not only orient them to the goals and methods of critical biblical scholarship but also provide them with a sieve with which to sift what they are reading. . . . The contributors handle controversial notions with integrity, seriousness, respect, and a commitment to fairness. They offer very needful guidance for young evangelical scholars encountering the world of critical scholarship for the first time. I commend the project and the contributors with enthusiasm.

—Daniel I. Block, Gunther H. Knoedler Professor of Old Testament, Wheaton College

Christopher M. Hays earned his DPhil from Oxford and is a professor of New Testament at the Biblical Seminary of Colombia.

Christopher B. Ansberry earned his PHD from Wheaton College and is a lecturer in Old Testament at Oak Hill College in London.

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Evil and the Justice of God

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2006
  • Pages: 128

This is a fascinating analysis and response to the fundamental questions that face any believer today. Sadly becoming daily more topical, this book explores all aspects of evil–our contemporary and theological understanding, and the ways in which evil presents itself in society today. Fully grounded in the Bible, Evil and the Justice of God is sparkling, erudite, provocative and particularly relevant in the wake of new global terror attacks.

Accounts of cruelty, death and terrorism hit us every day. The phrase ‘the axis of evil’ resonates in our world, and evil seems to seep into all aspects of life. We are forced to ask fundamental questions about God and the nature of evil, which demand a theological resolution that is mature, profound and never glib.

N.T. Wright explores these pivotal questions with a fresh and engaging approach, combining the virtues of detailed scholarship with an accessible style. He neither ducks the awkward, nor avoids the unpalatable, but instead offers a new, often surprising perspective in his search for a meaningful response to the problem of evil.

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Faith Thinking: The Dynamics of Christian Theology

  • Author: Trevor Hart
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 1995
  • Pages: 208

Faith Thinking is a compelling exploration of where theology stands in the contemporary postmodern intellectual context. Eschewing both rigid objectivism and sheer relativism, Trevor Hart cuts a middle course towards a fresh theological paradigm capable of defending itself as an academic discipline. Faith Thinking is an invaluable resource for those struggling to understand the relationship between faith and understanding in the practice of theology.

Hart draws from philosophy, history, and literary criticism in his construction of a relevant theology for the postmodern world. In dialogue with Alasdair MacIntyre, Michael Polanyi, and other influential thinkers, Hart examines what challenges and buttresses current intellectual trends have to offer theology.

Throughout Faith Thinking, Hart heeds the necessity to present theology as clearly as possible. Though cultivated in a university setting, Hart’s definitions and explanations maintain a comprehensibility that allows theologians at any level access to these important ideas. Faith Thinking’s powerful distillation of the complex world of theology after postmodernity will prove an important addition to any theological library.

There are few more important questions for theology today than that of its own character and status. In this important and wide-ranging book, Trevor Hart articulates and defends a robust thesis about its respectability, integrity and independence.

—Colin Gunton

Faith Thinking is a lively, provocative and most welcome book … contending for a dynamic way of doing theology that abandons neither thinking nor the life of the believing community.

—Richard Holloway

I know of no better current introduction to the study of theology than Hart’s lucid, meaty and appetizing book.

—Stephen Sykes

One of the most important books to have been published this year.

—Expository Times

Professor Trevor Hart, currently at the University of St. Andrews, teaches and publishes in Christian doctrine and systematic theology. He is the author of a number of books, including The Waiting Father: Thomas Erskine of Linlathen, Justice the True and Only Mercy: Essays on the Life and Theology of Peter Taylor Forsyth, Hope Against Hope: Christian Eschatology in Contemporary Context, Regarding Karl Barth: Toward a Reading of His Theology, and is General Editor of the Dictionary of Historical Theology.

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Faith, Science, and Understanding

  • Author: John Polkinghorne
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2000
  • Pages: 128

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In Faith, Science, and Understanding, one of the most highly regarded scientist-theologians of our time explores the interaction of science and theology. John Polkinghorne discusses the role of revelation in religion as a legitimate record of experience and not the communication of unchallengeable propositions. He discusses how to reconcile theology’s belief in a God who is active in creation with what science says about the processes of the universe. The author examines two related concepts in depth: the first is divine self-limitation in creation, which leads to an important reappraisal, and the other is the nature of time and God’s involvement with it, an issue that Polkinghorne shows can closely link recent developments in science and theology. In the final section of the book, the author provides a brief overview of the science and theology debate and assesses the work of major contemporary contributors to the discussion: Wolfhart Pannenberg, Thomas Torrance, and Paul Davies.

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Following Jesus: Biblical Reflection on Christian Discipleship

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Publisher: Eerdmans
  • Publication Date: 1994
  • Pages: 112

The twelve exhilarating meditations in this volume explore what it truly means to follow Jesus today. Part one outlines the essential messages of six major New Testament books—Hebrews, Colossians, Matthew, John, Mark, and Revelation. Part two examines six key New Testament themes—resurrection, rebirth, temptation, hell, heaven, and new life—and considers their significance for the lives of present-day disciples.

Encouraging, startling, unnerving—but always inviting…. The richly biblical fruit of much working through of “the meaning of the life and death of Jesus and the gift to his people of the Spirit” in the modern world…. Tom Wright offers insights valuable to Christians across the spectrum between literalism and mere metaphor in their view of Scripture.

—Anglican Journal

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For All God’s Worth

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 1997
  • Pages: 144

In this book, the author sets out to consider what is the appropriate approach to God, from a variety of real life and biblical starting points. He believes it is a question of recognizing God’s worth and worth-ship, which the origin of the word ‘worship’. It simply means giving God what He is worth.

All Christians worship God, but many do not fully understand what “worship” means. For All God’s Worth is an insightful exploration of both the meaning and the results of worship. Part 1 focuses on God and on what worshiping God actually means. Part 2 addresses a range of church-related issues that arise from the activity of worship. Based firmly on sensitive and creative readings of the biblical text, For All God’s Worth is an inspiring call for renewal in the worship and witness of today’s church. N.T. Wright is a New Testament theologian of international standing, a committed Christian, and (as For All God’s Worth clearly demonstrates) an outstanding communicator.

—Midwest Book Review

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For All the Saints? Remembering the Christian Departed

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2004
  • Pages: 76

“We have been drifting into a muddle and a mess, putting together bits and pieces of traditions, ideas and practices in the hope that they will make sense. They don’t. There may be times when a typical Anglican fudge is a pleasant, chewy sort of thing, but this isn’t one of them. It’s time to think and speak clearly and act decisively.” With these robust words Tom Wright, Bishop of Durham, throws down a challenge to current liturgy and practice surrounding All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days, and sets out to clarify our thinking about what happens to people after they die. Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory, what it means to pray for the dead, what (and who) are the saints, are all addressed in this invigorating and rigorously argued book.

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Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Biblical and Theological Essays

  • Author: C.F.D. Moule
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 1998
  • Pages: 256

C.F.D. Moule, great-nephew of theologian H.C.G. Moule, was a twentieth century Anglican priest, theologian, and author that brings us thirteen essays on New Testament doctrine in Forgiveness and Reconciliation: Biblical and Theological Essays. Dividing the essays into six subjects—The Theology of Forgiveness, Christology, The Holy Spirit, The Eucharist, Jesus-Traditions, and The Authority of Scriptures—Moule takes the reader on a journey into some of the most important New Testament doctrinal topics. His thought-provoking words and biblical wisdom will encourage and inspire pastors, professors, students, and laity alike.

Including historical facts, Greek word studies, literary references, and a wealth of scriptural knowledge, these well-informed essays are a compilation of articles that Moule published throughout his life in various sources, including the Epworth Review, the Church Quarterly, and the Reformed Theological Review. His desire in publishing the thirteen articles as a collection was to assist in answering New Testament doctrinal questions that he kept hearing, and the publishing of this 256-page volume occured in 1998, only nine years before Moule’s death.

Charles Francis Digby Moule, known professionally as C.F.D. Moule, was born in 1908 in China to missionary parents. English by heritage, his family returned to their native country when WWI started. It was there he completed his studies at Weymouth College and Cambridge, after which point he became an Anglican priest. Serving as both a priest and a dean at Cambridge, Moule was also a prolific author. His two best-known books are entitled The Birth of the New Testament and The Origin of Christology, published in 1962 and 1977 respectively. Moule never married, and died in 2007 at the age of 98.

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Four Gospels, One Jesus? A Symbolic Reading, 2nd ed.

  • Author: Richard Burridge
  • Edition: 2nd
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2005
  • Pages: 224

Four Gospels, One Jesus? introduces Jesus through the four Gospel authors’ portraits of him. Burridge gives a clear interpretation of each author’s depiction of Jesus and compares the Gospels with classical biographies. He also uses symbols to represent each image of Jesus which include a human face, lion, ox, and eagle.

The text of this new edition has been updated to include developments in New Testament scholarship since the publication of the first edition. Connections with the films of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, and also the Revised Common Lectionary, have been added.

Here is an introduction to the gospels which, because it combines so well prayer and worship and scholarship, has a vitality and freshness about it which I find immensely appealing. Richard Burridge’s ‘symbolic reading’ allows the four evangelists to tell their stories, respecting their individuality and differences, thus introducing the reader to both the fact and the mystery of the incarnate Lord.

—David Hope, former Arch-bishop of York

Novices and old hands alike will read the gospels with new eyes. Four Gospels, One Jesus? is a considerable achievement: scholarly yet accessible.

—Graham Stanton, Lady Margaret’s Professor of Divinity, University of Cambridge

Richard A. Burridge is dean of King’s College, London. His major study, What are the Gospels? A Comparison with Graeco-Roman Biography has been widely acclaimed as a breakthrough in Gospel criticism.

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From Physicist to Priest: An Autobiography

  • Author: John Polkinghorne
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2007
  • Pages: 182

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From Physicist to Priest is an autobiography from well-known author, John Polkinghorne, with a unique perspective arising from his roles as both a theologian and a physicist. It tells the story of his journeys into both disciplines from a human angle, including the formative experiences and key relationships he experienced as a child, an undergraduate, graduate, and beyond into university teaching, priesthood, and writing. He describes his developing thoughts and understanding of the value and interdependence of each of the major disciplines and, by so doing, brings a human touch to the big questions that each approach raises.

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Introducing Eastern Orthodox Theology

  • Author: Andrew Louth
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2013
  • Pages: 192

The Eastern Orthodox Church is the second largest church in the world, with 300 million members. Formally splitting from the Catholic Church in 1054, through the centuries the Eastern tradition grew more distinct. In this introductory volume, Andrew Louth surveys the rich tradition of the Eastern Church. Accessible to the newcomer and helpful to the faithful, Louth’s work is a valuable addition to the library of any Christian.

This is an exceptional introduction to Orthodoxy. Instead of presenting a summary of church history, teachings and practices, Andrew Louth grounds his account of the Church and her theology in the encounter with God in liturgy and prayer, expounding historical controversies and theological themes as they arise out of that encounter. The result is both personal and profound, inviting readers to explore and experience for themselves the mystery of God in Christ.

—John Behr, dean and professor of patristics, St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary

Andrew Louth has produced a humane, wise and very accessible introduction to the teaching and practice of Eastern Orthodoxy. He explains difficult doctrines in such a way that they make sense, and places a particular emphasis on prayer and worship. This is a truly excellent introduction, full of memorable passages, and ideal for anyone who has wondered about Orthodoxy and wishes to have its main features explained.

—Averil Cameron, professor of late antique and Byzantine history, University of Oxford

Andrew Louth brings a lifetime of superior patristic scholarship to this volume, but casts aside all the usual academic cares to offer us a direct, personal vision of Orthodoxy as he knows and loves it. Central to the endeavor is the crucible of prayer: this is the touchstone for everything he wants to commend in the tradition he has embraced as his own.

