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A call for papers for the special issue of the journal on topics like theologies of choice, abortion and morality, and secular law is presented.

Presents a commentary on papers published in the winter 1996 issue of `Anglican Theological Review,' which focuses on the recognition of Anglican orders by the Catholic Church. Different understanding of tradition in the two churches; Different models of decision-making.

This paper builds upon a recent corpus of popular science that has elevated previously unsung members of the biosphere—"worts." It argues that the corpus constitutes a new natural theology, a search for meaning in the biosphere, and suggests a theological underpinning to what its authors intuit: that worts give meaning. To do this, the paper draws on Eduardo Kohn's How Forests Think (2013) and its examination of meaning as a ubiquitous feature of the multispecies ecosystem. Following on from Kohn, two key arguments are made. First, Kohn's posthuman anthropology is compatible with a Thomist treatment of organisms in terms of their distinct, life-orientated telos. Second, the current context of potential human extinction puts a life-orientated telos in a new light, reviving the validity of teleological thinking. Sharing the fate of nonhuman subjects, rather than treating them as scientific objects, authors and readers of the new natural theology find meaning among worts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Andrew Root's recently completed "Ministry in a Secular Age" series offers a significant new contribution into the contemporary conversation about parish ministry after Christendom. Across these six volumes, Root uses the work of the philosopher Charles Taylor to construct an ecclesiological frame that re-centers divine action in the life of the church, exploring in turn various themes across Christian life and practice for a secular age. This paper examines his six-book series with the goal of offering the first in-depth critical engagement of his overall project, alongside a reflection on this series' import for Anglican audiences. I do so by exploring his theological method and surveying his creative use of genre across the series, drawing out themes from across the six volumes, and assessing the ways in which his works do and do not scaffold as a whole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The particular vision of human, bodily life that has been adopted and developed in the neoliberal era since the 1970s is turning humans into a new kind of creature. Both our behavioral and conceptual notions of what it means to be human have been re-oriented to a vision of the "enterprising self," the social and political actor who negotiates the world through competition, self-regulation, and rational choice. The concern of this paper is to demonstrate how this framework is theologically unsound and has a destabilizing effect on what constitutes human nature as a particular embodied existence. Attending to the rationale and theological response to the neoliberal logics, this paper seeks to promote a vision of human life and activity that is ordered and oriented to human flourishing and provide examples of resistance to the person-forming capacity of neoliberal social formations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aspects of Anglican theology have in the recent past emphasized the importance of place. Indigenous knowledge and worldviews speak of the centrality of land. Tessayshis places place-based thinking alongside land-based thinking to argue that these distinct ways of thinking can be mutually enriching and challenging. The essay limits itself primarily to Anglican-related authors while also contextualizing this theology within a broader scope of thinking about place. The paper concludes with suggestions for ways in which place- and land-based thinking can enrich Anglican approaches to ministry and mission, particularly in relation to the Doctrine of Discovery and ownership of property. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

John Behr has noticed that Irenaeus uses the terms "harmony" and "symphony" to describe both God's action in salvation and the Church's action in right proclamation. However, Irenaeus does a great deal more with "harmony" than this. This paper argues that Irenaeus' discussion of harmony both corresponds to and christianizes the classical notion of harmonia along three lines: cosmological harmony, mythological harmony, and literary harmony. The paper begins by demonstrating the relationship between these three lines in classical thought, paying special attention to Plato and Quintillian. Then, it demonstrates the relationship between these three lines in Against Heresies. In a third section, it argues that Irenaeus' use of classical harmonia christianizes the notion along all three lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the relationship between justice, institutions, and the medieval virtue of gratitude. It does this by focusing on a thirteenth-century account of the virtue of gratitude in the work of Thomas Aquinas. It argues that institutions, both formal and informal, provide a helpful framework for considering the relationship between gratitude and a number of important benefactor and beneficiary relationships within the hierarchy of virtues that make up the cardinal virtue of justice. This paper first explores Thomas' account of the virtues of justice and gratitude. It then looks at recent literature in theology and ethics of institutions showing how formal and informal institutions can help cultivate gratitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Eucharist, a gospel sacrament