Slavery-Free Communities: Emerging theologies and faith responses to modern slavery, edited by Dan Pratt (SCM Press, £35 (Church Times SPECIAL OFFER PRICE £28); 978-0-334-06129-8).
“Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking (MSHT) are global crimes impacting local communities. Vulnerable people are exploited through labour, sex and forced criminality. Churches and communities are increasingly encountering these victims and survivors, and consequently need to develop more effective engagement. The book will highlight that churches and communities are in a unique position to partner towards slavery-free communities. Beginning with the narratives of survivors who experienced three different forms of MSHT, including labour exploitation, sexual exploitation and domestic exploitation, the book then shows how practitioners and theologians respond to these narratives through exploring theologies of suffering, ecology, missiology, restorative justice, trinitarian theology, and liberation theology.”
T & T Clark History of Monasticism: The Eastern tradition by John Binns (T & T Clark, £28.99 (£26.09); 978-0-567-69936-7). New in paperback.
“Despite its rich history in the Latin tradition, Christian monasticism began in the east; the wellsprings of monastic culture and spirituality can be directly sourced from the third-century Egyptian wilderness. In this volume, John Binns creates a vivid, authoritative account that traces the four main branches of eastern Christianity, up to and beyond the Great Schism of 1054 and the break between the Catholic and Orthodox churches. Binns begins by exploring asceticism in the early church and the establishment of monastic life in Egypt, led by St Anthony and Pachomius. He chronicles the expansion, influence, and later separation of the various Orthodox branches, examining monastic traditions and histories ranging from Syria to Russia and Ethiopia to Asia Minor. Culminating with both the persecution and the revival of monastic life, Binns concludes with an argument for both the diversity and the shared set of practices and ideals between the Orthodox churches, creating a resource for both cross-disciplinary specialist and students of religion, history, and spirituality.”
The Anglican Patrimony: The gift of the ordinariates, edited by Tracy Rowland (T & T Clark, £28.99 (£26.09); 978-0-567-70024-7).
“To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Anglicanorum Coetibus, Tracey Rowland gathers together leading voices to examine the issue of the Anglican Patrimony and its relevance for Christians today. The Anglicanorum Coetibus is the 2009 papal decree which established the Anglican Ordinariate within the Catholic Church, and this volume examines the longstanding effects of this cultural decree. Rowland introduces different aspects of the culture of Anglicanism, explains the concept of an Ordinariate within the context of ecumenical theory, and examines aspects of Anglican liturgical theology and pastoral life.”
Selected by Frank Nugent, of the Church House Bookshop, which operates the Church Times Bookshop.