Books published by Latimer Trust

Cultures, for as long as we have had history, have had some sense of magic. This book contends that some of it, at least, is real; it describes what that is, and why the Bible is so negative about it. However, to say 'magic is real' in our contemporary culture could be very misleading. In fact, wrong. For what our culture thinks of as 'magic' - as vague and diffuse as that is - is likely to be very different from what was practised in the Ancient Near East (the things that modern English translations of the Old Testament call, for instance, sorcery or witchcraft) or in the Greco-Roman world (what the New Testament calls magic). It also may be very different from what is called 'magic' or 'witchcraft' in animistic or ancestor-worshipping cultures today.This book unpacks the background and explores the implications of the biblical teaching about the supernatural. There is a supernatural world, and it contains more than just God in Trinity; but Christians should not be afraid of it.Kirsty Birkett is Latimer Research Fellow at Oak Hill College, where she is responsible for Learning Architecture and Educational Development,and teaches Ethics, Philosophy and Church History. Her many publications cover the whole area of relationships between science and religion. She has also written on psychology, feminism and the family for both a popular and academic audience.

Selina, the Countess of Huntingdon (1707-1791) has a special place in the history of the Revival because she was one of its most prominent women advocates. Selina's influence, however, reached deep, extending not only into her circle of aristocratic friends and contacts but also into the heart of strong relationships with the leading evangelists of the day, not least George Whitefield and both the Wesleys. She gained a hearing for the Revival where it might not otherwise have gained entry and brought the 'new birth' into the drawing rooms of the aristocracy, where it was not always welcomed. Selina's heart had been transformed by the gospel, and she sought out avenues to enable the gospel to transform her church. Less well-known is that Selina was at the heart of the conflict for the soul of the Established Church. The lessons are salutary for today. Dr. Richard Turnbull is Director of the Centre for Enterprise, Markets and Ethics. He has a wide range of experience in business, the church and public life. He holds a degree in Economics and Accounting and spent over eight years as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst and Young. Richard also holds a first class honours degree in Theology and PhD in Theology from the University of Durham. 'Richard's previous publications include Anglican and Evangelical?, Shaftesbury, the great reformer, Reviving the Heart (a history of the Revival) and A Passionate Faith (what makes an evangelical). He is also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.' He was ordained into the ministry of the Church of England in 1994. He has served on the General Synod and was a member of the Archbishops' Council, the Chairman of the Synod's Business Committee and chaired a number of church working parties including a review of the remuneration of the clergy. Richard was in pastoral ministry before being appointed Principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford, in 2005 where he served until becoming the Director of the Centre in 2012.

The Centenary of the 'war to end all wars' has brought to prominence both the pain and the pride of the armed forces. But it also raises some perennial questions about such forces, the place of Christians within them, and the Christian response to commemorating the events of war.This booklet sets out to outline the place and role of armed forces and the 'Just War' theory, to look at some of the pressures under which personnel of the modern Western world's militaries serve as well as some of the moral issues surrounding the existence and the use of these same forces. It spends some time discussing the place of Christians in the military and the role of chaplains as God's servants and witnesses within it. Finally it makes some observations and suggestions about commemoration ceremonies, both of wars in general and individual battles in particular. John Neal was ordained in 1968 in Nelson, New Zealand and served in parishes in that country plus five years in the Diocese of Quebec as Priest/Pilot in their Labrador Mission. He enlisted in the RNZAF in 1986 and served for 23 years, rising to Principal Defence Chaplain of the NZ Defence Force before retiring in 2009. He is currently Priest Assistant (part time) at the Church of the Nativity, Blenheim.

