This thesis provides the first comprehensive study of the role of an Elizabethan Cathedral in society, perhaps doubly significant because it deals with the only diocese in which, according to Dr Collinson, the puritans had 'unfettered control'. How this outpost of radicalism came to be located at Durham and the way in which the puritans used their positions of authority are both questions which are dealt with, but the scope of the study is much wider than this. The Cathedral is examined as a complete unit by following the interests and activities of the individual prebends as well as of the corporation in general: indeed, it is only when these 2 aspects of the Cathedrals work are examined together that meaningful conclusions can be drawn. The involvement of the Cathedral in national and local politics and the contributions which it made to the spiritual and economic life of the diocese are examined in some depth, and in this way a picture is built up of a vigorous organisation with involvements in many aspects of government and society often far removed from prevailing notions both of Cathedrals and of the Elizabethan clergy in the localities. The reign of Elizabeth was in many ways the vital formulative period for the attitudes and institutions which came to characterise the Church of England and the Cathedral represents one area which up until now has been largely ignored: the conclusion which emerges is of an institution which was still basically rooted in the past yet which became in itself something new, owing little to traditional concepts of either the monastic or collegiate life.

The 'Disputation of Sergius the Stylite' is a Christian anti-Jewish work, written sometime between 730-770 A. D., and ascribed to Sergius the Stylite, an otherwise unknown Syrian ascetic, v/ho lived in Gousit, a town not far from Antioch in Syria. The work purports to report a dialogue between Sergius and an anonymous Jew. This dialogue has been incorporated into the framework of an anti-Jewish treatise possibly by Sergius himself. The work begins with a long series of biblical texts quoted in order to show that all the events of Jesus Christ's life were prophesied or prefigured in the Old Testament. The two participants in the dialogue then discuss such subjects as the Crucifixion and the Cross, the Incarnation, the Destruction of Jerusalem and the Dispersion of the Jews, Christian worship of the Cross and saints' relics. Christian consumption of swine's flesh, and finally, the problem of Christians who were attracted by Jewish forms of worship. In the Introduction to this edition of the 'Disputation' a description of the manuscript is given. The date and authorship of the work are then considered, and its literary sources discussed. Some interesting biblical agrapha which are found in the 'Disputation' suggest that it stands in a stream of tradition going back to what is thought to be the earliest Christian literary activity, the composition of 'testimonies'. The work also contains some valuable quotations from an otherwise lost Syriac version of Flavius Josephus's 'War of the Jews'. The final chapter of the Introduction discusses the contents of the 'Disputation', the nature of the dialogue contained in it, the portrait which it gives of the Jewish participant, and the purpose for which the work was written.

The 16th century Borders have been viewed traditionally as violent, feudal and catholic, but their feudalism is now questioned. The verdict on their religion seems often to be based either on general impressions or on lack of evidence. Recently the value of studying the social and political life of the English and Scottish Borders together has been recognised, and this approach is also viable for their religious life. The scattered evidence shows that in terms of material wealth and personnel the Border church was badly served, and that the changes of the Reformation often made the situation worse. Moreover it suffered from too close an association with the violent aspects of Border society. Popular religion in the area seems to have been more concerned with the magical aspect of the church's ceremonies than with orthodox Catholicism or Protestantism. At the same time there was a realisation of the problems, and there were educative and civilising influences at work. By the end of this period they were beginning to have some little effect, while at the same time the weakened traditional Catholicism was declining through lack of organised support. The 1569 revolt, which at first sight might suggest that the situation had changed little since 1536, in fact by its failure demonstrates the changes which had occurred. However the problems of the Border ' church went too deep to be solved easily, and the Borderers' independence in matters social, political, and religious would have to be overcome to achieve any great measure of success. Throughout this period both English and Scottish governments were by turn unable or unwilling to effect the necessary changes, and the inadequate church organisations were left to struggle on alone.

In the context of Gibraltar's own history a description is given of how Methodism was taken to Gibraltar by soldiers who met together in small groups and founded the first Methodist Society there in 1769. After meeting with considerable opposition and persecution from the Established Church and others, the Methodist Conference decided to support the work by providing missionary ministers. The early work of building a chapel, fighting for their rights and gaining a degree of official sanction and protection is part of the story. The purpose of the church was always evangelism and a ministry to soldiers was justified because the soldiers and sailors travelled around the world and took the gospel message with them. Links with the British and Foreign Bible Society were established in 1807 as Bible distribution was seen to be an important goal and a useful means of evangelism. There was always an interest too in converting the local inhabitants of Gibraltar and this aim was furthered by the appointment of William Barber in 1824, as a second missionary, solely to work with them. This work was later developed by William Harris Rule who founded the first Mission schools in Gibraltar, which led to considerable opposition from the Roman Catholic population. In the 1830's Rule also attempted to establish Missions in Spain itself This was the time when George Borrow and James Graydon were also working in Spain for the Bible Society. A brief account is given of the work of all three, in the context of the political and religious situation in Spain, thus exploring the reasons why they were all eventually forced to leave the country and why a permanent Protestant foothold was not established in Spain at this time.

No description available.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between funerary rituals and religion in the Parish of Sheffield in order to shed light on present day customs and practices. In the past, most studies have attempted to relate religion and ritual from the base of changing belief systems; this present investigation analyses the means whereby the secular nature of funerary customs is brought into a vital relationship with the sacred by the rites of passage of death, and their associated myths and legends. The study is divided into three principal areas of research covering pertinent general and specific aspects of funerary rituals. The first section sets the central core of the research upon a more general foundation of relevant literature, and an overview of funerary rituals and religion. A resume of the history of Sheffield and the laws of burial and cremation then places the study into both a wider and a comparative context of time and place. The research then centres on a study of current funeral practices in Sheffield: the Sheffield funeral trade; the influences of religion upon death rituals in relation to the city; the people of Sheffield who experience these funerals, and the places of committal available to them. The research draws on its primary database of 67 respondents from representative religions, complemented by selective databases covering non-specific mourners, religious representatives, and associated trades, services and professions.