and central feature of life in the Christian church, also bears considerable relevance for growing concerns about the "green" complexion of contemporary faith. Yet traditional forms of eucharistic liturgy may not seem initially to address these concerns satisfactorily. What, then, to do? One approach involves pursuing new, experimental alternatives to existing liturgical forms. Such innovations are unlikely, however, to inspire those not yet disposed to welcome them. This paper aims instead to highlight those less-noticed features of classic eucharistic liturgy, both within and beyond the Episcopal Church, that already embody a vital, sacramental vision of engagement with the fullness of God's creation. In this light, the eucharistic feast enacts not only the believer's communion with God in Christ, but also the inherently ecological principle of interchange among human worshippers and with every other member of God's created order. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

]In a super-diverse city such as Birmingham in the United Kingdom, inner-city Anglican churches are frequently situated within a range of communities, holding different worldviews both within and without the church walls, impacting any subsequent understanding of relational life, or koinonia. This paper seeks to reflect on aspects of relational life in my own context, using Desmond Tutu's ubuntu theology as a lens through which to critique shared, lived experience. I conclude that ubuntu theology may facilitate a rediscovery of ancient ways of thinking, that extends an invitation to the Anglican church in Western contexts to re-envision Trinitarian ecclesiologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undoubtedly, the demography of Christianity as a global religion has shifted inexorably to the Southern continents, especially Asia and Africa. However, much still remains to he seen in how the different Christian communities worldwide image, appropriate, and renegotiate Christian beliefs and practices in terms of local sensitivity or cidtural contexts. This paper contends that the "translation principle'' in Christian history has propped up the geographical and cross-cultural diffusion of the gospel among different cultures and ethnicities. Utilizing the ethno-historical methodology, the paper diagrams how the Ikwerre, with their own culture, religion, and social norms, received, interpreted, and transmitted the gospel to fit into the universal frame of global Christianity. The paper then goes on to illustrate this in relation to the controversies and challenges that confront the translation of the vernacular Ikwerre Bible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses the doctrine of the Trinity to demonstrate the unique role God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit can play in the healing of eating disorders and explores how a trinitarian framework may be brought alongside healthcare services to aid in recovery. Drawing on the theological work of Sarah Coakley, the paper considers various trinitarian models and practices that can redirect our minds, hearts, and imaginations to a new participation in the trinitarian God. This essay seeks to show that it is also possible to challenge the idolatrous thought patterns of an eating disorder by redirecting the mind to participation in life through the lens of the life-giving Trinity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rather than a general theory of gratitude, the paper focuses on gratitude as a human dynamic in appreciative recognition of others. The phenomenology of Emmanuel Levinas' face-to-face ethics is discussed as the subject's call to responsibility for an Other. Following Jacques Derrida's criticism of how this responsibility binds the subject into a hostage position regarding the Other, Paul Ricoeur repairs the working value of Levinas' ethics by loosening the face-to-face obligation of the Other into one of reconnaissance, or thankful recognition. Without losing the face-to-face dynamic, the expression of reconnaissance is then investigated through J. L. Austin's theory of performatives where gratitude is expressed as a speech act, or with the help of Judith Butler, where performativity is an activity expressing a reconnaissance between people over time. Three examples are given at the end. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last few years, scientists have discovered what indigenous communities have known for countless generations: that the emotional and physical lives of our ancestors will fundamentally affect our emotional and physical lives as well. Despite the increasingly evident effect that both trauma and/or gratitude can have on an individual (and by extension their offspring), there has been precious little research done on the effects of gratitude on future generations. This paper will seek to study the effect of gratitude as a deep spiritual practice that changes--not only those who practice it--but also the generations that follow. It will do so through the lenses of generational, psychological, and theological studies using the gratitude worldview and practices of the Ojibwa Native Americans as our entry point into the study of blood memory. It will also offer suggestions for church communities looking to reclaim gratitude as a spiritual practice in modern times drawing from the Church's institutional "blood memory.". