The Use and Abuse of Time in Christian History: (Studies in Church History)

For the Christian Church and its members, time is always pressing, both for this life and for the anticipated afterlife. In this life it is precious, to be valued and used; but in reality also misused and abused. The twenty-sevenessays in this volume reflect Christian attitudes to time from the period of the early church through to the twentieth century, considering differing views on labour, the role and importance of recreation, the use of time for devotional purposes and preparation for the afterlife, and reactions to its wasting or sinful exploitation.Contributors: STUART K. BURNS, CAROL HARRISON, JANET L. NELSON, JANE BAUN, SUSAN BOYNTON, FRANCES ANDREWS, ANGELA MONTFORD, DIANA WOOD, HILARY M. CAREY, JUDITH MIDDLETON-STEWART, BARRY COLLETT, JOKE SPAANS, ANNE LAURENCE, MICHAEL A. MULLETT, DAVID L. WYKES, JOHN WALSH, JILL SÖDERSTRÖM, JANE GARNETT, MARTIN WELLINGS, ALLAN K. DAVIDSON, KENNETH S. JEFFREY, DOUGLAS M. MURRAY, TIM MACQUIBAN, LINDA WILSON, KRISTA COWMAN, JOHN F. POLLARD, STUART MEWS.

Table of Contents:
Ps. -Macarius and the Messalians: the Use of Time for the Common Good - Stuart K Burns Augustine and the Art of Gardening - Carol Harrison The Church and a Revaluation of Work in the Ninth Century? - Janet L Nelson Taboo or Gift? The Lord's Day in Byzantium - Jane Baun Work and Play in Sacred Music and its Social Context, c.1050- 1250 - Susan Boynton By the Labour of their Hands? Religious Work and City Life in Thirteenth-Century Italy - Frances Andrews Fit to Preach and Pray: Considerations of Occupational Health in the Mendicant Orders - Angela Montford 'Lesyng of tyme': Perceptions of Idleness and Usury in Late Medieval England - Diana Wood Church Time and Astrological Time in the Waning Middle Ages - Hilary Carey Time and the Testator, 1370-1540 - Judith Middleton-Stewart Organizing Time for Secular and Religious Purposes: the Contemplacion of Sinners (1499) and the Translation of the Benedictine Rule for Women (1517) of Richard Fox, Bp of WinchesterBenedictine Rule for Women (1517) of Richard Fox, Bp of W - Barry Collett Time for Prayer and Time for Work. Rule and Practice among Catholic Lay Sisters in the Dutch Republic - Joke Spaans Daniel's Practice: the Daily Round of Godly Women in Seventeenth- Century England - Anne Laurence Catholic and Quaker Attitudes to Work, Rest, and Play in Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century England - Michael A Mullett 'The Sabbaths ... spent before in Idleness and the neglect of the word': the Godly and the Use of Time in their Daily Religion - 'The bane of industry'? Popular Evangelicalism and Work in the Eighteenth Century - John Walsh Escaping the Common Lot: a Buchanite Perspective of the Millennium - Jill Soderstrom The Gospel of Work and the Virgin Mary: Catholics, Protestants, and Work in Nineteenth-Century Europe - Jane Garnett 'A friendly and familiar book for the busy': William Arthur's The Successful Merchant: Sketches of the Life of Mr Samuel BudgettSamuel Budgett - Martin Wellings Useful Industry and Muscular Christianity: George Augustus Selwyn and his Early Years as Bishop of New Zealand - Allan K Davidson Work, Leisure, and Revival: the Integration of the 1859 Revival into the Working and Social Lives of the Townsfolk, Fermfolk, and Fisherfolk of Aberdeenshireand Fisherfolk of Aberdeenshire - Kenneth S Jeffrey The Sabbath Question in Victorian Scotland in Context - Douglas M. Murray Industrial Day-Dreams: S. E. Keeble and the Place of Work and Labour in Late Victorian and Edwardian Methodism - Tim Macquiban Marianne Farningham: Work, Leisure, and the Use of Time - Linda Wilson 'A peculiarly English institution': Work, Rest, and Play in the Labour Church - Krista Cowman The Pope, Labour, and the Tango: Work, Rest, and Play in the Thought and Action of Benedict XV (1914-22) - John F Pollard From Shooting to Shopping: Randall Davidson's Attitudes to Work, Rest, and Recreation - Stuart Mews

Review :
Fascinating collection.