—Sarah Coakley, Norris-Hulse Professor of Divinity, University of Cambridge

Andrew Louth is professor emeritus of patristic and Byzantine studies at Durham University and a priest of the Russian Orthodox diocese of Sourozh, serving the parish in Durham. He earned his MA from Cambridge, his MTh from the University of Edinburgh, and his DD from Oxford.

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Introducing Science and Religion: A Path through Polemic

  • Author: Gillian K. Straine
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2014
  • Pages: 168

This useful book offers a toolkit for those who believe in God and science, and have a desire to hold them together with integrity. Examining the history of the interaction between science and religion, Gillian Straine looks at biblical and theological ideas and the key areas of science, such as the origin of the universe, evolution, and human consciousness. In this way, she equips readers to decide which path they will take through these crucial debates. Such paths offer ways of balancing both a serious and nuanced understanding of science with a lively, rational, and questioning faith in God that takes the Bible seriously.

The science and religion debate is one of the most significant conversations going on in contemporary society. Gillian Straine has laid out the grammar of this conversation with remarkable clarity, enabling any of us to understand and engage with the issues at stake. We need interpreters of science and followers or religion who have good minds, a love of the language and an ability to speak fluently. Gillian Straine is all of these. We sit at the feet of a true linguist.

—John Pritchard, bishop, Oxford

Gillian K. Straine was born and raised in Aberdeen. She completed a bachelor of science in Physics at Imperial College London in 2000. Her doctoral research explored the radiative properties of the atmosphere and involved flying in planes around storm systems. Having worked in various roles in London churches, she trained for the priesthood, studying theology at Oxford University, before serving her curacy in the Oxford Diocese. Gillian currently lives in London with her family, working as priest without portfolio, writing on science and theology.

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Jesus and Scripture

  • Author: Steve Moyise
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2010
  • Pages: 160

Steve Moyise offers an illuminating yet accessible guide to the various ways that Jesus employed Scripture, both in his teaching and in his understanding of his ministry.

After analyzing the scriptural quotations and allusions in the four canonical Gospels, Moyise examines the views of a range of key scholars—Borg, Crossan, Dunn, France, Kimball, Vermes, and Wright—and shows how their differing reconstructions of Jesus’ use of Scripture inform their understanding of his historical impact and significance.

Steve Moyise is professor of New Testament at the University of Chichester. He is an international authority on the use of the Old Testament in the New Testament.

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Jesus and the Earth

  • Author: James Jones
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2003
  • Pages: 112

In Jesus and the Earth, Bishop of Liverpool James Jones explains what Jesus has to teach us about respect for the creation and the environment. He argues clearly and passionately that Jesus is the savior not only of humanity, but also the savior of the planet and of the whole cosmos, which came into being through Him and for Him. In Jones’ words, “to desecrate the earth is not just a crime against the earth and future generations, which it is. To desecrate the earth is a blasphemy. It is to defile Christ’s own gifts.” A series of questions is provided at the end of each chapter to stimulate personal reflection and group discussion. At the end of the book there are also practical guidelines on how churches and individuals might become more environmentally responsible.

What was Jesus’ attitude to the earth? What, if anything, did He say about the environment? Is there a divine “earth-ethic” to be found in the Gospels? As the ecological threats to the earth multiply and intensify, Christians are turning to the pages of the Old Testament for guidance on environmental ethics. But is wisdom about this critical issue to be found only there?

James Jones, Bishop of Liverpool, set out to discover if his own concern for creation found any sympathy in the teaching and example of Jesus. Jesus and the Earth is the result of his search. It had the honor of being the Anglican Church’s 2004 Lent Study Book.

I very much hope that this timely and insightful book from James Jones will inspire many individual Christians and the Church as a whole to be far more ‘militant’ in defence of God’s earth.

—Jonathan Porritt, Forum for the Future

James Jones’ book has introduced a breath of fresh air into our traditional understanding of the Gospel; he has shown that ‘God’s will’ continues to be revealed, through His word to an enlightened generation, to those willing to listen and learn. To know more, you must read Jesus and the Earth.

—Christian Vegetarian Association of the UK

It’s not everyday that a Bishop admits to a new conversion experience! In this remarkable little book, James Jones… writes about his “ecological conversion” as a result of re-reading the Gospels. He examines in detail the seven occasions when Jesus speaks of himself as the Son of Man (literally ‘son of one made from the soil’) at the same time as speaking of the earth… As a prominent evangelical, Bishop James states firmly that God’s Kingdom is about far more than ‘saving souls’ and includes a ‘peace on earth’ that has profound ecological dimensions. There is much more in this book to provoke thought and action - read it and be converted.

—A. Rocha

This is an interesting and thought provoking book that makes the case that we have a God given responsibility to care for the earth that He gave for our use… This book touches on many subjects such as centralization of the church rather than Christians connecting with their local communities, the ‘earthiness’ of Jesus’ ministry, and end time theology… This book would be useful for anyone interested in what God might have to say about environmental issues.

—Together for the Harvest

The Rt. Rev. James Jones is the current Bishop of Liverpool, having taken the position in 1998 after serving as Bishop of Hull since 1994. He has written a number of books and lectures widely. He also regularly broadcasts on Thought for the Day. His extensive environmental efforts include chairing the City Academy, the first Academy to take the environment as its field of specialization; and setting up Operation EDEN, an organization working across faith communities to engage local people in the holistic transformation of their local environment.

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Jesus and the Land: How the New Testament Transformed ‘Holy Land’ Theology

  • Author: Gary M. Burge
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2010
  • Pages: 176

Jesus and the Land will help Christians to form a biblical view about modern-day claims to the land in Israel-Palestine. Examining what the New Testament says about the idea of land being ‘holy,’ this guide is accessible and non-technical.

Burge’s book has important consequences for Christian belief and behavior. I warmly commend this thorough and scholarly but nevertheless clearly and simply written presentation.

—I. Howard Marshall, professor, University of Aberdeen

Gary M. Burge is professor of New Testament at Wheaton College and Graduate School in Chicago, Illinois. He is active as a speaker and a writer evaluating Christian Zionism within the evangelical world.

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Jesus the Temple

  • Author: Nicholas Perrin
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2010
  • Pages: 272

This book gives readers a fresh understanding of the life, ministry, and teachings of Jesus. It helps to narrow the gap between ‘the historical Jesus’ and ‘the Christ of faith’.

Nicholas Perrin’s latest book takes a fresh look at the concept of Jesus as temple. To do this, he reviews Jesus’ relationship to the Jerusalem temple, the early Christian community’s idea that Jesus is the new temple, of which his followers are a part, and how this idea may well be rooted in the teaching of Jesus himself. There is little in the book that is conventional, and readers will be surprised again and again by Perrin’s creative insights and control of both primary and secondary literatures. This is a significant advance in an important area of study.

—Craig A. Evans, Payzant Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Acadia Divinity College

This is one of the few scholarly books in my memory that can turn a phrase with literary allusions ranging from Albert Schweitzer to Bob Dylan. Delightful reading and worthy of careful appraisal.

—Jeannine K. Brown, associate professor of New Testament, Bethel Seminary

Nicholas Perrin is associate professor of New Testament at Wheaton College Graduate School, Illinois. Formerly research assistant to N.T. Wright, he has taught at Biblical Seminary (Hatfield, PA) and served as senior pastor at the International Presbyterian Church in London.

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Judas and the Gospel of Jesus

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Publication Date: 2006
  • Pages: 160

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

What does the Gospel of Judas really tell us?

Joining other recently found and publicized “gospels,” the Gospel of Judas has found its way into the limelight. The ancient manuscript appears to be genuine—so what are we to make of the claims therein? Claims such as:

  • Judas was doing what Jesus asked him to do when he betrayed Jesus
  • Jesus came to offer secret knowledge of how to escape this earthly world, rather than to usher in God’s kingdom on earth
  • Jesus felt no pain on the cross
  • and more

This timely response to the Gospel of Judas is the authoritative, orthodox word on what the Gospel of Judas really tells us—and does not tell us—about Jesus, Judas, early Christianity, and Gnosticism. N. T. Wright, as both a bishop and a historian, is uniquely qualified to speak on the subject. In Judas and the Gospel of Jesus, he clearly and fairly answers your questions about this “new gospel.”

N. T. Wright is the bishop of Durham in the Church of England. Recently named by Christianity Today as one of the top five theologians in the world, Wright has taught New Testament studies for twenty years at Cambridge, Oxford, and McGill universities. He is the author of The Original Jesus, What Saint Paul Really Said, and The Challenge of Jesus.

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Justification: God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2009
  • Pages: 244

In what has become known as the New Perspective on Paul, Tom Wright has proposed a vision of the apostle’s central message that does full justice to all Paul’s letters. In particular, he focuses on the God-centered nature of Paul’s gospel, arguing that “traditional” readings of Paul can suggest that the apostle’s message is simply about us: our sin, our justification, our salvation.

Ambitious in scope, yet closely argued, Justification: God’s Plan and Paul’s Vision suggests that this crucial understanding of the theology of St. Paul, and thus of the gospel of Christ, is urgently needed as the church faces the tasks of mission in a dangerous world.

This is definitely one of the most exciting and significant books that I have read this year. Like all of the author’s work, I found it hard to set down once I had started to read it. Strongly commended!

—I. Howard Marshall, honorary research professor of New Testament, University of Aberdeen

N.T. Wright provides yet again another fresh and exciting exposition of the Apostle Paul. Here Wright shows how Paul proclaimed justification by faith as part of the Bible’s theodramatic story of salvation . . . Wright responds to many criticisms including those of John Piper and, regardless of whether one gravitates towards Wright’s or Piper’s unpacking of Paul, you cannot help but enjoy the sparks that fly when these two great modern pastor-scholars cross swords over the apostle.

—Michael F. Bird, lecturer in New Testament, Highland Theological College

Like Paul himself writing to the Galatians, Bishop Tom expounds and defends in this book his interpretation of the apostle’s teaching on justification with passion and power. At the same time, he seeks to move beyond divisive categories so that Paul can speak from within his own context and thereby to us in ours. The result is an extraordinary synthesis that should be read by the sympathetic, the suspicious, and everyone else.

—Michael J. Gorman, The Ecumenical Institute of Theology, St. Mary’s Seminary & University

For some time now, I have watched in puzzlement as some critics, imagining themselves as defenders of Paul’s gospel, have derided Tom Wright as a dangerous betrayer of the Christian faith. In fact, Paul’s gospel of God’s reconciling, world-transforming grace has no more ardent and eloquent exponent in our time than Tom Wright. If his detractors read this book carefully, they will find themselves engaged in close exegesis of Paul’s letters, and they will be challenged to join Wright in grappling with the deepest logic of Paul’s message. Beyond slogans and caricatures of ‘Lutheran readings’ and ‘the New Perspective,’ the task we all face is to interpret these difficult, theologically generative letters afresh for our time. Wright’s sweeping, incisive sketch of Paul’s thought, set forward in this book, will help us all in that task.

—Richard B. Hays, George Washington Ivey Professor of New Testament, The Divinity School, Duke University

I find it quite stunning that a book dealing with the subject of justification could be this compelling a read—along the way you find yourself getting caught up in the momentum and energy of the book, which pulls you into the momentum and energy of The Book—which is, of course, Tom’s point.

