Books in the Oxford Theological Monographs series

A close biblical study that re-examines the Hebrew text of the Song of Songs and considers its mystical meaning. Kingsmill seeks to demonstrate that a careful network of intertextual allusions has been deliberately used by the writer of the Song to refer metaphorically to the love of God for his people.

A comprehensive and detailed account of the history of personalism - the system of thought that maintains the primacy and uniqueness of the human or divine person, on the basis that reality only has meaning through the conscious mind.

A study of left-wing puritan and separatist ecclesiology in Elizabethan and Jacobean England, exploring several major ecclesiastical motifs, including the relationship of soteriology, eschatology and puritan covenant thought with ecclesiology, as well as radical puritan and separatist ideals.

Protestant Reformers in Elizabethan Oxford

Karl Rahner was one of the twentieth century's great theologians and Ignatian spirituality was central to his work. Ignatius' Spiritual Exercises now nourish the prayer and witness of Christians from all traditions and all walks of life. This book shows how they can also generate a creative theology, the power of which still remains to be exploited.

Looking at the genesis of Athansius' understanding of divine fatherhood against the background of the Alexandrian tradition, Dr Widdicombe demonstrates how the concept of Father as God came to occupy such a prominent place in Christian theology.

This book places Augustine's theology in a new and illuminating context by considering what he has to say about beauty.

A helpful guide to the writings of perhaps the greatest Catholic theologian of the twentieth century. Healy shows how for Balthasar the ultimate form of 'the end' is given in Christ's eucharistic and pneumatic gift of himself - a gift that simultaneously lays bare the mystery of God's trinitarian life and enables Christ to return to the Father in communion with the whole of creation.

Cyril of Alexandria was one of the architects of Christian orthodoxy. This book presents the comprehensive account of Cyril's narrative of salvation. It offers a corrective to certain readings of Cyril and argues that Cyril presents a balanced picture of our union with Christ.

This book looks at the relationship between biblical Hebrew verbs and the passage of time in narrative. It offers a summary of previous studies and theories, and argues that one possible way of understanding the fundamental meanings of Hebrew verbs is by examining the role played by the four main verb forms in ordering time.

In this book Evagrius Ponticus' commentaries on scripture are discussed in order to present a balanced picture of the monk and his model of the spiritual life as a rhythm back and forth between the poles of image-filled prayer based on the scriptures, and imageless, wordless, 'pure' prayer.

Offers a new interpretation of the relation between Greek thought and ancient Christian theology by analyzing the works of three foundational thinkers: Origen, Eusebius and Athanasius. The author evaluates their ideas about Christ and redemption, and compares them to contemporary views.

A new study which engages with some of the most controversial questions in recent scholarship on Augustine of Hippo, the Origenist controversy and the development of Christology through the history of the ecumenical councils.

This book is a study of the making of collective memory within early Judaism in the book of Ecclesiasties.

This book explores the Hebrew Bible for evidence of comedy and further asks how reading the Hebrew Bible through a comic "lens" might positively inform feminist interpretation. The exploration is conducted with a number of Hebrew Bible narratives, all of which prominently involve female characters.

A new way of understanding the intermarriage 'crisis' described in Ezra 9-10 using insights from the modern anthropological treatment of the issues of ethnicity, religious identity, purity, land, kinship, and migration, in order to generate a more informed, sophisticated, understanding of the Ezra text.

This book examines the central ideas that defined the debate about divine production in the Trinity in the late 13th and early 14th centuries, namely those of Henry of Ghent, John Duns Scotus, and William Ockham. Their discussions are significant for the history of trinitarian theology and the history of philosophy.

The first, modern scholarly edition, complete with translation, introduction, and commentary, of the poetic writings of Gregory of Nazianzus, one of the great fathers of the early Christian Church. The poems are important both for the insights they give on Gregory's theology and for their close link to classical literature and philosophy.

An inquiry into the intellectual origins of the Reformed branch of Protestantism in the OXFORD THEORETICAL MONOGRAPHS series. The text focuses on Vermigli's soteriological doctrine of double predestination, illustrating an important aspect of continuity between late medieval and reformation thought.

`Fundamentalism' is a label used often pejoratively of religious conservatism. Evangelicals are growing in number and power around the world and are frequently regarded as fundamentalist. This volume examines fundamentalism as a mentality which has greatly affected evangelicalism, but which some evangelicals now wish to leave behind.

This is the first study of an important group in early Methodism. It was quite separate from Wesley's followers, with its own preachers, chapels, training college, and statement of belief. The book shows how the Connexion operated at the grass roots - including how congregations formed, how chapels came to be built, and how the Connexion related to other religious groups.

Luigi Gioia provides a fresh description and analysis of Augustine's monumental treatise, De Trinitate, working on a supposition of its unity and its coherence from structural, rhetorical, and theological points of view.

A study of the dynasty of Jehu within the narrative of 2 Kings, together with the broader context of the dynasties of Israel and Judah in the books of Kings and Samuel. David T. Lamb discusses religious aspects of kingship (such as anointing, divine election, and prayer) in both the Old Testament and in the literature of the ancient Near East.

A new analysis of the theological concept of divine mediation, which was central to the Arian controversy of the early fourth century. Jon M. Robertson illustrates the variety of perspectives within the debate, as well as showing the theological backdrop of Athanasius' insight on Christ as mediator.

Who was Saint Hippolytus? The answer has eluded historians for centuries. This is the first in-depth analysis of the 'Hippolytus question' in English for over a hundred years. It suggests that this writer, so influential on Western liturgical practice in the twentieth century, is best viewed as a writer of the East.

Christian interpretations of the "Song of Songs" have long depended upon the allegorical reading developed by Origen of Alexandria (c185-c254). This study aims to show that Origen's Commentary and two Homilies on the "Song of Songs" portray the "Song of Songs" as the biblical book that reveals the 'spirit' of Scripture with greater intensity.

This study examines, within a chronological framework, the major themes and personalities which influenced the outbreak of a number of Evangelical clerical and lay secessions from the Church of England and Ireland during the first half of the 19th century.

A study of the liberal phase of Barth's theology including a critical exposition of the Marburg School, a consideration of Barth's professor, Wilhelm Herrmann, and a discussion of Barth's earliest writings.

The author contends that Aquinas was less of an Aristotelian than is commonly supposed, and that we should take fuller notice of his reliance on neo-Platonism. The influence of Proclus in particular is examined.

Susanne Sklar engages with the interpretive challenges of William Blake's illuminated epic poem Jerusalem by considering it as a piece of visionary theatre - an imaginative performance in which characters, settings, and imagery are not confined by mundane space and time - allowing readers to find coherence within its complexities.