For over four hundred years Richard Hooker has been firmly attached to the Church of England and his life and writings used to promote and preserve that institution’s self-understanding. Consensus as to his theological beliefs and ecclesiastical loyalties has, however, never been reached – even though each generation of scholars has claimed to discover the 'real' Richard Hooker. In spite of the differing, and often conflicting interpretations, there have been several constants – beliefs about Hooker and his work that have remained virtually unchallenged throughout the centuries. The aim of this thesis has been to examine three of those aspects and in so doing ascertain whether their truth is more assumed than proven. The first of these assumptions is the fundamental belief that Hooker is attached securely to the English Church and that their identities are so interwoven that to speak of one is to speak of the other. The second is that Hooker’s prose – his unique writing style and powerful rhetoric – can be ignored in the process of determining his theology. And thirdly, the widely-held belief that, as the 'champion of reason', Hooker’s faith is essentially rational and that God is perceived and experienced primarily through the intellect. Challenging the truth of each of these statements leads to an uncertainty about Hooker that, rather than negating scholarship, allows research to be liberated from the dominance of categorisation. Such a change would acknowledge that Hooker's theology transcends Anglican studies and would allow his radical thinking to reach a wider audience.

This thesis seeks to provide a grassroots study of the diocese of Middlesbrough (1779-1992), in order to contribute to the history of the English Catholic community since it emerged from the Penal Times. Secondly, it is an examination of the manifestation of revivalism and renewal in Catholic devotional practice. The geographical extent of the study covers an area of Yorkshire with a strong recusant history, and that period has been well-served in Catholic historiography. However, writing on the period following the easing of the Penal Laws on Catholics and into the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is remarkable for the paucity of references to the diocese and the area that it covers. Therefore this study sheds light upon a particular Catholic community that has been largely invisible to historians. Although the Catholic community itself might appear to be invisible, the devotional practice within it offers many insights, such as the extent to which the social culture influenced the practice of faith. Therefore it teases out and examines the changing nature of devotional practice, and compares it to aspects of Evangelical revivalism that provided the surrounding religious culture. It also examines the influences that came to bear upon the community itself, assessing their importance in the revival and renewal of faith of the people within it. By examining the history of Catholic devotional practice in this area of Yorkshire, it comes to the conclusion that revivalism and renewal are integral elements in Catholic devotion and as a result Catholics and Evangelicals have more in common with each other than their adherents have been ready to acknowledge.

What is the significance of the deployment of madness in the early Christian ascetic experience of holiness? The first Byzantine holy fools – themselves critics of monastic orders – represent the consistent and logical conclusion of the theology and practice of the early Christian ascetics, and in particular that of the followers of Anthony and Pachomius. The flight to the desert of the first Christian anchorites and coenobites was an attempt to transform the experience and theology of holiness in church and society by transgressing the rules and thoughts of the city in a practical outworking of negative theology. The transgressive behaviour of the holy fools renewed that transformation by accepting neither secular nor religious truth and life. Where desert fathers and mothers had transformed the production of norms by their obedience and ascetic transcendence of human life, holy fools undermined the religious production of norms through their masterless obedience, defeat of vainglory, and foreignness to self. The transformation of the production of ethical knowledge amongst early Christian ascetics – through control of passions, representations, and silence – was followed through by the holy fools’ apophatic babble and rejection of religious loci of knowledge production in liturgy, confession, religious community and ecclesial authority. As a continuation of ascetic methods of reforming the self’s relation to society by brutal truthtelling and truth-hearing, the holy fools used self-ostracising insult and laughter to follow divine truth into the periphery without legislating universal modesty and submission to group truths. As such, the holy fools exemplify the practices most idealised in early Christian asceticism – humility, suspicion of fixed orders and truths, apophatic critique of doctrine and legislation – with renewed innovation and commitment to city life. They applied the strategic moves and principles of negative theology to the Christian theology and practice of holiness through aspiring to desert freedom, the practice of ignorance, and the unserious self.

This thesis traces the development of the idea of non-stipendiary ministry (NSM) in the Church of England from 1833, when it was first mooted by Thomas Arnold, to the present day. Four phases of development are identified and examined: first, the nineteenth century, when proposals to open the diaconate to men in secular employment were under discussion; second, the period leading up to the major discussion of the idea at the Lambeth Conference of 1930; third, the period leading up to the institutional establishment of 'Auxiliary Pastoral Ministry' in 1970; and fourth, the subsequent period of growth and development of NSM in practice. The method adopted is to analyse relevant debates in Convocation, Church Assembly and General Synod, together with relevant published material; new unpublished material from archives in Brisbane Diocese, Church House, Westminster, Lambeth Palace, and Selly Oak Library, as well as from the private papers of Roland Allen, is presented and analysed; the influence of developments in Anglican Churches overseas, of the World Council of Churches and of the French Worker-Priest Movement is assessed; the influence of certain key figures is examined, including that of Thomas Arnold, Walter Hook, William Hale, William Bright, Herbert Kelly, Roland Allen, F. R. Barry, Mervyn Stockwood, John Robinson, Lesslie Newbigin and E. R. Wickham. Factors influencing the development of the idea at each successive phase are identified, the most salient of which are: pressure for each local community to be self-sufficient in ministry, for the Church to offer ministry in a style and expression congruent with working-class culture, for the removal of the divide between clergy and laity, for the Church to offer meaningful witness in 'the world of work', and for supplementary ordained assistance for the diminishing numbers of stipendiary clergy. But throughout the period examined, constant restraints are shown to have been operating, restricting the smooth development of the idea. Chief amongst these are the protective reactions of the clerical profession and the over-riding influence of the parochial system. Finally, particular structural factors inhibiting the development of ministry in secular employment are identified.

