God’s Wounds and Angel Wings…

Today we make the trip from our offices in Cambridge to its sister Oxford for the sixteenth ‘International Conference on Patristics.’ Here scholars from across the globe flock to the quarterly event, which provides an important arena for the testing of ideas within Patristics. It is a veritable hotbed of famous names, lectures and seminars, leading to the Master’s Garden Party at Christ Church, before the evening lecture at St Mary’s, this time given by Professor Guy Stroumsta, the Abrahamic Religion specialist.

Within this hive of academic activity we will introduce four of our latest publications:

All Shall Be Well By Gregory MacDonald is a tour de force across centuries of minority Universalist thought, revealing the sheer diversity existing within the discourse.

God’s Wounds Volume I & II By Jeff B. Pool examine divine suffering through the prism of Creation and Evil respectively, in this crucial contribution to the field of hermeneutics.

Finally In The Shadow Of His Wings By Jonathan Macy relocates the role of angels in the protestant tradition through a combination of scripture analysis and pastoral theology. All three works boldly confront eschatological issues to leave us with much food for thought, not least concerning the destination of our souls!

“Words I never thought to speak” T.S. Eliot, Little Gidding and Festivals of Words

‘If you came this way,
Taking any route, starting from anywhere,
At any time or at any season,
It would always be the same…’

_{T.S. Eliot, Little Gidding, (No. 4 of ‘Four Quartets’)}

Except of course that it wouldn’t, because for the last six years the Little Gidding T.S. Eliot Festival has been quietly growing. To investigate further and to ensure that Web of Friendship: Nicholas Ferrar and Little Gidding and Anglo-Catholic in Religion: T.S. Eliot and Christianity were duly promoted (they were), the newest member of the Lutterworth team attended the event incognito.

There are pictures below of the delightful scene she discovered but of course what the crowd were there for was words; they were not disappointed. In the form of readings, lectures, discussions and song, inspirational words flowed through the beautiful grounds of Ferrar House.

Setting for the Little Gidding Festival 2011

The weekend saw at least seven very erudite speakers engage with an equally passionate and opinionated audience on many aspects of Eliot’s life and legacy, particularly those pertaining to the physical and metaphysical importance of Little Gidding itself. The history of Little Gidding and the Ferrar family, the subject of Joyce Ransome’s new book, was known to Eliot and although it is the later history of the family and house which is alluded to in the symbolism of the forth of his ‘Four Quartets’, the piety of the location is significant to his poetry and indeed his own personal faith— the topic of  Barry Spurr’s work. In addition to the words, wonderful music was provided by Alexander Kershaw, the fantastic Time Loves Changes quartet and some 1920s and 30s music specially arranged by poet and priest Malcolm Guite.

Over 100 people attended the festival from all levels of familiarity with the bard. On Saturday Joyce Ransome herself was in the audience, and on Sunday the numbers were swelled by students of the T.S. Eliot International Summerschool.

The festival was a great success in terms of both enjoyment and learning however this is in

Erudite Speakers, click image for programme

proportion to the huge amount of effort in terms of planning and organising that went into the event. Particular praise and mention should go to Wendy and Paul Skirrow, the new occupiers of Ferrar House who took on the challenge of the festival having only been in residence eight months. Also to the members of the planning committee who not only planned but brilliantly compèred (Simon Kershaw), and lectured (Hugh Black-Hawkins) as well as representing their own societies-the Friends of Little Gidding and the T S Eliot Society (UK). Huge thanks should also go to the staff and volunteers for all their work behind the scenes, particularly in producing the amazing meals, teas and cakes that kept everyone going.

As a complete Eliot novice this under-cover observer would defiantly recommend attending the event in the future however the continuation of the festival depends on the hard work of those involved. If you would like more information about the festival and how you can help maintain Eliot’s memory at Little Gidding, please email eliotfestival@littlegidding.org.uk.

To find out more about The Web of Friendship: Nicholas Ferrar and Little Gidding by Joyce Ransome, or to request a review copy, please contact: Fiona Christie at sales@lutterworth.com

‘The Web of Friendship’ reading at the Evensong service at Westminster Abbey on Sunday 19th June

The Author of our new title The Web of Friendship will be reading an excerpt at a service of evensong at Westminster Abbey on Sunday 19^th June celebrating the ordination of Nicholas Ferrar there in 1626.

Joyce Ransome presents a story of a man whose  ministry to his family turned a worldly misfortune into a spiritual opportunity to unite in piety and become an example of community to their own and future generations.