—Rob Bell, founding pastor, Mars Hill Bible Church

This is a sharply polemical book, and N.T. Wright occasionally rises to Pauline heights of exasperation at his opponents. At bottom, though, it is about Pauline basics—about Abraham and Israel, eschatology and covenant, courtroom and Christology. With debates about perspectives old and new swirling around him like a cyclone, Wright does what he always does—he leads us carefully through the text. Some will doubtless remain skeptical about the Copernican revolution Wright proposes, but we are all indebted to him for reminding us once again of the breadth of the gospel of God and the majesty of the God of the gospel.

—Peter Leithart, senior fellow of theology and literature, New Saint Andrews College

Frank theological table talk is sometimes a necessary endeavor. Tom Wright’s Justification is his substantive reply to critical work by many, including John Piper, on the New Perspective. Wright correctly reminds us that this approach should be better called New or Fresh Perspectives. The goal is to open up the text connecting what it originally said in the first century, not change it. This book sets up a meaningful and significant conversation between the camps in this debate through its direct interaction with the critique. It should be read and reflected on, just as work on the other side should be. . . . In the dialogue, all of us will learn more about what Paul and Scripture say about justification (and a few other things as well).

—Darrell Bock, research professor of New Testament studies, Dallas Theological Seminary

Wright is a joy to read; he uses clear analogies, interacts with the reader, has ‘Paul-like’ anticipation of counter claims, and provides timely reminders of where we are in the argument.

—Christianity Magazine

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Lord and Saviour: Jesus of Nazareth

  • Author: Alister McGrath
  • Series: Christian Belief for Everyone
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2014
  • Pages: 128

In Lord and Saviour: Jesus of Nazareth, the third volume of the Christian Belief for Everyone series, we have the joy of encountering the enigmatic but highly charismatic figure of Jesus of Nazareth. Here is someone who entirely understands what it’s like to live in our glorious, chaotic, suffering world. Alister McGrath explores how we can grow in relationship with a person who is both fully human and fully divine. McGrath then goes on to illustrate how the story of Jesus links up to other important biblical narratives, such as God’s creation of the world and calling of the people of Israel.

Alister McGrath is professor of theology, ministry, and education, and head of the center for theology, religion, and culture at King’s College, London. He is a prolific author noted for his ability to explore and express complex ideas in simple terms. His three most recent books are Mere Apologetics, Heresy, and (with Joanna Collicutt McGrath) the international bestseller, The Dawkins Delusion?

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Meet Paul: An Encounter with the Apostle

  • Author: Donald Coggan
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 1998
  • Pages: 124

Coggan invites us to meet the man who has significantly influenced the development of Christianity over the last two millennia. This introduction, however, is not to the grim and pedantic figure of popular stereotype, but to a complex person, passionate, affectionate, and very human. The author reveals the crucial significance of the apostle’s favorite phrase—“in Christ”—and illuminates the many facets of his personality and teaching.

This work makes Paul alive, in Christ, and supremely relevant for both the world and the church of today.

—David Hope, from the foreword

Donald Coggan (1909–2000) was archbishop of York from 1961 to 1974 and of Canterbury from 1974 to 1980. He was educated at Merchant Taylor’s School and St. John’s College. He lectured in Semitic languages at the University of Manchester; was professor of New Testament at Wycliffe College in Toronto; and principal of London College of Divinity. He founded the Lord Coggan Memorial Fund which helped to supply Russian children with copies of the Bible. He is the author of The Voice from the Cross and The Servant-Son: Jesus Then and Now.

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Meeting God in Mark

  • Author: Rowan Williams
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2014
  • Pages: 95

Meeting God in Mark is the ideal book for Lent groups, as well as for private devotional reading at any time of year. Rowan Williams explores the essential meaning and purpose of St. Mark’s Gospel for complete beginners—as well as for those who’ve read the Gospel many times before and want to see it in a fresh light.

Written at a highly accessible level and packed with illuminating spiritual insights, this book is perfect for anyone thinking about confirmation, while also appealing to people who may simply be curious about Jesus and the Gospels and want to learn more about his significance.

I thought I knew Mark’s Gospel but Rowan Williams has opened my eyes to see what I had not seen, and to no longer see what I believed I had seen. The Gospel of Mark is a fascinating text, inviting readers to understand Jesus in relation to themselves and themselves in relation to God. This book is a convincing interpretation and a deep meditation.

—Jürgen Moltmann, professor emeritus of systematic theology, University of Tübingen

In this short and very readable book, Rowan Williams has succeeded in conveying the essence of Mark’s Gospel. While he deals with the technical questions of origin and authorship, his main concern is with the way in which the Evangelist invites his readers into a relationship of trust with one who brings us into the transfiguring presence of God. There could be no better introduction to this enigmatic but profound Gospel.

—Morna D. Hooker, Lady Margaret’s Professor of Divinity Emerita, University of Cambridge

This wonderful book shows how Mark’s beautiful and subtle Gospel still challenges our understanding of God, and of how God works in our lives. It is an original work and so will be of interest to scholars, but it is written in a clear and vivid style that makes it accessible to everyone. I could not put it down.

—Timothy Radcliffe, director, Las Casas Institute, Blackfriars, Oxford

Born in 1950, Rowan Williams was educated in Swansea (Wales) and Cambridge. He studied for his theology doctorate in Oxford, after which he taught theology in a seminary near Leeds. From 1977 until 1986, he was engaged in academic and parish work in Cambridge, before returning to Oxford as Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity. In 1990, he became a fellow of the British Academy.

In 1992, Professor Williams became Bishop of Monmouth, and in 1999 he was elected as Archbishop of Wales. He became Archbishop of Canterbury in late 2002 with 10 years’ experience as a diocesan bishop and three as a primate in the Anglican Communion. As archbishop, his main responsibilities were pastoral—whether leading his own diocese of Canterbury and the Church of England, or guiding the Anglican Communion worldwide. At the end of 2012, after 10 years as archbishop, he stepped down and moved to a new role as Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge.

Professor Williams is acknowledged internationally as an outstanding theological writer and teacher as well as an accomplished poet and translator. His interests include music, fiction, and languages.

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Models for Youth Ministry: Learning from the Life of Christ

  • Author: Steve Griffiths
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2013
  • Pages: 144

In Models for Youth Ministry, long-time youth minister Steve Griffiths uses the life and ministry of Christ to provide new models for youth ministry. Griffiths argues that thinking about youth ministry has become fossilized because youth workers rely too heavily on the notion of “incarnational,” or relational ministry, leading people to believe they must spend huge amounts of time with young people in order to earn the right to share the gospel. But, as Griffiths points out, this approach is impractical and does not mirror how Jesus himself operated. Griffith proposes a different approach, based on the model of Christ. He provides a text that is rich with theological insight and practical wisdom, laying a new foundation for biblical, fruitful, and relevant youth ministry. Models for Youth Ministry is an accessible guide to rethinking youth ministry for experienced youth workers and newcomers alike. Each chapter also includes study questions, great for group study or personal reflection.

A controversial, important, and much-needed book. . . . No one working with young people can afford to ignore it.

—Pete Ward, professor of theology and ministry, King’s College, London

In proposing a kairos-based Christological-ministry, Steve Griffiths offers a theologically rooted approach to work with young people which offers greater depth and insight than the more narrowly focused incarnational models. Grounded in both theology and practice, this book is essential reading for those wanting to be more Christlike in their ministry.

—Sally Nash, director, Midlands Centre for Youth Ministry

I am grateful to Steve for writing this provocative, scholarly, and practically informed contribution to the field of youth ministry. Steve reclaims the essence of ministering among young people through a considered exploration of the life of Christ, unravelling the misconceptions that can lead to an incomplete presentation of the gospel message. He challenges us to go beyond the limitations of relational youth ministry and to embrace ‘kairos moments’ that flow from the youth minister’s spiritual discipline. This should be essential reading for all youth ministry students and it provides a timely wake-up call to the seasoned youth minister.

—Paul Fenton, principal, Oasis College of Higher Education, London

This book takes theological thinking on youth ministry forward in leaps and bounds. It offers a clear challenge that a Christlike ministry starts with us becoming Christlike. This book will stretch your thinking on youth ministry and inspire your practice.

—Nick Shepherd, CEO, Centre for Youth Ministry

Steve Griffiths is rector of the Linton Team Ministry, Cambridge. He has specialized in youth ministry throughout his ministerial career and was director of the Centre for Youth Ministry at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, from 2005 to 2009. He writes a regular column, “Saints and Martyrs,” for Youthwork magazine. He was chair of the International Association for the Study of Youth Ministry from 2001 to 2009 and was a founding editor of the International Journal of Youth and Theology. He has provided extensive training for youth workers in the UK, USA, Scandinavia, Europe, and South Africa, and is a regular speaker at conferences. He is also the author of God in the Valley: A Journey through Grief, Redeem the Time, and a number of academic and popular articles on youth ministry.

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One World: Interaction of Science and Theology

  • Author: John Polkinghorne
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 1986
  • Pages: 152

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

One World introduces issues in science and religion that Dr. Polkinghorne subsequently continues in Science and Providence and Science and Creation.

Both science and religion explore aspects of reality, providing “a basis for their mutual interaction as they present their different perspectives onto the one world of existent reality,” Polkinghorne argues. In One World he develops his thesis through an examination of the nature of science, the nature of the physical world, the character of theology, and the modes of thought in science and theology. He identifies “points of interaction” and points of potential conflict between science and religion. Along the way, he discusses creation, determinism, prayer, miracles, and future life, and he explains his rejection of scientific reductionism and his defense of natural theology.

Science does not have an absolute superiority over other forms of knowledge, nor does religion have all the answers. Both are searching for “the truth.” Both explore the universe as it is and submit to the evidence before them. And both must be open to continual correction. We live in one world. Polkinghorne’s insights continue to illuminate it as a world in which science and religion can stimulate and benefit each other.

Why do I regard this book as so important? Primarily because it makes sense of the scientific enterprise and the pursuit of theology, and in doing so it makes sense of the universe. . . . For arguing this so persuasively and with clarity and caution we owe him grateful thanks.

—The Expository Times

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Pastoral Ethics

  • Author: David Atkinson
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 1994
  • Pages: 239

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Pastoral Ethics offers clear and practical guidance on the ethical and theological dimensions of the dilemmas to be faced in counseling situations. The volume covers 20 major contemporary issues including marriage, family, forgiveness, divorce, business, power, science, health, bereavement, sexuality and the environment. Ministry to the morally confused is a vital part of the work of Christian pastors and counselors. So many difficult ethical issues crowd in on us in daily life that we need a resource to point up biblical, practical ways to understand and interpret. Pastoral Ethics is such a resource. David Atkinson presents a treatment of today’s central ethical questions with a focus on how they affect day-to-day life. The stress here is on practical application rather than abstract moral philosophy. The work’s strength lies in its combination of biblical and practical approaches. Pastoral Ethics will be an invaluable aid for any ministry.

Good biblical theology, clear ethical thinking and sensitive pastoral application.

—Melvin Tinker, chairman, Yorkshire Gospel Partnership

His sensitivity rebukes brash, uncaring solutions; his sheer depth and power of ethical penetration takes us beyond the quick answers.

—Alec Moyter, vice principal, Clifton Theological College

An attractive mix of a biblically based faith, which is willing to question, with an emphasis on acceptance and not judgment.

—Edward Condry, former Canon Treasurer, Canterbury Cathedral

David Atkinson was for some years chaplain and fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He is now Canon Theologian of Southwark Cathedral and Diocesan Missioner of Southwark Diocese, in London.

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Paul and His Recent Interpreters

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Publisher: Fortress Press
  • Publication Date: 2014
  • Pages: 384

This companion volume to N.T. Wright’s Paul and the Faithfulness of God and Pauline Perspectives is essential reading for all with a serious interest in Paul, the interpretation of his letters, his appropriation by subsequent thinkers, and his continuing significance today. In the course of his masterly survey, Wright asks searching questions of all of the major contributors to Pauline studies since the Enlightenment.

