The Homilies were originally published in 1547, to help reform and renew the Church of England in the biblical faith of the Reformation. This series of sermons was written to enable often rather uneducated ministers, teach and explain the essence of the Christian faith from the pulpits of the land. They unfold the doctrines of scripture, sin, salvation, and Christian living with clarity and verve. This is what makes returning to the Homilies-now, for the first time, updated in modern English-such an invigorating and life-giving thing to do today.

The truths that this confession promoted fell out of favor for much of the twentieth century, but in the last fifty years there has been a great recovery of gospel truth among Evangelicals and once again there are those deeply committed to the doctrines of this confession. The English language, however, has changed over time, and just as there are phrases in the Authorized Version (1611), also known as the King James Version, that are no longer as clear as they once were due to linguistic change, so it is the case with the 1689 Confession. For this reason, this new rendition of the confession by Dr. Reeves is indeed welcome. He has sought to render it readable by the typical twenty-first-century Christian reader, but with minimal change and without sacrificing any of the riches of the original text. I believe he has succeeded admirably in both of these aims.

Simon Jenkins has travelled the length and breadth of England to select his thousand best churches. Organised by county, each church is described - often with delightful asides - and given a star-rating from one to five. All of the county sections are prefaced by a map locating each church, and lavishly illustrated with colour photos from the Country Life archive. Jenkins contends that these churches house a gallery of vernacular art without equal in the world. Here, he brings that museum to public attention.

First published in 1970, Modern English Society is primarily concerned with the period since the Great Exhibition of 1851. Judith Ryder and Harold Silver begin by surveying the consequences, good and ill, of industrialization, and go on to explore the changing pattern of social relationships to which it gave rise. They discuss such topics as the growth of towns and of large-scale administration, the development of welfare services, the emergence of mass politics, the mass media and mass production. They show how social attitudes, and the interpretation of historical facts are colored by our ideological views. In the second half of the book, they examine the structure and functioning of contemporary social institutions – the family, education, the economic and political systems – and assess their implications for the individual, for specific social groups, and for society as a whole. This book will be of interest to students of history and sociology.

Edited by J.B. Phillips Chapters indicated but no verse numbers Introduction to each book Index 5 1/2 X 8 1/4 % Font size: 10

The Making of Modern English Theology is the first historical account of theology's modern institutional origins in the United Kingdom. Inman explores how Oxford theology, from the beginnings of the Tractarian movement until the end of the Second World War, both influenced and responded to the reform of the university. The Oxford faculty emerged as an important ecumenical body, rooted in the life and practice of the English churches. This institutional history explores the complex interactions that have defined theological life in England since the early nineteenth century.

How Catholic churches are being sapped of their spiritual vitality and what you can do about it The problem with new-style churches isn't just that they're ugly they actually distort the Faith and lead Catholics away from Catholicism. So argues Michel S. Rose in these eye-opening pages, which banish forever the notion that lovers of traditional-style churches are motivated simply by taste or nostalgia. In terms that non-architects can understand (and modern architects can't dismiss!), Rose shows that far more is at stake: modern churches actually violate the three natural laws of church architecture and lead Catholics to worship, quite simply, a false god.

Early Modern English Catholicism: Identity, Memory and Counter-Reformation brings together leading scholars in the field to explore the interlocking relationship between the key themes of identity, memory and Counter-Reformation and to assess the way the three themes shaped English Catholicism in the early modern period. The collection takes a long-term view of the historical development of English Catholicism and encompasses the English Catholic diaspora to demonstrate the important advances that have been made in the study of English Catholicism c.1570–1800. The interdisciplinary collection brings together scholars from history, literary, and art history backgrounds. Consisting of eleven essays and an afterword by the late John Bossy, the book underlines the significance of early modern English Catholicism as a contributor to national and European Counter-Reformation culture.

The final book of the Bible, Revelation prophesies the ultimate judgement of mankind in a series of allegorical visions, grisly images and numerological predictions. According to these, empires will fall, the "Beast" will be destroyed and Christ will rule a new Jerusalem. With an introduction by Will Self.