Documents of the Christian Church

This selection of writings from the most important moments in the history of Christianity has become established as a classic reference work, providing insights into 2000 years of Christian theological and political debate. While retaining the original material selected by Henry Bettenson, Chris Maunder has added a substantial section of more recent writings. These illustrate the Second Vatican Council; the theologies of liberation; Church and State from ''Thatcher''s Britain'' to Communist Eastern Europe; Black, feminist, and ecological theology; ecumenism; and inter-faith dialogue. The emphasis on moral debate in the contemporary churches is reflected in selections discussing questions about homosexuality, divorce,AIDS, and in-vitro fertilization, amongst other issues. This further expanded fourth edition brings the anthology up-to-date with a new section looking at issues facing the twenty-first century churches. This includes extracts exploring the churches'' responses to questions