The celebration of the 350th anniversary of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer has helped to stimulate a renewed interest in its teaching and fundamental contribution to Anglican identity. Archbishop Cranmer and others involved in the English Reformation knew well that the content and shape of the services set out in the Prayer Book were vital ways of teaching congregations biblical truth and the principles of the Christian gospel. Thus the aim of this series of booklets which focus on the Formularies of the Church of England and the elements of the different services within the Prayer Book is to highlight what those services teach about the Christian faith and to demonstrate how they are also designed to shape the practice of that faith. As well as providing an account of the origins of the Prayer Book services, these booklets are designed to offer practical guidance on how such services may be used in Christian ministry nowadays. In this exposition of the services of Morning and Evening Prayer in the Book of Common Prayer, Mark Burkill reveals how the focus of the daily offices is to build up God''s people by immersing them in the Scriptures.

The recent celebration of the 350th anniversary of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer has helped to stimulate a renewed interest in its teaching and fundamental contribution to Anglican identity. Archbishop Cranmer and others involved in the English Reformation knew well that the content and shape of the services set out in the Prayer Book were vital ways of teaching congregations biblical truth and the principles of the Christian gospel. Thus the aim of this series of booklets which focus on the Formularies of the Church of England and the elements of the different services within the Prayer Book is to highlight what those services teach about the Christian faith and to demonstrate how they are also designed to shape the practice of that faith. As well as providing an account of the origins of the Prayer Book services, these booklets are designed to offer practical guidance on how such services may be used in Christian ministry nowadays. In this overview of the Book of Common Prayer, Peter Adam brings us back again and again to its emphasis on the ''very pure word of God'', setting the gold standard and hallmark of all our liturgy.Peter Adam served as Vicar of St Jude''s Carlton, and as Principal of Ridley College in Melbourne Australia. He is currently Vicar Emeritus of St Jude''s, and Canon of St Paul''s Cathedral Melbourne.

''The religious traditions of Great Britain are in the main Christian''. So says the law of the land, but recent crises are exposing the vulnerability of those traditions to the manipulation of those with other agendas. Canon Max Warren''s three lectures on ''The Functions of a National Church'' were delivered in 1963. At the time, he was ahead of many of his colleagues in his thinking about the role of the Church of England. Warren''s insightful lectures offer much material for discussion. In the first edition of this study the three lectures were accompanied by an introduction by Raymond Johnston regarding the theological basis for a National Church; in this second edition, David Holloway follows the trajectory up to the present day with a discussion of ''British Values''.Canon Max Warren (1904-1979) was Vicar of Holy Trinity Cambridge, general secretary of the Church Missionary Society, and sub-dean of Westminster Abbey.Raymond Johnston (1927-1985) was director of CARE Trust (formerly the Nationwide Festival of Light).David Holloway has been Vicar of Jesmond in Newcastle upon Tyne since 1973. He was for many years a member of the General Synod of the Church of England. He then helped start the Christian Institute, Reform and Anglican International Development (AID).

''Most illustrious Prince, I have considered that the Supper of the Lord (which has been violated by many and great superstitions, and turned into gain) should be renovated and restored according to the institutions of our Saviour Christ; and I have considered that all should be performed according to the Divine Word and of the Ancient and Holy Church, the care and instruction of which belong in some part to my office''.(Thomas Cranmer, Dedication to King Edward VI, A Defence of the True and Catholic Doctrine of the Sacrament.) In this fascinating and practical study, Nigel Scotland looks closely at the Service of Holy Communion in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, and with further illumination from earlier versions of the Prayer Book and Cranmer''s other writings, draws conclusions which may refresh and challenge our contemporary practices.The aim of this ''Anglican Foundations'' series which focuses on the Formularies of the Church of England and the elements of the different services within the Prayer Book is to highlight what those services teach about the Christian faith and to demonstrate how they are also designed to shape the practice of that faith. As well as providing an account of the origins of the Prayer Book services, they offer practical guidance on how such services may be used in Christian ministry.Nigel Scotland has spent the greater part of his life lecturing in Church History at what became the University of Gloucestershire. He has served as rector of four country parishes and led a Fresh Expressions church plant for 13 years. Since 2006 he has taught theology students at Trinity College Bristol. He is married to Anne and in their leisure time they enjoy music, walking in the Cotswolds, gardening, visits to the gym and enjoying times with their grand-children. He studied at McGill and Bristol Universities and earned a doctorate at Aberdeen University. He is the author of eighteen books mostly in the area of Christian history.

