In the framework of the international academic dialogue on Reformed church polity this study focuses on the way the notion of authority is articulated in the church orders of three Indonesian churches with different historical and missionary backgrounds. The analysis deals with the main aspects of church polity that would articulate power: identity, assembly, and ministry. It shows resonances between the characteristic features of Reformed polity and the cultural context of Indonesia. Authority can be characterized as context-relevant, relational, and accountable.

It is fascinating that in all the media reports and discussions of the church's abuse of power in the early years of the twenty-first century, few if any seemed to notice that the accusation of the church's misuse of power presupposed a shared understanding of the positive use of power within the church that had been violated. Rather than an interest in the sociological aspect of this question, this book examines the more ontological and normative aspects of it. That is, it investigates and discerns the foundational theological framework of culture and society and the location and purpose of the church within them. As a cultural force and societal institution, what does the church constructively bring to the human community?

Church polity, as a theological discipline, has become increasingly aware of the challenge of contextuality, due to tendencies like secularization in the global North and a renewed awareness of inherited cultural and religious traditions in the global South. The ecumenical movement offers a particular framework for reflection on such developments. Contexts I and Contexts II of Protestant Church Polity in Changing Contexts contain proceedings from an international conference held in Utrecht in November 2011. Contexts I (ISBN 978 3 643 90310 5) includes essays in the fields of ecclesiology, church history, missiology, inter-cultural theology, and practical theology. The companion Contexts II (ISBN 978 3 643 90311 2) presents a number of case studies. (Series: Church Polity and Ecumenism. Global Perspectives - Vol. 2)

This book seeks to bring coherence to two of the most studied periods in British history, Caroline non-conformity (pre-1640) and the British revolution (post-1642). It does so by focusing on the pivotal years of 1638–44 where debates around non-conformity within the Church of England morphed into a revolution between Parliament and its king. Parliament, saddled with the responsibility of re-defining England’s church, called its Westminster assembly of divines to debate and define the content and boundaries of that new church. Typically this period has been studied as either an ecclesiastical power struggle between Presbyterians and independents, or as the harbinger of modern religious toleration. This book challenges those assumptions and provides an entirely new framework for understanding one of the most important moments in British history.

Christian worship emerges from and speaks back into human relationships that are necessarily shaped by power and authority. Free Churches structure and negotiate power in relation to worship in ways that reflect the decentralization, local diversity, and personal agency that characterize many aspects of Free Church theology and practice. This volume models how dialogue among scholars and practitioners of Free Church worship, as well as dialogue with the wider church, can be mutually enriching as Christians strive together to worship in ways that are faithful and just.

Armed with pistols and wearing jackboots, Bishop Henry Compton rode out in 1688 against his King but in defence of the Church of England and its bishops. His actions are a dramatic but telling indication of what was at stake for bishops in early modern England and Compton's action at the height of the Restoration was the culmination of more than a century and a half of religious controversy that engulfed bishops. Bishops were among the most important instruments of royal, religious, national and local authority in seventeenth-century England. While their actions and ideas trickled down to the lower strata of the population, poor opinions of bishops filtered back up, finding expression in public forums, printed pamphlets and more subversive forms including scurrilous verse and mocking illustrations. Bishops and Power in Early Modern England explores the role and involvement of bishops at the centre of both government and belief in early modern England. It probes the controversial actions and ideas which sparked parliamentary agitation against them, demands for religious reform, and even war. Bishops and Power in Early Modern England examines arguments challenging episcopal authority and the counter-arguments which stressed the necessity of bishops in England and their status as useful and godly ministers. The book argues that episcopal writers constructed an identity as reformed agents of church authority. Charting the development of this identity over a hundred and fifty years, from the Reformation to the Restoration, this book traces the history of early modern England from an original and highly significant perspective. This book engages with many aspects of the social, political and religious history of early modern England and will therefore be key reading for undergraduates and postgraduates, and researchers working in the early modern field, and anyone who has an interest in this period of history.

This book analyzes the links between political economics, governance structures and the distribution of political power in economic policy making. The book theoretically explains and empirically quantifies these interactions. The analysis includes both public good policies and redistributive policies. Part I of the book presents the conceptual foundations of political-economic bargaining and interest group analysis. After presenting the underlying theory, Part II of the book examines ideology, prescription and political power coefficients; Part III analyzes a number of specific structures; and Part IV presents a framework for political econometrics with a number of empirical applications and testable hypotheses. In all four parts of the book, four analytical dimensions of public policy are distinguished: governance structures, political economy, mechanism design and incidence.