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thesis of this paper is that gratitude is "hard-wired" into the very fiber of our being. Humans were created in the image and likeness of God, and God was thankful for what God had created. Thus, if we are the imago Dei, we must feel gratitude as God did. The author suggests that one of the key components of the imago Dei is the Erotic, explaining that the Erotic is more than what we do sexually; on the contrary, it adds texture and fiber to every area of our lives, resulting in passion, com/passion, and mutuality. It inspires us to reach beyond ourselves to others, as Jesus directed his disciples to do when he said, "Love your neighbor as yourself," and as he demonstrated with his inclusive, healing touch. Using feminist and queer theology and biblical interpretation, Bohache demonstrates that the Other is our neighbor and that our gratitude must extend to those who are unlike ourselves. Often, marginalized or oppressed people have the ability to express gratitude in extraordinary ways, simply by virtue of what they have experienced as the Other. The author describes some paradigms that have been proposed for accessing gratitude and thus tapping into our imago Dei, concluding with how we might still empower gratitude, com/passion, and mutuality in the midst of a pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Broughton Knox and Donald Robinson, Sydney Anglicans serving and writing in the second half of the twentieth century, offered various theological proposals regarding the nature of the church that stressed the priority of the local over the translocal. The interdependence and resonance of their proposals led to an association of their work under the summary banner of the "Knox-Robinson Ecclesiology." Their dovetailed contribution offers in many ways a compelling understanding of the nature of the ecclesia spoken of in Scripture. In this paper I introduce, summarize, and evaluate the Knox-Robinson ecclesiology with a particular eye to Knox's and Robinson's use of Scripture in authorizing their theological proposals. I argue that while they provide an important corrective to the inflation of the earthly translocal dimension of the church, they are not ultimately persuasive in their claim that the New Testament knows only the church as an earthly/heavenly gathering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing expressions of ministry are evident across the Anglican Communion. This paper seeks to address the "crisis in ministry," as some call it, by offering a theology of relational ministry fitting with these culturally diverse developments. Drawing from the doctrine of the Trinity, the paper argues that ordered or relational ministry arises out of and is formed by the relational nature of the Triune God, known in Christ and the Spirit in the world as an outward movement of generosity. The understanding of order and ministry arises out of a communio ecclesiology that is viewed as a "method" or an "ecclesial disposition." What this means for order and ministry requires ongoing vigilance and theological reflection. This paper is such an undertaking. It does so by drawing on historical precedent and present cultural inclination so as to develop an understanding of ordered ministry in its dynamic and diverse but relational sacramental identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2003 report by the Episcopal Church Foundation, The Search for Coherence, concludes that the Episcopal Church lacks a theology of leadership. This statement is true, however, only to the extent that The Episcopal Church ha~ forgotten the theology of leadership that Scripture and its tradition contain. This paper focuses on two representative writings to seek out the basis for a theology of leadership: the Pauline corpus and the medieval ecclesiastical texts of Gregory the Great. Furthermore, based upon the writings of these two leaders, this paper proposes that a theology of leadership must have as its foundation a theological understanding of mission and of power The challenge to the Episcopal Church is not to discover a coherent theology of leadership, but to reclaim and proclaim the leadership that already exists in its midst. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last fifty years, empirical evidence has shown that climate change and environmental degradation are largely the results of increased world population, economic development, and changes in cultural and social norms. Thus far we have been unable to slow or reverse the practices that continue to produce more air and water pollution, soil and ocean degradation, and ecosystem decline. This paper analyzes the negative anthropogenic impact on the ecosystem and proposes a new design solution: ecomimesis, which uses the natural ecosystem as its template to conserve, restore, and improve existing ecosystems. Through its nonintrusive strategies and designs, and its goal of preserving natural ecosystems and the earth, ecomimesis can become an integral part of stabilizing and rehabilitating our natural world at the same time that it addresses the needs of growing economies and populations around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors extend their gratitude to the panel of theologians and scholars for their contribution to several papers for the periodical. The authors cite the papers which show real differences and take Holy Scripture seriously. Moreover, the authors cite the place of marriage in the Christian life, where it invites discussion of how understandings of marriage have been constructed over time within Anglican Communion.

Criticizes the papers published in the winter 1996 issue of `Anglican Theological Review,' which focuses on Leo XIII's negative judgement on the validity of the Anglican orders. Failure of the papers to defend the contemporary adequacy of the papal document's historical reasoning or theological arguments; Admission by Catholic theologians on the mistake in Pope Leo XIII's negative findings.