This book is about how God''s Word shapes and rules our devotion to him. What is the best way of talking about this? ''Spirituality'' is what many people call it, but this is not the ideal word. It can mean a great many things, some of them very far removed from anything the Bible teaches. ''Piety'' is another possibility, but this is sometimes used in a rather negative way. Preferable is ''Devotion''. When we speak of a couple being ''devoted'' to each other, we mean that their relationship is strong, loyal, and loving - which is how we should relate to God.All three words are used in this book. In each case it is talking about how we relate to God, that is, how we express and exercise personal relationship with him. The aim is to examine what the Bible teaches about knowing God and living with him.Why ''True Devotion''? For two reasons: we must be truly devoted to God - our relationship with him must be real and deep; and we must be devoted to him truly - our devotion must be grounded in and governed by the truth, by the teaching of the Bible.This book draws on both the Scriptures and the writings of Christians of the past. Part 1 unpacks ''Gospel Spirituality'' as responsive, paradoxical and relational; Part 2 critiques ''The Mystical Way'', discussing experience of God and his voice, prayer, the inward journey and the testimony of mystics and reformers. Part 3 looks for ''The Way Ahead'', focussing on meditation and concluding with a call to a Christ-centred, responsive spirituality.ALLAN CHAPPLE is senior lecturer in New Testament at Trinity Theological College, Perth WA. He has pastored churches in Western Australia and England, and was founding Director of the Perth Centre for Applied Christian Studies, then founding Principal of Trinity Theological College.

John Wesley is widely regarded as one of the prime movers of the Evangelical Revival of the 18th Century, so much so that opposition to Wesley is even now taken by some with little knowledge of Wesley's actual teaching to be straightforward opposition to the gospel itself. However, an intriguing question is unearthed in this lecture, which explores the relationships between Wesley and Whitefield, Toplady and Simeon. Dr. Gatiss comes to the conclusion that in addition to being 'strangely warmed' by the gospel, Wesley became increasingly heated in his almost pathological opposition to Reformed Anglican doctrine. Gatiss argues that this has subsequently been systematically hushed up and played down by historians and hagiographers alike, and considers some lessons for those engaged in controversies today. "I am happy to recommend this excellent assessment of John Wesley and George Whitefield's roles in the Calvinist controversy of the eighteenth century. Lee Gatiss is a steady guide through this challenging but vitally important subject." Thomas S. Kidd, Baylor University. Author of George Whitefield: America's Spiritual Founding Father."Once again we are indebted to Lee Gatiss who shows clearly that the Reformed faith of the Church of England is no indifferent matter but that the Reformation heritage is the thinking man's evangelicalism and does a better job of defending the truth of the biblical gospel of free grace than any semi-Pelagian alternative. Whitefield's grace in controversy is to be emulated, but also his clarity about what things really matter." Wallace Benn, former bishop of Lewes Dr. Lee Gatiss is Director of Church Society (www.churchsociety.org), Adjunct Lecturer in Church History at Wales Evangelical School of Theology, and Editor of The NIV Proclamation Bible. He has ministered in several Anglican churches and is the author / editor of many books and articles on theology, biblical interpretation, preaching, and church history including The True Profession of the Gospel (2010) and For Us and For Our Salvation (2012) published by the Latimer Trust.