Born in London in 1593, Nicholas Ferrar was educated at Clare Hall, which is now Clare College , in Cambridge and was elected a fellow there in 1610. From 1613 he travelled extensively on the continent for four years, and on his return worked with the Virginia Company, and was briefly elected to Parliament.

In 1626, he and his family made permanent their move to Little Gidding in Huntingdonshire, a manor they had pruchased in 1624/5.  The household included Nicholas’s widowed mother, his brother John with his wife Bathsheba and their children, and his sister Susanna and her husband John Collett and their numerous children.  They restored the derelict manor house and church and established a life of prayer, education  and service based on scripture and the Book of Common Prayer, This mercantile family thus became a voluntary society that Nicholas hoped would preach to contemporaries by its example.

Although the family’s daily life followed a strict routine, it remained a household rather than a monastic community.  The family tended to the health and education of local children, and Nicholas and his family produced harmonies of the gospels that survive today as some of the finest in Britain.

Unusually women played an important role in the community of Little Gidding. Nicholas Ferrar’s mother, Mary, who had used her dower money to purchase Little Gidding, headed, with Nicholas, this unusual family.  She was noted for having in her sixties memorised the entire psalter.  She particularly concerned herself with the education of her granddaughters.  The two eldest granddaughters, Mary and Anna Collet, committed themselves to lives of chastity. As their grandmother grew older, Mary especially resumed much of her responsibility. She ran the surgery and book-binding work and bound the first concordance presented to Charles I.

Nicholas Ferrar was ordained to the diaconate by William Laud in Westminster Abbey in 1626 when the family had decided to make Gidding their permanent home. He wrote to his niece in 1631, ‘I purpose and hope by God’s grace to be to you not as a master but as a partner and fellow student.’ This indicates the depth and feeling of the community life Nicholas and his family strove to maintain.

Despite difficulties the community continued after the death of Nicholas on 4 December 1637, until the disruptions of the civil war years and the departure of many of the younger generation made it impossible to carry on the communal life as Nicholas had established it. Nevertheless the memory of Nicholas Ferrar and his family has continued to inspire Christians to lives of prayer, service and community.

While that hope to be an example to the world was at best only partially fulfilled in his lifetime, those who had known him at Little Gidding were able later to form networks that adapted that piety and voluntarism to create societies acceptable within the church. These men led the way to voluntary Anglicanism that characterized a ‘Church of England’ in transition from a national to an established but essentially voluntary institution.

Avoiding the hagiographic tone adopted by Ferrar’s biographers, Joyce Ransome shows how the search for community was central to his life and has therefore become the unifying theme around which she has constructed his biography.

For its fresh prospective on the unique Little Gidding that Ferrar created, this book will appeal to both an academic and general audience of readers interested in early modern history, church history, English literature, theology, family history (historical sociology) and gender studies.

For more information about Little Gidding Church or Ferrar Manor House please visit the Ferrar House Website. 

The Friends of Little Gidding maintain the memory of this family living a Christian life in accordance with the Book of Common Prayer according to high church principles. The Friends, first founded over 60 years ago, exist to help maintain the beauty and spirituality of Little Gidding Church and its surroundings, and to remember the life and example of Nicholas Ferrar and his family. The Friends also celebrate the connection between Little Gidding and the poet T S Eliot.  Its members will participate in the service which commemorates the life of Nicholas Ferrar and his ordination at Westminster Abbey.

For more information please visit the Friends of Little Gidding Website.

 

The Friends of Little Gidding will also be holding the Sixth Annual T S Eliot Festival at Little Gidding on Saturday 9^th July and Sunday 10^th July 2011.

The Festival is a major literary celebration of the life and work of Nobel Prize winning writer Thomas Stearns Eliot (1888-1965). People attending will include visitors from the T S Eliot Summer School. Tickets for the weekend are £45 (early-bird price £40 before 8 June 2011), including Saturday afternoon tea and supper and Sunday lunch and tea.

To find out more about the event please click here

 

To purchase a copy of The Web of Friendship or to find out more about the book please click here

If you would like to review this book please contact Holly Crabbe at uspublicity@lutterworth.com

The Joshua Delusion? Rethinking Genocide in the Bible

The book of Joshua is one of the most polemic books within the Bible considering its violence tone that explains the “genocide” of the Canaanites in order to conquest the promised land of Canaan.

Douglas S. Earl’s new book, The Joshua Delusion? Rethinking Genocide in the Bible, due to release this July, argues that we have mistakenly read Joshua as a straightforward historical account and have ended up with a genocide God. In contrast, Earl offers a theological interpretation in which the mass killing of Canaanites is a deliberate use of myth to make important theological points that are still valid today.