The practice of confessional subscription, or giving assent to a confession of faith through signing a formula of approbation, was the subject of debate among Presbyterian Churches in the early eighteenth century. While other studies have examined the local controversies, this thesis offers a comprehensive examination of the question of subscription and the connections between the debates among English Dissenters, in the Church of Scotland, the General Synod of Ulster, the Synod of Philadelphia and the Presbytery of Charleston. It identifies the common background and influences, especially in questions of ecclesiastical authority in the Church of England that preceded and greatly influenced the subscription controversy, which itself was essentially a debate over Church power. The discussions within the different Church bodies are reviewed with the connections between the bodies being highlighted. The debates began with the attempt to introduce subscription among English Dissenters leading to the Salters’ Hall Debate of 1719. Although there was not an open challenge to the Westminster Confession of Faith in the Church of Scotland, the tradition of subscribing inherited from emigrants and the involvement of ministers in correspondence with other Churches influenced the developments elsewhere. Next the development of Irish Presbyterianism from both English and Scottish traditions is shown followed by a discussion of the actual controversy in the General Synod of Ulster. In a chapter on the Synod of Philadelphia an interpretation of the American Adopting Act (1729) within the context of the international debate is offered. The closing chapter covers the much overlooked Presbytery of Charleston with insights from sources that have not previously been studied for that Church’s history.

The purpose of this study is to investigate and to substantiate the revival in the life of English Baptist churches that commenced during the last third of the eighteenth century and continued until the early years of the twentieth century. I have taken the strategically important Northamptonshire Particular Baptist Association as my focal point and restricted myself to the key period from its formation in 1765 until 1830 when the original association covering nine countries had broken down into several county-based associations. The specific reason for the choice of the NPBA should be apparent from the research presented. In general terms, the bulk of the eighteenth century is a period ignored by Baptist historians primarily due to the prevailing assumption that it is a period of stagnation and decline following the high point of the Glorious Revolution and the subsequent Act of Toleration of 1689. The cause of this decline is firmly laid at the door of the prevalence of hyper-Calvinism and its principal Baptist proponent Dr. John Gill. The idea that from c.1770 the English Baptists suddenly burst out of this decline into a century long revival was one that quickly came under scrutiny as the research progressed. Such statistical evidence as was available (see Chapter IV) began to question the reality of this supposed decline and this in turn led to further consideration of the true nature and extent of hyper-Calvinism (see Chapter III). If early to mid-eighteenth century English Baptists were not in decline and in fact growing, they could not be characterised as stagnating. If this were proven to be so, then our understanding of hyper-Calvinism would need to be reconsidered for it could not be held to be the cause of something that did not take place.

This thesis brings together areas of research in the common theme of theological education for the ordained ministry. Its goal, through original critical analysis and original research, is to develop an "Oslo model" of theological education by distance learning for the ordained ministry of the Church of the Nazarene in the United Kingdom. This is done by drawing on the emerging competencies from the recent ecumenical Oslo debate on theological education together with the contemporary principles of distance learning. Its application is in the context of the Church of the Nazarene where theological education for the ordained ministry is a live issue. To develop the model, the argument moves through several stages in which original critical analysis and original research is done. Chapter one summarises the three year ecumenical Oslo debate in ministerial formation and theological education. Chapter two, describes the emerging "Oslo model" through the six competencies agreed at its final consultation held in 1996. The formation of the minister is seen as central to the theological education endeavour, therefore the competencies are primarily formative in being educative. Chapter three critically reflects on the context of the Oslo consultation in the knowledge that similar arguments for a new vision had already been rehearsed in the debate which led up to the formation of TEE a generation earlier. A critique of TEE is done through an examination of its philosophy and historical development. Chapter four analyses and critiques, through original documentation, a working model of TEE in its historical and philosophical context within the Church of the Nazarene. This throws more light on the reasons why Oslo may have been so reticent in its promotion of TEE. It also raises significant questions for the Church of the Nazarene of its use of the method. Chapter five considers the set of core competencies drawn up by the Church of the Nazarene for its theological education programme. Are these compatible with those from the Oslo consultation? It so, should they take precedence over the Nazarene competencies?