In 1794 the Rev Samuel Marsden became the second Chaplain to the Colony of New South Wales. Both Marsden and the first Chaplain, the Rev Richard Johnson, came to the Colony under the sponsorship of the Church of England Evangelicals. They had high hopes that New South Wales would be the base from which the ''everlasting gospel'' would sound forth to achieve the salvation of the ''poor benighted heathens'' of the South Seas.To this end Marsden began the mission to New Zealand on Christmas Day, 1814. As the senior chaplain in New South Wales Marsden''s interest in the M─üori people began in 1805 when chief Te Pahi from the Bay of Islands visited Sydney. Marsden developed close relationships with Te Pahi and later his nephew, Ruatara.After a two year furlough in England recruiting more chaplains and school teachers for the Colony and missionaries for New Zealand Marsden arrived back in New South Wales in February 1810 with Ruatara who had been in England.Plans for the mission were set back because of an incident in New Zealand that saw most of the crew of the Boyd killed. Marsden spent the next four years getting to the bottom of the case and preparing for the mission. Marsden''s reputation as a harsh magistrate in New South Wales has left a lasting stain and most today remember him as the ''Flogging Parson''. Despite some modern attempts in New Zealand to besmirch his name there also he is more fondly remembered as the ''Apostle to the M─üori''. This book does not attempt to recast Marsden as a man with no faults. No attempt is made to gloss over the things that history has judged that he should not have done and the things he neglected. Rather, alongside these this book places the great work Marsden did to take the gospel to the people of New Zealand. This book is a celebration of that mission and Marsden''s preparations for it.This volume arose from the Moore Theological College Library Day 2013 and is published in conjunction with the 200th anniversary celebrations of Marsden''s first sermon in the Bay of Islands.

Edmund Grindal (1516-1583) enjoyed a glittering career in the Church of England under Edward VI and Elizabeth I. The first generation of English Reformers saw in him the maturity and character to handle the temptations of preferment without losing the passion to reform or the backbone to resist intimidation.Yet he put it all on the line in a turbulent confrontation with Elizabeth I over the issue of freshly-prepared, locally-applied preaching. He saw this as God's instrument for the conversion of England; she wanted it massively restricted. In his defence of biblical preaching, and the training conferences he saw as key to its growth and success, we observe the courage of a man who tried to protect the church's doctrine from unwarranted outside interference."When many acquire the habit and reputation for jettisoning their principles for the sake of preferment and advance, let us hope to be inspired by those like Grindal, who are prepared to suffer professionally and politically when a clear but difficult stand becomes necessary." Lee Gatiss, from the lecture"There can be little doubt that the power of Christianity and, by extension that of the local church, is to a great extent a function of the vitality of preaching. In this lively and well researched essay Lee Gatiss shows the contribution of Archbishop Grindal as the latter took on Queen Elizabeth I to defend the role of preaching in the nascent National Church. Often vilified for his Protestantism, and weakness as leader of the Church, we are shown a different picture of a man of spiritual insight, courage, and faith. I have no doubt that this is as relevant for our day as it was four hundred years ago." Lord Carey of CliftonLee Gatiss is Director of Church Society, Adjunct Lecturer in Church History at Wales Evangelical School of Theology, and Editor of The NIV Proclamation Bible. He has ministered in several Anglican churches and is the author / editor of many books and articles on theology, biblical interpretation, preaching, and church history including The True Profession of the Gospel (2010), Preachers, Pastors, and Ambassadors (2011), and For Us and For Our Salvation (2012) published by the Latimer Trust.

Jesus' words 'The Truth Shall Set You Free' (John 8:32) are the motto text of the Canterbury Compass Rose, a design set in the floor of the nave of Canterbury Cathedral in 1988 and subsequently adopted as the symbol of the Anglican Communion. The irony of the Compass Rose is that the Communion it denotes is increasingly without direction and has no agreement on the truth it holds to. It was in response to this confusion that the first Global Anglican Future Conference was convened in 2008 and delegates affirmed in the closing paragraph of the Jerusalem Statement and Declaration that 'The primary reason we have come to Jerusalem and issued this declaration is to free our churches to give clear and certain witness to Jesus Christ'. Just as the Compass Rose can be recovered as a powerful symbol of revealed truth once the magnetic north of Scripture is restored, so GAFCON and its Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans seeks, under God and as a movement of the Spirit, to make a major course correction for the twenty-first century by recovering our Anglican heritage of biblical and gospel centred ecclesiology.So this compilation is offered as a resource for delegates to the second Global Anglican Future Conference of 2013 and for all who long to see the Anglican Communion emerge from its present crisis with a new confidence in the inspired Scriptures and the mission of God to which they bear witness. Apart from the contributions of Stephen Noll and Colin Reed, this material originated in addresses and seminars given at the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans Leaders' Conference held in London at St Mark's Battersea Rise in London in April 2012.