“The book of Joshua is hagiographic in nature, which means that its intention was not to recount literal history so much as to make a moral point using the literary devices of warfare literature in order to encourage a certain type of orthodox religious behaviour among the faith community who gathers to hear the book as sacred scripture.”                                                                                     – By Thom Stark, author of The Human Faces of God: What Scripture Reveals When It Gets God Wrong (and Why Inerrancy Tries To Hide It).

The author surveys the origins of the problems that the book of Joshua has raised for Christians, and the roots of possible ways of reading it that might point to a different way of understanding the book.

“I am delighted, therefore, to commend this book as a model of how to approach difficulties in Scripture. Douglas Earl offers a way of thinking about Joshua that will be surprising and challenging to many. Yet, whether or not his thesis fully persuades, the way in which he approaches the text will surely appeal to all thoughtful Christians; for Earl is simultaneously radical, in that he utilizes fresh resources and challenges common ways of thinking about Joshua, and traditional, in that he reconnects with certain ancient and existentially fruitful Christian ways of handling the text”.                                    – Walter Moberly from the Foreword.

About the author: Douglas Earl did his PhD on the book of Joshua at the University of Durham. He is the author of Reading Joshua as Christian Scripture.

For more information about this title or to request a review copy, please contact Anna Pueyo at publicity@lutterworth.com

The International Conference of Patristics

James Clarke & Co will be attending the International Conference of Patristics in Oxford on the 8th-12th  August 2011, taking with us a whole host of titles relevant to Patristics. It will take place, as usual, in the Examination Schools in the High Street,Oxford.

This four-yearly gathering of scholars from around the world has become a major event for the many disciplines concerned with Patristics. It gives scholars at all stages of their careers the opportunity to engage with a critical, but sympathetic audience.

The conference and more than five hundred individual contributions indicate the movement of research in the field as a whole. Famous names, addresses, lectures, seminars and topics discussed have marked the history of research in Patristics.

We will be at Stand 13 on the North School, First Floor and hope to see you there!

We will be at Stand 13 on the North School, First Floor and hope to see you there!

To find out more about the International Conference of Patristics visit http://www.patristics.org.uk/

Here are a few highlights from this years catalogue that we will be bringing along to the conference…

 

Early Christianity in North Africa by Francois Decret

Christian North Africa is a region often reduced to its dominant patristic personalities, yet Early Christianity in North Africa recognises the significant growth and dynamic nature of the African Christian community. Francois Decret explores the roots, diverse history, expansion and significant influence of the Christian Church in North Africa.

This book details the course of the great metamorphosis in North Africa’s identity which went from being Western, Roman and Christian to being part of the Eastern Arab-Muslim world and the effect that this had upon African Christianity.

Edward Smither, Associate Professor of Church History and Intercultural Studies at Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary, recognised the demand for this book after continuously recommending François Decret’s book to students.This quality translation of an important book captures the unique spirit of an invaluable chapter of church history.

 Early Christianity in North Africa will be available from July. For more information please click here.

The Philokalia and the Inner Life by Christopher C.H. Cook

 Christopher C. H. Cook focuses on the text of Philokalia, providing an intriguing and analytic work which is considered a critical examination of the spirituality of the Philokalia in relation to contemporary understandings of psychotherapy.

The author, like the shepherd of thoughts and ideas on the ‘mountain of contemplation’, explores intelligently the nature of mental well-being and inner life, as well as presenting an account of the pathologies of the soul (passions) and considering the remedies for them.

The book is essential reading for those interested in the contemporary world of psychotherapy, spirituality, the Philokalia texts and also a fruitful prayer as a path to mental well-being.

The Philokalia and the Inner Life is available now from our website. For more information please click here

The Earliest Christian Hymnbook by James H. Charlesworth

Two millennia ago a gifted poet in the Middle East composed the Earliest Christian Hymnbook called the Odes of Solomon and that gifted poet was the anonymous Odist who became the early poet laureate of Christianity.

Professor Charlesworth offers an inviting introduction and a translation of this work that is both engaging and true to the original languages. The poetry, hymns and odes of the first followers of Jesus are evidently present in the New Testament and this volume translates The Odes of Solomon with some of the hymns being obviously Christian while others perhaps Jewish.

The Earliest Christian Hymnbook will be available from July. For more information please click here

For more information about any of these titles please contact Holly Crabbe at uspublicity@lutterworth.com

 

Spirituality and mission in our “busy” era

Subversive Spirituality due for release in June 2011, introduces an integrity model for spirituality and mission that can help the church to engage the generation of this age in ways that can deepen their inner life with God and move people to participation in God’s kingdom mission.