The thesis comprises results of broad research into the Brethren Movement in the Faeroes from 1865 to 2010, emphasising the disciplines Church History, Economic, Social and Cultural History, Cultural Studies and Missiology. The role of Brethren in the Nation Building Process is analysed as well as their pioneering work in the language struggle. Drawing on recent theories the Faeroese Brethren Movement is set in national and international perspective. Interviwes with many Brethren confirm the validity of the theories and give insight into (1) the developments until the 1960s, and (2) the period after. New aspects are brought to light, analysed and seen as part of the general development in the islands, and how Brethren have influenced the national, economic and cultural progresses. Nowhere has the Brethren Movement had such support as in the Faeroes where around 15 per cent of the polulation are members; elsewhere it is between a half and one per cent at most. Reasons for this are analysed as are Brethren theology and practices, attitudes and activism which have influences the broader community. The conclusion points out that the Faeroese Brethren movement has had much greater impact on the progress and developments that so far acknowledged. Self-government, self-financing and self-propagation of each assembly have influenced attitudes outside the movement, and Brethren attitudes, pioneering spirit and new ways of thinking have inspired others. The Brethren Movement was the first to break away from colonial power (the Danish State Church) and establish a Faeroese church. Tensions and changes within the movement in the early 21st century are discussed and the future of Brethren in the Faeroes is evaluated.

Despite the centrality of monastic sources to debates about social and political transformation in post-Carolingian Europe, few studies have approached the political and economic status of monasteries and their saints' cults in this context, to which this thesis offers a comparative approach. Hagiography provides an interesting point of analysis with respect to the proposition of mutation féodale, and more importantly to that of the mutation documentaire and its relation to monastic 'reform', which Part I discusses. Parts II and III consider Bobbio and Conques, and their miracula (dedicated to San Colombano and Sainte Foy) within their respective socio-political environments, since the best of the recent scholarship concerning the millennial period has emphasized the specificity of regional experience. At Bobbio the closeness of the king physically and some continuity in royal practices between the tenth and eleventh centuries shaped monastic experience. It directed and sometimes restricted monastic discourse, which maintained an older tradition of general service to the kingdom, although innovations in relic usage helped monastic negotiations with the sovereign. At Conques, the waning of royal control created space for literary and cultic advances that served to bolster the monastery's position within local power structures. In this landscape older forms of public authority were purposefully minimized and hierarchy and landownership were negotiated between aristocrats, including Sainte Foy at the head of Conques. Whilst the categories of the 'feudal transformation' debate can offer a useful framework for the analysis of two very different monasteries and their local societies, the comparison demonstrates that placing monasteries at the centre of our debate is crucial to understanding the documents they produce, and therefore questions the potential that these have to shed light on wider societal change. Concerns over land and autonomy were central to both institutions, although these operated on different conceptual planes, because of different bases of landed patrimony dating back much further than the tenth century. Each monastery negotiated hierarchy and clientele through their miracula and according to local socio-political rules. Therefore, whilst related documentary and cultic transformations were inseparable from socio-political pressures, these were not necessarily pressures simply reacting to mutation féodale, but were formative processes in the direction and shape of social change.

‘We don’t do God’, Alastair Campbell famously said of UK government policy-making. In contrast, Anglican Bishops at the 2008 Lambeth Conference committed themselves to reflect on contextualising their faith, and pursue their conclusions in public ethical discourse. This thesis proposes that the Bishops (and others) may justifiably pursue this two-fold course, through the application, reinterpretation and development of Alasdair MacIntyre's tradition-based moral reasoning. I contend that the validity of a MacIntyrean approach in contextualising Christianity is readily apparent; and can shed light on Anglican differences around human sexuality. Through distinguishing between MacIntyre’s ‘utopian’ theory and his practical requirement merely to be ‘good enough’ to ‘go on and go further’, I argue that we find effective resources for extensive moral rational engagement with other traditions, and, more surprisingly, within liberal democracy. This, I agree with Jeffrey Stout, has the potential to operate, to a useful degree, as akin to a ‘tradition’. I then outline how the Bishops can best pursue substantive, rational, ethical dialogue, first, with other communities of tradition; second, with those groupings, widespread throughout society, which, though not fully-fledged communities of tradition, nonetheless sufficiently reflect them to be able to sustain some degree of moral debate; and third, through developing MacIntyre's appropriation of Aquinas’ work on Natural Law, in circumstances that, or among those who, uphold no tradition. In each case, I argue the potential is greater than MacIntyre allows, and, importantly, is enhanced by constructive engagement, which it is therefore generally a morally rational obligation to pursue. With examples drawn primarily from the work of Dr Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, I point to practical ways in which my proposed MacIntyrean praxis can both strengthen the Church’s engagement in public discourse, and enhance the nature of the public space as a place for pursuing the common good.