2012 is the three-hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. The adoption of that book in England was not without controversy. About 20% of the ministers of the Church of England resigned at that time, and many lay people left the Church. This was the start of the 'Nonconformist' churches, which have been so influential in England. The events of 1662 had a big impact on Christianity in England, and eventually on Christianity around the world.What did the departure of 1760 ministers and many people mean? Why did it happen? Was it the end of Reformed theology and practice within the Church of England? What happened to those who left? What impact did these events have on gospel ministry to the nation?Decisions made in 1662 cast long shadows, and this Lecture aims at helping us understand what happened, why it happened, what we can learn for our lives and ministries, and how to respond in similar situations today.Peter Adam served as Vicar of St Jude's Carlton, and as Principal of Ridley College in Melbourne Australia. He is currently Vicar Emeritus of St Jude's, and Canon of St Paul's Cathedral Melbourne.

'The Anglican Communion has emerged out of faithfulness to God's Word. It is built on the sacrifices and gifts of countless people. We believe it has a future under God but also that it needs, once again, to be reformed, renewed and equipped for its calling in today's world.'Such is the conclusion drawn by this study, published to coincide with the second GAFCON (Global Anglican Future Conference) in Nairobi, as it draws over a thousand representatives from every corner of the globe. The Anglican Communion is at a watershed in its development, and Bishop Michael offers an overview of its history and the issues it has faced, before drawing out the principles which should characterise its future. Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali was formerly bishop of Rochester, bishop of Raiwind in Pakistan, and General Secretary of CMS. Dr. Nazir-Ali's recent publications include Latimer Briefing 13: 'Justification by Faith: Orientating the Church's teaching and practice to Christ', 'The Unique and Universal Christ', and 'Triple Jeopardy for the West' which examines the very hot topics of aggressive secularism, radical Islam, and multiculturalism. He is currently the President of the Oxford Centre for Training, Research, Advocacy, and Dialogue.

What God says in Hebrews 13 should be of interest to every Christian - whether leader or led. To the leader it asks, 'Have I got my priorities and style right?' To the led it asks, 'Allowing for human failings, have I got essentially faithful Biblical leadership?' It also asks a too infrequently voiced question: 'What are my responsibilities to my leaders, not just what are theirs to me?'. The book of Hebrews is so relevant to us. It describes Christians who through the pressure of "the world, the flesh and the devil" are dangerously drifting away from their spiritual moorings in Christ. They need to wake up, listen to God's Word, and understand the superiority (to any other inferior alternative) of Christ and all that He offers. In the light of Christ's sufferings for us as our representative and substitute on the cross, and his understanding therefore of the pressures we face, and his strength to help us overcome, we are called to endure suffering and not grow weary or fainthearted. In Hebrews 13 the writer is summing up his argument and drawing conclusions. Good leaders are important in a church in danger of drifting. They need to get their priorities right and be as a result taken seriously. They have a very important part to play in the health and well-being of the church. Bishop Wallace Benn is recently retired Bishop of Lewes, England; he is President of the Church of England Evangelical Council and founding Chairman of the Bible by the Beach Convention. He is a keen Bible teacher, much in demand as a speaker, and his research interests include the work of the 17th Century Bishop Ussher. He is married to Lindsay, and has two children and one grandchild. When time permits, he enjoys watching motor racing and rugby.