The sweep of Wright’s project as a whole is breathtaking. It is impossible to give a fair assessment of his achievement without sounding grandiose: no New Testament scholar since Bultmann has even attempted—let alone achieved—such an innovative and comprehensive account of New Testament history and theology.

—Richard B. Hays, George Washington Ivey Professor of New Testament, Duke Divinity School

Eminently accessible to students, scholars will find it interesting and provocative. It deserves a place of privilege on the bookshelf of any serious student of the New Testament.

—Jack Dean Kingsbury, Union Presbyterian Seminary

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Paul: Fresh Perspectives

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2005
  • Pages: 192

N.T. Wright, Bishop of Durham, scholar and writer of distinction, turns his attention and considerable enthusiasm to the writings of Paul of Tarsus, whom he considers to be the intellectual equivalent of Plato, Aristotle or Seneca. He captures and reveals illuminating details from Paul’s unique Judaic, Hellenistic and Roman heritage, allowing a rounded picture to emerge of an integrated philosophy–a unique, Christian theology.

Paul: Fresh Perspectives combines the virtues of detailed scholarship with an accessible style and a passion for exploring the message of Paul. The book is based on the prestigious Hulsean Lectures given by the author in Cambridge in spring 2005.

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Pauline Perspectives: Essays on Paul 1978–2013

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Publisher: Fortress Press
  • Publication Date: 2013
  • Pages: 864

This companion volume to Paul and the Faithfulness of God and Paul and His Recent Interpreters brings together N.T. Wright’s most important articles on Paul and his letters over the last three decades. The book begins with Wright’s auspicious essay of 1978, when as a young, aspiring scholar, he gave the annual Tyndale lecture in Cambridge, and proposed, for the first time, “a new perspective” on Pauline theology. The book ends with an expanded version of a paper he gave in Leuven in 2012, when as a seasoned scholar at the height of his powers, he explored the foundational role of Abraham in Romans and Galatians. In all, the 33 articles published here provide a rich feast for all students of Paul, both seasoned and aspiring. Each one will amply reward those looking for detailed, incisive, and exquisitely nuanced exegesis, resulting in a clearer, deeper, and more informed appreciation of Paul’s great theological achievement.

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People of the Spirit: Exploring Luke’s View of the Church

  • Author: Graham Twelftree
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2009
  • Pages: 288

People of the Spirit examines Luke’s understanding of the Church as found in both his Gospel and the Book of Acts. Topics such as Luke’s view of salvation, worship of Jesus amongst the first Christians, Pentecost, mission and the structure of the early church are examined in order to challenge the contemporary church to remain true to the Gospel.

Graham Twelftree teaches New Testament in the Ph.D. and Masters levels. He is a member of the international Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas and the editorial board of the Journal for the Study of the Historical Jesus.

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Preaching Like a Woman

  • Author: Susan Durber
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2007
  • Pages: 192

Here is a book that will encourage and empower women preachers to preach as women, as feminist theologians and as those who will make a difference to the Church. It provides a step-by-step guide to approaching the Bible from a feminist standpoint with suggestions for how to develop your own voice as a preacher.

Susan Durber gives advice on how to preach the lectionary, on how to find new angles on well-known texts and on how to challenge and recast well-established interpretations. To show how the theory works in practice she includes sample sermons from her own preaching. The book will inspire reluctant and tired preachers to seize an important challenge with new energy.

This is a book which every woman preacher will value highly and from which every male preacher will learn a great deal. It succeeds in being at once fresh and sane, scholarly and lucid. Contrary to much contemporary opinion, Susan Durber still believes passionately in the preaching ministry and shows how women can use the text in a way that is both biblical and authentic. She also shows how it is possible to preach without the anti-Judaism that continues to disfigure far too many sermons. I highly recommend this book both for its general themes and the actual examples of sermons preached, which can also be useful for personal meditation.

—Richard Harries, retired bishop of Oxford

Susan Durber is a minister of St. Columba’s United Reformed Church, Oxford and joint Reformed chaplain to the University of Oxford. She was the coeditor, with Heather Walton, of Silence in Heaven: A Book of Women’s Preaching and lectures and writes regularly at the College of Preachers. Her PhD, from the University of Manchester, was on the parables of Jesus. She was major contributor to the URC’s most recent book of worship and is a member of the Faith and Order Standing Commission of the World Council of Churches. She enjoys singing, exploring historic houses and art galleries, and meeting new friends for dinner. She has a beautiful daughter, Grace.

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Quarks, Chaos and Christianity: Questions to Science and Religion

  • Author: John Polkinghorne
  • Edition: 2nd
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2005
  • Pages: 98

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Is science fact and religion just opinion? Is there the mind of a creator behind the universe? Can a scientist pray?

John Polkinghorne has spent many years considering and writing about such questions, and now distills that insight and experience into a clear, lively and frank set of answers to these fundamental issues.

This new edition has been fully revised in the light of recent developments in scientific research, and provides a valuable entry point into this fascinating area and to the thought of this key thinker and theologian.

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Reason and Reality: The Relationship between Science and Theology

  • Author: John Polkinghorne
  • Series: SPCK Classics
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2011
  • Pages: 119

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Written by perhaps the world’s foremost authority on the relationship between science and theology, Reason and Reality brings together essays in which John Polkinghorne pursues more deeply themes touched on in his earlier works.

The result is a deeply satisfying interpretation of the nature and scope of human knowledge, the extent and limits of science, and the proper place of theology as what Polkinghorne calls science’s “cousin under the skin.”

Polkinghorne impresses with a rare combination of theological sensitivity and technical grasp of the scientific and metascientific issues involved.

—Publisher’s Weekly

Perhaps the core achievement of the book is its demonstration of how both science and theology, despite postmodernist skepticism to the contrary, are fundamentally rational in character. Substantial and significant.

—Christian Marketplace

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Reimagining Discipleship: Loving the Local Community

  • Author: Robert Cotton
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2012
  • Pages: 160

Following an encounter with an African bishop, who believed all who lived in his diocese (and not only congregations and clergy) should be loved and cared for, Robert Cotton became convinced that Christian disciples in this country need to be assured that they have something vital to communicate to the well-being of their local communities.

We are all, to some extent, “vicars”—vicarious disciples who can’t help but influence those around us. Indeed, it may be beneficial to think of ourselves as public actors for the faith, housed in a theater of meaning, the Church, and putting on a divine play for which there is an eager audience. The audience may consist of people of other faiths or none: the author encourages us to have confidence in a theology that does not limit salvation to those inside the Church; he believes that we can come close to the presence of God in active engagement with people of goodwill. And, of course, as Christians it behooves us to respond to others’ agendas and concerns with generosity and grace.

This gentle, beautifully written volume packs quite a punch. Taken seriously, it will revitalize our personal and corporate vision of Christian living as, inspired by the Holy Spirit, we seek to bring light and joy to the cities, towns, and villages in which we live.

Robert Cotton is rector of Holy Trinity and St Mary’s, Guildford, and an honorary canon of Guildford Cathedral and the Diocese of the Highveld, South Africa.

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Resurrection: Essays in Honour of Leslie Houlden

  • Editors: Stephen Barton and Graham Stanton
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 1994
  • Pages: 233

What are the Gospels’ Resurrection narratives designed to tell us? And what is the continuing theological significance of the Resurrection for today? Those are two of the key questions addressed by this stimulating set of essays.

Published in honor of Leslie Houlden, these essays amply reflect his own special ability to elucidate scholarly issues with authority, elegance, and wit. They also reflect his wide-ranging concerns, introducing students and lay people to a rich variety of perspectives—literary, historical, theological, pastoral, and artistic—on this crucial subject.

Contributors

Stephen Barton is a lecturer in New Testament at the University of Durham.

Graham Stanton is a professor of New Testament studies at King’s College in London.

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Saint Patrick: The Man and His Works

  • Author: Thomas O’Loughlin
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 1999
  • Pages: 128

Who was Saint Patrick? The only true apostle of Ireland who more or less converted the country single-handedly? or a Christian bishop from the embattled edge of a crumbling empire?

All that can really be known of Saint Patrick comes from his authentic writings: the Confessio and the Epistola (Address to the Soldiers of Coroticus). Thomas O’Loughlin’s engaging and scholarly reflections on these fifth-century texts lead us into a greater understanding of the mind of Patrick, the man, believer, and missionary. Explanatory notes woven through the translations illuminate a very different world and time; it is not long before we realize, however, that St. Patrick’s theology is no less relevant to our own.

Thomas O’Loughlin is a professor of historical theology at the University of Nottingham. Prior to that, he was a research associate in the School of Celtic Studies at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies.

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Science and Christian Belief: Theological Reflections of a Bottom-up Thinker

  • Author: John Polkinghorne
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 1994
  • Pages: 224

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

John Polkinghorne has become widely known for his elegant and well-informed contributions to our understanding of the relationship between scientific thought and religious faith. Science and Christian Belief is his most important book to date. It is the first attempt to apply scientific habits of thought to the core of Christian belief, to examine in turn the central tenets of the creeds in light of a thoroughly modern worldview. The result is a fascinating and intellectually compelling new presentation of orthodox Christianity—but then, as Polkinghorne writes in his introduction, “a scientist would expect a fundamental theory to be tough, surprising, and exciting.”

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Science and Creation

  • Author: John Polkinghorne
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 1988
  • Pages: 152

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

In this volume, Dr. Polkinghorne illustrates how a scientifically-minded person approaches the task of theological inquiry, postulating that there exists a close analogy between theory and experiment in science and belief and understanding in theology. He offers a fresh perspective on such questions as: Are we witnessing today a revival of a natural theology—the search for God through the exercise of reason and the study of nature? How do the insights of modern physics into the interlacing of order and disorder relate to the Christian doctrine of creation? What is the relationship between mind and matter?

Polkinghorne states that the “remarkable insights that science affords us into the intelligible workings of the world cry out for an explanation more profound than that which it itself can provide. Religion, if it is to take seriously its claim that the world is the creation of God, must be humble enough to learn from science what that world is actually like. The dialogue between them can only be mutually enriching.”

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Science and Providence: God’s Interaction with the World

  • Author: John Polkinghorne
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 1989
  • Pages: 140

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Internationally renowned priest-scientist Dr. John C. Polkinghorne examines whether a personal, interacting God is a credible concept in today’s scientific age. Encouraging the belief that there is a compatibility between the insights of science and the insights of religion, this volume focuses on the viewpoint that the world is one in which both human beings and God have the freedom to act.

A modern understanding of the physical world is applied to questions of prayer and providence, such as: Do miracles happen? Can prayer change anything? Why does evil exist? Why does God allow suffering? Why does God need us to ask him?

God’s involvement in time is considered, from both a temporal and an eternal perspective. The roles of incarnation and sacrament are discussed in terms of whether or not they have a credible place in today’s worldview. And the Final Anthropic Principle (FAP) is presented, with its attempt at a physical eschatology, showing it to be an inadequate basis for hope. Real hope can reside only with God, Polkinghorne concludes.

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Science and Religion in Quest of Truth

  • Author: John Polkinghorne
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2011
  • Pages: 160

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

This book draws together all the key insights and arguments from John Polkinghorne’s previous books and presents them in a clear, concise, and readable format for the general reader.

I believe that on its own the present book lays out the core concepts that are fundamental in what is surely one of the most significant interdisciplinary interactions of our time, pursued in a wide quest for truthful understanding. The book concentrates on my own work, not at all because I think that I have said all that need be said, but simply because, after more than 30 years of reflection, this is what I have to offer.