This thesis sets out to portray the pastoral standards, conditions, and aspirations of the London parish clergy in the Elizabethan period. The first two chapters are concerned with their social and geographical backgrounds; they are followed by chapters dealing with educational, preaching, and residential standards. Prospects of preferment are discussed in Chapter VI which treats upon the subtle mechanism of clerical patronage. Three subsequent chapters help to explain the attraction of London to the aspiring cleric. Rectorial income and expenditure are analysed, and the increase in gross income during the period explored; the endless controversy over tithe is assessed. Discussed in detail are the parish lectureships, lucrative sources of augmentation of clerical income. The multifarious opportunities for unbeneficed ministers in the capital are brought out, and the comparative comfort of the preaching curate is contrasted with the indigence of his less-qualified counterpart. Finally, the course of clerical nonconformity is traced in two concluding chapters. The first assesses the strength of the movement in the early years of the reign- under the leadership of the ex-Marian exiles, and its disruption by Parker in the vestiarian controversy. Chapter XI dwells upon the fluctuations of the radical movement post-1566, emphasising the ever-widening gap between the mass of parish clergy and the Puritan nucleus holding lectureships, or positions in the Minories, the most important nonconformist enclave in the city. A section on Bishop Aylmer's disciplinary activities helps to explain the virtual eclipse of organised clerical radicalism by 1592. The appendices are composed largely of biographical data, including additions to Hennessy's lists of London clergy.

This work lies in the field of codicology, and its purpose is to group related Gospel lectionary MSS together. It was carried out so that linguistic comparisons could be made in the future between related MSS, and, in particular, so that individual or related groups of Slavonic lectionaries could be compared, linguistically with suitably chosen Greek lectionaries. This is of importance in studying the Slavonic version, since the first New Testament translation from Greek into Slavonic is believed to have been a lectionary. Before it is possible to explain the mutual relationships between the extant Slavonic lectionaries, and to understand their development, it is necessary to discover to what extent they developed separately and to what extent they were dependent on Greek lectionaries. In order to do this, the Greek lectionaries had to be classified according to their lection systems, since lectionaries with the same lection system are more likely to be connected than are those with different systems. A hypothesis had then to be found which would best explain the development of one system from another, where this seemed to have occurred. The available Slavonic lectionaries could then be studied against the background of the Greek. This thesis distinguishes three types of Greek weekday lectionaries, the so-called αβ type, the S type and the κ type, as well as some of their sub-groups, and. discusses their mutual relationships. In order to explain their development, it was found necessary to refer to the earlier development of the lection system in Greek. The earliest weekday system (the αβ type) has been studied. in greater detail than the others. The comparatively few Slavonic lectionaries available have been discussed at the end. of each chapter dealing with their Greek counterparts.

This study of Friends in a fairly remote county covers the history of the economic and social development of the Society until the amalgamation of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Quarterly Meetings in 1761. Initially the location of Friends and their meeting houses coincided with the geological and parochial boundaries which in themselves influenced the occupational and settlement patterns of the county. Friends lived predominantly in the northern half of the country during this first century of existence. Numbers may have been reduced by emigration to America and migration to other parts of the country but were never high and declined in the early eighteenth century. Predominantly a middle to lower class group economically, Derbyshire Friends numbered very few wealthy members. Many were yeoman farmers or wholesalers and it was these groups who dominated the business meetings having time to devote themselves to the Society. Only John Gratton of Monyash combined an outstanding ministry together with an organising ability which brought him recognition amongst London Friends as well as locally. Derbyshire Friends enjoyed comparatively harmonious relations with civil and Anglican authorities, though prior to the Toleration Act of 1639 the priests were their worst persecutors. There were few prosecutions however, and an apparent co-operation existed intended to overcome civil disabilities suffered by Friends, in particular that of swearing oaths. Friends were as generous as possible over poor relief, though with limited resources most of the burden fell on Chesterfield Meeting, the predominant Monthly Meeting, which also enjoyed a charity to apprentice boys. Little education apart from apprenticeship was offered, though Friends were as literate as their Anglican neighbours with whom they lived on good terms. Despite the contraction of four Monthly Meetings into two by the mid-eighteenth century, the vigour of this small body of Friends was still strong.

This thesis makes extensive use of primary source material to reconsider the life of Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847) and the development of his understanding of the mission of the church. At a number of points it revises traditional assessments, a It is shown that before Chalmers' conversion in 1811 he had begun to find a more meaningful life within the church, and that during the years before he moved to Glasgow in 1815, Chalmers forged his own theological identity out of the prevailing While the results of a study of the St John's experiment confirm the opinion that Chalmers' attempt to demonstrate that a working class parish could be self-sufficient in the provision of poor relief was a failure, other commonly held views are s An examination of Chalmers' roles in the Voluntary controversy, the church extension movement, the Disruption and the Evangelical Alliance shows the consistency of his missionary purpose which found its final expression in the West Port Church inn The Scottish base of the modern missionary movement is treated to provide a perspective on Chalmers' own involvement, and to highlight the significance of his attempts to utilize the movement as a stimulus for the church at home. Chalmers' mis In a brief concluding assessment of Chalmers' theology of mission, it is noted that his teaching on the Westminster Confession predates that of the declaratory acts later in the century. For Chalmers, both theology and polity were subservient.