The prestigious Prideaux Lectures were given in 1990 by Adrian Hastings, published here in volume form. With a distinctive and fresh approach, he surveys the vast range of interactions between the Christian church and the English state both historically and theologically. The central theme is the tension between the intrinsic dualism within the Christian approach to church and state and the pressure towards monism inherent in the Reformation establishment. While contrasting Roman Catholic and Free Church with Anglican past experience, the concluding chapter assesses recent developments in which the established church has effectively recovered a dualist stance. At a time when the appointment of the next Archbishop of Canterbury has heightened discussion about the role of the church in contemporary society, Professor Hastings makes a significant contribution to the subject. Church and State provides a frame of reference at once historical and theological, for a subject which is too frequently discussed merely descriptively or moralistically. It is in fact the frame of reference underlying the author's recent and much acclaimed works Robert Runcie and A History of English Christianity 1920-1985.

About the Author

Adrian Hastings is Professor of Theology and head of the department of Theology and religious Studies at the University of Leeds. He has worked for many years in Africa, was formerly Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Zimbabwe and is editor of the Journal of Religion in Africa. His books include African Catholicism and The Theology of a Protestant Catholic. He was also editor of Modern Catholicism, a multi-author survey of the history of the Catholic Church since the second Vatican Council.

Reviews

'Anybody who believes in a division of power will have no difficulty in accepting Hasting's line. But the ageing left, who think that they may have a powerful apostle for disestablishment, are in for a wonderfully rude awakening.' (Independent)
'To be told of this book...would be enough to whet the appetite. ...Actually meeting the book goes beyond whetting appetites; it is somewhere near inflaming them. ...There are some pungent axe-edged quotes laid to the root of the tree.' (Church Times)

Book Information
ISBN 9780859893688
Author Adrian Hastings
Format Paperback
Page Count 96
Imprint University of Exeter
Publisher University of Exeter