—From the introduction

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Science and Theology: An Introduction

  • Author: John Polkinghorne
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 1998
  • Pages: 152

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

In this short masterpiece, eminent scientist and theologian John Polkinghorne offers an accessible, yet authoritative, introduction to the stimulating field of science and religion. After surveying their volatile historical relationship, he leads the reader through the whole array of questions that arise at the intersection of the scientific and religious quests.

The author provides a marvelously clear overview of the major elements of current science including quantum theory, chaos theory, time and cosmology. He offers a concise outline of the character of religion and shows the potential to illumine some of the thorniest issues in theology today—creation, nature of knowledge, human and divine identity, and agency. He introduces complex ideas so gently and persuasively that at each turn one is inspired to follow the next step of the argument.

The author is a sturdy player in this emergent enquiry and he demonstrates that a sturdy faith has nothing to fear and much to gain from an intellectually honest appraisal of the new horizons of contemporary science.

A remarkably clearly written, direct, and attractive book, which should appeal not just to students but to everyone who wishes to understand the issues. . . . It is a most enjoyable book to read and offers a vast amount of information in a very accessible way.

—The Expository Times

Polkinghorne’s prose is crisp and concentrated. He knows his material and conveys a marvelous grasp of his subject. . . . A helpful entrée and a handy reference.

—Anglican Journal

An important book for both theologians and scientists. It gives a balanced account of the many issues emerging out of the encounter of science and religion.

—Lucien Richard, professor of theology, Boston University

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Scripture and the Authority of God

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2005
  • Pages: 112

In this provocative book, N.T. Wright approaches the debate on the authority of Scripture from a different angle. It is, after all, God himself who possesses all authority and that authority is primarily about his sovereign, saving purposes being accomplished through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. What does it mean for the Bible to be a channel for that powerful authority?

This question brings up new angles on many other issues: the relation of Scripture, tradition and reason; the place of experience; the many-sided problems of the use and abuse of the Bible in relation to personal and public life. N.T. Wright’s contribution to this intense debate will bring fresh clarity to many puzzling questions.

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Searching for Meaning: An Introduction to Interpreting the New Testament

  • Author: Paula Gooder
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2008
  • Pages: 256

Searching for Meaning introduces readers to the different methods used to interpret the New Testament. Top scholars give a short definition of a particular criticism and then Paula Gooder gives a practical example to demonstrate how that criticism can be applied to a biblical text.

A very broad range of methods are introduced, from traditional criticisms such as source criticism and historical criticism to the more modern methods such as feminist criticism and liberation criticism. Readers will understand how different meanings and emphases can be drawn out from a text depending upon the method of interpretation chosen. They will also be given the skills to start analyzing and examining texts for themselves in a meaningful and insightful way.

This is a clearly written and extremely helpful introduction to many different approaches to the interpretation of the New Testament. Experts from around the world and across many disciplines contribute specialized explanations, while Paula Gooder’s excellent discussions apply each form of criticism to actual New Testament textual examples. It will become an indispensable tool and is greatly to be welcome.

—Richard A. Burridge, Professor, King’s College, London

No other primer in biblical criticism even comes close in terms of representing the actual multiplicity and diversity of contemporary biblical methodology and biblical scholars.

—Stephen D. Moore, Professor, Drew University

Paula Gooder, a member of SPCK’s governing body, was a lecturer in biblical studies at Ripon College Cuddesdon, and then at the Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Studies, before becoming a freelance writer and lecturer. She is a visiting lecturer at King’s College London, an honorary lecturer at the University of Birmingham, a senior research scholar at the Queen’s Foundation, Birmingham, and Canon Theologian of Birmingham Cathedral.

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Secret Scriptures Revealed

  • Author: Tony Burke
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2013
  • Pages: 176

Discover fascinating and obscure apocryphal stories. Examine the influence of apocryphal literature on Christian art and popular culture. Understand how the Apocrypha shed light on early Christian communities and the canonical Bible. Rather than dismissing Apocrypha, Secret Scriptures Revealed demonstrates how these texts can help our understanding of early Christianity.

Interest in the wide assortment of texts not included in the Bible has never been stronger. Much has been written on the subject, but questions, misunderstandings, and hysteria still exist. Where did the apocryphal texts come from? Who wrote them? Why were they not included in the Bible? Is reading these texts harmful to personal faith? Secret Scriptures Revealed deconstructs the many myths about Christian apocryphal texts and clearly answers questions about them.

Tony Burke is associate professor of early Christianity at York University in Toronto, Ontario. He earned his PhD in philosophy from the University of Toronto in 2001, specializing in Christian origins. He edited and contributed to Ancient Gospel or Modern Forgery? and contributed to several other works, including The Non-Canonical Gospels.

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Sexuality in the New Testament: Understanding the Key Texts

  • Author: William Loader
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2010
  • Pages: 176

Williams Loader considers the key question of what the New Testament says about issues of human sexuality. This accessible guide covers a variety of interpretations of the main texts in this contentious issue.

Loader has brought together sources from the ancient world and opinions from a wide range of scholarship in many contentious areas concerning sexuality. He avoids leading the witness, letting the texts speak for themselves. He states the opinion of other scholars and occasionally of himself, but his aim is to educate and not preach.

—Dr. David Instone-Brewer, Senior Research Fellow in Rabbinics and the New Testament, Tyndale House

William Loader is Professorial Research Fellow of the Australian Research Council, based at Murdoch University, Perth, Australia, and is engaged in research on attitudes towards sexuality in Judaism and Christianity in the Hellenistic Greco-Roman Era.

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Sharing the Blessing: Overcoming Poverty and Working for Justice

  • Author: Kathy Galloway
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2008
  • Pages: 112

In Sharing the Blessing, Kathy Galloway offers a reflection on the spirituality and practice of working for justice and overcoming poverty, both local and global. As people of faith, we are called to speak out against all which distorts or diminishes the image of God in human beings. Yet working for global justice requires patience and persistence: change is slow, difficult, and often costly. Sharing the Blessing is about how you can be part of that change. It will encourage you to think spiritually and creatively around issues of economics, globalization, and migration. By putting a human face on huge social problems, which can so easily seem abstract and distant, you can more easily connect these issues with your faith. Here you will find practical suggestions and spiritual guidance that will help you to make a real difference to those suffering from injustice and poverty.

Kathy Galloway is a minister in the Church of Scotland and the head of Christian Aid in Scotland. Previously, she was the leader of the Iona Community, the first woman to be elected to the post. Kathy lives in Glasgow and is a practical theologian, campaigner, and writer. She is the author of several books, including A Story to Live By and Walking in Darkness and Light.

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Simply Christian

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2005
  • Pages: 112

Simply Christian is essential reading for anyone who wants to consider the real fundamentals of Christianity or is intrigued by its claims about the place of justice, beauty and love in our daily lives. Written in a lively and accessible style, though rooted in solid scholarship, this book describes the exciting relevance of the Bible and the Christian story for the contemporary world.

It is laid out helpfully in three sections. The first opens with the frustrated longings of humanity for justice, spirituality, relationships and beauty: why are things like this, do they have to be so and can life be lived differently? Tom Wright then sets out the central Christian belief about God and his creation, and explores the biblical analysis of what’s wrong with the world. He explains God’s plan for its renewal, and the central importance of Jesus. In the final section, he explores what it means to follow Jesus, to be energized by the Holy Spirit and to advance God’s plan for our world.

This question brings up new angles on many other issues: the relation of Scripture, tradition and reason; the place of experience; the many-sided problems of the use and abuse of the Bible in relation to personal and public life. N.T. Wright’s contribution to this intense debate will bring fresh clarity to many puzzling questions.

The arguments are sophisticated, and Wright is a brilliant expositor of the Bible.

—The Times Literary Supplement

Simply Christian goes beyond C.S. Lewis’s great classic Mere Christianity. Simply Christian is simply crucial; his writing can transform one’s life. This will become a classic.

—Anne Rice

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Small Faith, Great God

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Edition: 2nd
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2011
  • Pages: 128

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

In Small Faith, Great God, N.T. Wright encourages and challenges readers towards deeper understanding of the love and greatness of God, noting that “our faith may be small. [But] Jesus reveals to us the greatness of God and the certainty of his love.” Using vivid examples and accessible language, Wright provides rich theological insight and practical wisdom for growing in Christ. This work offers short chapters written in a lively style which explore key issues of belief and their practical outworking in daily life. Lively anecdotes and reflections backed by Wright’s deep biblical knowledge are presented in an easily digestible form. This revised version of his 1978 book has been updated and includes a new foreword.

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Starting New Testament Study: Learning and Doing

  • Author: Bruce Chilton and Deirdre Good
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2009
  • Pages: 192

Starting New Testament Study provides an introduction to the books of the New Testament, their authors, and their context for those just beginning to study the Bible.

It has an emphasis on ‘learning by doing’ alongside the main narrative sweep come text boxes that introduce readers to areas of critical scholarship, maps, timelines and questions and exercises that encourage direct engagement with the biblical text.

This helpful and encouraging book will enable the beginning student to start analyzing New Testament texts for themselves and will develop their confidence and skills in this area.

Bruce Chilton is the Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Religion at Bard College, New York, and is the author of numerous books including Starting New Testament Study (with Deidre Good), Rabbi Jesus: An Intimate Biography, and Rabbi Paul: An Intellectual Biography.

Deirdre J. Good is Professor of New Testament at General Theological Seminary, New York. She is the co-author of Starting New Testament Study (with Bruce Chilton). Her other publications include Jesus and Family Values and Jesus the Meek King.

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Surprised by Hope

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2005
  • Pages: 112

What do Christians hope for? To leave this wicked world and go to ‘heaven’? For the ‘kingdom of God’ to grow gradually on earth? What do we mean by the ‘resurrection of the body’, and how does that fit with the popular image of sitting on clouds playing harps? And how does all this affect the way we live in the here and now?

Tom Wright, one of our leading theologians, addresses these questions in this provocative and wide-ranging new book. He outlines the present confusion about future hope in both church and world. Then, having explained why Christians believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus himself, he explores the biblical hope for ‘new heavens and new earth’, and shows how the ‘second coming’ of Jesus, and the eventual resurrection, belong within that larger picture, together with the intermediate hope for ‘heaven’. For many, including many Christians, all this will come as a great surprise.

Wright convincingly argues that what we believe about life after death directly affects what we believe about life before death. For if God intends to renew the whole creation–and if this has already begun in Jesus’ resurrection–the church cannot stop at ‘saving souls’, but must anticipate the eventual renewal by working for God’s kingdom in the wider world, bringing healing and hope in the present life.

Lively and accessible, this book will surprise and excite all who are interested in the meaning of life not only after death but before it.

This unmissable book . . . is a must-read.

—Krish Kandiah for Christianity Magazine

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Temple Mysticism: An Introduction

  • Author: Margaret Barker
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2011
  • Pages: 192

According to Margaret Barker’s groundbreaking theory, temple mysticism underpins much of the Bible. Rooted in the cult of the first temple in ancient Judaism, temple mysticism helps us understand the origins of Christianity. It was generally received and taught as oral tradition, and many texts were changed, suppressed, or kept from public access. Barker first examines the biblical texts of Isaiah—the prophet whom Jesus quoted more than any other—and John. Then she proposes a more detailed picture of temple mysticism, drawing on a wide variety of non-biblical texts. The resulting book presents some remarkable results.

Margaret Barker is an independent scholar, Methodist preacher, and the former president of the Society for Old Testament study. She developed temple mysticism as a new approach to biblical studies. She is a member of the Ecumenical Patriarch’s Symposium on Religion, Science, and the Environment.