Governance egalitarianism has been defined as a situation where all members of an organization have something approximating equal say in determining policy of the group. Nowadays, it is practiced mainly in worker cooperatives, and in some voluntary organizations, like amateur sports and recreation clubs. It has been alleged that Jesus encouraged governance egalitarianism within his movement, but this contention has been challenged. This paper revisits the matter, looks at earlier arguments, and examines scriptural material relevant to the issue. On the basis of reasssessing the arguments, and of Jesus' alleged sayings and behavior as interpreted by Matthew, the conclusion is that Jesus did seek to mould a movement in which he expected his followers to practice governance egalitarianism among themselves. That people of different status coexisted within the Jesus movement does not tell against the conclusion. Nor do arguments that Jesus sought to foster this mode of governance in a patriarchical society undermine the judgment, although the role of women in the Jesus movement is not examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the role of weeping in medieval practices of piety by performing a close reading of three medieval texts: Walter Hilton's The Ladder of Perfection, Catherine of Siena's Dialogue, and Margery Kempe's Book of Margery Kempe. Hilton emphasized the role of weeping in the journey to a contemplative life while Catherine focused on the typology of tears; both affirmed genuine tears as a method to communicate with the divine. Margery Kempe, known for her strong emotions, often aligned with Hilton's and Catherine's views but sometimes differed, especially with her attitudes about crying in public. Even as weeping and the church became inore ritualized and formalized over time, the practice remained active in the religious imaginations of people. The paper concludes by suggesting tha t weeping as part of pious practices continued, though changed, through the writings of more contemporary Anglicans like Jeremy Taylor and Charles Wesley, as well as in the Pentecostal tradition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, Evangelicals have joined Catholics in participating in ressourcement, "the self-renewal of a people from the original sources of its life" (Dulles). This has involved appropriating insights from "the Great Tradition" of the church's first five centuries for today's postmodern, post-Christendom world. This "exchange of gifts" betiueen past and present Christians is valuable especially in the area of mission. This paper proposes several practices and assumptions of the pre-Christendom Christians that are worth exploring by Christians today: worship of God for God's own sake, without a primary focus on seekers; worship that forms the worshipers to be missionally attractive; catechesis that shapes Christians to have alternative habits and distinctive reflexes; and worship that takes place in domestic settings. These themes, illustrated in the witness of Christians today, show how wisdom from pre-Christendom can be a source of hope and fresh ideas in Christian mission in a post-Christendom world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to take the consecration of a practicing gay bishop in the Episcopal Church in 2004 as a case study in the church's discernment processes. First, the essay attempts a reading of the Episcopal Church formularies (Canons, Prayer Book, and Scrip-ture) to derive a characteristically Anglican vision of theological epistemology--that is, whether and how the Episcopal Church can know the will of God. Second, assuming for the sake of argument that the disposition of the Lord on lifelong, monogamous homosexuality is favorable but that the wider Communion is as-yet unaware of it, the essay then attempts to understand the Episcopal Church's decision-making processes in light of the epistemology just presented and to evaluate the epistemológica! consequences of such decision-making. Third, a possible solution is examined for its value both in se and as programmatic for conciliar navigation of future church controversies [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open Table practice is often discussed in terms of iuhat it does. For some it communicates hospitality, while others believe it chooses an easy invitation over the more life-giving possibilities of formation, commitment, discipleship. The missionai paradigm provides a different starting point: identity. This paper examines the practice of Open Table through a focus on identity. First it considers the missionai premise that God's activity in our world is concerned with "giving life, " and more specifically, that Jesus describes that giving of life as the feeding of human hunger. The essay then turns to an examination of this question: "Does Open Table cloud or clarify the church's communication of this missionai identity of the sacrament, the Christ, the church, at the heart of the eucharist? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1984 the General Synod of the Church of England cordially received the report Towards a Theology for Inter-Faith Dialogue, which afßrmed the presence of God with people of other faiths. Many varied influences had led to this positive stance, and this paper notes them. But it seeks primarily to highlight the part played by a Cambridge parish priest, Alan Coates Bouquet (1884-1976), in shaping Anglican attitudes over many decades. His frequently reprinted Pelican books, Comparative Religion (1941) and Sacred Books of the World (1954), were the most accessible sources of information about the world religious traditions in that period. Less widely known is a series of books and pamphlets on what is now known as the theology of religion. In these writings Bouquet set out his own position ("measured tolerance and faithful exclusiveness") and mediated the Logos theologies of F. D. Maurice and B. E Westcott. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the Episcopal Church's national conference in 1924, one of the ten issues discussed was "The Christian Approach to the Solution of Industrial Problems. " The consideration of this issue opened the door on two different lines of thinking about the role of the church in economic life: whether the current organization of the economic system is a natural and immutable fact of the world created by God, or whether it is a human construction that can be influenced and changed to bring it more into alignment with Christian prin-ciples. This paper will consider the arguments made in 1924, and offer a brief analysis of their implications for how the church speaks to economic life today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is an east-facing eucharistic celebration incompatible with re-newed liturgy? In this paper I suggest that this ancient tradition has great potential precisely within the baptismal ecclesiology and participatory practice that are the hallmarks of liturgical renewal. I begin by investigating the connotations eastward prayer devel-oped in the early church and reflecting on their value today. Next I explore the baptismal implications of a common direction for prayer and the openness--to God, to the universal church, and to the world--this can create. I consider the images of the circle, the line, and the arc in connection with this openness, which has im-plications for the servant ministry of the church to a suffering world. Finally, I suggest architectural and ceremonial choices to help disentangle eastward prayer from clericalizing practices so its symbolic power might find a place in genuinely participatory Anglican worship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the perennial concerns of ecclesiology seems to he that of unity and difference. Are there limits to the kinds of diversity which church unity can sustain? Can a unified community sustain disagreement and dissentP This paper attempts to situate the cur-rent debate over homosexuality in the Anglican Communion within a biblical context of Pauline ecclesiology. Through careful exegesis of 1 Corinthians and Romans, the author identifies three core prin-ciples of Paul's ecclesiology: conscience, interdependence, and em-bodied difference. The author argues that, for Paul, ecclesial unity is not a concept that precludes difference in identity or in practice. Paul's theological and pastoral convictions led him to articulate ecclesial principles that attempt to respect diversity in identity and practice, even as he advocates for a robust and dynamic under-standing of unity and mutual relationship. Ultimately, the author suggests that the Anglican Covenant currently under consider-ation by the Communion might be understood in this "Pauline" way--pointing toward an ecclesiology within controversy [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is "human life" strictly a biological phenomenon measured from the moment when sperm and egg combine? Or does "human life" not actually begin until the immaterial aspect known as "the soul" appears at some indeterminate point? This essay examines the views held by various adherents of the Christian faith regarding the concepts of "conception" and "ensoulment" and the relation of these views to contemporary ethical issues having to do with abortion, in vitro fertilization, contraception, and stem cell research. The essay discusses the fact that Christians historically have been characterized by a marked lack of unity concerning the teachings of the Bible and tradition on these issues. The paper concludes with a discussion of how Pre-existentianists, Traducianists, and Creationists might or might not be troubled by contraceptive and abortive procedures, depending upon their varying convictions regarding ensoulment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though the missional calling of the church is acknowledged by all, often mission remains just a function among many other more pressing tasks in congregations. This paper tentatively explores the ecclesiological and theological re-visioning necessary for a move from "church-shaped" missions to a "mission-shaped" church. After identifying some clues to missional thinking from the work of Asian theologians, the essay argues that the classical term concursus Dei is far more effective than the more recent missio Deifor such a transformation into missional congregations. Developing the notion of concursus Del as the continuous accompaniment of God in creation or the "God-movement" in judgment and grace, it then briefly turns to a consideration of the marks of leadership for such a mission-shaped church that is keeping in step with God's already up-and-running movement in creation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is an urgent need for interfaith dialogue to get past cucumber sandwiches and samoosas to the real business of truly loving each other and embracing "the other" as an extension of ourselves. One way of moving interreligions dialogue to a higher level of engagement beyond mere "tolerance" to deeper more enduring interreligious cooperation is to read and embrace the sacred texts of religious traditions other than one's own for inspiration. Most religious traditions celebrate hospitality and welcoming of the stranger This paper explores such an ethical and moral teaching within Christianity. The search is undertaken by a Muslim scholar [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

James H. Cone's work Black Theology and Black Power, considered by many the first major work of black theology in North America, still garners relatively little sustained attention from white North American theologians. In the opening section of this paper, I offer several reasons for this neglect of Cone (and black theology, in general). I then explore the work of Edward Schillebeeckx and David Tracy, both of whom offer lenses to examine Cone's theological method that ameliorate the ingrained tendencies which lead to widespread white neglect of black theology. Schillebeeckx's category of "negative contrast experiences" and Tracy's concept of "fragments" as sources for theology also provide an opportunity for readers to uncover the foundations of Cone's often challenging rhetoric while demonstrating the significance of Cone's contributions to theology as a discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple wrote that the Christian is in the awkward position of being a member of two societies, the church and the state, and that this dual citizenship creates problems. On the one hand, the Christian faith is a divine revelation that takes precedence over all other concerns. On the other hand, religious faith is often seen as purely personal and irrelevant to public, political, or social issues. This paper gives some reflections on the public nature of theology and its connection to Christian mission. The position taken here runs against the grain of traditional, liberal political theory for which social and political reasons must be public. This kind of liberalism fails to make sense of the strength of the Christian claim to public truth, which reaches both the private lives of Christians and the public and relational aspects of all human beings. However, the case for a public Christian theology must be made without hubris, maintaining space for a plurality of divergent religious and moral worldviews. On this view, the church is a gadfly that challenges the prevailing political and social principles at work in the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]