Christian theology and religious belief were crucially important to Anglo-Saxon society, and are manifest in the surviving textual, visual and material evidence. This is the first full-length study investigating how Christian theology and religious beliefs permeated society and underpinned social values in early medieval England. The influence of the early medieval Church as an institution is widely acknowledged, but Christian theology itself is generally considered to have been accessible only to a small educated elite. This book shows that theology had a much greater and more significant impact than has been recognised. An examination of theology in its social context, and how it was bound up with local authorities and powers, reveals a much more subtle interpretation of secular processes, and shows how theological debate affected the ways that religious and lay individuals lived and died. This was not a one-way flow, however: this book also examines how social and cultural practices and interests affected the development of theology in Anglo-Saxon England, and how ’popular’ belief interacted with literary and academic traditions. Through case-studies, this book explores how theological debate and discussion affected the personal perspectives of Christian Anglo-Saxons, including where possible those who could not read. In all of these, it is clear that theology was not detached from society or from the experiences of lay people, but formed an essential constituent part.

Christian theology and religious belief were crucially important to Anglo-Saxon society, and are manifest in the surviving textual, visual and material evidence. This is the first full-length study investigating how Christian theology and religious beliefs permeated society and underpinned social values in early medieval England. The influence of the early medieval Church as an institution is widely acknowledged, but Christian theology itself is generally considered to have been accessible only to a small educated elite. This book shows that theology had a much greater and more significant impact than has been recognised. An examination of theology in its social context, and how it was bound up with local authorities and powers, reveals a much more subtle interpretation of secular processes, and shows how theological debate affected the ways that religious and lay individuals lived and died. This was not a one-way flow, however: this book also examines how social and cultural practices and interests affected the development of theology in Anglo-Saxon England, and how ’popular’ belief interacted with literary and academic traditions. Through case-studies, this book explores how theological debate and discussion affected the personal perspectives of Christian Anglo-Saxons, including where possible those who could not read. In all of these, it is clear that theology was not detached from society or from the experiences of lay people, but formed an essential constituent part.

With great pleasure we issue a completely new revised edition of this important book. This new edition is intended to those who want to understand the Catholic Anglicanism better and stick to its original traditions. It is still one of the most important works that describe and explain the whole Catholic faith, as the Fathers of the Church have handed down. Until now, there were only copies of the original. Since these were relatively difficult to read, we decided to publish a completely new edition. The typesetting of this new edition is completely digitalized and got a fresh new and modernized look. Every paragraph is carefully formatted which makes this book as easy to read as never before. No blurred or black spots that distract the reader anymore. While the whole content is unchanged (including the author's accentuations, illustrations, etc.), biblical citations were reformatted (using Arabic instead of Roman numerals and using a colon to separate chapter from verse) and integrated in the text. Moreover, the table of content has been repositioned and simplified for a better overview. May this new edition venerate our Lord and serve to help people and also clergy to understand the faith even better.