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The Anglican Tradition: A Handbook of Sources

  • Editors: G.R. Evans and J. Robert Wright
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 1991
  • Pages: 620

The Anglican Tradition is a unique collection of the fundamental documents and texts from every period of Anglican history and almost every province of the worldwide Anglican communion. It is, as close as it is possible to achieve in one volume, a record of the cumulative common mind of Anglicanism.

The book paints a broad portrait of Anglican faith, doctrine and practice. Since it includes documents from c.96 up to 1989, The Anglican Tradition provides insight into the Anglican tradition as it developed throughout history. Moreover, the writings are shared by both the Eastern and Western churches, stressing the historical continuity of the Anglican Church today with the church historically over time, even back to the earliest post-canonical writings.

The Anglican Tradition presents an array of material of particular significance for those directly involved with church scholarship or ministry. However, anyone interested in the progression of the Church through history will find this collection of abundant interest.

G.R. Evans is Professor of Medieval Theology and Intellectual History in the University of Cambridge. She is the author of numerous, critically-acclaimed books and articles in the fields of patristic, medieval and Reformation history and theology. These titles include Augustine on Evil, Problems of Authority in the Reformation Debates, The Church and the Churches, Philosophy and Theology in the Middle Ages, Law and Theology in the Middle Ages, and Anselm.

J. Robert Wright is an Episcopal priest and professor of Ecclesiastical History. He is widely-recognized as an authority on Anglican and Episcopal history and doctrine. Currently he is the St Mark’s in the Bowery Professor of Ecclesiastical History at General Theological Seminary, and the historiographer of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America. He is also the chaplain, in perpetuity, of the Guild of Scholars of the Episcopal Church and the President of the Anglican Society.

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The Bible in Politics: How to Read the Bible Politically, 2nd ed.

  • Author: Richard Bauckham
  • Edition: 2nd
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2010
  • Pages: 192

The political interpretation of the Bible has many pitfalls for the unwary. It is all too easy to read our own prejudices into the text, and much harder to move intelligently, without anachronism, between the political societies of biblical times and the very different societies of today.

This is why Richard Bauckham’s The Bible in Politics has been so enduring. It teaches the reader how to read the Bible politically, helping to relate biblical teaching to current issues. This more nuanced reading of the Bible leads to an understanding of the social relevance of the Bible that is more disciplined, more informed, more imaginative and more politically fruitful.

The new edition of this important book contains a substantial new introduction, dealing with pressing contemporary concerns such as globalization and climate change, and making this book essential reading for a new generation of Christians who want to be effective instruments of God’s will, both locally and globally, today.

Richard Bauckham is Professor Emeritus at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. Prior to that, he was Professor of New Testament Studies and Bishop Wardlaw Professor at St. Andrews. Bauckham has published widely in theology and biblical studies.

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The Book of Enoch

  • Translator: R.H. Charles, with an introduction by W.O.E. Oesterley
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 1917, 2006
  • Pages: 128

SPCK first published R.H. Charles’s translation of the Book of Enoch in 1917 and it has remained in print ever since. R. H. Charles is recognized as one of the leading figures in Enoch scholarship and his masterly translation remains the standard edition of the text in English. The Book of Enoch has recently reached a far wider audience due to Dan Brown’s phenomenally successful novel, The Da Vinci Code, which has various allusions to this important book.

The Book of Enoch is an invaluable resource for all those who are interested in learning about Christian origins. It sheds light on the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and the reader can gain a clearer understanding of many concepts found in the New Testament, such as demonology, future judgment, the Messiah, the Messianic kingdom, the title “Son of Man” and the resurrection. This edition also contains an introduction written by W. O. E. Oesterley, which introduces readers to Apocryphal literature in general and Enoch in particular—including the authorship, dating, language, and general themes of Enoch.

The greatest importance of Enoch is that it was not only a pre-Christian book, but also a post-Christian book, a text from their Jewish background kept and used by the earliest churches. When we use Enoch as a context for the New Testament, many early Christian ideas come into a much clearer focus, and many of the gaps in the New Testament can be bridged.

—Margaret Barker

R.H. Charles is recognized as one of the leading figures in Enoch scholarship and his masterly translation remains the standard edition of the text in English. He was an authority on Apocalyptic literature, and became Canon at Westminster Abbey in 1913 and an archdeacon in 1919. Charles is also the author of Eschatology, Between the Old and New Testaments, and The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament.

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The Challenge of Jesus

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2000
  • Pages: 173

This text answers the skepticism about the need for a historical understanding of Jesus and shows how this can affect Christian discipleship today. It explores Jesus’ preaching, his Messiahship and death, and his self-understanding in relation to God. The book goes on to ask: What does this imply? What should this mean for us? What, in fact, is the mission of the church grounded in this Jesus and this resurrection, to our postmodern world?

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The Cosmopolitan World of Jesus: New Light from Archeology

  • Author: Carsten Peter Thiede
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2004
  • Pages: 160

The Cosmopolitan World of Jesus presents a breath-taking vision of Jewish society during the Graeco-Roman period. Carsten Peter Thiede shatters the popular conception of Christ’s Palestine as an isolated backwater, depicting it instead as a highly cultured part of the Roman Empire.

Thiede reconstructs the world of Jesus using an interdisciplinary approach, employing evidence from archaeologists, papyrologists, philologists and classic historians. He reveals the concrete reality of the multicultural, multireligious environment that surrounded Jesus and offers a portrayal of the daily life of the real people who populated the world in which the message of Jesus was spread. As he explores this world’s geographical frontiers and borders, Thiede provides insight into the life of its businesses, homes and leisure.

The Cosmopolitan World of Jesus leaves behind, as Thiede terms it, the “bloodless creations” of so much New Testament research. It enters instead the theatres, literature, postal services, library systems and commerce of the vibrant and sophisticated world of Christ.

[I]t would be great if this… found its way into libraries and book­shelves around the world. Many might sense again how the message of Jesus was rooted in real history and is able to touch even our everyday lives with its transforming power and with hope.

—Peter Walker, The Church of England Newspaper

You will find yourself turning to [The Cosmopolitan World of Jesus] again and again to broaden your understanding of the New Testament, strengthen your confidence in the authenticity and accuracy of the text, and increase your appreciation for the power of the Gospel.

—Gretchen Passantino, Answers in Action

Carsten Peter Thiede (8 August 1952 - 14 December 2004) was a German biblical scholar best known for his textual criticism of the Dead Sea Scrolls, including the identification of the 7Q5 papyrus as a fragment of the Gospel of Mark. His controversial claims won him notoriety as a pioneer in his field and one of the foremost New Testament scholars of his era. His works include The Heritage of the First Christians, Rekindling the Word: In Search of Gospel Truth, Jesus: Life or Legend, The Dead Sea Scrolls, The Quest for the True Cross, The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Jewish Origins of Christianity.

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The Crown and the Fire

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2009
  • Pages: 128

Instead of the seven words that Jesus spoke from the cross, Tom Wright invites you to consider seven words that people spoke to the cross–people like Mary and the Roman centurion who witnessed the crucifixion, and Pontius Pilate, who helped to instigate it. The result is a powerful sequence of meditations that will move you to reassess your own response to Jesus’ death, his resurrection, and the continuing influence of his Spirit on those who follow him today.

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The Didache: A Window on the Earliest Christians

  • Author: Thomas O’Loughlin
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2010
  • Pages: 256

The Didache is one of the earliest Christian writings. It provides practical instructions on how a Christian community can function, and offers unique insights into the way the earliest Christians lived and worshipped.

In this highly readable introduction, Thomas O’Loughlin tells the intriguing story of the Didache, from its discovery in the late nineteenth century to the present. He then provides an illuminating commentary on the entire text, highlighting areas of special interest to Christians today, and ends with a fresh translation of the text itself.

A truly accessible commentary on this ancient text and on the early Christian communities that lie behind it, and yet one that incorporates up-to-date academic scholarship.

—Paul Bradshaw, Professor of Liturgy, University of Notre Dame

A valuable and thorough introduction to an important though little-studied work that provides a unique window on a corner of the early Christian world.

—Sean Freyne, Emeritus Professor of Theology, Trinity College Dublin

I highly recommend this informed, engaging, and pastorally sensitive exploration of the Didache. Reading the text within its Jewish roots and in harmony with its New Testament parallels, Thomas O’Loughlin shows how the Didache admirably shaped the faith and practice of second-generation Christians in ways that have relevance for us today.

—Aaron Milavec, author of The Didache: Faith, Hope, and Life of the Earliest Christian Communities, 50–70 C.E.

Thomas O’Loughlin is Professor of Historical Theology at the University of Nottingham. His previous books include Celtic Theology: Humanity, World and God in Early Irish Writings and Saint Patrick: The Man and His Works.

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The Essence of Christianity: A Fresh Look at the Nicene Creed

  • Author: Brian Hebblethwaite
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 1996
  • Pages: 214

The Essence of Christianity explores the meaning and significance of the Nicene Creed for today. This is one of the early creeds which define what Christians believe and, used by many different churches in worship, it occupies a central place in Christian inspiration.

The Cambridge theologian and philosopher of religion Brian Hebblethwaite introduces the central teachings of the Christian faith in a clear, lively and accessible style. He considers the relations between Christianity and other world religions in the context of current patterns of belief and unbelief in the west. He also asks why many people find it hard to put their trust in a God of love. This book shows how theological insights can enrich traditional Christian belief and at the same time defends the Creed’s claims to truth.

Brian Hebblethwaite is Fellow of Queens’ College, Cambridge and University Lecturer in the Philosophy of Religion. His books include The Problems of Theology and The Ocean of Truth.

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The First Advance: AD 29-500

  • Author: John Foster
  • Editor: W.H.C. Frend
  • Series: SPCK International Study Guides
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 1992
  • Pages: 208

This introduction to early Church history presents the advance of God’s people through the years 29 to 500 A.D. Emphasizing people rather than policies or polemics, The First Advance shows Christians in the first five centuries persevering under persecution and carrying their faith east and south into Asia and Africa as well as westward into Europe.

The First Advance includes maps, charts, photographs and suggestions for further discussion and study. It also includes many quotations from original sources, making it especially useful for students working alone or without access to a library. John Foster’s original text has been updated for this revised edition by the distinguished scholar of early Church history, W.H.C. Frend.

The First Advance is part of SPCK’s International Study Guides series of books. Written by scholars with experience of the worldwide Church, the acclaimed Guides combine trustworthy scholarship with clarity, simplicity and non-technical language. Ecumenical in authorship and outlook, the Guides are ideal for first-year theology students, Bible study groups, multi-cultural classes, people for whom English is a second language, and anyone who needs a sound but accessible guide to the Bible and theology.

John Foster was Professor of Ecclesiastical History in the University of Glasgow until his retirement in 1969. His experience as a missionary (during which time he earned the nickname of “Gentle Scholar”) informed his approach to this field, convincing him that a new focus on Church history that showed how Christianity had always sought to advance eastward as well as westward was needed.

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The Healer from Nazareth: Jesus’ Miracles in Historical Context

  • Author: Eric Eve
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2009
  • Pages: 208

In The Healer from Nazareth, Eric Eve asks what the truth is behind the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ miracles. By thoroughly examining the evidence—historical, cultural, literary and social-scientific—Eric Eve shows how these “signs and wonders” might most plausibly be understood.

This is an ideal introduction to the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ miracles and to the larger questions surrounding study of the historical Jesus. Eve’s balanced approach and clear style make the book accessible to readers of all Christian traditions and to non-Christians who are interested in finding out more about Jesus.

If there was only one book to read on the miracles of Jesus it would need to be this one. . . . A well informed, finely nuanced and accessible treatment of this important topic.