“In this book Dr. Jensen breaks new ground in three important ways. First, he relates the theme of spirituality in a fundamental way to modernity/postmodernity. Second, he canvasses the history of culture and the spiritual practices of Jesus Christ, the early church, and contemporary Christians, to establish patterns and models from which we can learn. Much can be gleaned from the spiritual practices developed in other ages and cultures. Third, this book offers a challenging proposal to Christian disciples committed to living faithfully in contemporary culture. (…)The goal of this subversive action is nothing less than to create time and space for the disciple to be in God’s presence in solitude and community, as modeled by Jesus Christ, and there be ministered to by God’s Spirit. This is urgently needed not only to sustain our personal discipleship but as the foundation for our engagement with the world”.                                                              Wilbert R. Shenk from the Foreword.

L. Paul Jensen argues that the current church has suffered a cultural “collapse of space and time” to devotion to God. That means that we live constantly in a hurry, where methods for a generous spiritual journey and a courageous missional life are not welcome. Jensen assures us that with more time and space devoted to regular solitary and communal spiritual practices, mission, and leadership structures the church can achieve greater engagement with the world.

“The loss of the sense of place and our addictive hurry sickness have drained spiritual vitality and power for mission from the church in North America. We often focus on outward ministry to the exclusion of spirituality amidst the pressures of maintaining organizational structures infected with collapsed spatial and temporal codes and devoid of sufficient time and space for relationships”.                 -L. Paul Jensen from the Preface of Subversive Spirituality.

He connects the world of ancient spiritual practices with the world of constant communication and instant gratification, proposing a model for spirituality and mission in church, mission, and educational structures in our increasingly pluralistic postmodern life.

About the author: L. Paul Jensen is founder and director of The Leadership Institute, in Orange, California, which offers non-formal training in spiritual formation, spiritual direction, and leadership development. He is Assistant Professor of Leadership and Christian Formation as well as an Assistant Professor of Spirituality in Contemporary Culture at Fuller Theological Seminary. He has authored articles on discipleship and spirituality, including several entries in the Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization.

To pre order a copy of the book click here

For more information about this title or to request a review copy, please contact Anna Pueyo at publicity@lutterworth.com

The Childhood of Jesus

Due for publication in July 2011 The Childhood of Jesus sees the Infancy Gospel of Thomas as reflecting oral storytelling, and possessing far more narrative qualities than has been previously assumed. He situates the story within rural Christianity among the common people, with the social and cultural ideas and values characteristic of such a milieu, and argues that it can even be considered the first Christian children’s story.

This book gives a fresh interpretation of the infancy gospel and comes to a number of radical and new conclusions. Aasgaard presents the history of research history and analyses its story, transmission, narrative world and values, theology, views of gender and childhood, social setting, and audience – much of which has not been previously treated.

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas was probably the first of many attempts by the early Christians to document the first twelve years of Jesus’s life, bridging the gap left in the second chapter of Luke. This ancient tale about Jesus’s boyhood years narrates his play with other children, miraculous deeds, first visits to school, and conflicts with his teachers.

Originating in second-century, Greek-speaking Christianity, it was quickly translated into other languages, including Latin and Syriac, and enjoyed widespread popularity in the Middle Ages, when it was included as part of the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew.

Although it has often been claimed that the gospel is heretical Aasgaard argues that the theology mirrors mainstream thinking rooted in biblical tradition, particularly in the Johannine and Lukan traditions. Jesus is portrayed as a divine figure but also as a true-to-life child of late antiquity.

The volume includes the Greek text of the gospel with an English translation, as well as extensive appendices, among them surveys of its historical evidence, variants in the stories, and other ancient infancy gospels.

To purchase a copy or to find out more about the book please click here.

If you would like to review this book please contact Holly Crabbe at uspublicity@lutterworth.com

Ready for London Book Fair 2011

With only four days left to London Book Fair we’ve been rushing to complete our 2011 James Clarke & Co catalogue in time, and can now reveal the finalised jacket.

Of course copies willl be available at the fair to pick up from the IPG stand J205, but if are unable to find us you can of course contact us directly and we will post a copy free of charge to your address.

Some highlights from this years catalogue include…

Ethiopic Manuscript Imaging Project I Set
Fresh off the press this week and newly arrived into the office this set includes Ethiopian Scribal Practice 1 & Catalogue of the Ethiopic MS Project I which successfully digitized and catalogued collections of Ethiopic manuscripts in North Africa and around the world.

