A comprehensive, quick reference for all Episcopalians, both lay and ordained. This thoroughly researched, highly readable resource contains more than 3,000 clearly entries about the history, structure, liturgy, and theology of the Episcopal Church—and the larger Christian church worldwide. The editors have also provided a helpful bibliography of key reference works and additional background materials. “This tool belongs on the shelf of just about anyone who cares for, works in or with, or even wonders about the Episcopal Church.”—The Episcopal New Yorker

Why should the cross—an object of Roman distaste and Jewish disgust—be the emblem of our worship and the axiom of our faith? And what does it mean for us today? In the centennial edition of this study of Scripture, theology, and contemporary issues, John Stott brings you face to face with the centrality of the cross in God's plan of redemption.

The origin, development and spread of the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross is traced on the basis of liturgical sources, and through a careful examination of the liturgical textual material, the meaning of the feast is analyzed with respect to its content. Among the important points receiving attention in this analysis are the place, function and significance of the Cross relic, and the theology of the Cross, or the process whereby the understanding of the Cross was shaped, as that was invested in the feast. The research is based on sources of Western liturgy from the early Middle Ages, and therefore has bearing on the period in the West in which a multiform liturgy, celebrated according to various indigenous local and regional traditions, gradually made way for one uniform Latin liturgy patterned on Roman models. The feast of the Exaltation of the Cross spread through the West from Rome within this context of standardization and Romanization. This raises questions about the uniformity and the Roman content of the feast. This study especially examines to what degree indigenous interpretations of the Cross, which were part of the legacy of the Hispanic and Gallican traditions in particular, continued to be preserved through the liturgical books of the early Middle Ages.

This fascinating study reconstructs the tradition of the Legend of the True Cross in text and image, from its tentative beginnings in 4th-century Jerusalem to the culminating expression of its multi-layered cosmic content in 14th and 15th-century monumental cycles in Germany and Italy.

The Gospel can be considered a Manual of Prayer, a letter written by the Holy Spirit to you. But God's Word doesn't live in a book. It comes alive when you pray about It. It is not about getting to know what the 'Historical Jesus' did two thousand years ago, what He said "back then"; Jesus Christ is not 'back then' anymore, He is alive, and is longing to talk to you.Taking the Gospel of the day, the iPray provides a commentary that can be a trigger for an authentic and personal conversation with Jesus. That time of prayer spent with Jesus is like a 'cooking pot' in which you blend the Words and scenes of Jesus' life, found in the Gospel, together with your daily life, your worries, your family and friends, all heated up by the fire of the Holy Spirit.'iPray with the Gospel' is not a ready-made meal you can just throw in the microwave, as if they were some prayers that you read and that's it. It is more like a personal recipe that only you can cook with the help of the Holy Spirit.