—Graham H. Twelftree, professor of New Testament and early Christianity, Regent University

Eric Eve is a senior research fellow and tutor in theology at Harris Manchester College, Oxford. He has published a number of articles and other short pieces on various aspects of the Gospels and Jesus. He is also the author of The Jewish Context of Jesus’ Miracles.

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The Historical Character of Jesus: Canonical Insights from Outside the Gospels

  • Author: David M. Allen
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2013
  • Pages: 224

The Historical Character of Jesus focuses specifically on non-Gospel material to see how the other texts of the NT contribute to the picture of Jesus. Inevitably, historical Jesus studies focus on the Gospel accounts, canonical and non-canonical alike. Scholarly portrayals may vary, but the ‘source material’ tends to be restricted to Gospel texts, with other New Testament testimony deemed secondary. The Historical Character of Jesus helpfully collates and reflects on the historical significance of key non-Gospel texts in relation to their presentation of Jesus, bringing them together in one place and generating fresh perspectives on the early Jesus movement.

Allen’s thoughtful exposition and discussion will provide a very helpful, clear, and accessible orientation.

—Andrew T. Lincoln, professor of New Testament, University of Gloucestershire

David Allen has turned the “remembered Jesus” inside out to suggest that the historical character of Christ takes on a kaleidoscope of options and theologies. In this book, historical Jesus studies learn to become Christology.

—Scot McKnight, professor of New Testament, Northern Seminary

In the past two-hundred-year quest of the historical Jesus, investigators have repeatedly fallen back on rounding up the usual suspects: the canonical evangelists plus now Thomas. But what if there’s more to be learned about the historical Jesus from New Testament voices outside the Gospels? Allen’s book offers a stiff challenge to all who are interested in this quest: to step back, listen more broadly, and allow these other previously stifled voices to speak.

—Nicholas Perrin, professor of biblical studies, Wheaton College Graduate School

What can we learn from the New Testament about the earthly Jesus apart from the Gospels? David M. Allen poses this seldom-asked question and then proceeds to answer it with clarity and care . . . His findings are both constructive and instructive. Take up and read!

—Todd D. Still, professor of Christian Scriptures, Baylor University, Texas

David M. Allen is academic director at the Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education in Birmingham, United Kingdom. His research interests include the use of the Hebrew Bible in the New Testament. His other work includes Deuteronomy and Exhortation in Hebrews.

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The Jewish Pseudepigrapha: An Introduction to the Literature of the Second Temple Period

  • Author: Susan Docherty
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2014
  • Pages: 224

This is a concise yet comprehensive guide to the Pseudepigrapha: the Jewish texts of the late Second Temple Period (ca. 250 BC–100 AD) that are not included in the Hebrew Bible or standard collections of the Apocrypha. Each chapter deals with a specific literary genre (such as apocalyptic, testaments, and “rewritten Bible”), encouraging readers to appreciate the texts as literature as well as furthering their understanding of each book’s content and historical significance. A helpful introduction to an often overlooked body of literature, this book surveys key issues such as date, authorship, purpose, fundamental theological themes, and significance.

Susan Docherty offers a clear and concise introduction, based on impeccable scholarship, which opens up this fascinating world to students and general readers.

—Philip Alexander, emeritus professor of postbiblical Jewish literature, University of Manchester

This volume offers an authoritative and accessible introduction to an ancient corpus of religious texts neglected by the mainstream Judaeo-Christian tradition and largely beyond the reach of a wider readership.

—Charlotte Hempel, reader of Hebrew Bible and Second Temple Judaism, University of Birmingham

Susan Docherty is reader in biblical studies and head of theology at Newman University, Birmingham. She is the current chair of the Annual Seminar on the Use of the Old Testament in the New Testament, and serves as member of the steering group for the Society of Biblical Literature Hebrews Section. She specializes in early Jewish and early Christian scriptural interpretation. Her recent publications include: The Use of the Old Testament in Hebrews; Genesis in the New Testament; and The Scriptures of Israel in Jewish and Christian Tradition.

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The Lord and His Prayer

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 1996
  • Pages: 96

In this book, the author discusses the Lord’s Prayer phrase by phrase. He shows how understanding the prayer in its original setting can be the starting point to rekindle spirituality and a life of prayer. With his vast knowledge of the prayer’s historical background, the author clarifies things which help to broaden our view of the world at that time.

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The Making of the Modern Church

  • Author: B.G. Worrall
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2004
  • Pages: 384

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

The Making of the Modern Church is a comprehensive introduction to a fascinating and crucial period in church history, starting at the beginning of the nineteenth century and concluding in the modern day. It is ideal for students and those in theological training, though it also has much of value to offer more general readers.

Though dealing with a large time scale, The Making of the Modern Church is thorough. Chapters cover all the major events and trends of the period and a bibliography for each chapter is included to aid those who wish to investigate specific subjects in more detail.

Already an established classic of church history, this third edition contains fresh and updated material. New areas covered including the changing status of women in the church, English Roman Catholicism, and post-modernity.

This is a very concise and very comprehensive summary and analysis of an important period of English church history… Here are laid out the main contours of a culture which took religion very seriously indeed, and presented with just the clear order and sensible evaluations that students will find beneficial.

—Edward Norman, Journal of Ecclesiastical History

The narrative is clear and the comments are fair-minded.

—David L Edwards, Church Times

Mr. Worrall writes with clarity. He has the gift of being able to simplify complex issues, and to pick out the important things in an involved debate.

—Expository Times

… the most useful survey of recent English church history available.

—Transformation

… recommended as a sound introduction.

—Methodist Recorder

B.G. Worrall is associate tutor, Spurgeon’s College, London.

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The Meal Jesus Gave Us

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2014
  • Pages: 96

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

The first in a successful three-volume collection to encourage Lenten reading, Lent for Everyone: Luke Year C contains a reading for each day of Lent, chosen from Luke’s Gospel, as well as a reflection by N.T. Wright to deepen readers’ understanding of the Gospel and its relevance to their lives.

Well worth purchasing, especially since there is enough material here to keep most people going long after Lent.

—The Church Times

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The Millennium Myth

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2004
  • Pages: 128

The preparing for and living in the new Millennium is not about getting ready for the end of the world. Rather, it is about continuing to live out the message that Jesus is Lord. In his usual engaging style, N.T. Wright discusses the new Millennium in light of what the Bible has to say about both eschatology and who Christ is.

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The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church and its Background in Early Judaism

  • Author: Roger Beckwith
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 1985
  • Pages: 528

The correct composition of the collection or list of books which should constitute the Old Testament has been a matter of disagreement among Christians since the second century of our era, and among Jews and Samaritans even longer. The status of the books of Ezekiel, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs and Esther was the subject of rabbinical argument in the first three centuries A.D., while in the sixteenth century the Reformers and the Church of Rome clashed over the authority of the Apocrypha, found in the Christian Septuagint manuscripts. The discovery of the Qumran texts in our own time revealed that certain other apocryphal books were clearly cherished by the community, so complicating the matter still further.

Roger Beckwith’s long out-of-print study of the Old Testament canon is on a scale to match H.E. Ryle’s classic work, first published in 1892. But Mr. Beckwith has the advantage of writing after the Qumran (and other) discoveries; and he has also made full use of all the available sources, including biblical manuscripts, rabbinical and patristic literature, taking into account the seldom studied Syriac material, as well as the Greek and Latin material.

This book, the result of many years’ study, is a major work of scholarship on a subject which has been neglected in recent times. It is both historical and theological, but the author’s first consideration has been to make a thorough and unprejudiced historical investigation. One of his most important concerns—and one that is crucial for all students of Judaism, and Christians in particular—is to decide when the limits of the Jewish canon were settled. In the answer to this question lies an important key to the teaching of Jesus and his apostles, and the resultant beliefs of the New Testament church. Further, in our own day any answers to questions about the state of the canon in the New Testament period would help open a way through the present ecumenical (and inter-faith) impasse on the subject.

Regardless of the cost, everyone (scholar, minister, and layperson) interested in the serious study of the Bible should buy this book, read it, and keep it handy.

—Tremper Longman III, Westminster Theological Journal

It is a pleasure to commend a work of high scholarship on an important subject which cries out for fresh and up-to-date treatment.

—F.F. Bruce

Beckwith has produced a marvelous historical and theological study of the canon, certainly one of the most foundational issues of theology and biblical studies.

—Tremper Longman III, Westminster Theological Journal

It is the most comprehensive study of the history of the Old Testament canon written to date… characterized by its erudition and lucidity… will become the point of departure for all future discussion of the scholarly issues it treats.

—S.Z. Leiman

…we can all be grateful for the sheer volume of information compiled by Beckwith.

—James A. Sanders, Theology Today

Roger Beckwith is Warden of Latimer House, Oxford, and Lecturer in Liturgy at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford.

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The Orthodox Liturgy: The Development of the Eucharistic Liturgy in the Byzantine Rite

  • Author: Hugh Wybrew
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2013
  • Pages: 208

Western observers never fail to be awestruck at the celebration of the Liturgy in an Orthodox Church. In this authoritative yet highly readable account, Hugh Wybrew traces the development of the Orthodox liturgy through the centuries. He conveys a lively and memorable sense of what it would have felt like to be among the worshippers.

From its first appearance, The Orthodox Liturgy rapidly established itself as the best introduction to the subject for the non-specialist. This reissue includes a new preface, which outlines the latest research on the sources of the Byzantine tradition, and an updated bibliography.

The Orthodox Liturgy is solidly based on sound scholarship . . . written in a non-technical way which will be accessible to anyone who is interested in the history of Christian worship.

——Church Times

We have long needed such an introduction. Clear yet detailed, sympathetic yet not uncritical, The Orthodox Liturgy will be of great value to Christians, whether Western or Eastern.

—Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia

Hugh Wybrew is an Anglican priest who has studied Orthodoxy for many years. He is an associate member of the faculty of theology and religion in the University of Oxford. He has also served as secretary of the Fellowship of St. Alban and St. Sergius, and dean of St. George’s Anglican Cathedral in Jerusalem, where he was in close contact with Eastern churches.

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The Revelation to John: A Commentary on the Greek Text of the Apocalypse

  • Author: Stephen S. Smalley
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2005
  • Pages: 600

Dr. Stephen Smalley provides a fresh and stimulating contribution to the scholarly study of an exciting but often perplexing work in this detailed yet accessible commentary on the Greek text of Revelation. Smalley shows how Revelation speaks directly to all situations in every age, offering a testimony to God’s love, made available through his justice, which is relevant for our own society.

A Revelation to John interprets the dense and colorful imagery of Revelation with careful balance. Smalley is sensitive to the literary shape of Revelation, and sees the book as a creative and coherent drama. He takes seriously the volatile nature of the Johannine community from which, it is argued, the Apocalypse, Gospel, and Letters of John arose.

A warm welcome awaits this noteworthy achievement that combines learning with relevance.

—Ralph P. Martin, scholar-in-residence, Haggard of Theology, Azusa Pacific University

Smalley offers a richly detailed, traditional commentary on the Johannine Apocalypse.

—David A. deSilva, trustees’ distinguished professor of New Testament and Greek, Ashland Theological Seminary

Stephen Smalley, having spent much of his academic career working on Johannine literature, now provides us with a full-dress theological and narrative commentary on Revelation especially attuned to its dramatic quality. Full of interesting analysis and keen and seasoned insight, this sane and creative approach to the most difficult book of the New Testament is something for which we may indeed be thankful.

—Ben Witherington III, professor of New Testament, Asbury Theological Seminary

Stephen S. Smalley is a New Testament scholar and author. He was formerly chaplain and dean of Peterhouse, Cambridge and vice-provost of Coventry Cathedral. He is dean emeritus of Chester Cathedral. Smalley has also taught at the universities of Ibadan and Manchester.