The Philokalia and the Inner Life
Christopher Cook’s study explores the Philokalia from the perspective of contemporary psychotherapy while providing an introduction to it’s history. It will appeal to anyone interested in Christian Theology particularly in relation to mental health issues, addictions and psychotherapy.

In the End, God…
A newly revised edition of Bishop John Robinson’s work which identified a gap in the subject of eschatology within the Christian faith.

Web of Friendship: Nicholas Ferrar and Little Gidding
This title due for release in July 2011 will be the first biographical study of Nicholas Ferrar and his family and will take a detailed look at his education, experiences which shaped his ministry and what brought Ferrar to Little Gidding in Cambridgeshire.

We hope to see you there!

In the End, God… by John A. T. Robinson

In the End, God…focuses in on the ‘Four Last Things’ traditionally linked with eschatology; death, judgement, heaven and hell. Examining each of them with trenchancy and lucidity, and providing a vital new understanding of how these themes relate to contemporary Christian life.

This revised edition includes an extended introduction by Trevor Hart of the University of St Andrews, the exchange between the author and Thomas F. Torrance first published in the Scottish Journal of Theology in 1949, a preface by Robin Parry and a foreword by Gregory McDonald.

“At the very heart of this book lies a profound insight: that eschatology is not a road map for the future but is, rather, a function of our doctrine of God.” Gregory McDonald from the Foreward

Identifying a gap that exists in the treatment of eschatology within the Christian faith, Robinson points out, eschatology had traditionally dealt with the last things in a way that is remote and removed from everyday life and Christianity, and the goal of his book is to make eschatology fully relevant to the modern world. Although it is commonly held that eschatology within modern Christianity is centred on the fact and moment of death, Robinson shows that the true nature of eschatology is something quite different. It is not about the last things after everything else, but rather is about the relation of all things to the ‘last things’ or, as it were, about the ‘lastness’ of all things.

“For Robinson, the universalistic vision or “hypothesis” is the only one that properly “fits the facts” being grounded “in the very necessity of God’s nature” apprehended by those who have made the leap of faith and stand now in the truth of Christ.” - Trevor Hart

Revealing the foundation of biblical eschatology to be the experience of God by the community of faith, Robinson calls readers to embrace the eschatological vision of the Bible, but to do so in a way that is alert to its mythic character. In the course of these explorations he also lays bare his own theology of universal salvation. However, contrary to what one may expect, this universalism is one that seeks to take both human freedom and the reality of hell with the utmost seriousness.

About the Author: John Arthur Thomas Robinson (1919-1983) was a New Testament scholar, author and a former Anglican Bishop of Woolwich, England. He was a lecturer at Trinity College, Cambridge, and later Dean of Trinity College until his death in 1983. Robinson is also famous for his contributions to liberal Christian theology and for pioneering the field of secular theology.

Click here to see a review of the latest edition of In The End, God… from DoDifferent.org.uk

To order a copy of the book click here

For more information about this title or to request a review copy, please contact Fiona Christie

sales@jamesclarke.co.uk

Newly Published title on the Philokalia

The Philokalia and the Inner Life

On Passions and Prayer

By Christopher C. H. Cook

Christopher C. H. Cook focuses on the text of Philokalia, providing an intriguing and analytic work which is considered a critical examination of the spirituality of the Philokalia in relation to contemporary understandings of psychotherapy.

The author, like the shepherd of thoughts and ideas on the ‘mountain of contemplation’, explores intelligently the nature of mental well-being and inner life, as well as presenting an account of the pathologies of the soul (passions) and considering the remedies for them.

These aspects comprise several steps towards proper understanding of the Philokalia and human experience of thoughts, passions and prayer. Cook presents not only contextual information (various influences and foundations that have helped to shape the writing), but also examines the challenge and consequences of what occurs when human-beings attempt to control their confused and disordered minds and finally raises important questions about the relationships between thoughts and prayer.

The book is essential reading for those interested in the contemporary world of psychotherapy, spirituality, the Philokalia texts and also a fruitful prayer as a path to mental well-being.

About the Author: The Reverend Professor Chris Cook is a Research Fellow at Durham University and teaches Spirituality and Pastoral Theology at Cranmer Hall, St John’s College, Durham. He is also a consultant psychiatrist with over twenty years of experience. As well as publishing numerous journal articles and book chapters, he is also Director of the Project for Spirituality, Theology and Health. His other published works include Alcohol, Addiction & Christian Ethics, and he was joint author of The Treatment of Drinking Problems.

To purchase this title please see our website by clicking here.

Read a review by Fr Gregory Jensen by clicking here.

Review copies are available directly from the publisher.
For more information contact Rachel Shand, Sales & Publicity Department
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