This book surveys developments in sacramental and liturgical discourse and discord, exploring the writings of English and Scottish divines, and focusing on baptism and the Lord's Supper. The reigns of James I and Charles I coincided with divergence and development in teaching on the sacraments in England and Scotland and with growing discord on liturgical texts and the ceremonial. Uniquely focusing on both nations in a single study, Bryan Spinks draws on theological treatises, sermons, catechisms, liturgical texts and writings by Scottish theologians hitherto neglected. Exploring the European roots of the churches of England and Scotland and how they became entwined in developments culminating in the Solemn League and Covenant and Westminster Directory, this book presents an authoritative study of sacramental and liturgical debate, developments, and experiments during the Stuart period.

The English Civil War and its aftermath was a time of human devastation, political uncertainty and religious instability. Amid the turmoil of those times, however, the Church of England also saw intense liturgical inventiveness. The Directory for Public Worship, Jeremy Taylor's Communion Office, and Richard Baxter's Reformed Liturgy, are all examples of resourceful liturgies born out of the ashes of the English Civil War. The Church of England had not witnessed such liturgical innovation since Thomas Cranmer, and would not see such creativity again until the end of the twentieth century - at least in terms of liturgical texts. In Richard Baxter's Reformation of the Liturgy, Glen J. Segger examines the theology and ecclesiology of Baxter’s liturgical opus. While never approved for public use, the Reformed Liturgy remains an important and creative liturgy representative of those who fought for their Puritan convictions, but lost.

For over seventy years after the ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688–90, Jacobitism survived in the face of Whig propaganda. These essays seek to challenge current views of Jacobite historiography. They focus on migrant communities, networking, smuggling, shipping, religious and intellectual support mechanisms, art, architecture and identity.

The study of liturgy has received criticism from scholars and practitioners alike: the academic discipline of liturgiology has been compared to the hobby of stamp collection, and proponents for liturgical renewal argue that worship must be made more accessible and relevant. Bryan Spinks has been an important moderating voice in this discussion, reminding both academic and ecclesial communities that Christ is made known in the liturgical riches of the past as well as in contemporary forms of the present. Inspired by Spinks' work, this volume brings together biblical, historical, and theological scholars to discuss the theme of continuity and change in worship. Its historical range begins with the early church, extends through the Reformation, and concludes with a discussion of issues facing contemporary liturgical reform. In recognition of the fact that Professor Spinks' work has been widely influential in both Europe and the United States, the editors have solicited liturgical perspectives from scholars with international reputations on sides of the Atlantic.

During the mid-seventeenth century, Baptists existed on the fringes of religious life in England. Matthew C. Bingham examines this early group and argues that they did not see themselves as a part of a larger, all-encompassing Baptist movement. Rather, their rejection of infant baptism was but one of a number of doctrinal revisions then taking place among English puritans. Orthodox Radicals is a much needed complication of our understanding of Baptist identity, setting the early English Baptists in the cultural, political, and theological context of the wider puritan milieu out of which they arose.

First full study of the life and career of the Glaswegian minister Robert Baillie, establishing his significance and influence

Edited by Emery de Gaál and Matthew Levering, Joseph Ratzinger and the Healing of Reformation-Era Divisions examines Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI’s manifold contributions to Catholic-Protestant theological reflection. The collection opens with an introduction comparing Ratzinger’s approach to ecumenism to that of Karl Rahner. Rahner argues that the structural uniting of Protestants and Catholics should take place now without worrying about doctrinal differences. In contrast, Ratzinger argues that unity in Christ requires probing the doctrinal differences and seeking a deeper understanding of the reasoning of each side—on the grounds that the truth of the Gospel that each side desires to preserve will ultimately be the basis for the only kind of Christian ecclesial unity worth having, namely, a unity of the basis of the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Detailed essays follow, treating a number of loci including papal primacy, ecumenical principles, liturgy, evangelization, Mariology, Christ’s birth and the celebration of Christmas, public theology, Christocentrism, Martin Luther, charity, conscience, missiology, justification, the reception of Ratzinger/Benedict in Radical Orthodoxy, and Scripture and Tradition. These essays run the full gamut of Ratzinger/Benedict’s major themes and preoccupations. Ten of the essays are by Catholic scholars, and seven by Protestant scholars. Contributors include many of the world’s leading Ratzinger experts, and the volume opens with an essay by Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer, Director of the Pope Benedict XVI Institute in Regensburg, Germany.