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The Scriptures, the Cross, and the Power of God

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2005
  • Pages: 84

Tom Wright examines accounts of the events from Palm Sunday to Easter as they appear in the gospels of Matthew and of John, looking at these familiar passages from many unfamiliar angles to help us see them afresh.

Both Matthew and John understand the events of Jesus’ last week as the climax of the entire biblical narrative, and as the great moment when God’s power–made known, paradoxically in the human weakness of Jesus himself–was unveiled for the rescue and remaking of the world.

The Scriptures, the Cross, and the Power of God is accessible for anyone who wants to make Bible study and meditation part of their Lent. There are nine sessions covering the Passion narratives from Palm Sunday to Easter, all contained in this pocket-sized Lent book.

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The Way of the Lord: A Pilgrim Journey in Life and Faith

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2010
  • Pages: 144

Vividly evoking the sights, sounds, smells–even the tastes–of the Holy Land, Tom Wright takes us on a contemporary pilgrimage to help us respond to Jesus’ call today. An ideal introduction to the Christian faith, The Way of the Lord aims to lead us into a greater knowledge and love of Christ – whether our pilgrimage is physical, or one of heart and mind.

Capturing the real excitement of ‘Come and see the place’, it heightens our awareness that Jesus journeys with us as he calls us out into the wider world of discipleship. For, in the glorious message of Easter: ‘He is not here–he is risen!’

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The Word in Place: Reading the New Testament in Contemporary Contexts

  • Author: Louise J. Lawrence
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2009
  • Pages: 192

Louise Lawrence introduces you to contextual Bible reading, which explores the question “what does the Bible mean to you in your context?”

She provides a practical resource that will enable you to initiate such readings within your own context. Examples of readings from a range of contexts are given, including reading with a group from an urban regeneration area, reading with a rural village, reading with priests and reading with deaf people. Tips and resources for running your own contextual Bible reading are also given enabling you, and your community, to read the Bible in a new light.

In offering fresh ways of reading, understanding, exploring and responding to the different situations in which faith has to be lived today, Louise also offers a much needed theological underpinning and investigation of emerging expressions of church life alongside that which is more familiar and better known.

—from the Forward by Rt. Rev. Michael Langrish, bishop, Exeter Diocese

Dr. Louise J. Lawrence is a professor of theology and religion at the University of Exeter in England. In 2013, she completed a five year British Academy-funded project examining sensory-disability in the New Testament. Before arriving at Exeter, Lawrence taught New Testament studies at the University of St. Andrews and the University of Glasgow for six years.

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The Word of God? The Bible after Modern Scholarship

  • Author: Keith Ward
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2010
  • Pages: 160

Keith Ward introduces this volume on the world’s greatest ever bestseller by suggesting that the Bible is neither a book dictated by God, as some believe, nor just a set of outdated taboos and politically slanted histories, as those at the opposite extreme maintain. Rather, it is a very mixed set of documents, by many different writers, from many different times, which records the struggle of many people in one particular religious tradition to respond to their discernments of a transcendent spiritual power.

Keith Ward is a professional research fellow at Heythrop College, University of London. He was formerly dean of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, professor of the history and philosophy of religion at the University of London, and Regius Professor of Divinity at the University of Oxford. He is a priest of the Church of England and a fellow of the British Academy.

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Thomas: The Other Gospel

  • Author: Nick Perrin
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2007
  • Pages: 192

Thomas: The Other Gospel tells the story of the gospel from its discovery to its current reception among academics and in more popular circles. It provides a clear, comprehensive, non-technical guide through the scholarly maze of issues surrounding the Coptic text.

A brilliant reconstruction of how the document came to be written, what it meant then, and what it means now.

—N.T. Wright, Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity, St. Andrews University

Nicholas Perrin is Associate Professor of New Testament at Wheaton College Graduate School, Illinois. Formerly research assistant to N. T. Wright, he has taught at Biblical Seminary (Hatfield, PA) and served as senior pastor at the International Presbyterian Church in London.

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Tom Wright for Everyone

  • Author: Stephen Kuhrt
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2001
  • Pages: 160

Tom Wright for Everyone summarizes the theology of Tom Wright around the significant topics of covenant, heaven, kingdom, and the resurrection. Stephen Kuhrt addresses the reticence of many evangelicals to engage with Wright’s historical positions, and also discusses the benefits of putting Wright’s theology into practice in his own parish church.

Stephen Kuhrt’s book makes a warm and convincing case that Tom Wright’s theology has the potential to transform the local church, the academy, and contemporary evangelicalism. This is a timely and accessible introduction to the significance of a formidable thinker and brave servant of God.

—John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford

In this book Stephen Kuhrt offers us two very important things: not only has he pulled together the many different strands of Tom Wright’s thinking into a thoughtful and readable whole, he also makes available to us the quite considerable reflections of someone who has, over the years, sought to put this theology into practice in his own ministry. Tom Wright for Everyone is thought-provoking, reflective, challenging and well worth reading.

— Paula Gooder, lecturer in new testament studies at Ripon College Cuddesdon

Stephen Kuhrt studied at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford and worked in the Church of England. He is currently the reverend of Christ Church in New Malden, and often publishes articles online.

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Transforming Church: Liberating Structures for Ministry

  • Author: Robin Greenwood
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2002
  • Pages: 162

In a world where the church is faced with declining attendance, financial constraints and a shortage of clergy, is it possible to establish a new vitality and energy? According to Robin Greenwood, if we as a church let go of the idea that we are marginalized, then we can become confident enough to boldly discover diverse and holistic ways of re-imagining the church. When faced with diminishing congregations, instead of looking for someone to blame we can ask: “What is there which is hopeful and fully alive, speaking of the liberating power of God? What can we offer to people and society who are searching for meaning in daily work and relationships?” There exists within the church a damaging split between clergy and laity, with laity being seen as somehow inferior. What is needed is to recapture the original concept of laity as the royal priesthood of all believers.

In this book, Greenwood argues that in the Local Ministry movement every Christian person has a gift to offer. Everyone, with their particular personality integrated with everyone else, is set free to do what is necessary for the church to be church. The Local Ministry movement gives a freedom to explore the many connections between faith and life, emphasizing well-being, celebration, hope and enjoyment. It is by working together in collaborative ministry that it is possible to renew the church.

Robin Greenwood is a practical theologian with over 30 years of experience reflecting strategically on the character and task of the church. He has resourced conferences and workshops in several provinces of the Anglican Communion and written widely on ministry issues. Currently he is Ministry Officer for the Church in Wales and a director of the Edward King Institute for Ministry Development. He is a member of the Third Order of the Society of St. Francis. His other works include Parish Priests (2009), Transforming Priesthood (2002), The Ministry Team Handbook (2000) and Local Ministry (2006).

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Transforming Preaching: The Sermon as a Channel for God’s Word

  • Author: David Heywood
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2013
  • Pages: 160

Rooted in a clear understanding of the authority of God’s word, Transforming Preaching provides a wealth of practical wisdom and advice for anyone approaching the task of preaching for the first time. It also serves as a useful refresher for all who want to increase the effectiveness of their preaching ministry. Basing his advice on the latest research into the ways people listen, learn, and grow in Christian life, David Heywood looks at ways of constructing and delivering more successful sermons, while also providing a stimulating guide to the principles and benefits of interactive preaching.

I recommend it without hesitation to all who want their preaching to serve the process of human transformation.

—Stephen I. Wright, tutor in biblical studies and practical theology, Spurgeon’s College

David Heywood is director of pastoral studies at Ripon College, Cuddesdon. He has served in parish ministry in Gloucestershire, south London, and the Potteries. Before ordination, he trained as a teacher and taught for three years in Luton, Bedfordshire. He has a doctorate in theology and education from Durham University, in which his main focus was on the way Christians learn and grow in their faith. He is the author of Reimagining Ministry.

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Using the Bible in Spiritual Direction

  • Author: Liz Hoare
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2015
  • Pages: 160

Spiritual direction is as old as the Christian faith. Today, there is an ever-growing demand for this ministry. The Bible has always had a privileged place in the Christian’s toolkit. It is a source of wisdom and encouragement, provides material for prayer and reflection, challenges belief and behavior in the struggle to discern God’s will, and sets boundaries for orthodoxy in Christian experience.

With this in mind, author Liz Hoare suggests that spiritual direction is not just for individuals but for the flourishing of the Church as a whole. There is evidence of a loosening of the links between Christian orthodoxy and the practice of spiritual direction. It is also often perceived as a private and individualistic pursuit. Hoare asks how the Bible challenges this interpretation of a key but often unacknowledged ministry in the Church, and how it may help the whole Church to own spiritual direction and benefit the wider world.

Liz Hoare is the tutor in spiritual formation and dean for women at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. She trained for the ministry at Ridley Hall, Cambridge and was one of the first women to be ordained priest in the Church of England. She writes a weekly column for the Church of England Newspaper.

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Walking Backwards to Christmas

  • Author: Stephen Cottrell
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2014
  • Pages: 128

Using the brilliant, deceptively simple device of telling the Christmas story backwards, Stephen Cottrell helps us encounter it as if for the first time.

Though the Christmas story is well known, most of us have learnt it from school nativity plays and carols. On the whole, this familiar version is more concerned with light than darkness. The backwards approach taken here allows the movement to be in the opposite direction, enabling us to get under the skin of a complex narrative.

We begin by seeing through the eyes of Anna, the prophetess; followed by Rachel, who weeps for her children; King Herod; Casper, a wise men; David, a shepherd; Martha, the (so-named) innkeeper’s wife; Joseph; Elizabeth; Mary; Isaiah and, finally, Moses. Each imaginative reflection is prefaced by a Bible reading and followed by a prayer.

Stephen Cottrell is the bishop of Chelmsford and was formerly the bishop of Reading. He has worked in parishes in London and Chichester, as canon pastor of Peterborough Cathedral, as missioner in the Wakefield diocese and as part of Springboard, the Archbishop’s evangelism team.

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What Is Contextual Bible Study?

  • Author: John Riches
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2010
  • Pages: 128

Contextual Bible study is an insightful, empowering way to read the Bible. It’s an exciting approach to group Bible study that encourages Christians to come together and allow Scripture to shape their understanding of today’s burning issues. John Riches offers a wealth of practical guidance on how to start a contextual Bible study group and how to make this approach work for you. What Is Contextual Bible Study? provides stimulating questions to use during Advent and Lent, along with inspiring stories of the contextual Bible study approach in action.

Contributors

  • Helen Ball
  • Roy Henderson
  • Craig Lancaster
  • Leslie Milton
  • Maureen Russell

John Riches is emeritus professor of divinity and biblical criticism at the University of Glasgow. He is the author of Conflicting Mythologies and T & T Clark Study Guides: Matthew.

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Who Was Jesus?

  • Author: N.T. Wright
  • Publisher: SPCK
  • Publication Date: 2005
  • Pages: 107

This is Tom Wright’s response to the wave of controversial books and theories on the historical Jesus. Responding to theories that Jesus was married, fathered children, divorced and then remarried and other claims that the doctrine of the Virgin Birth has caused the oppression of women, Tom Wright outlines these arguments and presents solid reasons for discounting the theories.

Whilst he agrees that the real historical Jesus may have some surprises for the institutional Church, he reveals that these ‘quests’ for the real Jesus display many variations on the same themes and shows that these theories are not as novel as they are made out to be. Written from the standpoint of professional Biblical scholarship yet assuming no prior knowledge of the subject, Wright shows convincingly that much can be gained from rigorous historical assessment of what the Gospels’ themselves say about Jesus.

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